KATHA UPANISHAD - 60. Swami Advayananda.

Swami Chinmayananda:

What is the meaning and significance of Chinmudra?

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Friday 12, Jul 2024 06:30.
Chapter 1.3:
17 Mantras: THE JOURNEY AHEAD
THE ROUTE OF THE JOURNEY
1.3.10 & 11: The Journey Mapped Out
Post - 60.

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THE ROUTE OF THE JOURNEY
1.3.10 & 11: The Journey Mapped Out

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|| 1.3.10||

Indriyebhyah paraa hi arthaah =Beyond the senses are the sense objects;

arthebhyah cha param manah; =beyond these objects is the mind;

manasah tu paraa buddhih =beyond the mind is the intellect;

buddheh aatmaa mahaan parah = and beyond the intellect is the Great Self.

Mahatah param avyaktam =Beyond the great Manifested is the unmanifested;

avyaktaat purushah parah; = beyond the unmanifested is the Purusha;

purushaat na param kinchit = beyond the Purushah there is nothing;

saa kaashthaa saa paraa gatih. = That is the end, That is the highest Goal.

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Acharyaji assured us that in the entire scriptures, we will not get verses like in this

chapter that bring so much clarity concerning the Sadhana to attain the Self. For that

reason, the Katha Upanishad is highly quoted by preachers and teachers. It is quite unique

for the simple and convincing way in which it brings home to us the essentials of Sadhana.

The Forward & the Return Journeys:

In these two verses, the route is mapped out. How the goal, namely Brahman, is to

be reached is shown from here onwards. Nachiketas can pack his luggage for the trip ahead!

The journey that is to end in his own Self is about to begin! More is said of this journey in

the next verse. Here only the route is given.

When creation begins, it is from Brahman down to the gross manifested world. This

is the forward journey, called Adhyaropa or a theoretical superimposition. It is represented .

The return journey is called Apavada or the intellectual de-superimposition.

This takes us back from the gross to the subtle and then to the causal, until we return to

Brahman. It is represented from Pada 8-1

The Bhashya’s Link: Three Criteria of Subtlety:

At one point in the Bhashya, Shankaracharya, in answering an objection, says that

the journey is not in space, not in an ‘x-y-z axes’ system, but a journey in understanding,

knowing and reaching deeper levels within our Being. It is like a journey made by Earth to

discover its own core. No physical distance needs to be traversed. Earth needs only to

“meditate” on itself, going deeper and subtler till it reaches its own core.

Three criteria are used in the Bhashya to differentiate a lower realm from a higher:

i) Sookshma Taram: Subtlety– the higher is subtler than the lower realm.

ii) Sarva Mahat Taram: Vastness– the higher is potentially more powerful and

inclusive than the lower realm.

iii) Pratyag Atma Bhootam: Immanence– the higher is reached by going deeper and

deeper within; going to the inner core brings us to the next level of subtlety.

From Sense Organs to Sense Objects:

At first glance it is normal to think there is a mistake here – that the two levels

have been interchanged. Surely the objects are grosser than the senses? The reason would

be that the senses are made of subtle elements and the objects of gross elements. But Yama

has switched their places. Acharyaji’s first response was to say, “Yama has bowled a

‘bouncer’ out of the blue, but Shankaracharya responds to it with a flash of brilliance – he

plays a hook shot and despatches it for a six!”

Let us analyse the “hook shot” using the 3 criteria given above:

i) Subtlety

: The sense organs are an assemblage of sense objects. That makes the

senses effects of the objects, which means the senses are lower in the hierarchy than the

objects. The objects have to be considered subtler when seen in this manner!

ii) Vastness

: The sense objects are clearly far greater in number and size than the

senses. Besides, the sensory range of the stimuli they emit is vaster than that picked up by

the senses. X-rays for example cannot be seen, certain sounds cannot be heard.

iii) Immanence

: The sensory stimuli from the objects pervade the senses. Without

these stimuli from the objects, the senses would have no work to do. Hence the objects

form the core of the senses, and are thus subtler.

In this way Shankaracharya successfully handles the ‘bouncer’!

From Sense Objects to the Mind:

This is much easier and more conventional than the first explanation:

i) The Bhashya considers the Mind to be produced from the Tanmatras, whereas the

objects are produced from the gross elements. As a pot is a particular form of clay, so also,

the mind is a particular form of the Tanmatras. The mind’s subtlety is seen from this.

ii) The mind receives all the five perceptions from the objects via the sense organs. It

then knows what the object is. There is a seer – seen relationship between them. The seer is

always greater than the seen. The mind can see many objects – mind is one, objects are

many.

iii) The gross elements are produced from the Tanmatras, their cause. The cause is

always inside the effects. The third criterion is satisfied.

