Aitareya Upanishad : 3. T.N.Sethumadhavan .

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Thursday, May 26. 2022. 19:00. 

Origin of the Universe & Man  

(Part-1)  - 3.

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Mantram- 1. 


"Om atma va idameka evagra asinnanyatki.nchana mishat.h . sa ikshata lokannu srija iti ." 


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Translation of the slokam :


In the beginning all this verily was Atman (Absolute Self) only, one and without a second. There was nothing else that winked. He (Atman) willed Himself: "Let Me now create the worlds". 


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Commentary :


It is the common experience that change can take place only upon a changeless base. The moving waters of a river should have a motionless river-bed. The moving train must have a rigid ground to move upon. Similarly, the world around us is ever changing and the continuity of change gives us the illusion of permanency to it. For this phenomenon of continuous change, we must have a changeless, permanent factor and all our scriptures are an enquiry into the existence and nature of that permanent Absolute Factor. This Upanishad is one such enquiry. In this Mantra the master says that ‘in the beginning’ i.e., before the manifested creation came into existence ‘Self alone existed’. It is just like telling in a cloth shop that before all the varieties of fabrics came into being all those were nothing but cotton.  In the same way we are told that before the manifested world got projected, it was all Consciousness alone, all pervading and eternal.


We must note here that the sage has deliberately used the word Atman and not Brahman. This can be explained by means of the example of foam. Prior to its manifestation foam was being called as water and after its manifestation it is called both as water and foam. The idea is that before the creation of the pluralistic world of objects, names and forms all that remained was the Self (Atman –individual Consciousness) which is nothing other than Brahman(Universal Consciousness) for there is no difference between pot space and universal outer space.  


The Mantra adds that there was no other active principle or entity at that time in the Supreme. This means that the Supreme did not create the world of plurality out of some material cause that already existed like a potter making a pot out of clay that already existed. In the creation of the world the Supreme himself is the material and efficient cause. It also indicates that creation is a misinterpreted super-imposition upon the truth as the appearance of a snake on the rope is available to the disillusioned and confused person only. This is called adhyaropa in Vedanta. 


How did the creation take place? He thought I shall indeed create the worlds. At the end of the cycle, the totality of beings living at that time remains in the form of vasanas or mental impressions. In the beginning of the next cycle, these vasanas are projected by the Supreme (who for this purpose is called Isvara) according to the quality of their past actions to seek out their fulfillment in the objective world to appear. The point to keep in mind is that although the creation is the will of Brahman, the resultant product is not based on His arbitrary whims and fancies but on the nature of past actions by the created persons. Thus the story of creation in Aitareya Upanishad starts when there was nothing other than Consciousness, also called Atman, This One and Absolute Consiousness willed to create a world of multiplicity and relativity. Creation is a consequence of that Will Power, ‘Tapas’.  


The philosophy of Atman is stated here in brevity in the form of a sutra. Later on, by the demonstration that names and forms are mere illusory superimpositions (adhyaropa) and then by their refutation (apavada) will be shown the unreal nature of phenomena and the sole reality of Atman. 


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Next :

Mantram - 2 .

"Sa ima.n llokanasrijata . ambho marichirmapo.ado.ambhah parena diva.n dyauh pratishtha.antariksham marichayah .. prithivi maro ya adhastatta apah." 

To be continued  ....



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