Index…

Kathopanisad

Chapter 1 Valli 3 Mantra 1

Lecture

Mantra

TWO SELVES

ṛ̱tam pi̍bantau su̱kṛta̍sya loke
gu̱hām pra̍viṣṭau pa̱rame̍ parārdhe
chā̱yā-ta̱pau bra̱hma-vi̍do vada̱nti̱
pa̱ñcāgna̍yo ye ca tri̱-ṇāci̍ketāḥ

pibantau = [there are] two drinkers i.e., Experiencers of; ṛtam = truth, the results of one’s actions; sukṛtasya = of what is done by oneself; praviṣṭau = these two having entered; loke = within the realm i.e., The body; parame guhām [guhyāyām] = into the cavity, into the innermost part of one’s being; the intellect; parārdhe [para-ardhe] = into that which is the abode of brahman [being the space where Brahman is perceived]; brahma-vidaḥ = the knowers of Brahman, the theologians; vadanti = speak of [these two]; chāyā-tapau = as shade and sunlight; pañcāgnayaḥ = the worshippers of the five fires i.e., The householders; ye ca = and they also; tri-ṇāciketāḥ = who have thrice piled up the Nāciketas fire.

The two who enjoy the fruits of their good works being seated in the cavity of the heart, the Seat of the Supreme, the knowers of Brahman call them shadow and light; as also the performers of the Fivefold Fire and those who have propitiated three times the Nāciketa-Fire.

by Swami Chinmayananda:

In this section we have the famous and immortal metaphor of the chariot explaining the Atman and the Body. In the chariot sits the driver and the owner. In the body stays the Paramatman, the Self, and the Jivatman, the Ego, and the entire technique of the Adhyatma Yoga is explained.

To introduce these two factors, the Atma (Self) and the Jiva (Ego), we have here, in the very opening stanza of this Valli, declaration unanimously made by all the realized saints of Knowledge and endorsed by the faithful house-holder Pundits. All of them declare that though the body seems to be controlled and directed by these two factors, one of them is but the shadow replica of the other!!

The shadow or reflection has no independent existence of its own. It exists only with reference to the light or the illumined object.

Desire-prompted thoughts rise and fall in waves eternally in their own chyme and rhythm in the mental lake of an uncultured man-animal. In this mad death-dance of the rumbling thought waves, kicking about their pranks in front of the mind, a composite shadow forms ever trembling and changing.

The individual in his extrovertedness gazing on outwardly views this shadow and identifies himself with it. The shadow represents the (I~ego), the Samsarin, who suffers the mortal agonies of his physical pains, mental tortures, intellectual failures, and spiritual bankruptcy This shadow is called the Jivatman and the light that causes it, the I-Ego, the God Principle in us, is called the ‘Paramatman’,

“rtam” As a noun it is one of the most significant word in the Vedas and means a little more than mere  righteousness; it is something like “Divine Law” that connects actions and their fruits. The fruits of actions are enjoyed only by the individual soul (Jivatma), the “I~ego”. Dual number is here used, instead of the singular; hence, the Sruti statement comes to indicate that both the Supreme Soul and the individual soul are partners in enjoying the fruits of actions. This should not be understood in its literal word meaning, for, Sruti would be thereby contradicting herself her incessant declaration, oft-repeated and always maintained, that the Eternal, All-full Atman is neither a doer nor an enjoyer. He alone is the illuminator of all doings and enjoyments.

And yet, there is in the Mantra the usage of the dual number when it says, * the two enjoy the fruits of their good works.” This difficulty is solved by Sri Śaṅkaracharya in his commentary. He says that the shadow” I~ego has no existence at all without the presence of the Light principle, the I~Ego, and so, they are coupled together in a real way. Examples of this type of coupling are also seen often in our day-to-day transactions in life. When a crowd of people are moving on, and although there are some among them who have no umbrellas (nor Khadi-caps), we, in our general conversations, indicate them all together collectively as the umbrella carriers (the congressmen).

In a similar sense, because of the seeming co-existence of the Jivatman and the Paramatman, the “false-I” and the “Real-I”, the delusory enjoyment of the fruits of actions, which is the lot of the Jivatman, is coupled with the witnessing Eternal Light of Intelligence, the Paramatman. This is more clearly brought out in Mundakopanishad.

Both of them are explained here to be seated in the cavity of the heart, where intelligence resides. This idea of the intelligence being in the heart-space has been repeated before so often, that we need not pause here anymore to discuss it in detail.

by Swami Gurubhaktananda:

The Literal Scenario: At first reading, the literal meaning of this strange verse, is quite amusing:

Two drinkers? At once the picture pops up in our mind’s eye of two persons who, at the end of a hard day’s honest work, are sitting together relaxed, having a drink. A secret cave? This must be their remote meeting place. They cannot drink in the open, so they select a dark corner of the cave where they may not be disturbed in this pastime – least of all overheard by anyone! One of them is a regular drunkard, the other who always accompanies him  is a teetotaler! He is having only grape juice, but who would believe that? His association with his friend implicates him in the drinking without question.