From Mind to the Intellect:

i) Mind is random thoughts, whereas the intellect is organized thoughts. This

shows that intellect is subtler.

ii) Intellect governs the mind. It produces the decisions for the mind to act upon. It

envisions a possibility; the mind cannot do that. Intellect is thus vaster than mind.

iii) The Antahkarana or inner equipment is one entity consisting of four subdivisions.

The intellect weighs all the thoughts contained in the mind and produces a decision from it.

The intellect is the innermost core of the inner instrument.

From Intellect to Mahat or Total Intellect:

i) and ii) The individual intellect is restricted in its operation to just one mind and

body system. The Mahat is the sum of all intellects. The individual intellect is a part of the

Total Intellect. Thus the Mahat is subtler and vaster. \

iii) The Total Intellect is the substance of which is made the individual intellect. Thus

the Total is at the inner core of every intellect.

This brings us to the end of 1.3.10, which deals with the Manifested creation. For the

Unmanifested level we go into 1.3.11.

From Total Intellect (Mahat) to the Unmanifest (Prakriti):

The cause of this manifested world is Prakriti. From Prakriti arises Hiranyagarbha or

Mahat. Hence, all the conditions necessary to prove that Prakriti is Param compared to

Mahat, are met. Prakriti is like the seed from which the whole banyan tree grows. It

contains all the potential powers for creation to take place. The Great Prakriti is Unmanifest

even to the mind and intellect, which in turn are unmanifest to the senses. Prakriti is the

Cause of the entire manifestation of the universe. It is also called Maya, Shakti, the Divine

Mother, Beeja, and Pradhana.

The word ‘Ota-Prota’ is used to describe the role of Prakriti. It means “warp and

woof” as in the textile industry. The entire universe is the warp and woof of Prakriti. This

well describes the vastness of Prakriti.

From the Unmanifested (Prakriti) to the Supreme Self (Parama Purusha):

Here we come to the ultimate Causeless cause of everything. The Purusha is the

subtlest level, the vastest and the innermost core of everything in creation.

Beyond it there is nothing. It is the Substratum of all objects created, gross or

subtle. The Self is the culmination of subtlety.

The Ultimate Reality

Our final resting place is not the cemetry, but the inner Self, the Ultimate Reality.

It would be absurd to think of something else equal to the Self. There cannot be two

Realities – it is illogical. A sect of Buddhism called Vijnanavadins attempted that by positing

Non-Existence beyond Existence. That led to enormous problems in logic such as “infinite

regression”, and ended in it being called Agnostic.

Causeless cause may be understood this way: Avyakta or Prakriti is the cause of

Hiranyagarbha and through it the entire Samashti Prapancha (universe). Prakriti gets

modified and produces various objects of creation, each different from the other. It may be

said to be their “modifying cause”. The Purusha is said to be the Cause of this cause

(Prakriti) in a totally different sense. It undergoes no modification Itself, but it supports all

that Prakriti produces. It is the Cause of all by being their substratum, while still remaining

totally pure and unaffected by the changes taking place in the universe.

A good simile for this is the snake and the rope. The rope stands for Brahman; the

snake for this manifested world. The rope is ‘vaster’ than the snake that is superimposed on

it. The rope pervades the snake, not vice versa. Hence, the rope is subtler than the snake,

vaster than it, and is its inner core.

The all-pervasiveness of Purusha is what gives it that name. It is such a unique

quality that ‘Purusha’ is the only term used in Vedic literature for It. This is unlike Prakriti

which has many names.

An Insight from Gurudev:

Regarding the triple criteria for determining a thing higher than another, Pujya

Gurudev gives a valuable insight into subtlety.

According to him subtlety can be measured by Pervasiveness

alone.

For example, there are solid, liquid and gaseous objects. Gas is the subtlest because

it will occupy all the space available to it; solid would be the least subtle. Pervasiveness itself

is measured by Pratyakatma or that which is the inner core of a thing, supporting it in the

outer environment. This insight relates all three of Shankaracharyaji’s criteria to each other,

placing them in the order of subtlety, pervasiveness and inner core.

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1.3.12: Self Seen Only by Subtle Intellect

Continued

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