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Kathopanisad
Adyaya 1 Valli 2 Mantra 12
Lecture
Mantra
taṁ du̱rdarśaṁ gū̱ḍham a̍nupraviṣṭaṁ
guhāhitaṁ gahvare̱ṣṭham pu̍rāṇam
adhyātma-yo̱gādhigame̍na devam
ma̱tvā dhī̱ro ha̱rṣa-śokau̍ jahāti
matvā = meditating on; taṁ = Him; that purāṇam = ancient, everlasting; devam = Deity/Self; durdarśaṁ = hard to perceive; gūḍham anupraviṣṭaṁ = deeply hidden; guhāhitaṁ = situated in the depth of the mind; gahvareṣṭham = existing in the midst of misery [in the body/mind complex which is the source of all suffering]; adhyātma-yogādhigamena = focusing of the mind upon the Ātman; dhīraḥ = the Intelligent person; jahāti = is freed from, abandons; harṣa-śokau = happiness and sorrow.
Realizing through self-contemplation that Paramātman, difficult to be seen, deeply hidden, situated in the cave (of the heart/intellect), dwelling in the depth, the wise-one leaves behind both joy and sorrow.
Yama tells Naciketas about the mysterious Divine Being hidden in the depths of one’s own being, which is difficult of access by ordinary means such as perception (pratyakṣaṁ) and reason (anumāna) and yet is accessible by meditation. Yama, in different ways and phrases, brings out the impenetrable mystery of the inmost reality which is the goal of the spiritual journey. If the Brahma world is the fulfilment of all desires, this eternal bliss is obtained by the renunciation of all desires; while Brahma-loka is the highest place of the manifested cosmos, its farthest limit, there is the eternal which is far beyond it.
gūḍham — deeply hidden. It is hidden because we have to get behind the senses, mind and understanding. It is the very ground of the Self. The Buddhists look upon every creature as an embryo of the tathāgata, tathāgata-garbha. Every creature has the possibility of becoming a Buddha. When we reach the sub-conscious mind, we are in immediate relationship with the Eternal. This basic principle which we recognise by direct experience or continued contemplation is the basis of human freedom. It is the principle of indeterminacy, the possibilities of determinations which are not yet. If we identify ourselves with what is determinate, we are subject to the law of determinism.
It is deeply hidden because it is obscured by avidya in the form of Karma. — Rāmānuja.
adhyātma-yoga — self-contemplation. adhyātma means pertaining to the Self as distinct from adhibhūta, pertaining to the material elements and adhidaiva, pertaining to the deities. Adhyātma yoga is connecting with one’s essential self. It is the practice of meditation, a quiet, solitary sustained effort to apprehend truth which is different from the ordinary process of cerebration. The insight into the nature of the jīvātman is the cause of the knowledge of the Paramātman.
See ŚU. 1.3; Maitrī VI.23. And thus it has been said elsewhere: The syllable Om is what is called the word. And its end is the silent, the soundless, fearless, sorrowless, joyful, satisfied, firm, unwavering, immortal, immovable, certain (Brahman), called Vishnu. Let him worship these two, that he may obtain what is higher than everything (final deliverance). For thus it is said:
‘He who is the high and the highest god, by name Om-kāra, he is soundless and free from all distinctions: therefore let a man contemplate on him in the crown of his head.’
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