Mandukya Upanishad, Class 27
Karika # 24:
kāla
iti kālavido diśa iti ca tadvidaḥ |
vādā iti vādavido bhuvanānīti tadvidaḥ || 24 ||
24. The
Knowers1 of time call It time2; the
Knowers of space (ether) call It space (ether). Those versed in disputation
call It the problem in dispute and the Knowers of the worlds call It the worlds.3
Continuing his teaching
Swamiji said, Gaudapada pointed out that universe experienced in any manner (as
Swapna, Jagrat, or any other higher state), still remains an object of
experience and thus a mithya.
Mithya means relative
reality, meaning it has meaning only in a particular state. Once the state
changes, the object is no more real.
The
truth of Turiya Atma is that as Observer, I am the projector and sustainer and experiencer
of whatever I projected with the help of a relevant body; the dream world
through the dream body and the waking world through the waking body. The bodies
themselves are projections.
Using the projected bodies I experience the projected universe. When this truth is missed, so many anatmas are mistaken as atma, the reality. Until now, various misconceptions with regard to the external world were pointed out.
Thus Swapna Prapancha is real
in swapna but not in Jagrat; jagrat prapancha is real in jagrat but not in
swapna. Therefore Gaudapada says Observer alone is Satyam while observed is
Mithya.
Advantage of this knowledge
is that mithya, relative reality, cannot affect Satyam, the absolute reality.
The advantage of this knowledge is that whatever happens in Drshya Prapancha,
it does not affect Me. This includes the world, the body and mind; all are
drsihyam and thus mithya; whatever happens to them, I, Turiyam, am unaffected.
Once I lose sight of the fact that I, The Observer, am reality, then Mithya
becomes Satyam.
Once waker is lost sight of,
dream becomes reality; instead of seeing dream as my creative glory, it becomes
a nightmare.
To convey this idea Gaudapada
talked of errors of philosophers in Karikas # 20-28. Each philosopher has
mistakenly taken one object or other as the truth; they don’t realize I the
observer am the truth.
Karika # 25:
mana iti manovido buddhiriti
ca tadvidaḥ |
cittamiti cittavido dharmādharmau ca tadvidaḥ ||
25 ||
25. The Cognizers1 of
the mind call It the mind;2 of3 the Buddhi
(intellect) the Buddhi4; of theChitta (mind-stuff), the Chitta5; and the Knowers6 of Dharma (righteousness) and Adharma (unrighteousness) call It the one7 or the other.
There are astrologers who
attribute everything to time such that I look at myself as a slave of time; I
give reality to time; I think every moment of life is determined by stars; thus
this greatest Brahman has become a victim of time, a mithya. Every event seems
to confirm my confusion that I am victim of Kala; thus I become an extrovert
controlling various planets via Pariharas.
I am not criticizing
astrology; it is a relative reality; it does not take me to absolute reality;
any apara Vidhya should take me to para vidhya. Therefore, till death they are
obsessed with Jyotisham.
Another set of people is
obsessed with quarters. They don’t do namaskara facing south. We should grow
out of all this and realize that all directions are relative reality. Our aim
is to grow out of them; that is why Dakshina murthy is facing south.
It takes time to grow out of
these conditions. They even consider seeing a Sanyasi to be a bad omen.
“A Gyani swallows Yama”, per
Katho Upanishad; for him, the entire world is food; even Yama is frightened of
a gyani.
Similarly, a variety of
systems like mantra vada, tantra vada; each considers that they can influence
life. Each Vada claims it can influence you becoming greater than “you”.
Gaudapada asks why transform
your life when you are complete and wonderful. Other systems say 14 Lokas are
the true. Each loka is governed by its own conditions. Common feature of these
philosophies is that, “I” am slave of these factors. Vedanta says, I am not
dependent on anything; rather they all depend on me.
Karika # 26:
pañcaviṃśaka
ityeke ṣaḍviśa iti cāpare |
ekatriṃśaka ityāhurananta iti cāpare || 26 ||
Some1 say that the Reality consists of twenty-five
categories, others2 twenty-six, while there are others3 who conceive It as consisting of thirty-one
categories and lastly people are not wanting who think such categories to be
infinite.
