Aitareya Upanishad - 13. - T.N.Sethumadhavan.

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


Chinmaya Mission :

Swami Brahmananda commenced a Geeta Jnana Yajna in Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Koramangala on Bhagavad Gita for Daily Living on 7th of Dec, 2022. The Yajna was inaugurated by Smt and Sri K M Rajagopal, one of the members of the Mission. Earlier Smt Chaitanya Satish gave the Yajna a very divine start with her soulful invocation while Sri K Krishnamoorthy, President of the Mission highlighted the activities of the Mission along with the impact of Pujya Gurudev on the Global spiritual community. Swamiji explained that the purpose of all our shastras is to bestow peace and tranquillity of mind. The yagna which will conclude on 14th Dec is sure to ignite the spiritual quest and deepen the love for Mother Gita of all seekers. If you are in the area, do take the time to join in person and benefit from these discourses.

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

Saturday, December 10, 2022. 06:45. 

Chapter III - Consciousness is Supreme Oneness 

Preamble - It all started with Consciousness, Atman. 

Post - 13.

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

Chapter III 

Consciousness is Supreme Oneness 
Preamble 

It all started with Consciousness, Atman. Atman projected the universe and entered into it 

thereafter. When it looked around, it found that everything is pervaded by it. As Atman is 

Brahman, Brahman is nothing but Consciousness – prjnanam brahma. 

This is the Mahavakya or the Great Saying of this Upanishad contained in 3.1.3. 

This chapter begins with a question as to what should be meditated upon as Atman. It 

says that this sort of doubt has no relevance because everything that exists – mind, 

senses, cosmic powers, living beings and material objects - has Consciousness as its 

fundamental basis as well as its inner power. 


The text concludes that the whole universe is guided by Consciousness. So 

Consciousness must be the Ultimate Reality, the Transcendental Power, the Absolute 

Truth, and the Supreme God. Thus the importance of the Aitareya Upanishad lies in its 

statement that Consciousness is Brahman, the Absolute – Prajnanam Brahma as well as 

for the concept of three births of the man. 

The Text 

Mantram-1.

OM ko.ayamAtmeti vayamupAsmahe kataraH sa AtmA . yena vA pashyati yena 

vA shRiNoti yena vA ga.ndhAnAjighrati yena vA vAcha.n vyAkaroti yena 

vA svAdu chAsvAdu cha vijAnAti .. 1.. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Who is He upon whom we meditate thinking: "This is the Self"? Which one is the 

Self? Is it He by whom one sees form, by whom one hears sound and by whom one 

tastes the sweet and the unsweet? 

The purport of the Mantra is with whose co-operation the man visualizes all objects 

through his eyes; hears sounds through the ears; smells through the nostrils; speaks 

through the speech organ; distinguishes the tasty from the non-tasty through the tongue? 

Who is that Atma to be worshipped? 

Mantram-2.

yadetaddhRidayaM manashchaitat.h . sa.nj~nAnamAj~nAna.n vij~nAnaM 

praj~nAnaM medhA 

dRiShTidhRi.rtimatirmanIShA jUtiH smRitiH sa.nkalpaH kraturasuH kAmo 

vasha iti . 

sarvANyevaitAni praj~nAnasya nAmadheyAni bhava.nti .. 2.. 

Is it the heart (intellect) and the mind? It is consciousness, lordship, knowledge, 

wisdom, retentive power of mind, sense knowledge, steadfastness, though, 

houghtfulness, sorrow, memory, concepts, purpose, life, desire, longing: all these 

are but various names of Consciousness (Prajnanam). 


The question raised was answered by concluding that Consciousness is that Atma which 

has to be meditated upon. This entity – Consciousness – has several names as stated in 

the Mantra. 

Mantram-3.

eSha brahmaiSha indra eSha prajApatirete sarve devA imAni cha 

pa~nchamahAbhUtAni pRithivI vAyurAkAsha Apo 

jyotI.nShItyetAnImAni cha kShudramishrANIva . 

bIjAnItarANi chetarANi chANDajAni cha jArujAni cha svedajAni chodbhijjAni 

chAshvA gAvaH puruShA hastino yatki~nchedaM prANi ja~Ngama.n cha patatri 

cha yachcha sthAvara.n sarva.n tatpraj~nAnetraM praj~nAne pratiShThitaM 

praj~nAnetro lokaH praj~nA pratiShThA praj~nAnaM brahma .. 3..

