Brahma Satyam, Jagat Mithya, and Jivo Brahmaiva naparah

[Guest guest]

Namaste:

 

The enclosed essay by Swamiji Atmanandaji can hopefully resolve the

question raised by our dear Murthygaru. First, let me thank Swamiji

for giving me a blank permission to use his essays in the list for

educating all of us on Sankara's Advaita Vedanta.

 

Swamiji's assertion in the second paragraph of the essay, "The above

aphorism of 'Jagat Mithya' thus implies that all what is available

for experience is transient" provides the insight that 'jagat

mithya' doesn't mean that the world is 'unreal' or just

an 'illusion.' Swamiji's entire analysis is quite deep and provides

substantial support to what Sri CN claims through his essays.

 

What Swamiji states in this essay contains the full flavor of

Shanakara's advaita philosophy.

 

Warmest regards,

 

Ram Chandran

 

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Essay by Swamiji Atmanandaji of Vedanta Mission:

(http://members.tripod.com/vedantamission/gurus/adisank3.htm)

 

Sri Sankaracharya sums up the entire message of Vedanta in three

crisp aphorism like sentences. They are :

 

(a) Brahma Satyam, (b) Jagat Mithya, and © Jivo Brahmaiva naparah.

 

Brahma Satyam :

 

Brahman is the all pervasive life principle, consciousness. Not the

conditioned consciousness which manifests at the level of brain,

but 'that' which exists before & inspite of the manifestation too.

Not 'consciousness of something', but the very conscious principle

as such. Contrary to what some people believe that 'life' is a

product of some chemistry, the Upanishads thunder that Consciousness

is that which isthe ultimate truth, the timeless & transcendental

reality. It exists first and matter follows after. This is not only

what the scriptures reveal, but also what is logical too. If we look

at matter - the atoms, the electron, proton etc then we find that

these things are so perfectly created & organised that there has to

be some intelligence working. That which existed before to have

brought about such an orderly & beautiful creation has to be a

conscious entity. We can never imagine the whole process getting

started with lifeless, inert matter. Consciousness alone has to be

the first & eternal reality. Rest is created, and is thus

perishable. That is what this sutra reveals. Brahma Satyam. The word

satya means that which exists in all the three periods of time.

Past, present & future. That which transcends time, and is thus

timeless. That which exists at all times, that which cannot be

effaced by time. Consciousness is that which not only exists at all

times but also at all places. It exists as the very truth of all

that is. It is the atma of everything - living or non-living things.

It is our basic essence, our truth too. That is the God which we all

worship.

 

Jagat Mithya :

 

The word Jagat embraces in itself this entire world, this cosmos.

All that which is or can be an 'object' of our knowledge. It

includes not only the gross but also the subtle 'objects'. The

thoughts, emotions, the energy all come under this word 'Jagat'.

That which is near or far, inside or outside, now or later, good or

bad everything is part of this Jagat. This word has been described

as reffering to that which is 'Jayate gachati iti jagat', i.e. that

which is born & dies is jagat. Birth & death are movements in time.

That which is in time constantly changes, there is a constant flux.

Something starts this process of activation & manifestation of time

and thus we see this dynamic flux. A realm of experience presents

itself in front of us. What exactly starts this process is a

different matter, but the point here is that all what is thus

brought about is ultimately transient, is not ultimately there. It

is comparable to being in a dream world. Something activates the

process of dreaming, and when it does get activated we see a realm

of experience which is not ultimately there. Mithya is that which is

not there in all three periods of time. That which had a birth at a

particular time and that which will certainly die at some point of

time. It is there in this present moment, because of some reason -

known or unknown. The above aphorism of 'Jagat Mithya' thus implies

that all what is available for experience is transient.

 

Mithya also implies that which does not have the capacity to give us

that which we basically seek. It is certainly beautiful,in fact very

beautiful, it is also true that 'objects' of the world alone are

useful for our worldly needs & purposes, but at the same time this

is also a fact that we basically remain where we were. It is like

eating a dream food, with which we never satiate our hunger. However

much we eat the dream food, we will still remain basically hungry.

