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Santidev - Encyclopaedia of Tantra Vol 5 PDF
Santidev - Encyclopaedia of Tantra Vol 5 PDF
C'F
WANqTRA
b!
SADHU SANTIDEV
VOLUME5
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CONTENTS
@ CosmoPublications
't. ThewakingStateandThe'why'
FirstPublished1999
ol the Samadhi-Plunge 1
- Whatis SamadhiorYogic
Trance?
ISBN 81.702t!86!7 (set)
81-702u86&8 (vol'tme5) TheCJitlqueoI theTrancesolution 21
TheCrilioueotlh€
'Jivanmukti-Solution' 31
Thelssue: Statusol Dynamis €
Themind-Consciousness :
Its Achiev€mnelsand Failures 53
TheInwa.dizationand the Ascension 71
7. TheConquest 93
Published by
8. Sureivara 105
MRS.RANIKAPOOR
PUBLICATIONS Div of - TheWorksof theAuthorof theVartika
t<.rrCOSMo
GJ'NESIS
PUBLISHING PVI.LTD. - Ih6 closeconnection betweenthe
24-B,AnsariRoad, BrahmaSiddhiandtheSambandhaVartika
DaryaGanj, - TheRavalDoctrines Examined in the
INDIA
NewDelhi-110002, SambandhaVartika
- Refutation
of Mandana's Posilionsin the
Vartika
- TheTretment of lhe Dockineot
Bhartrpraancain theVartika
- Nretaphysical
lgnorance in Suresvara
- Objectionsandanswersonthesubject
of lvlelaphysical Ignorance
Thetrealment of lgnorance by Sri 9. TheMasreryol the Nighls 227
Sankara andSuresvara Compared - HowBestto Enterihe Stateol Sleep?
Enquiryintotheseatof ignorance and - Howto Relaan theAwareness
the objeclwithil conceals
of Dreams?
TheOperation ofthelvleansol Knowledge - HowtoGrowConscious in Sleep
Cancellalion ol lllusion - TheLureol theDream-Consciousness
Authorityot theVeda:Roleof
't0. TheVisionotlhe DivineBody 237
NegativeTexls
Preception, etcCannolContradicl 11. TheConquestof Sleep 243
theVeda - HowtoReducetheHoursof Sleep?
Treatment of theTopicof Cause - Howto Eliminate the Necessity
and Eifecl ol Sleep?
Thetrealment of Universal and '12. Attemptsai'Kayasiddhi'
Particular
Thetreahent ol theDiscrimination and Reiuvenation 257
of the FiveSheaths 13. TheMysteryof Lifeand Dealh
Teaching byexaminalion olThe - Deathat theServiceof Lile
ThreeStatesoJWaking, Dramand
Sleep 14. Metaphysical Factorsof Dealh 283
Dreamless
Cantherebean Injunclion tor - FirstFactor
Knowledge TheParlAgainsttheWhole
Compaison ol SriSankara and SecondFactor
Suresvara ontheTopicof Hearing The ParlAgainstAllOtherParts
andthe Rests ThirdFaclor
TheIniunclion lor Inne.andOuterConlrol AclionandReaction
andlhe otherdisciplines - FourthFactor
HowActionandMediiation Relale LiletheConsumer
- FifthFactor
Thereis nootherLiberation Excepl
Eradication of lgnorance Warollhel\rembers
- SixthFactor
All Dualityis lmagined lhrough
lgnorance lmpertect Poiseol Consciousness
Thetormot Non-Duality Approved andForce
in thevartika - SevenlhFaclor
Thetntiniteas a Summation of
lhe Finite
viii
Chapter-1
'why'
TheWakingstateand The
of the Samadhi-Plunge
Chapter-1
awareness rnlullpossession
of a brillianlmindoower.a limoid in a s€l'.silenc€ora self-ecstasy.'
