The Chhandogya Upanishad - 60: Swami Krishnananda.

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Thursday 04, Jul 2024. 06:20.
Chapter 4: An Analysis of the Nature of the Self
Section 12: The Self as Spirit
Mantram-4 continued
Post-60.

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Mantram-4

Atha yatraitad-akasam anuvisannam caksuh, 

sa caksusah purusah darsanaya caksuh,

atha yo veda idam jighrantiti, 

sa atma gandhaya ghranam, 

atha yo veda idam abhivyaharaniti sa atma, 

abhivyaharaya vak, atha yo veda idam srnavaniti, 

sa atma, sravanaya srotram.

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This eye is only an instrument of perception. What sees an object is not the eye. What sees through the eye is the same thing as that which hears through the ear. The eye cannot hear and the ear cannot see, and so are the functions of the other senses limited to their respective domains. There is a distinction among the functions of the different senses. But we know very well that we can integrate these perceptions through all the senses into a single whole, so that one individual being is aware simultaneously that there is seeing, hearing, etc. In our case, it is only an inference, but in the case of the liberated soul, it is an actual revelation

It is not merely that. It is something deeper than this implication. What sees through the eye also is different from the eye, and what is seen through the eye also is different from the object. It is not the eye that sees, and it is not the object that is seen. It is 'something else' that is seen and it is the same 'something else' that sees. Therefore, the seen and the seer are one. It is as if that 'something else' is beholding itself. It is the Atman that smells, not the nose. The nose or the instrument of smelling is only a vehicle utilised by consciousness for this purpose. One that speaks is not the tongue. It is the Atman that speaks utilising the instrument of the tongue as merely an occasion for its manifestation in that particular manner. So is the case with the ear. The ear is only an occasion for the manifestation of the Atman. The Atman is a single, non-dual, all-pervading Being which works in these diverse ways in the forms of the senses, sense-perception, and the objects of perception. So, there is really no such things as sense-perceptions, the senses and their objects. It is the Atman projecting itself in every nook and corner of the universe through these orifices called the senses and contacting its own universal body, outside which we wrongly call the objects of sense. This is the truth. The liberated soul is fully aware of this truth, while others are ignorant about it, although it is the same in their case also.

Mantram-5.

Atha yo veda, 

idam manvaniti sa atma, 

mano'sya daivam caksuh sa va esa etena 

daivena caksusa manasaitan kaman pasyan ramate.

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Mantram-6.

Ya ete brahma-loke tam va etam deva atmanam upasate, 

 tesam sarve ca loka attah sarve ca kamah, 

sa sarvams-ca lokan apnoti sarvams-ca kaman, 

yas-tam atmanam anuvidya vijanati, 

iti ha prajapatir-uvaca, prajapatir-uvaca.

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Whatever thinks through the mind also is the Atman. The so-called mind is only a cognitive instrument. But it is a superior kind of instrument. It is a celestial eye provided to us. In fact, the mind alone works in Brahma-loka. The senses do not exist there. These manifestations in five ways as hearing, touching, seeing, tasting and smelling do not come into operation in Brahma-loka. The great souls living in Brahma-loka do not see with the eyes, do not speak with the tongue and do not eat and drink as we do. They merely exist in their mental body. There are some who even think that the mind also does not work there in the ordinary way. It is something super-physical and non-material that becomes the vehicle for the experience of the soul in Brahma-loka. This celestial eye comprehends all things at one stroke, unlike the senses which perceive only one thing at a time. This is the instrument that is used in Brahma-loka. The moment such a mind thinks, the whole conglomeration of objects connected with that thought appears at one stroke there in its presence. The archetypes of things are perhaps visualised in Brahma-loka, not the reflections. The objects which we see in this world are not the originals. They are only reflections. All the originals including those of myself and yourself are in Brahma-loka. We are all reflections of the original. We are all unreal bodies, apparitions in some respect, looking like very important persons. Our importance is somewhere else and we are rooted in a higher realm. And we are even now connected with that realm. Our legs are there though we appear to be moving here! We are reflections and therefore distorted. We are partial and finite, on account of which we are incapable of fulfilling our desires. The original which is the whole, the infinite, alone can work. Reflections cannot really work as efficiently as the original. This efficiency in working comes only when we reach Brahma-loka.

Now this Brahma-loka does not mean some other world which is several million miles away. It is a state of consciousness. It is within these very walls of our room. It is only a higher frequency of consciousness that is called Brahma-loka, into which one can raise oneself even here. Really there is no question of 'here' and 'there'. These are only inappropriate terms used in connection with sense experiences for want of better terms. There is neither 'here' nor 'there', neither 'then' nor 'now'. All these words cannot apply in Brahma-loka. Wherever you are, there is Brahma-loka, if only you can tune up your mind to the high frequency of its level of consciousness.

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Mantras - 5&6 continued

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