Index…

Kathopanisad

Chapter 1 Valli 2 Mantra 17

Lecture

Mantra

Etat ālambanam shreshtham etat ālambanam param;
etat ālambanam jnātvā brahma-loke mahīyate.

Etat aalambanam shreshtham = This (Om) is the best symbol; etat aalambanam param = This (Om) is the symbol for the highest;etat aalambanam jnaatvaa = This (Om) is the symbol worth knowing; brahma-loke maheeyate = For He comes to be adored in the world of Brahma.

Most glorious in this support, this is the supreme support. He who realized  (known) this support comes to revel in the world of Brahma.

1-3 Like most scriptures, the thing that is taken up under discussion is always praised as the best. This is done so as to instill the right faith in the mind of the student. He has to feel that what he is going to engage himself in is going to bring him the results promised most efficiently. Therefore, in this verse OM is given that supreme status.

4 Not only is the symbol praised, but it is also said here that one who does the worship of OM becomes worthy to be adored by all who are familiar with anything to do with the spiritual realm. Among devotees, the worshippers engaged in OM Upasana are recognized to be genuine seekers working towards their legitimate goal. There is a stamp of approval given to them through this verse. This is an important factor in ensuring that a person begins this worship with full confidence that the goal will be reached; that the reward will be received; that the effort will end in success.

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Index…

Kathopanisad

Chapter 1 Valli 2 Mantra 16

Lecture

Mantra

Etat hi eva aksharam brahma
etat hi eva aksharam param;
etat hi eva aksharam jnaatvaa
yah yat icchhati tasya tat

Etat hi eva This word alone is verily; aksharam brahma Brahman;
etat hi eva This word alone is verily; aksharam param Brahman, the Superior;
etat hi eva This word alone is verily; aksharam jnaatvaa that which is to be known;
yah yat in order to obtain; icchhati desires; tasya tat;

The scope of OM worship in its general form is given in this verse. “The higher world” means different things to different people according to the goal they desire. It ranges from the Saguna to the Nirguna, i.e. from the Brahman with form and attributes to that which is Formless and Attributeless.

• In this Pada, Om is taken to mean the “inferior” or Saguna Brahman. This stands for Hiranyagarbha, who is at the helm of all the conditionings associated with Hiranyagarbha is the ‘Spout’ or ‘Womb’ of Creation. All manifestation, gross and subtle, begin from Hiranyagarbha.
• In this Pada, Om is taken to mean the “superior” or Nirguna This represents the unconditioned Brahman, where there is no duality whatsoever.

This is the Goal which is strived for by the sages who are free of all attachments to this world of duality.

• Om is meditated upon in two different ways in either of the above two aspects. In both cases, Om leads the worshipper or meditator to the goal he is striving for. The symbol Om thus stands for both wings of higher worlds, namely, that desired by Preyas-minded worshippers, as well as that desired by Sreyas-minded aspirants.
• According to the goal one has in mind, so is the fruit of the worship – one goes to the plane of one’s desire. Our intention determines what we attain. It is our intention which manifests as the The symbol Om is the means which takes us to that fruit.

This could mean any of many planes of existence in which one may enjoy the fruits of one’s merits. These have been explained earlier in Chapter 1. However, for the aspirant who has no desire for any of these pleasures in heaven, the same Upasana, done with the intention of desiring liberation from the wheel of Samsara, obtains the highest fruit of oneness with the Supreme Self or Brahman.

Another division of Om worship is based on whether the worshipper uses the sound symbol OM, or the form of the letter “OM”. The first is called “Shabda Vachyam” and the second is “Shabda Pratikam”. Both of these are equally effective in application. One is based on name, and the other on form. Either of them can be used in Om meditation, for either attaining Saguna Brahman or attaining Nirguna Brahman.

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