The Chandogya Upanishad - 3-14: Swami Krishnananda.

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Chinmaya Mission

Being organized since 2016, the celebrations of  Karthika Deepotsavam 2022 by Chinmaya Mission, Kadapa is going on at the Municipal grounds of Kadapa since 31st October to 8th November 2022.  

In 2019, the event witnessed Swami Swaroopananda explain the significance of the Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra leading us to the light within. 

This year the audience has been witnessing and participating in spiritually empowering processes such as the Rudrabhishekam, Maha Deepa Prajwalanam and Shri Maha Ganapati Kalyanotsavam amongst others.

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Saturday, November 05,  2022. 08:00.

Chapter - 3 : Sanatkumara's Instructions on Bhuma-Vidya : 

SECTION 14: HOPE

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Mantram -1.

"Asa vava smarad-bhuyasi, aseddho vai smaro mantran adhite karmani kurute, 

putrams-ca pasums-cecchate, imam ca lokam amum cecchate, asam upassveti."

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That peculiar thing called smara, the self-awareness or self-existence mentioned in the preceding section, is not complete in itself. Its very existence is dependent upon an urge that is present prior to it. We live on account of a kind of hope in our life. We do not live on account of our present experiences, merely. There is something within us which keeps us tied to this self-consciousness. And that is the desire for betterment of our life in the future, here mentioned in this section of the Upanishad as asa, hope or aspiration. It is aspiration for self-transcendence.

Our very existence is valuable only on account of the tendency present in self-consciousness to transcend itself into higher modes of being. We are happy in this world merely because of the hope that we will be happy tomorrow, not because we are happy today. This desire is not visible outside. It is not a direct experience, but it is invisibly working within us. Our desire to exist is a peculiar character in us. We cannot logically argue out the reason behind our desire to exist. It is a supra-logical mystery.

The desire or hope to exist, which is actually what Sanatkumara meant by saying asa, is not a mere desire to exist as a body. People do not want to die. They want to continue their existence as long as possible. They pray for long life, but they do not understand what is actually meant by long life. It is not a desire to persist in this physical body. We are unconsciously asking for something whose nature is not clear to our own minds. We are asking for a self-transcendent existence. It is not an existence in this limited personality of ours. Who would like to be in this particular body only for a long time? Which part of our life would we like to perpetuate? Is it old age, young age, or childhood? We cannot say that any particular part of our life is to be perpetuated. There is a confusion in the mind when we ask for long life. But, the hidden intention in our mind behind this asking or desiring for long life is that we want to perpetuate the essentiality of our existence. Now this existence is not what we call bodily existence. Though we mistakenly identify our existence with the body, there is a subtle urge within us to exceed or go beyond the limitations of our bodily existence, which is the reason why we ask for more and more things, accumulate more and more objects, and externally expand the magnitude of our being. And that is also why we ask for longevity. We want to be perpetuated in time and expanded in space. This is our desire. We have only two desires—to expand ourselves in space, and to perpetuate ourselves in time. So this is what we are asking for in all our activities. We want to possess more and more things, as much as possible-nay the entire space! We want to expand our personality into spatial domination, and also for as long a time as possible-not tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, but endlessly. So, there is a desire for infinity and eternity that is present in us, of which we are not conscious. We foolishly interpret it as desire to exist in this body. This aspiration is asa. Thus, for a betterment in our life, aspiration towards self-transcendence comes even prior to self-existence.

Therefore, Sanatkumara here says to Narada: "Asa must be your object of meditation, not merely your limited self-existence. There is something which is implied in your consciousness of self-existence. That implication should become the content of your consciousness, and therefore, the object of your meditation."

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Mantram-2.

"Sa ya brahmetyupaste asayasya sarve kamah samrdhyantyamogha hasyasiso bhavanti 

yavad-asaya gatam tatrasya yatha kamacaro bhavati ya asam brahmetyupaste'sti 

bhagavah asaya bhuya iti asaya vava bhuyo'sti iti tanme bhagavan bravitviti."

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Our aspirations shall be fulfilled. No desire can go unfulfilled. If our aspiration is for a high thing, that also shall come. So we should leave off our lower aspirations and rise beyond the limits of bodily existence, and reach up to the higher implications of this self-existence which we are. To that extent will be our success and our freedom.

"This is very great and grand. Is there something more than this?" asks Narada. Endlessly Narada goes on asking questions, and limitlessly answers are being given. "There is something greater than this aspiration for self-transcendence, and that is the principle of life," replies Sanatkumara. "Then kindly instruct me on that principle of life," says Narada.

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Next-SECTION 15: LIFE
To be continued

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