KATHOUPANISHAD - 64. Swami Advayananda.

Upanishad Ganga:September 13, 2012

Continuing the introduction  to the Research Team....presenting  Swami Advayananda:

Inspired  by Pujya Gurudev, Swami Chinmayananda, Swami Advayananda at a very young age of 18, joined Sandeepany  Sadhanalaya, Chinmaya Mission's premier Institute for the study of Vedanta in  Mumbai. On the completion of his Vedantic training  in 1992, he was bestowed Brahmacharya Diksha by Pujya Gurudev and given the  name Samahita Chaitanya. He served Chinmaya Mission centres at Kodaikanal and  Trichy and later as the Acharya (Teacher) in-charge of the Spiritual and  Cultural Department of the Chinmaya International Residential School,  Coimbatore. In the year 2000, Brahmachari Samahita Chaitanya became the Acharya of  the Sandeepany Vidyamandir, the Gurukula of the Chinmaya Mission at  Coimbatore and trained a batch of young monks. In 2003, he was initiated  into the holy order of Sannyasa by Pujya Guruji,, Swami Tejomayananda, the  head of Chinmaya Mission worldwide, and was bestowed the name Swami  Advayananda.  Since then, Swami Advayananda has been serving as the  President of the Chinmaya International Foundation (CIF), the Academia wing  of Chinmaya Mission located at the maternal birth home of Shri Adi Shankara at  Veliyanad, Ernakulam District, Kerala, and is guiding the Sanskrit research  activities.  Presently he is the resident Acharya at Sandeepany  Sadhanalaya, Mumbai and teaches various texts of Vedanta to a batch of  seekers.

An accomplished teacher of  Vedanta with many Gita and Upanishad Jnana Yajnas to his credit, Swami  Advayananda has authored many books like the Holy Gita Ready Reference,  Advanced Vedanta Course, Vedanta Unveiled and edited many publications of  Vedanta in Sanskrit and English such as the Foundation Vedanta Course,  Ishwara Darshanam, Sukti Sudha and Dhimahi.

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Friday 06, September 2024 06:10.
KATHOPANISHAD
Chapter 1.3:   
17 Mantras:  THE JOURNEY AHEAD
THE GLORY OF THIS JOURNEY
Mantram - 1.3.15: Subtlety of the Supreme Self 
Post - 64.

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Chinmaya Mission: 

Thirty youngsters from various parts of Kerala gathered for an enriching weekend at the Gita for Yuva camp, held from August 17 to 18, at Adi Sankara Nilayam. The camp, conducted in both Malayalam and English by Br. Sudheer Chaitanya, Br. Ved Chaitanya, and Brni. Taarini Chaitanya, was inaugurated by Prof. Gauri Mahulikar, Academic Director of Chinmaya International Foundation. Through insightful sessions on Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, and Jnana Yoga, participants explored the timeless wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita. The program was further enhanced with Gita chanting, group discussions, and interactive activities, leaving the youth inspired to embrace a path of righteousness and spiritual growth.

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Mantram - 1.3.15: Subtlety of the Supreme Self 

1 

Ashabdam asparsham = That which is soundless, touchless,   

aroopam avyayam = colourless, undiminishing; 

2 

tathaa arasam nityam = and also tasteless, Eternal,  

agandhavat cha yat; = and odourless is That. 

3 

anaadi anantam =  Without beginning, and without end,  

mahatah param dhruvam = distinct from Mahat, and ever constant – 

4 

nichaayya tat =By knowing That     

mrityu-mukhaat pramuchyate. = one becomes freed from the jaws of death. 

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Link:  We have an important Link Passage before this verse. It explains why the 

knowledge is so subtle. Ordinary gross elements are used as an example so that we 

understand the idea of subtlety. In a gross element, there are the five qualities, namely, 

smell, taste, form, touch and sound, known through nose, tongue, eye, skin and ear. 

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We begin with Earth, which has all 5 qualities knowable through our 5 senses. Now –  

When smell is removed, we are left with Water which has the remaining 4 qualities. 

When taste is removed, we are left with Fire which has the remaining 3 qualities. 

When form is removed, we are left with Air, which has the remaining 2 qualities. 

When touch is removed, we are left with Space  , which has the remaining 1 quality. 

When sound also is removed, we are out of range of all grossness.  

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1-2

 From the moment we start reducing the number of qualities – soundless, 

touchless, colourless, tasteless and odourless – we begin shifting to subtler and subtler 

levels. It is the properties that cause the grossness. When we come to the Self, it is the 

subtlest of all ‘substances’, without any properties. Hence, the Self is extremely difficult to 

understand with our limited intellect. This is what we have seen in mantras 10, 11 and 13. 

With this introduction from Shankaracharyaji, we can at least learn to appreciate and 

grasp how subtle the Self is. Only an intellect that is very subtle and very pure can hope to 

grasp or ‘behold’ the Self. 

The Self is Nitya

 The Bhashya expands greatly in respect of this single quality of the Self being called 

Nitya or eternal. Three approaches are made to understand what is meant by Nitya. 

i) 1-2

 Nirguna: “Self has none of the 5 Properties” – All five qualities picked up by the 

five senses are excluded in the Self. When the last quality of sound is taken away from 

space, what we are left with is beyond our sensory knowledge. There can be no decay in 

what is left after all properties are removed. Hence that Self is said to be Nitya. This is the 

first reason

ii) 3a

 Anaadi-Anantam: “Self is Beginningless and Endless” – A thing has an end 

when it changes to something else, which then becomes the effect. An example is milk, 

which is destroyed when it changes into curds. The curds is an effect produced by its cause, 

the milk. The Self is not like that. It cannot cease existing by changing into something else, 

because it is unchanging. It produces no effects. It is also beginningless as it has no Cause. 

This is the second reason why it is Nitya

3b

 Mahatah Param: as a result of being Anaadi and Anantam, the Self is distinct 

from the realm of Mahat or the Total Subtle or Hiranyagarbha. Mahat is the point at which 

begins all creation which has a beginning and an end. The Self is beyond even Mahat. From 

this viewpoint also, the Self is regarded as Nitya – this is the third reason

iii) 3c 

Dhruvam: “Changelessly Constant” – the constancy is not relative like the 

earth or a river. The earth is constant relatively speaking, but everything in it is undergoing 

change. A river, too, is relatively constant, for every moment the water at a given point is 

different from what was there a moment before. The Self’s constancy is absolute. It does 

not change at all, i.e. it is changelessly constant. This is the fourth reason why it is Nitya. 

4

 The mantram closes by stating the Phala or fruit of realizing the Self. Being “free from 

the jaws of death” is a graphical way of saying that one attains liberation from the ceaseless 

round of births and deaths.  There is no change with respect to taking different births. When 

the goal is reached, there is no longer any rebirth or transmigration. This is the fifth reason

 for calling the Self Nitya or changeless.  

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Next

Mantram - 1.3.16: Glory of the “Nachiketas” Knowledge 

Continued

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