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Kathopanisad

Chapter 2 Valli 3 Mantra 8

Lecture

Mantra

a̱vyaktā̱t tu pa̍raḥ pu̱ru̱ṣo̱ vyā̱pako̍’liṅga̱ eva ca | yaṁ jñā̍tva mucya̍te ja̱ntu̱r a̱mṛta̍tvaṁ ca̱ gaccha̍ti ||

avyaktāt tu paraḥ puruṣaḥ = the Purusha is superior to the unmanifest; vyāpakaḥ = He is all-pervasive; aliṅgaḥ = having no identifying sign; eva ca = indeed (emphasis); yaṁ jñātva =  having known whom; jantuḥ = a person;  mucyate = is liberated from all bonds [of ignorance]; gacchati amṛtatvaṁ ca = attains immortality as well.

And verily beyond the unmanifest is the All-pervading Purusha devoid of all distinctive marks, knowing whom, the creature (the knower) is emancipated and he attains immortality.

by Swami Chinmayananda:

These two Mantras are taken together because we had already commented exhaustively on all the points raised in the first part of the second stanza. As we had in Valli IV here again the Mantra is only repeating what had already been said regarding the ascending spiral that takes us from the grossest to the subtlest Principle in us.

The Purusha or the subtlest of the subtle Factors in us is explained here as Vyapaka (all-pervading) and Alinga (without distinctive characteristics, properties, etc.,

Atman being the subtlest of the subtle, as we have discussed before, it must necessarily be an All-pervading Tattva.

In the Sanskrit logicians’ vocabulary, the word Linga has a particular connotation, a scientific import, and is used in philosophical discussions only at such places where the philosopher wants to point out its scientific meaning. Much of our knowledge is made out of our capacity to infer. Almost all our knowledge of things not yet seen is derived through the source of knowledge called inference. When there is a lot of smoke rising from a point in the distant range of hills, we from our point of observation, infer that there is fire on the hill. The sign or the distinctive mark, viz., smoke, observing which, we come to the definite conclusion of the things is called the Linga in the logicians’ terminology.

With this knowledge of the exact connotation of the word, we can now easily understand the import of the scripture when She says that the Purusha is devoid of any Linga. It means that there are no properties or qualities or such other indicative signs by which we can directly perceive, and, therefore, come to recognize the Self in us.

He who realizes this Self, through a subjective experiencing, not only gets liberated from the shackles of mortal limitations, but also the Sruti asserts, most surely, reaches the Deathless State of Eternal Existence. “Brahmavith Brahmaiva Bhavathi” (knower of Brahman becomes Brahman), is the incessant declaration of all Srutis.

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Kathopanisad

Chapter 2 Valli 3 Mantra 10

Mantra

yadā̍ pa̱ñcāva̍tiṣṭhante jñānā̍ni̱ mana̍sā saha |
buddhi̍ś ca na̱ vice̍ṣṭate tā̱m āhu̍ḥ para̱mām ga̍tim ||

yadā = when; pañca jñānāni = the five sources of knowledge eyes etc; manasā saha = together with the mind which collates the data they gather; avatiṣṭhante = are at rest, have ceased to fluctuate; ca buddhiḥ = and also the intellect characterized by determination; na viceṣṭate= does not engage in activities; tām = that state [of quiescence]; āhuḥ = is called; paramām gatim = the highest state.

When the five organs of knowledge are at rest together with the mind, and when the intellect ceases functioning (becomes calm) that state, they call the highest state.

by Swami Chinmayananda:

Here we have the clearest exposition as far as language and intellect can go, of that State of Eternal Auspiciousness experi­enced, when the soul meets the Soul (Samadhi). When the five sense organs are perfectly controlled, naturally, the mind is devoid of almost ninety percent. of its activities. What little field, the mind has now, to get itself agitated in, is constituted of its stored-away memories and self-created imaginations. When even these agitations are controlled, we reach the state explained in the Mantra, the state when the sense-organs are at rest along with the mind. Even this is not sufficient. For, at this state, the intellect will be throbbing, though of course, it will be very feeble, with its own ideas and ideals. The Upanishad wants us to reach a state where the sense-organs, the mind, and the intellect are all at rest. And this state is defined by the Sruthi as the State of vitally experiencing the Supreme Absolute Reality, the Self. As a matter of fact, have we not, almost every one of us, experienced a state, wherein our sense-organs, mind, and intellect are not at play? In sleep we all know that neither our Indriyas nor our Manas nor our Buddhi comes to interfere with our peaceful rest with their endless death dances; then, are we not experi­encing Reality during all the occasions when we are plunged in deep sleep? If the condition of sleep be the condition of Reality, is the Upanishad asking us to be nothing more than idlers, sleeping round the clock all the days of our lives? ” thus ask the skeptics.

Such and other similar questions would rise up in the mind of the uninitiated when they superficially read the Mantra now under discussion entirely in itself In fact this Mantra has no independent existence without the total knowledge we have so far acquired from the leamed discourses of Lord Death. We must read this stanza, especially in the light of the previous one.

There is a lot of difference between sleep and the state of Self meeting the Self. The condition of Samadhi is often ex­plained to us as something very near sleep, because living as we are in a very gross plane of consciousness, the God-men of the Upanishad could not explain to us their transcendental experiences, but in terms of our own world of limited experi­cnces. The nearest state, they could find, which man is enjoying and which can be favorably compared with the state of Samadhi is sleep, in the sense, while we are sleeping our sense-organs, mind, and intellect are at rest. The comparison is only so far as it explains this common similarity.

During moments of God-consciousness, the individual transcends his mind and intellect, to reach the Land of the Eternal Consciousness, while a man in sleep has only folded up his mind, intellect, and sense-organs, for the time being, and finds himself reaching the dark Land of the Unconsciousness! The one in sleep is drowned in the darkness of ignorance; the one in Samadhi is in the sunshine of Knowledge. The sleeper is a slave in a negative living, while the knower is a master in a positive existence. These ideas are hinted at in the unwritten space between the above two stanzas.

In order to delve deep into our own bosom and light up the match of intuition, so that it may flare up and blow off the veiling walls of mental and intellectual disturbances, and thus finally reveal the Self unto the Self, what exactly is the process to be pursued? This question is answered in the following Mantra.

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