Mandukya Upanishad, Class 79
Class
79
Up to 90th verse, Gowdapadha was summarizing
the Upanishads teaching of Madukaya Upanishad aham sathyam and jagat mithyam
and refuted all other systems of philosophies.
From 91st to 100th verse, Gowdapadha is winding up the entire teaching. The essence of the teaching is whatever we want to achieve, is already our nature. This is the irony of life; we search all over and come back to our-self. Security, peace, fulfillment etc. we have within ourselves in absolute measure and can’t be attained externally. We finally find out that we are what we want to be.
The word aham or I is neither the
pure thuriyum nor pure viswa taijasa pragya (collectively called
ahangara). Thuiryum is the pure consciousness. The I is neither the
pure ahangara nor the witness; it is the mixture. Pure ahangara doesn’t
exist because it requires chaithanyam to exist. Pure sakshi also can’t
say I am, because it does not have any attributes. The misra or the
mixture says I. In the initial stages of life, even though we are a mixture,
what is prominent is ahangara. The sakshi is subdued and we are not aware
of. Therefore, initially the jiva is ahangara pradhana jiva. When
we say want moksha, we are only asking for improvement of this ahangara
pradhana jiva. Then ahangara pradhana jiva does karma yoga, sadhana etc.
and becomes gyana yogya, endowed with all qualifications. Then gyana
yogya becomes gyani. This title belongs to buddhi and therefore the
ahangara pradhana has become gyani. The gyani continues sravanam does
nidhidhyasanam and becomes gyana nishaha. I am not disturbed by the
events of life. This is also from the standpoint of ahangara pradhana
jiva. At this point jiva is not ahangara pradhana and I look at myself as
sakshi pradhana aham or thuriya pradhanaa aham. Ahangara becomes feeble
and thereafter I don’t say I made the journey because I have not traveled
because I am the sakshi whe does not travel; who is never impure; this is
sakshi pradhana dhrishty.
I don’t look at myself as gyani, but
I am sakshi pradha jiva. From ahangara dhrishti, shanthi has to come
gradually; from ahangara dhrishti shanthi is mental peace; from sakshi
dhrishti, shanthi is my nature.
All jivas are essentially thiruiya
chaithanyam; the difference is from ahangara dhrishti; from sakshi dhrishti
they are all one and the same. The very statement all jivas imply there
are many jivas. But this is from ahangara dhrishti. Bodies are
many, minds are many but chaithanyam is only one. This chaithanyam
is birthless, shantham and ever pure.
When I look at myself from ahangara
angle, I have to attain purity; but when I look at myself from sakshi angle, I
am always pure.
Verse 94
First problem is sense of isolation
or smallness; we want to belong some group. This is samsara. All
the dualistic philosophers face the same delusion and the problem of
samsara. Philosophies like sankya, gyaya, vaiseshika, poorva mimamsa and
yoga are all dualistic. They all conclude I am I, you are you. Lay
people suffer before thinking and the philosophers suffer after thinking.
All these dualistic philosophers are unfortunate that they come to the
conclusion of dualistic.
Verse 95
There are some fortunate lucky
people who are born in a culture where this teaching is available, and who
receive, understand and assimilate this teaching. They have firm
conviction of advaida thuriyum. The perception of differences will continue
and the experience of the duality can’t be removed by advaida gyanam. We
are only removing the false notion. Experience of duality will continue
for gyani, but he knows advaidam is sathyam. Those are who are
established in the advaida gyanam, they are the greatest gyani. Most
people can’t appreciate the gyanam of a maha gyanis. Advaidam gyanam is
so great that not only I am liberated from samsara but I am also liberated from
the need for the appreciation of my liberation by others.
Verse 96
When I claim I am the sakshi
chaithanyam, there is also duality. It means I am witness
consciousness, it means I am witness and that there is a world that is
witnessed by me, which is called sakshyam. Once I accept the sakshi and
sakshyam, there is duality. Even the status of sakshi is only temporary;
from my own standpoint, I can’t call myself sakshi. To talk about
relationship there should be two things belonging to the same order of
reality. Two individuals in wakers world can have relationship; two
individuals in dream world can have relationship; one individual in wakers
world can’t have relationship with an individual in dream world.
Consciousness and matter can have realtionship only when they are in the same
order of reality. Consciounsess is paramarthika sathyam and matter is
vyavakarika sathyam and therefore they can’t have true relationship; if they
have any relationship, it can only be apparent relationship. The
status of dream like being rich etc. do not apply to waking world.