PRASHNA UPANISHAD -62 : Rishi Pippala.
Chinmaya Mission :
Swami Swaroopananda recently conducted a Hanuman Chalisa Maha Yagna in Nairobi, Kenya, with the theme of ‘Go Beyond Your Goal’. The talks were well-received, and the audience attendance increased every day. Swamiji explained the meaning and significance of the Hanuman Chalisa, as well as the impact of chanting the verses with faith and devotion. He recommended the attendees to chant the Hanuman Chalisa daily, seven times a week on either Tuesday or Saturday, and 100 times once a year or at least once in a lifetime.
A children’s camp on Hanumanji was held concurrently with the talks, where children engaged with stories, bhajans, chanting, games, and activities based on Hanumanji. The camp was a success, with the number of children increasing from 48 to 117 by the end of the week. The children left with a strong role model that they could look up to throughout their lives.
The event concluded on Hanuman Jayanti, which was celebrated with Hanuman Janma celebrations and Maha Arati with 108 arati plates, followed by 108 chanting of the Hanuman Chalisa the next day. The feedback received from everyone who attended the event was outstanding. Swamiji gave the audience a way to attain their life goals and go beyond them, providing hope, faith, and firm conviction, and showing them how to hold on in times of difficulty.
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#6 Questions, 67 Mantras: “Questions from Disciples Answered.”
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SUKESHAA’S QUESTION:
Query No 6: The Source of Power
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Tuesday 10, September 2024, 06:17.
Mantram - 6.3:What Determines Our Life or Death?
Post-62.
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Mantram - 6.3:What Determines Our Life or Death?
1
sah eekshaam chakre: =The Purusha deliberated deeply: (or penetrated into)
2
kasmin aham utkraanta = “As a result of whose rising up (departure)
utkraantah bhavishyaami; = shall I also rise up (depart, or die)?
3
kasmin vaa pratishthite, = As a result of whose continuance (in the body)
pratishthaa syaam, iti. = shall I also continue (to live)?”*
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*i.e. What is it whose absence or presence determines our death or life?
This mantram has a very mystic tone about it; we can err in its interpretation in two
ways – either by reading too much into it, or by not giving it its due. The safest is to adhere
to the Truth about creation (the body) as has already been explained in the text. We have
been told that the Supreme Brahman is no different from His creation. He is in every bit of
His creation.
1
Sah: The Supreme Being, the Purusha, is imagined to be deliberating Himself on His
own creation. What did He want to know, and about what subject? The Bhashya of Sri
Shankaracharya gives a clue to this difficult probing of Purusha. It suggests that Purusha
enquired into 3 matters:
i) Creation – when He enquired into this subject, He was able to come up with 16
categories into which creation could be split. These are the 16 Kalas which are listed in the
next mantram.
ii) Results – in creation, such as the departure of any particular category from the
body, or its continuance in the body.
iii) Order – of the creation of the 16 categories, from Prana to name, which means
the relational or sequential chain of cause and effect.
Brahman thus meditated upon Himself in this manner. Very mystical, indeed! And
what did He come up with? If we keep in mind Brahman’s imminence in Creation, we get:
2 Can anything depart from creation without Him also departing?
3Can anything go on existing here without Him being present in it?
This is the fundamental principle to be remembered when we interpret the mantram. In
effect, these are the two questions being asked in these lines. One senses that Brahman was
just having a repast and light-heartedly mused upon Himself! Guruji seemed to agree:
Guruji toyed with this idea a bit and said, “Left to Himself, being the One without a
second, there was no one to appreciate Him. So He started this world-show so that the
whole world would appreciate Him! Otherwise it would be like the peacock’s dance in the
forest – there are no onlookers to enjoy and appreciate its dance. And when he had this
thought Maya, His power of Delusion, at once superimposed Herself on Him, producing
Ishwara the Total Soul (Ishwara of the macrocosm), and the individual soul (Jiva of the
microcosm).”
In short, this is the answer to Brahman’s reflection in this verse – Ishwara and Jiva, at
the macrocosmic and microcosmic level respectively. When these two depart, Brahman
cannot stay here (in the world). When will they depart? – When Knowledge of the Self
arises, the world does not exist; it departs, so Brahman also has to depart!
Now the serious part is that the illusion can last only as long as Maya or Avidya lasts;
and Self-Knowledge alone can dispel Maya or Avidya. The reference here is entirely to the
Vedantic idea of Maya superimposing itself on Brahman to give rise to the projection of this
manifested world.
The staying and the departure of Brahman refer to the experience of life and death
in individuals. What are the essential factors upon which life rests? What is the essential
thing which has to depart in order to define death of the body? This is another way of re
casting the questions of this mantram.
The deliberation of Brahman on this matter produces the following verse which gives
the full list of what He had to create, the result produced by each, and the order or
sequence they were created in.
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Mantram - 6.4: How the 16 Kalas Were Created
Continued
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