absorbedin its self-existence,
litetorceand un unclouded
subtlephysical senseol things. Aboutthe selfol thislourthortheTuriyastate,the Mandukya
It rs in th s subliminal realmof our interiorexistence. lhe UpanishaclsPeaks:
ream of subllesubjective supraphysical experiences and ot "Hewho is neitherinward-wise,nor oulward-wise, nor bolh
dreamsandvisionsandheavenly intimations, a vefltable word inwardand oulward wise, norwisdom seU-gathered, norpossessed
ol wondertul illuminations, thatour mindand vilalbeingretire ol wisdom,nor unpossessed of wisdom,H€ whois unseenand
whentheywilhdrawby inward-drawn concentralton fromtheirab, incommunicable u ,n s e i z a b l ef,e a t u r e l e s su, n t h i n k a b l e ,
sorplon In surlaceactivties, andunnameable, Whoseessentiality is awareness ol theSeliin
It s because ol ils inwardplungebringingn itsiraina wealth its singleexisl€nce, in Whomall phenomena dissolve, Who is
ol nnerexperiences, dreamsand visions,thatlhe selltn this Calm, Who is Good, Who is One than Whom lhere is no oiher,
statLrs has beentermedthe dream-self thatis wiseot lhe in, Himtheydeemthe lourth:He is the Self, He is the objectot
ward lsvapnastheno' ntahpajfiah). Knowledge."
The Sleep-State:This correspondsto a still higher Suchis lhen the fourtolddivisionof the totalityot our exist-
s r p e r c o n s c i e nsll a l u s , a s l a t e o l p u r e c o n s c t o u s n e s s ence,and true knowledge,that is to say,spiritualknowledge
\prajhanaghana), pwe blisslenandamayahyenandabhuk) andpwe aboulour seltbeingas well as aboutthe world-beingbecomes
naslety lsatvesvara).T his exaltedslateol seltabsorbedcon- availableto us onlywhenwe succeedin establishing a conscious
scrousness rs called'sleep'because all mentalor sensoryex- rapportwith the subliminaland the nowsuperconscient realms
peflencesceasewhen we enterthis superconscience. This oJ our being.But unforlunatelyour wakingslate is blissfully
'dreamlesssleep ignorantot its connectionwith or eventhe very existenceo t
state'{yatr supto...na kafrcanasvapnam
pasyall,), lhis statusoJmassedconsciousness and omnipotenl thesesupernalreaches.So the goalof Yogawhichis essentially
lnle )gerce(satvesvarasaNajfta),canlainsin it "alllhe powers an attemptat arrivingat an integrals6lf-knowledge, an entire
ot beingbula 1compressed withinitsetfandconcentrated solely conscrousness and powerot beinganda supremeLrnion or !nily
on lse I andwhenactive,thenactivein aconsciousness where withSachchidananda, the Existence-Consciousness-Bliss Ab-
a I rs the self."lt is in thissuperconscienl 'sleepstate'thaiwe solute,can be altainedonlyby a progressive ascension ot lhe
become"inherently and intrinsically conscious ot our sell and m nd lo higherandslilihigherplan6sor degreesoJconscious-
spirl, not as herebelowby a reflectton in silenlmindor bV
acquisrtion ol lhe knowledge oi a hiddenBeingwithinus; il is Butherea seriousandseemingleyinsuperable hitchpresents
throughil, throughlhateitherof superconscience, lhalwe can itseli.Formindis thesolewakingconsciousness pos,
aciLlally
passto a supremestatus.knowledge experience." sessedby rnanthe mentalbeingand thismindin its aclualily
TheTuriyaSlarc:fhis corresponds to the higheslstatuslar completelylails to remainawake,beyonda certainline,in lhe
lranscending reallyhigherstatesof realisalionwherethe heightenedand in-
thetirstthree,beingthestalusol puresell-exist-
enceandabsolutebeing,whereconsciousness tensiliedspirilualexperiences
are aothe natureot thingssought.
andunconscious_
nessas we acluallyconceiveol bothloselheir validily.lt is the Inrsalmostabsoluteincompatibililyof ourwakingmentalitywith
supremestateol Sachchidananda,'a he highestrangesol spiritualconsciousness is strikinglybrought
stateol superconscience
out in thelollowingveryinteresling accountot Sri Ramakrishna,s
repeated lailuresto hain remainphysically awakeon thesum- therethe so!l experiencesin this way-'. Speakingso lar, as
mrlsol reaiisation. Swami Saradananda, soonas he start€dd€tailingthe realjsationot the Supreme,he
one ol lhe closesl
direcldiscipl€s ol SriRarnakrishna wentintolhe Samadhislate. Attercomingoul ol histrancestate,
andthewriterof hisauthor! reporting
lative biography,is reporling: he recommenced again, bui againw€ntintoSamadhi.
