The Chandogya Upanishad - 3-25. : Swami Krishnananda.

Leena Sunil Kumar

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Chinmaya Mission  :

Several spiritual activities were conducted in Bangalore recently. On 5th February 2023, Sadhana Day was celebrated with 250 study group members discussing Bhagavad Geeta Chapter – 9 in the presence of Pujya Swami Brahmananda. The discussion focused on Jiva, Jagat, and Ishwara, and Pujya Swamiji emphasized the need to quieten the mind and focus on the changeless substratum. He urged attendees to analyze their dream state to understand how the world is projected.

Pujya Swami Gahanananda conducted a Geeta Jnana Yajna on Bhagavad Geeta Chapter 17 from 6th Feb to 12th Feb in Chinmaya Mission, Malleswaram. The Yajna discussed the importance of leading a life with control, balanced intellect, and a calm mind, and the three types of faith, food, and sacrifice based on the three inherent Gunas. The program was well attended.

Mahashivaratri was celebrated in Sripaadakshetra, J P Nagar on 18th February, 2023 with Mahanyaasa Poorvaka Ekadasha Rudrabhisheka and devotional offerings throughout the day. Celebrations began on 12th Feb with daily rice archana and devotional offerings.

Bhagavad Geeta Competitions were held in Kengeri, Bengaluru from Dec 2022 to Feb 2023 with participation from 22 schools and 2300 children. Balavihar and Study Group sevaks organized the event, with 204 winners in the final round.

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Tuesday, March 14,  2023. 07:35.

Chapter Three: Sanatkumara's Instructions on Bhuma-Vidya - 25.

SECTION 25: THE EGO AND THE SELF

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SECTION 25: THE EGO AND THE SELF

Mantram-1.

"Sa evadhastat, sa uparistat, sa pascat, sa purastat, 

sa daksinatah, sa uttaraah, sa evedam sarvam iti, 

athato' hamkaradesa eva, aham evadhastat, 

aham uparistat, aham pascat, aham purastat, 

aham daksinatah, aham uttaratah, 

aham evedam sarvam iti."

Mantram Translation :

"If you go down below, you will find It. If you go above, you will find It there. If you go behind, you will find It there, also. If you go in front of you, It is there. To the right of you, It is there. To the left of you, It is there. O Narada, what can I tell you about It? The whole cosmos is filled by It. It is not merely feeling that It is everything. It is everything. All these things that you see with your eyes are nothing but configurations of Its own Being. Are you satisfied?"

Now, a doubt may arise in the minds of people. Grammatically the word 'It' implies third person. Is It then a third person other than me? No, it is the subject only that is doubting thus. The subject that imagines that It is perhaps a third person, is also included in It. The thinking subject also is that very thing which we have referred to as the Bhuma. It is not merely the transcendental. Just as we can say, "It is all things", "It is here", "It is there", "It is everywhere", even so, the subject also can be said to be everywhere—"I am here", "I am there", and "I am everywhere."

But here again a doubt may arise: what is this 'I'? Is it the individual 'I', the ego? Is it the empirical subject, asserting itself as the all? No, the Atman in the subject is that which is identical with the Bhuma that is cosmic. So, a distinction is to be drawn between the individual subject and the subjectness universally present behind the individualities. That is called the Atman. So, it is not the jiva that is identified with the Bhuma here, but the Atman, even as they say the space within a vessel is identical with the space in the universe outside. There is no distinction between a pot space or the space in a tumbler and the space outside, because the distinctions that we create are imaginary. Really no two things exist as inner space and outer space. So is this identity of the Atman with Bhuma. If there is any kind of doubt that it may be the ahamkara, the individual subject that is implied here, in order to remove that the teacher says:

Mantram-2.

"Athata atmadesa eva atmaivadhastat, atmoparistat, 

atma pascat, atma purestat, atma daksinatah, 

atmottaratah, atmaivedam sarvam iti. 

Sa va esa evam pasyan-nevam manvana evam 

vijanannatma ratir-atmakrida atma-mithuna 

atmanandah, sa svarad-bhavati tasya lokesu kamacaro bhavati, 

atha ye'nyathato viduh, anyarajanaste ksayya-loka bhavanti. 

Tesam sarvesu lokesu-akamacaro bhavati."

Mantram Translation :

"The universal is also the Atman in all things. It is the essential subject of everything. So, that which is cosmically present as the total object is also the total subject. It is the subject and object at one stroke, in a universal sense. This is what I mean by Bhuma. Here only is happiness, nowhere else. What else can be said? Whatever is required, all that has been said. O Narada, what more can I tell you? One who has such realisation or knowledge as this that I have mentioned to you just now—one who can see things in this manner, think in this manner, or understand in this manner as I have expounded just now—such a person is the most happy person conceivable. Such a person is delighted within his own Self, such a person plays with his own Self, such a person enjoys his own Self, such a person is rooted in the bliss of his own Self."

Now, what is this 'own Self'? It is not my self. It is not your self. It is not the bodily self. It is not the individual self. It is the Universal Being, the All-Being, the All-Presence, Bhuma. This is what is called the Self. And when we say the person enjoys himself, it is the Absolute that is enjoying Itself. That is what we are speaking about, and not Mr. So-and-so, not this person or that person enjoying. This is a very great distinction that we have to draw when we try to understand these passages of a highly mystical character. A person of this nature endowed with this knowledge, acquiring this realisation, becomes a master of himself, which means to say a master of all things. Self-mastery is mastery of the universe. He becomes Self-emperor, Self-king, ruling over the Self. To rule over the Self is to rule over everything that has the Self within itself, and this Self is everywhere. So he rules over everything everywhere. It is cosmic rulership that is intended by the word 'self-kingship'—Atma-svarajya. Atma-svarajya mentioned here is Universal Lordship. It is the experience of God-Being. Such is the experience that is bestowed upon this blessed Soul who has entered into the bosom of this knowledge, this realisation, this experience. This person can enter into every realm at any moment. Just as you can move from one room to another room of your house without any kind of impediment or obstruction, as you are the free master of your own house, so does this soul acquiring this knowledge enter into every plane of existence. Every realm of being becomes a free passage to this great one who has acquired this knowledge. He becomes possessed of cosmic freedom.

But what about those people who do not have this knowledge? They are subjected by other people and controlled by them. They are limited from all sides. It is they that take rebirth by pressure of circumstances. Whoever imagines that there are things outside one's own self, he is naturally controlled by those things which are outside him. If one is living in a world of externalities, those externals shall compel one to subjugation to their own laws and mandates. This cannot be escaped. They are not Self-kings, which means to say that kings are outside them and they themselves are not kings. They are subjects and not kings. Their worlds are perishable. Whatever they get in this world is mere dust and ashes. They only reap sorrow in this world. They cannot get happiness, because they live in a world of finitude. They cannot have free entry into other worlds. They are limited to the circle of their own experience. These are the jivas, the bound souls who are bereft of this great knowledge we are speaking of.

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Next
SECTION 26: THE PRIMACY OF THE SELF
To be continued

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