PRASHNA UPANISHAD - 52: Rishi Pippala.
#Swami Udit Chaithanya of Bhagavatham Village: Spiritual Discourse, at Vayanad district Kerala Annual celebration by Sanatana Dharma Satsangam.
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#6 Questions, 67 Mantras: “Questions from Disciples Answered.”
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SATYAKAMA’S QUESTION
Query No 5: “The Development of Power”
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Saturday 20, Apr 2024. 06:15.
Mantram - 5.2: Omkar – Both Higher & Lower Brahman
Post-52.
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Mantram - 5.2: Omkar – Both Higher & Lower Brahman:
1
Tasmai sa ha uvaacha: = To him, he (Pippalada) said:
2
Etad vai, Satyakama, brahma = O Satyakama, this very Brahman,
param cha aparam = both the higher (superior) and the lower (inferior),
yad omkaarah; = is but this Omkar. (It is the nearest symbol for God).
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3
tasmaat vidvaan = Therefore, the illumined soul,
etena eva aayatanena = with the aid of this means alone, (i.e. Om Upasana)
ekataram anveti. = attains either of the two.
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1
This mantram is like the “Contents” for the rest of the chapter. I It gives the overview of
the Rishi’s answer. The remarks about the two types of seekers applies here:
2
Omkara Upasana can be done to attain both Saguna and Nirguna Brahman, as we
have already mentioned above.
3
Again as already shown above, according to the goal desired, one attains either the Saguna Brahman with form and attributes or the formless Nirguna Brahman without any attributes:
Saguna Brahman: Mantram 5.3 to 5.5 give the three lower or “inferior” levels of
attainment possible with Om Upasana, namely, the Earth-plane, the intermediary plane and
the heavenly planes.
attained by the same Om Upasana, but done with a different attitude and equipped with
knowledge of the Self. Here the goal is the Supreme Brahman Itself, the highest goal held up
by Vedanta.
Mantram 5.7 is a quotation which summarises all these levels of attainment.
Higher and Lower Brahman:
The student is not expected to get confused that there are two Brahmans. The lower
and the higher (Apara and Para), the conditioned and the unconditioned (Saguna and
Nirguna), the finite and the Infinite are simply two levels from which the aspirant launches
his journey to reach the same Brahman.
Waves can be limited, but the ocean has no limitation. Similarly the lower is the
stage where one still sees himself as a wave without knowing its relation to the ocean. The
higher is where he has come to a correct understanding of the one ocean and seeks to
become one with That.
As one practises the Upasana of Om, the understanding builds up and the aspirant is
led naturally from the former stage to the higher. In practice there is no hard and fast line
dividing the two. As a name cannot be separated from what it stands for, so also Om cannot
be separated from Brahman, for whom it is a name symbol.
Guruji described the stage by stage journey as the ‘hopping stops’ one takes on a
long flight, when the plane makes one or more intermediate stops along the way. Some
passengers may not even get off the plane at such stops, some may alight and spend a while
at the intermediate station before boarding the next plane to the final destination. And
some may have chosen to get off at the intermediate airport, without any thought of going
to the final destination. When they are ready for it, they will book the plane to get there.
Guruji said this is the liberty available on “Omkar Airways” or Pranava Airlines!
[Pranava is another name for Omkar.] Just as ordinary airlines provide different classes of
travel for different prices, so also “Omkar Airways” can take the aspirant to different
destinations, depending on the price (sacrifice) he is willing to pay!
*****
Next
Mantram 5.3 - One Letter – Gift of Human Birth on Earth
Continued
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