[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
rational faculty, which the Upanishad calls the vijnana-atman, or, simply vijnana. But
how can the vijnana rise to the mahat-atman? Here, ordinary human effort is not of
much avail, because the very act of the entry of the individual into the Universal is
equivalent to the cessation of all the possibilities of conceivable human effort. We have
an idea of effort, which is always in terms of the organs or the limbs of the body and the
senses of knowledge and action. Whenever we speak of effort of any kind, we always
think in terms of the body and our individuality. But what is the kind of effort that we
are supposed to put forth when our individuality begins to melt in the menstruum of the
Universal which we seek in the higher reaches of meditation? Here, it is not the mind
that functions, not the intellect, not anything that we can think of normally in our life.
Some unusual, unthinkable, supernormal element begins to operate. In one or two
passages of the Chhandogya and the Brihadaranyaka Upanishads we are told that,
during the passage of the soul to Brahma-loka, through the archiradi-marga or the
Northern path, as they call it, a stage is reached when human effort ceases, and
symbolically the Upanishad points out what happens to the soul when it cannot
anymore put forth personal effort. Effort is possible only as long as there is
consciousness of personality. When I exist, or you exist, or this or that exists, there is the
chance of exertion in the relativistic or empirical sense. But a stage is reached, says the
Upanishad, in the ascent of the soul, where it ceases to be an isolated individual. That is,
it is no more a spark of light seeking access into the reality of the higher light. The
Upanishad, metaphorically, tells us that a superhuman being comes and leads the soul
from that point onwards, taking it by hand, as it were, to the higher destination. An
amanava purusha, someone who is not a human being, comes there. No one has been
able to make out who this superhuman being is. There are those who think it is the guru
that comes there in his supernormal personality. The relationship between the guru and
the disciple does not break with the body. Even if the guru dies physically, or the
disciple passes away from this physical world, the relationship between them does not
cease, because the guru-disciple relationship is not merely physical or social. It is a
spiritual bond which persists till the individuality melts into the Absolute. So it is opined
by some that this superhuman amanava purusha is the guru himself, who comes there
taking the soul along the path that leads to the Absolute. Others think that it is God
himself appearing in one form.
When the vijnana-atman tries to commune itself with the mahat-atman, it does not
The Secret of the Katha Upanishad by Swami Krishnananda
The Secret of the Katha Upanishad by Swami Krishnananda 50
51
have world-consciousness in the ordinary sense of the term. It does not see the world
but it sees something else. This is the significance, perhaps, of what the Yoga-Vasishtha
calls padartha-bhavana-tyaga, one of the stages of knowledge or experience in spiritual
life. In the language of the Yoga-Vasishtha, padartha-bhavanu-tyaga or padartha-
abhavana, or to take it in another sense, Padartha-bhavana, means the cognition of the
substance of things. If we take the word as Padartha-bhavana, we can interpret it as the
cognition of the substantiality or the ultimate stuff of things, which begins at this stage.
If we take it as padartha-abhavana, or padartha-bhavana-tyaga, it means the
obliteration of the cognition of objectivity. This happens when the vijnana purusha, the
individual centre, communes itself with the mahat. What happens? What takes you to
the mahat? Not your effort. But what else? Words fail, the mind gets hushed in its
function, language becomes abortive and a new kind of silence prevails when one tries to
comprehend what this mystery is. A pull is exerted on the soul. What is this pull? We
may say it is the gravitational pull of the centre of the Universe. When a stone is thrown
into the sky, it falls back on the surface of the earth on account of the pull of the earth.
However forcefully you may through the stone above it will come back to the earth by
the force of gravitation. They also say that if you cross the gravitational barrier of the
earth, there will not be any pull by the earth, but you will be pulled by same other planet,
or star, or whatever there be, whose region the traveller in space may enter by chance.