Whatever we have sought in this world may have helped our life to

get comfortable & organised, but has certainly not helped us in

eliminating the fundamental desire 'to seek' something more. Like

hunger the seeking still remains as it is. The only difference is

that it now manifests differently. That which is Mithya does not

have any independent existence, thus it is not really dependable,

for the simple reason that it itself is perishable. What ever our

heart basically seeks will never be got from this Jagat. That is the

implication of this sutra. It is something to be seen in a detached

way & not taking too seriously. Whatever happens in the world never

really matters, knowing this a person should not plan to aggrandise

& enjoy, he should rather serve & give. This philosophical tenet,

which is a fact of life provides us a logic & basis for our

religious values, culture & even the real goal of life.

 

Jivo Brahmaiva naparah :

 

This sutra means that 'every jiva - the apparent limited & finite

entity is basically the infinite & limitless Brahman, and nothing

else. The truth & essence of an indiidual is the truth & essence of

this whole world or rather God. Every Jiva is basically God himself

wearing a cloak of limited equipments, and moreover, identified with

ones equipment he lives a limited & transient life. It is basically

a case of non-apprehension followed by mis-apprehension of the truth

of oneself. We take ourselves to be limited and therefore we are &

remain limited. Body & all our equipments are certainly limited in

time &space but 'I' who knows and objectifies all these is not. A

seer is always different from seen. We are conscious of the body &

mind complex so we have to be different from them. We are that which

knows, that which illumines, that eternal life principle - Brahman.

The Upanishads reveal that whoever knows his or her true reality is

a healthy person, rest are diseased. They are certainly not at ease,

there seems to be some bug in them. It is the bug of mis-

apprenhension of ones true self as a limited guy. If we were really

limited then someone 'could' have helped us, but when we just

errorneously take ourselves to be limited then it is something which

God also cannot do anything about, except come and provide right

knowledge. It is we who have to pause, think, deliberate, meditate &

realise. Everything of this individual gets changed, except the 'I' -

the self-effulgent, blissful essence. One who knows that alone

lives a true life which every human deserves to live. That alone was

the secret of all saints, sages & even the avatar purushas. This

alone is the real teaching of all our scriptures.

 

The awakening of limited Jiva to the realm of limitless Brahman is

not a journey in the realm of time, but it is by transcending the

very time, by right knowledge. Karma is a means to attain something

in the realm of time, so it is not really relevent here. With karma

we attain that which is unattained. In karma we turn our attention

to that which should be rather than that which is. So in order to

awake to our true self, one has to keep aside all cravings to 'do or

achieve something'. One has to relax and be highly observant and see

some fundamental facts of life & our true self. That which is

limitless & infinite is not sometjhing to be attained but that which

is to be known. It is already attained, one should realise that 'I

am already that', We just have to directly know it. All sadhanas are

directedonly for this ultimate goal of life. This is the objective

of sanyas & Moksha. Drop the hankering for everything, relax, and

see that which alone is.

 

Consequences of the opposite :

 

If a person does not understand & see these facts directly then it

is obvious that the fellow will take resort to that which is its

opposite. Lets see what will be the consequences of that. Such a

person is too fascinated by the glare of the world, he will remain

an extrovert, and also an eternal seeker. To live an ego-centric

existence will be his destiny, and to face the music of

egocentricity an unavoidable fact. Inside him there will always

remain a sense of lack and outside he will continuously keep on

seeking something or the other. He will take worldly things too

seriously, and will be able to go to any extent for achieving such

worldly things. Such people alone play dangerous games with nature

and will still not be satisfied with it. Resorting to that which is

opposite amounts to create & produce the devils. Communicating these

tenets of Vedanta alone amounts to helping the individual in

particular & also the world at large. This is what all Rishis

declared, this is what Lord Ram & Krishna lived and this is what

Bhagwan Sankaracharya worked & lived for. Lets go into these deeply

and see these facts of life. Lets redeem ourselves with true

knowledge.