KAIVALYA UPANISHAD : 10. Swami Advaitananda
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Sunday, August 07, 2022. 07:10.
From the Atharva Veda (26 Mantras) : “The HOMOGENEITY of Brahman”
Post - 10.
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3. SARVATMA BHAVA
(Mantras : 8-11, 4 nos.)
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Introduction :
HOW TO GAUGE OUR progress on the spiritual path – this is the message in this section.
By doing the Upasanas of the previous section, whether it is Saguna or Nirguna, the object is to cultivate Sarvatma Bhava.
All our spiritual exercises must necessarily lead us to develop a feeling that God is in all beings.
This is the acid-test of the expansion of our consciousness beyond our individuality.
The Ego has to be transcended.
If Sadhana does not do that, there is something radically wrong with it.
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Mantram 8: Sarvatma Bhava – In All Deities
"Sa brahmaa sa shivah sendrah,sah aksharah paramah svaraat;
sah eva vishnuh sa praanah, sah kaala agnih sa chandramaah."
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Translation :
1 sa brahmaa sa shivah sendrah, = He is Brahma, He is Shiva, He is Indra;
2 sah aksharah paramah svaraat; = He is Immutable, Supreme, Self-luminous;
3 sah eva vishnuh sa praanah, = He alone is Vishnu, He is Prana,
4 sah kaala agnih sa chandramaah.= He is Time, and Fire is He. He is the Moon.
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Mantram 9: Sarvatma Bhava – In All Periods of Time
"Sah eva sarvam yad bhootam, yat cha bhavyam sanaatanam;
jnaatvaa tam mrityum atyeti, na anyah panthaah vimuktaye."
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Translation :
5 sah eva sarvam yad bhootam, = He alone is all that was,
6 yat cha bhavyam sanaatanam; = and all that will be, the Eternal;
7 jnaatvaa tam mrityum atyeti,= knowing Him, one goes beyond the sting of death.
8 na anyah panthaah vimuktaye.= There is no other way to reach complete freedom
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Mantram 10: Sarvatma Bhava – In All Beings
sarva-bhoot-astham-aatmaanam, sarva-bhootaani chaatmani;
sampashyan brahma paramam, yaati naanyena hetunaa.
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Translatuion :
9 sarva-bhoot-astham-aatmaanam, = Experiencing one’s own Self in all beings,
10 sarva-bhootaani chaatmani; = and all beings in the Self,
11 sampashyan brahma paramam, = one attains the Highest Brahman –
12 yaati naanyena hetunaa. = and not by any other means.
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Commentary :
Lines 1-2 are found in the Narayana Suktam. Lines 5-6 are in the Purusha Suktam.
1-4 These lines indicate the worship of Saguna Brahman.
The object of concentration is presented in many different ways.
All of them achieve the same result – they draw the mind towards the ultimate goal.
All Deities – be it Lord Shiva, Lord Vishnu, Agni, Indra, Prana (another term for Hiranyagarbha), etc – are pointers to the one and the same Goal.
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5-6 These lines indicate the worship of Nirguna Brahman.
The object of concentration is the transcendent Supreme Brahman, the Non-dual, Ultimate Reality.
This Reality is beyond time, space and causation.
The more we keep this goal in view, the closer to it do we get.
It is a growth in our consciousness.
The change is away from narrow egocentredness towards a vaster, all-inclusive, universal acceptance.
It is very gradual and takes much time to achieve.
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7 The ‘sting of Death’ refers to the entire cycle of birth and death we are undergoing whilst in our ignorant state of being.
We can come out of this cycle only by expanding our consciousness and identifying ourselves more and more with the all-inclusive consciousness.
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8 The truth is proclaimed here without any ambiguity that liberation from transmigration can be achieved only by reaching Goal 1.
Goal 2 takes us part of the way, but the Nirguna Brahman has to reached after attaining Saguna Brahman.
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9-11 The fruit of sincere Upasana is indicated here to be the gradual unfoldment of the beautiful attitude of seeing the Lord in all. It is a gradual attainment.
The acid-test of one’s Sadhana is when we “experience our own Self in all beings” as their Substratum; another way of expressing this is to “experience all beings in one’s own Self” by feeling that all are superimposed on the Reality.
These two are simply different ways of looking at the same experience.
The former statement is from the standpoint of the underlying Reality; the latter is from our individual standpoint as being part of the superimposition on Reality.
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12 Until this experience is attained, we cannot conclusively say that we have reached Goal 1.
Self-realisation or God-realisation is the experience of universal Consciousness, or complete freedom from individual consciousness.
This really means that the Self is not our body-mind-intellect package.
It is something greater than that.
Expansion of consciousness allows us to view creation in a new light – until we feel that all beings, including ourselves, are so many flowers superimposed on a garland which is the universal Consciousness.
As a corollary, it also means that we are able to feel that we are the string on which all beings are strung as on a garland.
Both these are two sides of the same spiritual experience of Illumination or Enlightenment.
Seeing oneself in all beings means not giving any reality to the not-Self.
Understanding oneself to be the Adhishthana or substratum of all is called Sarvatma Bhava.
There is no other way to realize the Self but by seeing It in all.
This principle of Sarvatma Bhava, when followed in every detail, makes it impossible to hold ill-feelings towards anyone else.
Violence cannot even be contemplated by such a noble person who has realised this vision of Truth.
There can be no anger, jealousy, envy, and other such wrong attitudes towards others.
They all die a natural death when this ultimate vision is attained.
How do we get established in such a Bhava?
This is seen in the next mantram . .
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Next -
Mantram 11: Churning the Ego with “Om” Upasana
To be continued ....
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