The pull of the earthly personality, the urge of individuality, the attraction towards
objects it is that prevents us from going higher in our spiritual pursuit. Whatever be the
strength and the power and the intensity of your meditation, you will see that the mind
comes back to the earth. It will think of family, relations, office and many other earthly [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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rational faculty, which the Upanishad calls the vijnana-atman, or, simply vijnana. But
how can the vijnana rise to the mahat-atman? Here, ordinary human effort is not of
much avail, because the very act of the entry of the individual into the Universal is
equivalent to the cessation of all the possibilities of conceivable human effort. We have
an idea of effort, which is always in terms of the organs or the limbs of the body and the
senses of knowledge and action. Whenever we speak of effort of any kind, we always
think in terms of the body and our individuality. But what is the kind of effort that we
are supposed to put forth when our individuality begins to melt in the menstruum of the
Universal which we seek in the higher reaches of meditation? Here, it is not the mind
that functions, not the intellect, not anything that we can think of normally in our life.
Some unusual, unthinkable, supernormal element begins to operate. In one or two
passages of the Chhandogya and the Brihadaranyaka Upanishads we are told that,
during the passage of the soul to Brahma-loka, through the archiradi-marga or the
Northern path, as they call it, a stage is reached when human effort ceases, and
symbolically the Upanishad points out what happens to the soul when it cannot
anymore put forth personal effort. Effort is possible only as long as there is
consciousness of personality. When I exist, or you exist, or this or that exists, there is the
chance of exertion in the relativistic or empirical sense. But a stage is reached, says the
Upanishad, in the ascent of the soul, where it ceases to be an isolated individual. That is,
it is no more a spark of light seeking access into the reality of the higher light. The
Upanishad, metaphorically, tells us that a superhuman being comes and leads the soul
from that point onwards, taking it by hand, as it were, to the higher destination. An
amanava purusha, someone who is not a human being, comes there. No one has been
able to make out who this superhuman being is. There are those who think it is the guru
that comes there in his supernormal personality. The relationship between the guru and
the disciple does not break with the body. Even if the guru dies physically, or the
disciple passes away from this physical world, the relationship between them does not
cease, because the guru-disciple relationship is not merely physical or social. It is a
spiritual bond which persists till the individuality melts into the Absolute. So it is opined
by some that this superhuman amanava purusha is the guru himself, who comes there
taking the soul along the path that leads to the Absolute. Others think that it is God
himself appearing in one form.
When the vijnana-atman tries to commune itself with the mahat-atman, it does not
The Secret of the Katha Upanishad by Swami Krishnananda
The Secret of the Katha Upanishad by Swami Krishnananda 50
51
have world-consciousness in the ordinary sense of the term. It does not see the world
but it sees something else. This is the significance, perhaps, of what the Yoga-Vasishtha
calls padartha-bhavana-tyaga, one of the stages of knowledge or experience in spiritual
life. In the language of the Yoga-Vasishtha, padartha-bhavanu-tyaga or padartha-
abhavana, or to take it in another sense, Padartha-bhavana, means the cognition of the
substance of things. If we take the word as Padartha-bhavana, we can interpret it as the
cognition of the substantiality or the ultimate stuff of things, which begins at this stage.
If we take it as padartha-abhavana, or padartha-bhavana-tyaga, it means the
obliteration of the cognition of objectivity. This happens when the vijnana purusha, the
individual centre, communes itself with the mahat. What happens? What takes you to
the mahat? Not your effort. But what else? Words fail, the mind gets hushed in its
function, language becomes abortive and a new kind of silence prevails when one tries to
comprehend what this mystery is. A pull is exerted on the soul. What is this pull? We
may say it is the gravitational pull of the centre of the Universe. When a stone is thrown
into the sky, it falls back on the surface of the earth on account of the pull of the earth.
However forcefully you may through the stone above it will come back to the earth by
the force of gravitation. They also say that if you cross the gravitational barrier of the
earth, there will not be any pull by the earth, but you will be pulled by same other planet,
or star, or whatever there be, whose region the traveller in space may enter by chance.
The pull of the earthly personality, the urge of individuality, the attraction towards
objects it is that prevents us from going higher in our spiritual pursuit. Whatever be the
strength and the power and the intensity of your meditation, you will see that the mind
comes back to the earth. It will think of family, relations, office and many other earthly [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]