Commentary on the Panchadasi: 9. Swami Krishnananda.

===================================================================================================

Tuesday 01, July 2025, 09:00.
Books
Commentary on the Panchadasi:9. Swami Krishnananda.
Discourse 3
Chapter 1: Tattva Viveka – Discrimination of Reality
Mantras 14-27
Post-9.

======================================================================================================

Mantram - 14:

Tasya hetuḥ samnabhi haraḥ putra dhvanisrutau, 
iha nadira vidyaiva vyamo haika niban dhanam (14). 

In the case of the father's indistinct hearing of the voice of his son chanting the Veda, the obstacle to a clear and distinctive hearing of it is the chorus of the voices of other students also mingling with the voice of his son. That is the obstacle in the case of the illustration cited. What is the obstacle in the case of the Atman, which is only indistinctly or partially felt in us, making us feel that we love our own selves, which is possible only if the Self is revealed or manifest in some way? If it is not manifest at all, in any way whatsoever, there would be no love of self. We would deny our self, rather than affirm our self. That is to say that the Self is manifest in some form. But if it is really manifest, we would not love objects of sense. Why do we run after objects if the Self is distinctly felt inside as the source of all bliss? This shows that there is some obstacle covering the Consciousness of the Self, causing an indistinct perception of it, sometimes making it appear that it is revealed as the source of freedom and bliss in us, and at other times making us feel that we do not have any idea of it and are only thinking of the objects of sense.

The cause of the obstacle in this case is avidya, ignorance. Avidya is a word which is difficult to explain. It is something which covers Consciousness, and is explained in many ways. Some people say that avidya consists of a predominance of rajas and tamas over sattva, and therefore, there is no illumination possible when the cloud of this avidya, or ignorance, covers the Consciousness of the Atman. Others say that avidya is the residue of the potentials of all the karmas that one did in the past. In a way, we may say avidya covering the Atman is nothing but our unfulfilled desires, whose impressions we have carried through several previous births. It may be that avidya is the end result of our unfulfilled desires, those desires which we could not fulfil through our different incarnations in the body, or it may be, to explain it in a different way, rajas and tamas clouding sattva. Sattva is indistinctly manifest in dream, so we have a hazy perception of things. Sattva is distractedly yet distinctly manifest in waking, so we can have a clear perception of things in the world. But we do not have any perception in the state of deep sleep. It is covered by pure avidya—an abundance of rajas and tamas activity, minus the appearance of sattva. Ihā nādira vidyaiva vyāmo haika niban dhanam.

Mantram-15:

Cidananda maya brahma prati bimba saman vita, 
tamo rajas satva guṇa prakrtir divividhaca sa (15). 

There is a thing called prakriti. We have come across this term in our studies of the Samkhya doctrine. In the Vedanta also, this prakriti is accepted, with a little modification of its definition. Brahman is Pure Existence, Consciousness, Bliss—Sat-Chit-Ananda. We have already established this fact. When this Supreme Brahman, which is Sat-Chit-Ananda, is reflected in prakriti, which is constituted of sattva, rajas and tamas gunas, prakriti acts in two ways.

In what way does this prakriti act in a dual fashion? Yesterday we heard that there is, on the one hand, an obliteration of the consciousness of the universality of the Self. That is called the function of prakriti known as avarana, covering. The other aspect of prakriti is vikshepa, which causes the perception of an externality of the world. So, it does two things. It covers Consciousness and then distracts our consciousness in the direction of the perception of objects outside in space and time.

When prakriti operates cosmically and reflects the universal Brahman Consciousness in it, it is called maya. Ishvara is the name given to Brahman revealed, or manifest, or reflected through prakriti's gunas. When a predominance of cosmic sattva, overwhelming rajas and tamas, reflects the universal Brahman in itself, that reflected consciousness in the universal sattva is Ishvara. The universal sattva itself is called maya. Maya is under the control of Ishvara, but avidya is not under the control of the jiva, or the individual. Avidya controls the jiva, while Ishvara controls maya. That is the difference between Ishvara and the jiva, God and the individual.

*****

Next

Mantram - 16:

Satva suddhya visuddhi bhyam maya'vidye ca te mate, 

maya bimbo vasi kṛtya taṁ syāstaavajna isvaraḥ (16).

Continued

========================================================================================================