Index…
Kathopanisad
Chapter 1 Valli 3 Mantra 15
Lecture
Mantra
a̱śabdam a̱sparśam a̱rūpam avyayam tathā̍ ‘rasaṁ ni̱tyam a̍gandhavac ca yat |
a̱nādy-a̍nantam ma̱hata̍ḥ paraṁ dhru̱va̱ṁ ni̱cāyya̍ tam mṛ̱tyu-mu̍khāt pramucyate ||
Nicāyya = Having known; tam = that (Self) that is: aśabdam = non-sound, soundless; asparśam = touchless, arūpam = formless; avyayam = undiminishing, undecaying and therefore eternal; tathā = and also; arasaṁ = tasteless; nityam = eternal; agandhavat = odourless; ca yat = and which anādi = beginningless; anantam = endless; mahataḥ paraṁ = beyond (superior to) the mahat; dhruvaṁ = stable, constant; pramucyate = liberated on realizing; mṛ̱tyu-mu̍khāt = from the mouth of death.
He, who has known that which is without sound, without touch, without form, without decay, without waste, eternal, without smell, without beginning, without end, beyond the Mahat (great) and unchanging, is freed from the jaws of death.
by Swami Chinmayananda:
You must be remembering that the burning question that Nachiketas submitted to his master, Lord Death, was, whether there was really an existence after death or not; Lord Death refuses to give him a direct reply in a parliamentary yes-or-no-style, and thus sceptics and low atheists, not having the intellectual capacity to understand the correct import of the very method of religion and religious teachings, quote such instances and cry that even the greatest of Gurus have only succeeded in evading the questions directly asked by the ignorant seekers. But scientifically speaking, the question, though seemingly sincere and correct, is a philosophical absurdity, and no true thinker can afford to answer such a wrong question in terms of a completely scientific language. If supposing Lord Death were to say that there is no life after death he would certainly be telling a lie, since, Pure Existence must eternally exist. If on the other hand, Lord Death were to answer that there was existence after death, again, he would be false; he would be wrong scientifically, for, in the Realm of Pure Existence there could be no trace of non-existence, and the idea of existence can maintain itself only with reference to its opposite, namely non-existence. It was under a similar awkward situation that Lord Buddha also had to keep mum when his disciples pointedly asked him if there was a God or not.
Though Lord Death is not directly answering his disciple the answer is there in his words for the wise and the intelligent to grasp intuitively.
The Mantra under discussion explains the true Nature of the Self in its Absolute State of Perfection, in terms of a language conceived for explaining things and for narrating experiences which are finite and limited. Our concept of the world and the things in it is, as we have already seen, only through the five small peepholes in our body, constituted by our five sense organs. What we cognize or experience in our life is explained in terms of the sounds heard, the touches felt, the forms seen, the tastes enjoyed or the smells experienced.
In short, the world constituted of matter is cognized, and cognition is expressed in terms of the properties of matter. In her attempt to discuss and explain the Abode of the Spirit, Sruti had to point out to us the distant horizon of the world of matter and explain to us, “There in the yonder lies the field of Pure Consciousness, the Kingdom of the Spirit”.
At the boundaries of the finite world of matter all languages stop. Beyond them, only the Language of the Soul, silent meditation, is available for the spirit to converse with the spirit. Naturally, Sruti finds no other convenient and scientific style of language to explain the inexplicable, except by employing a language of repeated negations.
Thus, in this Mantra, we have the Atman explained to us in all its transcendental glory in the language of negation as Asabda (without sound), Asparsa (without touch), Arupa (without form), Arasa (without taste) and Agandha (without smell). This is the only method available for the Science of Truth to explain itself in terms of a finite language.
In negating the properties of matter such as sound, touch, form, taste and smell, the Sruti is indicating that our sense organs cannot perceive Truth as such.
Nithyam (eternal): Because Truth is beyond the comprehension of the sense organs It is eternal; for, a pot or a table, or a chair, perceivable by the Indriyas, is finite. Thus, in negating for our sense organs any play in the world of Truth Srthi has already indicated Its eternal nature too.
Anādyantham (without beginning and without end): Not satisfied with the mere indication of the eternal nature of the Soul by the very language of negation employed, Sruti has already expressed in the first line of the Mantra that Truth is eternal (Nityam). And in her anxiety to drive home the idea into the mind of the seekers, she almost commits a sin of repetition when she says that Truth is without beginning and without end. When we digest this epithet in a true understanding of the science of Brahma Vidya we shall find that without being a mere repetition, it is a well-chosen word to give us a clear idea of everything suggested by it.
That which has an end, meaning, a perishable thing, perishes only to lose its present state of existence; and in thus perishing it can only go back to the condition of its cause. If a clay pot perishes it can only become mud which is the cause from which it had risen. If a seed ends it can only be to become a tree, which is its immediate cause, or it can decay to become the very elements from which it came. When we say that Mr. Gupta has died or is no more, we only mean that the elements which, for a time, constituted themselves into the “form” of Mr. Gupta are no longer keeping that form but have merged with the dust. In the language of physics, © nothing is lost when a candle burns!
Thus, all finite things end only to go back to the cause from which they had been born. In denying an end to Truth, Sruti is indicating to us that Truth is the Cause of all causes and that it has no cause into which it can go back; this also means that Truth as such is not the modification of anything. It is the Ultimate. Hence it is also beginningless.