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He is Brahma, He is Indra, He is Prajapati; He is all these gods; He is the five great 

elements—earth, air, akasa, water, light; He is all these small creatures and the 

others which are mixed; He is the origin—those born of an egg, of a womb, of sweat 

and of a sprout; He is horses, cows, human beings, elephants—whatever breathes 

here, whether moving on legs or flying in the air or unmoving. All this is guided by 

Consciousness, is supported by Consciousness. The basis of the universe is 

Consciousness. Consciousness is Brahman (Prajnanam Brahma). 

Having so thought they came to the conclusion that Brahman himself is the creator of all 

and it is He who provided multifaceted powers to all. He is alone worthy of being 

worshipped by everybody. He himself is Brahma, Indra and Prajapati. The gods such as 

Indra, the five elements and creatures born of egg, uterus, sweat, and erupting from the 

earth, horses, kine, elephants, and humans- all collectively referred to as world, moving 

and non-moving creatures, all derive power from Brahman who is the Knowledge itself. 

Only due to His power all are capable of functioning and they all are seated in Him alone. 

The entire universe is sentient or animated only due to this Supreme Power who is their 

base. He is the Paramatman, Consciousness, and Knowledge who alone is to be 

worshipped. That Consciousness is Brahman who is described in several ways by 

different thinkers as it is conceived in their minds. This is the Mahavakya (Great Saying) 

of this Upanishad. 

*****

Next
Mantram-4 :

sa etena prAj~nenA.a.atmanA.asmAllokAdutkramyAmuShminsvarge loke sarvAn.h 

kAmAnAptvA.amRitaH samabhavat.h samabhavat.h .. 4.. 

To be continued

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

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Aitareya Upanishad - 7. Swami Krishnananda

Image
=========================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 21/04/2020. Post-7. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. *"We live in a world of untruth," says the Upanishad very, very poignantly. #We are involved in the untruth of our physicality, our individuality, our sociability, our isolation of ourselves from other things and the compulsion that we feel to see things only as present outside us. **We are very much concerned with things outside and concerned very little with our own selves. ***When we open our eyes, we see only that which we are not. ##The Aitareya Upanishad briefly mentions to us, "A sorrow struck the individuals, as if a thunderbolt fell on them, and they cried and wept." ###When you lose yourself, you begin to cry. If you lose anything else, it does not matter, but if it is a question of losing yourself, you can imagine what it
Read more

The Aitareya Upanishad-4. Swami Krishnananda

Image
======================================================================== -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20/02/2020. Post-4. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. #Creation starts with the five elements, to which reference was made in our previous sessions. And when creation starts in this manner, division takes place. Creation is not merely a manifestation of externality, it is also a manifestation of division or partition of the otherwise inclusiveness, or its extension. We do not merely see things outside but, at the same time, we see many things. ##So, creation involves two aspects of perception: externality and multiplicity. The externality aspect is caused by space-time manifestation. The very meaning of space-time is externality; extension and duration are the characteristics of space and
Read more

Aitareya Upanishad - 10. - T.N.Sethumadhavan.

Image
 ======================================================================= ========================================================================= Wednesday, October 19, 2022. 07:00.  Chapter I -  Section 2 :  Cosmic Powers in the Human Body Post - 10. ======================================================================== Mantram-11 : yadi tvachA spRiShTa.n yadi manasA dhyAta.n yadyapAnenAbhyapAnita.n  yadi shishnena visRiShTamatha ko.ahamiti .. 11..  He bethought Himself: "How could this exist without Me?" Then He said to  Himself: "Which way shall I enter it?" he said to Himself further: "If speech is  uttered by the organ of speech, if smelling is done by the breath, seeing by the eyes,  hearing by the ears, touching by the skin, thinking by the mind, eating by the apana  and the emission of semen by the sex organ, them who am I?"  The Supreme Self found itself in an unusual paradoxical position. It thought that if every  other organ of the body does
Read more