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Kathopanisad

Chapter 1 Valli 3 Mantra 11

Lecture

Mantra

ma̱hata̱ḥ para̍m a̱vya̱kta̱m avya̍ktāt pu̱ruṣa̍ḥ paraḥ |
pu̱ruṣā̱n na pa̍raṁ ki̱ñci̱t sā̱ kāṣṭhā̍ sā pa̱rā ga̍tiḥ ||

param = beyond; mahataḥ = the Great Self; avyaktam = is the Unmanifest; paraḥ = higher; avyaktāt = than the Unmanifest; puruṣaḥ = is That which fills the Entire Universe, the Supreme being; puruṣāt = than the Purusha; na paraṁ kiñcit = there is nothing higher; sā kāṣṭhā = the acme, the culmination; sā = that is; parā gatiḥ = the final, ultimate Goal.

Beyond the great (Magat) is the unmanifested (Avyaktam). Beyond the Avyaktam is the Purusha; beyond the Purusha there is nothing; that is the ads that is the highest goal.

by Swami Chinmayananda:

The total Intellect described in the previous Mantra constitutes, as we know, the Hiranyagarbha, which is the state of the world as it first emerges out of its very seed condition, as a sprout. We all know that in a fig seed we have, in fact, in an unmanifest condition, the entire tree itself. Under favorable conditions, through the minute holes in the skin of the seed, water is absorbed and the food contents of the seed bloat out and tear the testa and the tegmen which are the coatings of the seed. The radicle and the plumule, fattening themselves upon the ready food stored away in the cotyledons slowly shoot out through the aperture made in the skin of the seed. At this stage the seed is said to be sprouting.

Similarly, the Supreme Truth, the all-pervading Pure Existence, eternally remains in its unsullied State of Perfection, Due to the play of Maya, Pure Consciousness starts projecting Itself through various layers of grossness to end ultimately in its manifestation as the Jagat, In the analogy of the seed, if the Total Intellect be the condition of the sprout, where manifestation has just started becoming evident, then the condition of the tree in the seed as unmanifest would correspond with the State of Avyakta, stated in the Mantra. The Avyakta state is the State of the Unmanifest Jagat; something like the condition of each of us in our mother’s womb; it may be noted here that Avyaktam, Pradhana, Moola-prakrti, Avyakrti and Maya are synonymous terms.

Beyond Avyaktam is the Purusha – Subtler than the State called the Unmanifest is the Supreme, Pure Existence, termed in the Upanishad, in this Mantra as Purusha. This is the subtlest of the subtle factors which is the Supreme Goal of all the manifested world.

In our enquiries into the last two Mantras, we were seeking from the grossest external manifestations of Truth, through layers of greater and greater subtleties, to the supreme point of purity and subtlety, the Truth, We, find in degrees that the grossest are the sense organs and beyond them are the sense objects. Still subtler is the mind. Beyond the mind is the intellect. Subtler than the intellect is the Total Intellect. Yet subtler is the Unmanifest, and, herein we conclude by declaring, that the subtler than the Unmanifest, the Supreme Goal of our seeking, is the Purusha, the Truth. As logic would have it, it is possible that in this chain of varying degrees of subtlety we may yet come to enquire what is subtler than the Purusha. In this case we may tumble down into the logical absurdity known as Anavastha dosha (Regress ad Infinitum). To avoid this, and to satisfy fully an enquiring intellect, Sruti here clearly explains, ‘beyond the Purusha there is nothing’.

It may yet be wondered at by the seekers whether this Purusha-tattva is after all the Supreme Truth, by identifying with which we may reach that static of Supreme Perfection and Peace. In order to allay all such vague doubts, and to rewind all the loose ends into one cord, the scripture, here in this Mantra, definitely asserts (sa kāsthā) ‘that is the end’.

by Swami Gurubhaktananda:

From Total Intellect (Mahat) to the Unmanifest (Prakrti):

The cause of this manifested world is Prakrti. From Prakrti arises Hiranyagarbha or Hence, all the conditions necessary to prove that Prakrti is Param compared to Mahat, are met. Prakrti is like the seed from which the whole banyan tree grows. It contains all the potential powers for creation to take place. The Great Prakrti is Unmanifest even to the mind and intellect, which in turn are unmanifest to the senses. Prakrti is the Cause of the entire manifestation of the universe. It is also called Maya, Shakti, the Divine Mother, Beeja, and Pradhana.

The word ‘Ota-Prota’ is used to describe the role of Prakrti. It means “warp and woof” as in the textile industry. The entire universe is the warp and woof of Prakrti. This well describes the vastness of Prakrti.

From the Unmanifested (Prakrti) to the Supreme Self (Parama Purusha):

Here we come to the ultimate Causeless cause of The Purusha is the subtlest level, the vastest and the innermost core of everything in creation. Beyond it there is It is the Substratum of all objects created, gross or subtle. The Self is the culmination of subtlety.