Dhruvam (immutable, changeless): From the above, it must be quite clear how Pure Consciousness, the Self, in its transcendental nature, is ever changeless.
If such be the plane of Truth, beyond the cognition of the sense organs, the mind and the intellect, even if it be changeless, eternal, beyond the Hiranyagarbha and beginningless and endless, why should a seeker after all seek to establish his identity with it. Is it not more sure, certain, and profitable to reach the day-to-day marketplaces to play the sorrowful game of life, and there to strive and struggle, to sweat and toil, to sob and sigh, in between the flashes of laughter and mirth, smile and dance, song and play.
Sruti is here explaining why man should seek and ultimately fulfil himself in establishing his true identity with this Supreme State of Perfection. He who has known the State of Eternal Bliss is freed from the jaws of death. There is no doubt, indeed, that no other fear in life is so common to all as the dread of death. Here the word “death is to be understood not in its limited aspect of men and beings breathing their last leaving their forms on the surface of the globe to perish and decay. ‘Death’ is used here in its widest scope bringing within its embrace all the finiteness in the world of matter.
Thus, the Mantra explains to the deluded man that he who can seek constantly and ultimately succeed in establishing his identity with this State of Perfection, to him there is no more a world of finite sense impulses to wreck his perfect joys by bringing stormy sorrows and tumultuous despairs into his bosom.
Nichayya (having known). This does not mean ‘to know Truth’ in the sense we know a table or a chair. When the Mantra has, in its very first line, negated the sense organs of any play in the World of Truth, it has negated in effect the play of the mind and the intellect also. Here the term “having known only means experiencing subjectively”. Intuitive experience alone is the mode of ‘knowing’ the Truth Absolute.
14-15. The spiritual path of meditation taking us from the perceptions of Plurality to the vision of Unity is described as “sharp and thin as a razor’s edge”. But it leads all determined and sincere seekers beyond Death to the State of Immortality.
by Swami Gurubhaktananda:
The subtlety of the Supreme Self:
1 Ashabdam asparsham aroopam avyayam That which is soundless, touchless, colorless, undiminishing;
2 tathā arasam nityam agandhavat cha yat; and also tasteless, Eternal, and odorless is That.
3 anādi anantam mahatah param dhruvam Without beginning, and without end, distinct from Mahat, and ever constant
4 nichāyya tat mrityu-mukhāt pramuchyate. By knowing That one becomes freed from the jaws of death.
Link: We have an important Link Passage before this verse. It explains why the knowledge is so subtle. Ordinary gross elements are used as an example so that we understand the idea of subtlety. In a gross element, there are five qualities, namely, smell, taste, form, touch, and sound, known through the nose, tongue, eye, skin, and ear.
- We begin with Earth, which has all 5 qualities knowable through our 5 senses.
- When the smell is removed, we are left with Water, which has the remaining 4 qualities.
- When taste is removed, we are left with Fire, which has the remaining 3 qualities.
- When the form is removed, we are left with Air, which has the remaining 2 qualities.
- When touch is removed, we are left with Space, which has the remaining 1 quality.
- When sound also is removed, we are out of range of all grossness.
1-2 From the moment we start reducing the number of qualities – soundless, touchless, colorless, tasteless, and odorless – we begin shifting to subtler and subtler levels. It is the properties that cause the grossness. When we come to the Self, it is the subtlest of all ‘substances’, without any properties. Hence, the Self is extremely difficult to understand with our limited intellect. This is what we have seen in verses 10, 11, and 13. With this introduction from Śaṅkaracharya ji, we can at least learn to appreciate and grasp how subtle the Self is. Only an intellect that is very subtle and very pure can hope to grasp or ‘behold’ the Self.
The Self is Nitya:
The Bhashya expands greatly in respect of this single quality of the Self being called Nitya or eternal. Three approaches are made to understand what is meant by Nitya.
1-2 Nirguna: “Self has none of the 5 Properties” – All five qualities picked up by the five senses are excluded in the When the last quality of sound is taken away from space, what we are left with is beyond our sensory knowledge. There can be no decay in what is left after all properties are removed. Hence that Self is said to be Nitya. This is the first reason.
3a Anādi-Anantam: “Self is Beginningless and Endless” – A thing has an end when it changes to something else, which then becomes the effect. An example is milk, which is destroyed when it changes into curds. The curd is an effect produced by its cause, the The Self is not like that. It cannot cease existing by changing into something else, because it is unchanging. It produces no effects. It is also beginningless as it has no Cause. This is the second reason why it is Nitya.
3b Mahatah Param: as a result of being Anādi and Anantam, the Self is distinct from the realm of Mahat or the Total Subtle or Hiranyagarbha. Mahat is the point at which begins all creation which has a beginning and an end. The Self is beyond even Mahat. From this viewpoint also, the Self is regarded as Nitya – this is the third reason.
3c Dhruvam: “Changelessly Constant” – the constancy is not relative like the earth or a river. The earth is constant relatively speaking, but everything in it is undergoing A river, too, is relatively constant, for every moment the water at a given point is different from what was there a moment before. The Self’s constancy is absolute. It does not change at all, i.e., it is changelessly constant. This is the fourth reason why it is Nitya.
4 The verse closes by stating the Phala or fruit of realizing the Self. Being “free from the jaws of death” is a graphical way of saying that one attains liberation from the ceaseless round of births and deaths. There is no change with respect to taking different births. When the goal is reached, there is no longer any rebirth or transmigration. This is the fifth reason for calling the Self Nitya or changeless.
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