The Aitareya Upanishad -3.

 

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Saturday, April 17, 2021. 01:45. AM.
The Aitareya Upanishad -3.
Section 2.continued&Section-3.
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 Section 2

Hunger and thirst symbolically stand for desire, which is the main motive power behind the functioning of the sense organs. According to this verse, the creator did not create a specific region for hunger and thirst, while he did it for the rest of the divinities. Instead he assinged the entire body to them so that every part in the body would experience and hunger and thirst and seek food and water for their survival in return for the services they render. In other words, hunger and thirst compel the whole body and its parts to work properly and secure food. Imagine if hunger and thirst were limited to only a particular part in the body. People would have solved the problem of hunger by just cutting of those organs and lived happily without experiencing any desire for food or water.

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Section 3 :

1. He thought, "Now here are the worlds and the controllers of the worlds. Let me create food for them."

2. He meditated upon waters and from the waters so meditated upon, came forth a form which was verily food.

First the Self emerged. No one created. It was there in the beginning since it is eternal and indestructible. Then the Self created the duality and diversity by manifesting various parts or organs of the body in which the deities or the controllers were installed. Next he subjected them to hunger and thirst so that they would listen to the body, depend upon it and do their part in its survival and continuity. Since, the parts are subject to hunger and thirst, they need nourishment. Therefore, he created food. Food not only refers to the food we cook and eat, but all things that aid in our survival and continuity. At the macrocosmic level it represents all the materiality and sense objects. The world itself is food for the god of Death, who rules our mortal world. The water symbolically refers to Nature. If you remember in a previous verse we heard that the Self gathered the primal being from the waters only and all the parts of the body were created from it. Thus Nature is the source of all materiality. At the subtle level, food symbolizes pure energy.

3. This form so created wanted to run away. It (the being) tried to seize it with speech. But speech could not take hold of it. Indeed if he could have seized it with speech, with speech alone he would have had the satisfaction of eating food.

4. It (the being) tried to seize it with breath. But breath could not take hold of it. Indeed if he could have seized it with breath, with breathing alone he would have had the satisfaction of eating food.

5. It (the being) tried to seize it with sight. But sight could not take hold of it. Indeed if he could have seized it with sight, with seeing alone he would have had the satisfaction of eating food.

6. It (the being) tried to seize it with hearing. But hearing could not take hold of it. Indeed if he could have seized it with hearing, with hearing alone he would have had the satisfaction of eating food.

7. It (the being) tried to seize it with skin. But skin could not take hold of it. Indeed if he could have seized it with skin, with sensation alone he would have had the satisfaction of eating food.

8. It (the being) tried to seize it with mind. But mind could not take hold of it. Indeed if he could have seized it with mind, with thought alone he would have had the satisfaction of eating food.

9. It (the being) tried to seize it with reproductive organs. But reproductive organs could not take hold of it. Indeed if he could have seized it with reproductive organs, with emission alone he would have had the satisfaction of eating food.

10. Then It (the being) tried to seize it with out breath. And he seized it. He who has grasped food thus is what air is. This one who lives on food is verily of the nature of air.

The gist of these verses is that hunger and thirst cannot be satisfied by using the senses. You cannot overcome hunger by looking at food, speaking about it, touching it, listening about it, thinking about it or by having sex. It goes away only when you eat food with your mouth. When you swallow the food, you let out some air. Hence, the expression that the being was able to grasp food with the help of Apana (outgoing) breathe. In the early Upanishads such as this one, you will find a subtle hint that the Self is the same as breathe. The Self is the enjoyer, the breathing one, who grasps food using his outgoing breathe as a handle and nourishes the body.

11. He pondered, "How can this food exist without me?" He pondered, " Through what path should I enter into it?" He wondered, "If speaking is through speech, if breathing is through breath, if seeing is through the eyes, if hearing is through the ears, if touching is through the skin, if thinking is through the mind, if breathing out is through the out breath, if emission is through the reproductive organs, then who am I?"

The body by itself has no support. It cannot function by itself without the Self. Food has no meaning and value without the enjoyer residing in it, which is the Self. Hence, having created the body, having assigned specific duties and functions to the organs, having creaked hunger and thirst, and having created food for their nourishment, the Self decided to enter the body and become its support. Since, the organs in the body were already occupied by their presiding deities, he wondered through which organ to enter the body. There is not experience without the one who experiences. Hence the expression, how the food exist without the enjoyer.

12.Opening the very end of the head, He entered through it. This is the opening, which is known by its name vidrti. It is (the source of) delight. For that exist three abodes, three kinds of dreams. This is the abode, this is the abode, this is the abode.

The aperture in the top head, which is also the location of sahasrara Chakra, is considered the point of entry and exit for the soul. At the time of conception, it enters the body through it and at the time of death also it departs from there. The Vedic seers arrived at this conclusion by observing how people died in their last moments. During death, a person's body loses strength and becomes numb from the feet upwards. Then he gradually loses consciousness as his eyes, speech, and ears grow weak. Finally, he would loose consciousness and die. Thus, they might have noticed that the head was the last part to die and consciousness or intelligence was the last thing to lose vitality and movement, and attributed it to the movement of the departing soul.

The three abodes of the Self are considered to be the eyes, the heart and the mind or intelligence. The three kind of dreams are the waking state, the dream state and the deep sleep state. All three are considered dream states only because the mortal world is an illusion, or a dream like experience, and unreal. Thus, we can see here an early reference to the idea of Maya or illusion. According to another interpretation, the three abodes of the soul, the body of the father, the body of the mother and one's own body. Prior to birth, the soul resides in the parents' bodies and after birth resides in its own body. However, the first interpretation seems to be the correct one, because the teacher of the Upanishad used the expression thrice, "this is the abode," to show the parts or the locations in his body.

13. He, having born, perceived the created beings. He perceived this very Person, the all pervading Brahman. "I have seen this," he said. What else would one desire to speak here?

14. There is his name Idandra. Indeed Idandra is the name. They speak of him indirectly who is Idandra as Indra. Indeed God seems to be fond of speaking indirectly.

This verse refers to the duality experienced by the embodied Self. Perception does not exist in the transcendental world because there is not duality. It happens only when the Self enters the mortal worlds and inhabits a mortal body. Idandra is the witness consciousness. He is compared Indra, who is the lord of the heaven in the  macrocosm or the lord of mind in the microcosm. He is also the controller of all sense organ. The seers do not refer to him directly because he is indescribable. Therefore, they refer to him indirectly as That or It.

To be Continued ...
Next- Chapter- 2.

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