KAIVALYA UPANISHAD : 17. Swami Advaitananda.

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

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

From the Atharva Veda (26 Mantras) : “The HOMOGENEITY of Brahman”

5. OUR SPIRITUAL ROOTS :

Mantras : 15-19, 5 no.

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

Wednesday, Decembber 07, 2022. 06:30. 

Mantram - 17 : The Experiencer is Brahman 

Post -17.

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

Mantram - 17 : The Experiencer is Brahman 

With Translation :

19 jaagrat swapna sushupti aadi = Lived in waking, dream and deep sleep, 

20 prapancham yat prakaashate;  = that which illumines the world of relative 

experiences,

21 tad brahma aham iti jnaatvaa = that Brahman am I – and realizing thus,

22 sarva bandhaih pramuchyate.  = one is liberated from all shackles.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bhashyam ( Vyakyanam ) :

The Rishi is taking us step by step to that final conclusion mentioned poetically in the 

Mahavakya. There is the following triad for all experiences: the subjective experiencer, the 

object experienced, and the experience which links the two. 

The experiencer can only know or experience the object if something illumines that 

object. [The word ‘illumine’ in philosophy is taken to mean ‘bring the knowledge of’.] The 

object cannot reveal itself to the subject as it is inert. The only other way is that the 

illumining comes from the subject, goes out to the object, encircles it and brings back the 

knowledge of it. This illumining power is called Consciousness, and belongs to the

Experiencer. 

About this Consciousness, we are given the following facts:

19 It is Consciousness that is the Witness or Experiencer of the three states of 

waking, dream and deep sleep. In each being Consciousness has to be present as the 

Experiencer.

20 The same Consciousness enables us to experience the world of objects during the 

waking state.

21 From the above fact, we also deduce that Consciousness has to be all-pervading, 

since we perceive objects as distant as the stars. Since this is so, Consciousness has to be the 

Reality Itself, which is defined as being all-pervading.

Still, this is insufficient to prove conclusively that Brahman and our own deep Self 

within (Pratyak-Atman) are the same. We have only seen so far that both possess the 

quality of being all-pervading. Their identity is yet to be proven.

More facts that lead to that conclusion are presented in the next mantram.

At this stage, Acharyaji told us a very deep truth which will help us to understand the 

profoundness of the deductions that are to follow. He said, “That which I see as something 

else is my bondage. When I see Myself everywhere in all things, I become totally free.”

*****

Next
Mantram - 18: The Experienced & Experience also Brahman
To be continued

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