The Ultimate Reality:

Our final resting place is not the cemetery, but the inner Self, the Ultimate Reality. It would be absurd to think of something else equal to the Self. There cannot be two Realities – it is illogical. A sect of Buddhism called Vijnanavadins attempted that by positing Non-Existence beyond Existence. That led to enormous problems in logic such as “infinite regression”, and ended in it being called Agnostic.

Causeless cause may be understood this way: Avyakta or Prakrti is the cause of Hiranyagarbha and through it the entire Samashti Prapancha (universe). Prakrti gets modified and produces various objects of creation, each different from the other. It may be said to be their “modifying cause”. The Purusha is said to be the Cause of this cause (Prakrti) in a totally different sense. It undergoes no modification Itself, but it supports all that Prakrti produces. It is the Cause of all by being their substratum, while still remaining totally pure and unaffected by the changes taking place in the universe.

A good simile for this is the snake and the rope. The rope stands for Brahman; the snake for this manifested world. The rope  is ‘vaster’ than the snake that is superimposed on it. The rope pervades the snake, not vice versa. Hence, the rope is subtler than the snake, vaster than it, and is its inner core.

The all-pervasiveness of Purusha is what gives it that name. It is such a unique quality that ‘Purusha’ is the only term used in Vedic literature for It. This is unlike Prakrti which has many names.

An Insight from Gurudev:

Regarding the triple criteria for determining a thing higher than another, Pujya Gurudev gives a valuable insight into subtlety. According to him subtlety can be measured by Pervasiveness alone.

For example, there are solid, liquid and gaseous objects. Gas is the subtlest because it will occupy all the space available to it; solid would be the least subtle. Pervasiveness itself is measured by Pratyakatma or that which is the inner core of a thing, supporting it in the outer environment. This insight relates all three of Śaṅkaracharyaji’s criteria to each other, placing them in the order of subtlety, pervasiveness and inner core.

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Kathopanisad

Chapter 1 Valli 3 Mantra 10

Lecture

Mantra

i̱ndriye̱bhyaḥ pa̍rā hya̱rthā̱ a̱rthebhya̍ś ca pa̱ram ma̍naḥ |
mana̍sa̱ś ca pa̍rā bu̱ddhi̱r bu̱ddher ā̍tmā ma̱hān pa̍raḥ ||

arthāḥ = the objects; parā hi = are higher indeed; indriyebhyaḥ = than the sense-organs; param ca = and superior arthebhyaḥ = to the sense-objects; manaḥ = is the mind; parā ca = and higher still; manasaḥ = than the mind; buddhiḥ = is the intellect; paraḥ = higher; buddheḥ = than the intellect; ātmā mahān = is the Great Self.

Beyond the senses are the sense objects; beyond these objects is the mind; beyond the mind is the intellect and beyond the intellect is the Great Self.

by Swami Chinmayananda:

This and the following Mantra together provide the Sadhaka with a line of thinking which he could pursue during his deep meditations upon the Immortal and the Eternal Essence which is the core of his existence. Earlier we had already explained that in the language of our philosophical text-books, “beyond” or “within” indicate the comparative subtleties between two or more factors; subtleties in such cases being measured by the greater pervasiveness of one factor over the other. The Sruti here starts with the grossest manifestation of Truth, and, slowly guiding the student through degrees of greater and greater subtleties, ultimately introduces him into the very realm of the subtlest of the subtle, the Atman that resides in the holy of the holies in us.

This Mantra also is clearly echoed in Gita. The meaning of the various portions of this Mantra, though clear in themselves, present some obvious difficulties in understanding the opening statement that the sense objects are subtler than the sense organs themselves, Modem science explains to us that there is no mechanism conceived of by man in his laboratories which is as subtle as the sure Dictaphone provided in our ears or the ready camera adjustments of our eyes, or for that matter the sensitive equipment in our organs of touch or taste. None of the above has ever been beaten even by the best of the discoveries of man, even during this Era of Science! Yet, the Sruti dares to declare that ‘subtler than the sense organs are the sense objects’. It is natural then that the student reading and wondering over this Mantra should come to wonder how the “forms” are greater than the “eyes”, or the “sounds” greater than the “ears” or the “taste” greater than the organ of “taste”.

This portion of the Mantra is explained by teachers to their disciples in the Himalayan valleys very clearly. For example, this very Sadhu found it difficult to gulp this statement down, and had to approach his master for extra-explanations, Doubts in philosophy have a knack of exhausting the student at their very first appearance and when the explanations come from a true master, all of a sudden, the student finds himself wondering how the doubts ever arose at all in him when their explanations were so simple and obvious!

Were it not for the different “forms” available in the world outside we would not have been able to feel or assert that we have “eyes”; if the world were to be steeped in silence all would have been deaf; for, in such a condition the sense organ. “ear” has no justification for or proof of its very existence. In “this sense the sense objects are the very cause for the sense organs.

