Friday, April 14, 2006

Sloka 19 and 20

SLOKA 19:

anaapannavikaaraH sannayaskaantavadeva yaH .
budhdyaadiiMshchaalayetpratyak.h so.ahamityavadhaaraya .. 19..

Pada artha:
Aham: I am
Saha: He
Yaha: who
Anapannavikaaraha san: changeless by nature
Pratyak: the Inner most Self,
Chaamayet: puts into motion
Budhhi aadin: the intellect etc.
Ayaskaantavat eva:as the loadstone (does iron)
Avadharaya iti: ascertain this

Have the firm conviction that you are the changeless Innermost Self that moves the intellect etc. like the lodestone moving the iron.

The Guru in this sloka explains to the student to know the Self as the changeless substratum. It is that due to which all the senses and the intellect can function. Like a lodestone that can move heavy iron, the Self is that which illumines everything and is substratum of the entire world. The heavy iron which may be hard to be moved in any way can be easily moved by a magnet or a lodestone that itself is stagnant. Similarly, the Self though changeless, is that in which this world takes birth, flourishes and dies.

Self is here proclaimed as unmoving and changeless, Atman is nirvakara i.e. with out changes. Only that which takes birth and dies undergoes changes, but the Self which is ever present and eternal and is verily existence cannot be prone to changes. It is also all pervading and one and only. Hence the guru here says that the Atman is changeless and is ever present as a substratum to the changing intellect. Just as a lodestone that is capable of moving iron though unmoving and without undergoing any changes itself, the Self though changeless is substratum of all the changes of the world.

SLOKA 20:

ajaDaatmavadaabhaanti yatsaannidhyaajjaDaa api .
dehendriyamanaHpraaNaaH so.ahamityavadhaaraya .. 20..

Pada artha:
Aham: I am
Saha: He
Yat-sannidhyat: by whose proximity
Deha-indriya-mana-pranaha: the body, senses, the mind and the vital force
Jadhaha: though non conscious
Abhaanti: appear
Ajada-aatmavat: to be conscious like the Self
Avadharaya iti: ascertain this

Come to the conclusion that you are identical with the entity owning to whose proximate existence the body, the senses, the mind and the vital force, though non-conscious, appear to possess consciousness like that of the Self.

It is really the consciousness of the Self that makes the body, the mind etc. appear to be conscious, like the fire making a read hot piece of iron look like fire.

In this sloka, the guru is gain explaining the nature of the Self as the illuminator of all the inner organs and the body. As we have leant in the 18th sloka, the Self is that owing to whose proximity, even the non conscious entities such as the mind, vital forces etc seem to function and possess consciousness.

Let us recall from the first sloka of Mahavakya viveka of Panchadashi, that the Self is that by which the eyes see, ears hear, tongue speaks, That is the consciousness. The body and senses are thus able to function only because of this consciousness. It is only when they become associated to the consciousness through the inner organs that they function. The senses and the inner organs can function only when there is some one conscious about them, only when there is consciousness that the body is present. This can be demonstrated very well by the anvaya vyatireka yukti. When there is consciousness and the inner organs are active, then there are all physical and emotional feelings, but when there is no consciousness, the body is equivalent to a log. It becomes but another senseless object once there is no consciousness, like in death.

The Upanishads also proclaim the Self as that by which gives word the power of speaking.. Thus Atman is the illuminator, because of which all everything exists. It is this consciousness only because of which all the insentient objects also seem to function.

Hari OM

With regards,
Mallika R
What you have is God's gift to you and what you do with what you have is your gift to God

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home