The Chhandogya Upanishad - 45: Swami Krishnananda.

Chinmaya Mission :

On November 26, 2023, Chinmaya Mission Houston (CMH) witnessed the inaugural Kumbhabhisekam ceremony of Saumyakasi Sivalaya. 

The festivities spanned several days, featuring symbolic rituals and a Dwadasa Jyotirlinga Yatra conducted by over 400 Bala Vihar children. 

This ritual harked back to a tradition initiated during the Sivalaya's inauguration 16 years prior.

During his address, Pujya Acarya Gaurang Nanavaty traced the inception of Pujya Gurudev's vision, while the Consul General of India in Houston acknowledged CMH's significant role in preserving Hindu culture. 

The culmination on Sunday, marked by homas and a Dwadasa Jyotirlinga Yatra, saw devotees gracefully participating in the abhishekam ceremony, facilitated by meticulous arrangements.

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Saturday, 16 Dec 2023. 06:50.

CHAPTER 4: AN ANALYSIS OF THE NATURE OF THE SELF

Section 6: Course After Death

Mantras- 5,6,7.

Post-45.

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Mantram-5.

"Atha yatraitad-abalimanam nito bhavati, tam abhita asina ahuh janasi mam, 

janarsi mam, iti, sa yavad asmaccharirad-anutkranto bhavati, tavaj-janati."

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Now we are introduced to the principal subject of this section. The other points mentioned in connection with these nerves are introductory to the main point which is the theme of the section, namely the departure of the soul after death.

When a person becomes weak due to old age and is awaiting impending death, people get anxious about his condition. They sit round him thinking that he is about to leave this world. And then they query, "Do you recognise us?", "Do you know I am your father?", "I am so-and-so related to you, do you recognise me?", "Do you know I am your son?", and so on. He is able to reply to these people in a sensible manner as long as the pranas do not depart from the body and as long as the mind is capable of working in a normal fashion in respect of the body. But when the mind is compelled by the pranas to withdraw itself into its source, no sensation, no thought, no recognition remains whatsoever. Then what happens to that person?

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Mantram-6.

"Atha yatraitad-asmaccharirad-utkramati, athaitair-eva rasmibhir-urdhvam akramate, 

sa om iti va ha ut va miyate sa yavat ksipyen manah, tavad-adityam gacchati, 

etad-vai khalu loka-dvaram vidusam prapadanam, nirodho'vidusam."

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The very same rays of the sun, about which we have discussed in the earlier mantras in this section, with which we have such an intimate connection, become the passage of the soul for its ascent into the higher regions. These rays of the sun are the roads or the paths, as it were, for the soul when it rises upwards after the departure from this body. This description is in connection with the death of a purified person who is expected to attain liberation by progressive stages, called by the name kramamukti, gradual liberation. Such a person chants Om at the time of death. Everyone will not chant Om at this crucial moment. Those who are accustomed to such a practice throughout life, who have led a very disciplined life of spiritual contemplation throughout their career on earth, will be able to recollect this practice at the time of passing, when usually the mind gets confounded due to the action of natural forces.

How much time does the soul take to jump into the sun? It takes as much time as the mind will take to go to any place. That means it does not take much time. The so-called distance of 93 million miles between the sun up there and the individual here on this earth makes no difference to the soul. It does not take any time at all to reach the sun. Such is the quickness of its action. The soul is taken to the sun at such speed through the passage of the rays. The moment it thinks, it is there. So quickly it is taken there.

This sun is the glorious passage to Brahma-loka, the realm of the Creator. This is the entrance to the glorious immortal abode of Brahma. And also it is the halting and checking place, as it were, for the unknowing persons. Those who do not carry an 'accepted passport' are turned back from the sun. Everyone cannot go there. The knowers go there and the unknowers return. The latter will not even be allowed to touch that spot. So the sun is the check-post where there is a filtering of souls, as it were. The purified ones are allowed to go beyond and the unpurified ones are kicked back to the earth. He is an entrance to the region of Brahma to the purified ones and also a closed door to those who are unprepared for this ascent.

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In this connection there is a Slogam, says the Upanishad.

7.Tad esa slogam:

satam caika ca hrdayasya nadyah

tasam murdhanam abhinihsrtaika,

tayordhvam ayan amrtatvam eti

visvannya utkramane bhavanti,

utkramane bhavanti.

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One hundred and one are the principal nerve currents in this body. One among these hundred and one moves vertically, as it were, towards the crown of the head. This is usually called the sushumna-nadi in Yogic language. If our prana and minds can travel through this central nerve current called the sushumna and up through the crown of the head, we attain immortality. And this is kramamukti, gradual liberation.

But if the pranas depart not by this central nerve through the crown of the head but through other orifices in the body, then there is rebirth. It may be in this world or it may be in some other lower world, according to the particular passage which the pranas seek at the time of exit. No liberation is possible unless the movement is through sushumna-nadi. So here one part of the discussion of this important subject of the Atman in the heart is concluded.

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Next

Section 5: Importance of Brahmacharyam.

To be continued

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