What an exciting start to an Upanishadic drama! Our curiosity is aroused. we are tempted to read more. Is this the right book we have in our hands? Is this the Katha Upanishad, or is it some common novel we have accidentally picked up in its place? Sure, it is the right book. At this point we realize that the Upanishads need a qualified Teacher to explain their meaning to us. Sandeepany provides just that

The Figurative Scenario: Pibantau: “the two drinkers”. Poetry and drama aside, let us first identify the They are actually father and son. The Jiva or individual self is the son, and Atman, the Supreme Self, is the Father. In essence, the son is a chip of the old block; he has the likeness of his father. The father represents the role model, the Destination to be reached. The son is getting there slowly, he is the Traveler who will reach the destination eventually. The father is concerned with the difficulties the son is facing in reaching him, so he keeps a watchful eye on him. The son seems to have encountered some problems.

Ritam: “the drink”. What are they drinking? Literally, Ritam this means “the truth”, but in this case the truth is “the fruits of their actions”, i.e., their Karma. The word Truth is used because only by the fruits of actions can we truly know the motives with which they were performed. There is no clearer indicator of the truth of actions than their fruits. The drinking: this is the activity they are engaged in, a figurative way of expressing the ‘Enjoyership’ attached to the hard work the Jiva puts in. The daily grind at work has a singular motive, to enjoy some pleasure, whatever it may be. And ‘drinking’ symbolizes this enjoyment. This is the Jiva’s daily pastime, and the father is witnessing it at every moment.

Gūhām (the Bhashya corrects this to Gūhāyām): “in a dark, secret cave”. This is the secret meeting place where the drinking is taking place. Where is this cave? It is in the core of one’s heart, a common reference in the Upanishads. This heart is not the visible heart, but is actually the intellect. That is the meeting point of the two ‘drinkers’. In the intellect the Supreme Self gets reflected and the reflection is named the Jiva or Ego.

Pravishtau: “entering”. The Supreme Self is actually a teetotaler, meaning that He is aloof from all worldly happenings. He is untouched by our Upadhis or conditionings. Yet He cannot avoid being accused with the Jiva of being party to the enjoyment, however innocent we know He is. The Self, by the very fact of entering the gross body equipment gets contaminated by that body in the intellect and becomes the Jiva. The contaminated or reflected Consciousness (the Jiva) is the one who does and enjoys, but to all appearances the Self, too, gets implicated in the doing and the enjoying. The association is inevitable.

Śaṅkaracharyaji uses his own simile here to explain the association of the Self with the Jiva’s activities. The ‘Chatri’ or umbrella simile was well-known in those days. A procession going past had many in the group holding umbrellas, but not all. However, as the procession went by, it was common to hear it said, “There go the chatriwalas, the ‘umbrella-people’!” All in the procession get blanketed with the same epithet, including those who do not carry an umbrella. The Self, the teetotaler, is in the same situation; He cannot avoid being in the dock with the accused Jiva.

3a When it is said the two are different as shadow and light, it refers to the status of the Self and Jiva, the Self being the original light and Jiva being the reflected light and, it may be added a very poor version of it. The Jiva is limited, the Self is limitless; this is the wide gulf between them.

Connection With the Vedas: Three types of people accept the existence of these two as being apart from each other, yet related as father and son. Each type represents one of the three major divisions of the Vedas, as described under each of them below. They are:

3b i) Brahmavidah: “the knowers of Brahman”. They represent the Jnana Kanda of the Vedas. They are the wise, realized sages who know Brahman, know the truth of the Self’s innocence. They know by direct experience that the Self is untouched by the deeds or misdeeds of the Jiva, that the two are like ‘chalk and cheese’, or like shadow and light.

The other two types know about the Self and Jiva by knowledge at the intellectual level, not by direct experience. They accept the two on faith to obtain certain favors:

4a ii) Pancha-Agnayah: “performers of the ‘Five Fires’”, i.e., the householders. They represent the Karma Kanda of the Vedas. They perform these sacrifices in order to obtain certain desirable results from them on earth. Their commitment in doing these sacrifices is to align themselves with the Laws of Nature, that is, to obey Dharma and thereby make themselves worthy of what they desire. They look upon the Self as the Supreme Giver or Dispenser of the fruits of their actions.

4b iii) Tri-Nāchiketa: “those who perform the Nāchiketa Fire three times”, as earlier described, i.e., the worshippers or Upāsakas. They represent the Upāsana Kanda of the Vedas. This group wish to go to the heavenly worlds to enjoy a more refined lifestyle. They have seen through the shortcomings of the pleasures found on earth. They look upon the Self as something to be worshipped, from whom they will accumulate merits.

The connection of this verse to the whole Vedas as shown above, makes this verse a very significant one. Placed at the very start of the Chapter, it not only links this chapter to the previous two, but also sets the foundation for the Chariot simile that is to follow.

Connection With the Third Boon:

All three categories of people mentioned here are aware of the knowledge that the Jiva exists, and that it is quite different from the Self. This directly relates the verse to Nāchiketa’s third boon where the question arises. These three groups say, “He exists”.

Those who are ignorant of the existence of the Self, and who have not even been included on the menu of the Lord’s dinner in the last verse of the previous chapter, are the atheists, the materialists, etc., who simply live the animalistic life described in 2.24, giving no thought to their spiritual development. These groups say, “He does not exist”.

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