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Text and translation by Jayaram V
Summary: contemplation on the mysteries of creation.,
nature of Divine Soul, description of Brahma wheel, nature of
human existence, the Triad, reasons for bondage, way of liberation,
the three unborn ones, who is Hara, importance of meditation
and the syllable 'AUM'.
1. Those who are well versed in the knowledge of Brahman,
pose many questions. They ask, "What caused this creation ? Who
created it ? Was it by Brahman? From where do we all come
into this world and established on what foundation we all thrive
here ?" O knowers of Brahman, please do tell us under whose lordship
we all live here variously, experiencing the various conditions
of pleasures and pains?
Enquiry is the first step towards exploration of truth. The
Svetasvatara Upanishad starts with some fundamental questions
of our existence and then tries to seek answers to these questions?
This has been the case with most of the Upanishads. They do
not start with assumptions, but with a certain degree of sincerity
to explore truth and understand the mysteries of our existence
and our relationship with the Creator. The approach is mostly
neither dogmatic nor didactic, but open minded, inquisitive,
exploratory and analytical.
2. What should we consider as the cause? Is it time,
inherent nature, necessity, accident, the elements, the womb or
the person? A combination of these could not have caused it, because
the soul exists independent of them. Even the self seems to be powerless
before pain and pleasure.
3. Those who did meditation according to the percepts of yoga,
saw the divine soul hidden deeply in its own qualities ( namely
sattva, rajas and tamas). And this Divine Soul is the one who presides
over all other causes starting with time to the soul.
4. We perceive Him as a wheel with one axis, three tiers,
sixteen ends, fifty spokes, twenty counter spokes, the six sets
of eight, whose one rope is manifold, which has three different
paths of salvation and whose delusion arises out of two sets of
actions.
There is a lot of symbolism hidden in this verse. The one
axis is Iswara. The three tiers are the three qualities. The
sixteen ends are the five elements, five sense organs, five
organs of action and the mind. The fifty spokes are the various
states of delusion and ignorance. The twenty counter spokes
are the ten senses and their objects.
The six sets are prakriti, matter, abundance, emotions,
gods and nature of soul each having eight different modes. The
one rope is illusion. The three different paths of salvation
are the path of righteousness, the path of unrighteousness and
the path of knowledge.
The two sets of action are actions done out of attachment
and actions done with detachment. The wheel that is referred
here is the wheel of existence that comes into shape at the
time of creation and revolves continuously till the end. Iswara
is a not only a part of this wheel, He is its center.
5. We meditate upon it as a river joined by five fierce
and crooked streams, nourished by five vital breaths, held by five
types of buddhi as its source, afflicted with five whirlpools and
five fast arising pains divided into five branches and
fifty in all.
The river is the mind. The five fierce and crooked streams
are the senses. The five whirlpools are the five types of delusion
namely kama (desire) , krodha (anger) , lobha (greed),
mada (pride) and matsarya (envy). The five pains are said
to be difficulties arising out of ignorance, curiosity, feelings
etc.,.
6. In this vast Brahma wheel, in which revolve all the beings
and things, the soul (jiva), moves on under the delusion that the
self hidden inside is different from the mover (the Supreme
Self). But in the end by the grace of the Supreme, he attains immortality.
The power of illusion is not easy to overcome. The soul is
caught in it helplessly and wanders about afflicted with the
suffering natural to mortal life. It is only by the grace of
God can there be freedom from such a miserable existence.
7. This Brahma wheel has been declared as the Supreme Brahman.
The great three, are contained in it. It is firmly established and
imperishable. By knowing what is in it, through serious efforts,
the knowers of Brahman, become free from birth by merging in Him.
The great three are the individual self, the world (virat)
and the world soul Hiranyagarbha.
8. The lord supports all this in which are combined both the
perishable and the imperishable and also the manifest as well as
the unmanifest. And the soul not being the lord becomes bound to
the world as it considers itself as the enjoyer. But by knowing
the divinity, it becomes freed from all the bonds.
This verse contains the three basic concepts of Saivism namely
pati, the lord, pasu, the deluded individual self and pasa the
bonds that keep the latter chained to this world. Iswara
is the Isa, the lord, the pati, in control of every
thing and unbound. The individual soul is anisa, the one without
lordship, the pasu, controlled by the forces of prakriti
and bound to the world by its actions. These bonds, pasas, can
be cut asunder only through the knowledge of pati.
9. Knowledge and ignorance are the two unborn ones. One is
the ruler and the other, the ruled. Apart from these two,
there is another who is also unborn and who is connected with the
enjoyer and his enjoyment. And then there is the infinite self,
the universal form, who is non-doer. When one knows this triad,
one has known Brahman.
The two unborn ones are Purusha or Iswara and Prakriti or
Maya. The third unborn one is the Atman, the inner soul, who
is the hidden witness, and does not engage itself directly
in any activity. The enjoyer is the jiva, the lower self that
is born again and again in the company of the inner soul. Enjoyment
is attachment with sense objects that happens through the activity
of the senses. Thus we have here a complete picture of
the constituent elements of human personality namely the
soul and, the jiva and the various states of our existence
namely creation, delusion, attachment, suffering, and
liberation.
10. The perishable is the primordial matter. The immortal
and the imperishable is Hara. This one God rules over both
the perishable matter and the imperishable immortal soul. By meditating
upon Him, uniting with Him, through the constant practice of reflecting
upon His nature, one can over come the ubiquitous maya of this world.
Of the triad, the ruler is clearly the Iswara. Lord Siva
is described as Iswara here. The Prakriti and the individual
soul, which are His instruments, are engaged in a kind
of power struggle. As long as the soul is held in its control
by Prakriti, the former is bound to this world. And to attain
freedom from Prakriti, the individual soul has to seek the intervention
of Iswara, through the practice of yoga. This process has been
explained further in the next verse.
11. By knowing God all the bonds are destroyed. When the afflictions
are dissolved, there is freedom from the cycle of births and deaths.
Meditating upon Him is the third stage. And through it one achieves
the feeling of separation from the body, the possession of universal
abundance and enjoyment through absorption into oneself alone.
12. That eternal which is rested in the self is to be known.
Truly there is nothing else to be known. The enjoyer, the enjoyed
and the cause of all - this is all that is to be declared.
The (real) enjoyer is the inner self. The (false) enjoyer
is jiva. The enjoyed is prakriti or the manifest material world
and the cause of all is Iswara.
13. Just as the fire that is hidden in its source is unseen
and yet remains latent, but can be generated from its source repeatedly
by means of the drill, so is the case with the self in the body
which has to be yoked by means of the syllable AUM.
14. Using the body as the lower piece of the wood and the
syllable AUM as the upper friction rod, and practicing meditation
as the act of friction, one can see God who is hidden in oneself.
15. Like the oil in the sesame seeds or butter in the cream,
water in the river beds or fire in the wooden sticks, so is with
self hidden in oneself, which can be grasped through truthfulness
and austerity.
16. That which is all pervading like butter in the milk, which
is the root of all knowledge and austerity, that is the supreme
Upanishad of Brahman. It indeed is the supreme Upanishad of Brahman.
End of Chapter I
Suggested Further Reading
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