It may be clearer if we take a modern example from our own political life. The President of the Indian Republic, or for that matter, the very Parliament itself would not have any existence if the Indian Janata were not there! The people of a country are the cause for the State and for the Government of that country. Certainly, the total might and power of the State is not to be found in any of the individual Indians; yet, the Janata of the country is the cause for the State in that country.

In this sense, the sense objects are the causes for the sense organs. Since cause is always subtler than its effects, the Sruti is fully justified in explaining to us that beyond the sense organs, lie the fields of sense objects such as form, sound, taste, smell and touch.

Beyond the object is the mind — The significance is self-evident. Mind is certainly much more subtle than the causes of sense organs. But for the mind, the sense impulse reported by the sense organs as they come in contact with the sense objects would not have been registered and synchronized together to give us the total impression of the objects, as the table, the chair, etc.,

Beyond the mind is the intellect — In our early discussions on the fundamental principles of Vedanta we had discussed the scope and structure of the human mind when we said that the mind was the “receiving-and-dispatching clerk” in the inner secretariat. The mind receives impulses sent in by the five sense organs and synthesizes them into one consolidated report and passes it up to the intellect.

The decisiveness of the intellect is that which finally disposes of the “report”; there, the impulses received are checked up with the previous experiences of similar impulses, which are stored away in the memory, and, with reference to and in terms of the past experiences, the present impulses are revalued and correctly classified. The intellect thereupon passes down its judgment, which, in its turn, is, for the necessary execution of orders, pushed back by the mind, to the five sense organs, who implicitly act as they are required in the outer fields of the sense objects.

Here, the scheme of the inner Government is so elaborately discussed, only to show the greater importance the intellect has over the mind. The scripture is perfectly justified in making her statement that the intellect is subtler than the mind.

Beyond the intellect is the Great Self – Naturally so. The Great Self is what we have so far discussed in our earlier lectures as the Total Mind or the Total Intellect, the Hiranyagarbha. In our false sense of egoism and delusion-created sense of separateness we presume generally that we think our own thoughts, totally independent of the thoughts of others; We also presume that our thoughts are exclusively our own and nobody need worry about the texture or the quality of our individual secret thought! This is an absurd and false statement worthy to be blabbered only by a thoughtless, uneducated, barbarian! Nobody can think even a single thought in absolute independence and freedom from the whole.

Let us take an example and try to understand it. Mr. Das returning from his office, takes his tiffin, and lying on an easy chair in his pajamas, comes to entertain an idea that he must go to the “pictures”. He soon comes to feel that he has a wish to see the “pictures, and that it is his wish. Now friends, do you accept that this clerk after his day’s work resting in his verandah is the sole author of this idea! Is he not a product of the thoughts and values of his age (his great grandfather would never have thought of such an idea, since there was no cinema in his time), a slave to the conscious and the unconscious influences that he has been receiving in the society during the week and a victim of the silent murmurings of the innumerable advertisements that he must have seen and the thousands of laudatory statements heard from his friends who applauded this particular “picture”: And however intelligent he may be, he would yet shamelessly declare that, “go to the pictures” was his own independent individual idea which came to him that evening!

In fact, none of us can independently feel or think. We, each of us, live every moment of our life influenced by others; and if we be true in our convictions and noble in our values of life we shall be, to that degree, influencing the total.

The Total Intellect is the concept of the God-principle. Here the “intellect” stands for the entire “inner instrument”, Antahkaran. It must certainly be obvious to us now that the Total Intellect is certainly subtler than the individual intellect.

by Swami Gurubhaktananda:

1. Yah tu vijnānavān bhavati    But he who is of a discriminating intellect
2. yuktena manasā sadā;         having restrained his mind always
3. tasya indriyāni vashyāni     his senses are controllable
4. sad ashvāh iva sāratheh.     like the tame horses of the charioteer.

The Vijnana-vani: This is the discriminating driver who is cautious about following all the road rules, who is skilled in driving, who takes great care to rein in the mind so that the horses are well-controlled. A good intellect is the key to a successful journey.

A good charioteer is sane and sober, thoughtful and discerning, understanding and knowledgeable, he is patient, careful and alert to avert any danger on the road. For the owner’s peace of mind, it is worth giving the intellect the highest salary.

The Vijnana-vani is capable of choosing Sreyas instead of Preyas. He possesses the fortitude to walk the path of Vidya. As discrimination is the key to the whole journey, it pays to take time and get the intellect trained to do this task well – even if that means spending two years on a Vedanta Course!

The message we take from these two verses is: “Let the Lord be the charioteer of our lives. He makes all the difference. Let us place our intellect in His hands. Let us invoke the Grace of Gayatri to raise our Buddhi towards the Light and keep it there. Let it not linger in the darkness of ignorance.”

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