Then, there are ones,
obsessed with psychology and believe everything is determined by the mind. They
divide mind into two parts. One part of mind, the lower layer, is the
unconscious mind, determined by childhood experiences. Every human life has
this unconscious mind.
I am a victim of my own mind
as my mind is a victim of my own past. They don’t accept freewill. They also
say, anger is part of unconscious mind, as is one’s low self- image. Thus I am
made slave of psychologists.
Another philosophy is Buddhism
also known as Kshanik Vada. It says that the knowledge we have is reality. They
believe in budhi; they done believe in Atma; they believe in stream of
thoughts; they believe every thought exists for a moment. This system is also
known as Yogachara.
Some others consider memory
to be the ultimate truth. Even the way one judges situations and people,
depends on memory. Citing an example: A man falls into a river and is rescued;
but, thereafter, he is scared of the river.
Purvamimasa: This group says
punya and papam are only reality. All Lokas are due to punya and papa. God is also
punya and papam alone. They believe in Vedas but don’t believe in God. They
believe Vedas are eternal without a creator. Dharma and adharma revealed in
Vedas is the ultimate truth.
All these philosophies have the
common factor that they believe in external factors as controlling me.
Karika # 27:
lokām̐llokavidaḥ
prāhurāśramā iti tadvidaḥ |
strīpuṃnapuṃsakaṃ laiṅgāḥ parāparamathāpare || 27 ||
27. Those1 who know only to please others call It (Reality) such2 pleasure; those3 who are cognizant of the Āśramas call It the Āśramas; the grammarians call It the male, female or the neuter, and others know It as
the Parā4 and Aparā.
Another group believes world
as absolute reality. For convenience they divide world into a few principles
and call it Tatvani. Sankhya philosophers believe world is made of 25 Tatvas.
Gaudapada, however, says, this is again another misconception.
Sankhyas are materialists who
don’t believe in God. They believe in Vedas but don’t accept God. Their
philosophy is known as Atheistic Theism.
Yoga philosophers believe in
25 Tatvams plus Ishwara and it is known as Theistic Theism.
Thus:
Kapila Muni wrote Sankhya.
Jaimini wrote Mimamsa
Patanjali wrote on Yoga.
All these people are listed
in Karikas 20-28. Gaudapada says, all these philosophers including: Jaimini,
Kapila amd Patanjali are all confused; they consider “I” am a slave of external
factors. Reality is that they are all slaves of Me, the Turiyam.
Pashupatha shaivism is yet
another group; they have four sub groups such as: Kapalika, Pashupathas. They
believe in 31 Tatvams as making up the world.
When we say Shiva or Vishnu,
what does it mean to you? If they are an object located somewhere different
from you, then Shiva and Vishnu are an objectified personal God. Advaita does
not accept either; we are Brahmavadis. Shiva or Krishna is not different from
Me. For sake of Chitta shudhi you can accept them as Objective gods. Ultimately
Shiva and Vishnu are non-different from Me; I am Smartha or a Brahmavadi.
There are others who say
there are infinite principles that make up reality.
Karika # 28:
sṛṣṭiriti
sṛṣṭivido laya iti ca tadvidaḥ |
sthitiriti sthitividaḥ sarve ceha tu sarvadā || 28 ||
28. The Knowers1 of creation call It creation; the Knowers of dissolution describe It as
dissolution and the believers in subsistence believe It to be subsistence.
Really speaking, all2 these ideas are always imagined3 in Ātman.
Another group believes
happiness is ultimate truth. They say objects of happiness and pleasures are
ultimate truth.
There are others obsessed
with Varna ashrama dharma. It is acceptable to follow this for some time to
gain spiritual growth but soon after one has to get out of it. It is only a
means and not an end in itself. Treating means, as an end is un-wise; so one
has to grow out of Varna ashrama. Don’t let anything bind you.
Grammarians obsessed with
words and language believe language is only truth. They are known as Sphotavadis.
They forget language is only a means of communication.
Parampapas: They believe
ultimate truth is in form of papa. The believe Karya, Karana Brahma is ultimate
truth. Gaudapada says, Karya Karana Vilakshanam is ultimate truth or Turiyam;
it is neither karyam nor karanam.
In chapter # 3 we will
analyze Karya Karana Vilakshnam in greater detail.
Take Away:
With Best Wishes
Ram Ramaswamy