Mandukaya Upanishad, Class 74
Beginning from 75th verse to 86th,
Gowdapadha is dealing with the cause of samsara. Ignorance of the thuriya
atma, the fourth padha, which is our real higher nature is the cause of
samsara. I am not viswa, taijasa, pragya; I am not kartha bothta or
finite. Unfortunately, we have the problem of ignorance and we can’t
trace the origination of ignorance; The solution has to be removal of the
ignorance and it can happen only with thuriya gyanam.
Ignorance generates samsara through:
Ignorance produces ahangara or misconception
regarding my nature. When I forget that I am the waker lying on the bed,
that ignorance becomes the cause for the dreamer. Self-ignorance is
responsible for self-misconception. This is in the form of sthurala
sareera abimana, becoming viswa or shukshama sareera abimana becoming taijasa
or karana sareera abimana becoming prgya. These three put together is
ahangara. For this ahangara I becomes real. When paramarthika
sathyam is not known, vyavakariga sathyam becomes real. When the higher
one is not known the lower one gets elevated. Therefore, the physical
body becomes my real nature. My physical personality becomes my
personality. Old age, death etc. becomes serious issues. Obsession
with the mithya dwaida prabanaja. Once I identify with the body as the
ultimate, anything that gives security to the body, that also becomes very
important. Mithya money, mithya people, mithya power – the entire mithya
jagradh prabanja becomes very important. The original reality is gone,
and one runs after the mithya prabanja. Mithya interaction becomes
addiction and no time for thuriya adhistanam. Every person is trapped in
pravirthi of mithya vasthu. The solution is to know the higher
nature. Just like the dream body and dream world is falsified by waking
up, this body and this world should be falsified by knowing higher
nature. Swapna prabanja and jagradh prabanja are both mithya – as good as
nonexistent.
There is a small different between
waking up from dream world and waking up from this world. When I wake up
from dream world, dream world disappears. When the spiritual waking up,
the physical world does not disappear. Previously I experienced dwaida prabanja
and attributed reality to it but after gyanam I will continue to experience
dwaida prabanja but will not attribute reality to it. The difference is
at the cognitive level. This is similar to studying in school, we know
that the sun does not rise at all, but it is the earth that is rotating.
We know that the sun rise is mithya; we don’t experience the earth rotating but
we experience the stationery earth. Similarly, vedanta does not remove
dwaida experience but negates the attribute. Because of this change in
understanding, one will not develop raga dwesha towards a mithya vathu.
The attachments will be gone. Once you understand the rope snake, it will
not threaten you. Mithya prabanja can’t generate attachment.
Running after mithya security will end and therefore mind withdraws from all
struggles.
Mirage water not only does not
quench the thirst, but because of running the thirst might increase.
Verse 80
The wise person does not seek mithya
vasthu; he also gets security in the form of thuriyum; similar to a person
discovering water right underneath. He will no more run after mirage
water; he gets real water which removes thirst. A wise person withdraws
from mithya struggle, but that withdrawal is permanent; there is no
repetition. He will have peace which is inexplicable. That peace of
mind is not describable. That peace of mind is knowable only to wise
people. It is accessible only for wise people.
In the scriptures, moksha is often
equated to Brahman, even though moksha is only a state of mind. The
reason is a wise person does not look up on his peaceful mind different than
Brahman. That moksha enjoyed by a wise person is none other than Brahman,
the never the same the never undisturbed. The worldly peace of mind is
temporarily available. The uniqueness of gyanam is that is ever
same. 2 + 2 is always 4; it never changes; gyanam never changes. Therefore,
gyanam based peace will never change. It is birthless; changeless and non-dual.
Verse 81
In this verse also Gowdapadha
equates Moksha to Brahman. Moksha is a state of mind as a result of
gyanam. That moksha is equated to Brahman because a gyani knows
everything is not different from Brahman. That moksha is none other than dharma
or atma. Usually dharma is either noble action or noble result.
Here it means atma. Birthless indicates not connected with sthūla
sareeram. Dreamless means not connected with shukshma sareeram.
Sleepless indicates not connected with karana saareerram. Once I cut off
the three-fold relationship, I know that I am viswa taijasa pragya vilakshanam;
therefore moksha is no different than thuriyuam. Its nature is pure
consciousness. Viswa is associated with material sthula sareeram; taijasa
is associated with material sukshama sareeram; pragya is associated with
material karana sareeram; Thuriyum is not connected with any material sareeram
but pure consciousness. Consciousness is:
- Not a part or product of body; not a
product created by brain- Independent, invisible entity that
pervades body
- Not limited or confined by
boundaries of body
- Survives even after the body dies
- Surviving consciousness can’t be
recognized by us and is not available for transactions
- Independent, invisible entity that
Thuriyum is self-effulgent and is
ever effulgent. it is every evident. This consciousness’ sentient
not borrowed from anywhere, it is conscious by its very intrinsic nature.
Sentience of physical body is borrowed from sukshma sareeram. Atma does not
borrow consciousness, it is conscious by very nature.
Verse 82
The problem faced by every
seeker: The moment I wake up and know that I am waker, the dream world
disappears and does not create a problem. In the case of spiritual
knowledge, by sravana manana nidhithyasanam, a seeker recognizes that I am
thuriyum and everything else is mithya. Even after waking up to this
thuriya knowledge, this mithya prabanja does not disappear because of the power
of prarabtha. This is similar to fan rotating after being switched
off. Because of the continuation of vyavakara, you get hungry etc.
It is the nature of body that there is hunger, thirst, dirt. Vyavakara
can be reduced but it can’t be totally stopped. Transactions and ashrama
duties will continue. Handling the body is common duty of gyani and there
are other duties associated with ashrama. If one of grahastha gyani,
gragastha duties will continues. One has to be extremely alert; every
transaction will invoke the viswa and ego personality. When the child is
in front of me, I the parent is invoked. Every transaction in sthula
prabanja will invoke a viwsa property. The invoked viswa may become
prominent and it is possible that thuriya may become less prominent and go to
the background. When the thuriyum is forgotten, this person starts to
behave as though he is an agyani.