Altetsuch repeated attemptsand lailurcsho spokoto us with
"ln howsirnpie lermslheThakur[i.e.SriFamakr]shnal used tearsin his eves:
lo expiarn lo L_ts
theseaJstruse lruthsol sptriluallile ' lvy sons,my intontion is to repo to youeverylhing wilh-
"'Well,something riseslrommyteelandclimbstowards the oui hidingthe l6astbit oi il: butlhe l\rotherwon'lallowme to
head.So longas it doesnotreachthe heao,reran consctous- speak- Shecompleloly shutmy mouthl'
ness; but as soon as it reacheslhere, an utter t'otgett'ulness
"Wewondered at lhisandthought:'How slrangellt is appar
ovenakes me- lhenlhereis no moreseeingor hearing, lar be
il to speakoltalking.'Who enl lhal he is kyingto reportand thathe is evensuffering be-
wouldspeakthen? _ Theverysense
causeof his lailurelo do so, but he seemslo be altogelher
oi l' and 'ThoLr'vanishesaltogether!| often decidelo speak
helplessin thismaller - Surelylhe Mothermusthavebeenvery
everylhing to yo!, all aboutthe visionsand experiences thal naughtyindeedlHe wantslo speakaboutholythings,aboutlhe
accompany lhisascension. So longas thal hasreachedso lar visionol God,andit is surelyoddthalSheshouldshuthismouth!'
Ipointingto his heart)ot evenso lar (pointingto his throat),jl
seemssomebodyshutsmy mouthand I fajltocontrotmv lorcet_ "Wedjd nol knowal timethatlhe mind'srangeis indeedvery
tutnessl tPonlng to histhloat)whenone ascenosstitituriier muchIrmitedand thal, unlessone proceedsfartherthen its
lhanihts level,no soonerlhanI conlemplate ior a mornenlto iartheslreach,one cannotexpeclto havethe realisationol the
speakoi lhe visionsand experiences there,the mindimmedr- Supremel ln ourinnocence we couldnot.understand ai lhaltime
atelyshootsupwardsand no reportjngbecomesanv mor-aoos- lhat out of sheerlovelor us lhe Thakurwas attemotino the
mpossiblel"
''Oh,innumerable SriRamakrishna himsellin hls inimiiabtestyleernphas sed
aretheoccaslons whentheThakur sought
to exerctse lhe utmostconkoloverhimsellso lhal hecouldreporl on morethanoneoccasion thislactof lhe inability
of our mind
10us aboutthetypesot experiences lhatonehaswhenthemind consciousness
to relainiis'poweroJconscious disceroment and
transcends thethroal-cenlrebuteachtimehe failedl... definngexperience'
whenit risesto thesuperconscient heights,
Onedav '1esaid:
he emphaticallv stated:
'''TodayI Whathappenswhenthe mindreachesthe seventhplane
mustspeakto youeverything , not a bil wouldI .
hide' and he startedto speak.He coutdverywe speakatl LanogoesintoSmadhilcannolbe described. Oncea boalenters
aboutthecentresuplotheheartandthethroal,andthenpoinl. the [blackwaters]ollheocean,il doesnotrelurn.Nobodvknows
whathappensto the boalallerthal.TheretoretheboatIi.e.Mindl
he said,.Whenever
inglo ihe junciionol his eye-brows the mrnd
ascendshere,lhe embodied udrlnolgrveus anyInformalionaboutlheocean,
soulhasa vjsionof lhe supreme
SellandgoesintoSamadhi. ''Ofce
Thenthereexistsbul a thintrans, a saltdollwentiomeasure ihedepthol theocean.No
parentveilbetween lhe individual
Selland the S!preme.And soonerdidit enterthewaterthanit melted. Now,whowouldtell
10 Chapler-1 rhewe!493919-34-I!9-9ry
howdeeptheoceanwas?" Beyandthe realmof thought,trcnscendingthe domainol
So it is seenthat jn the actualslate of our evolvedwaking duality, leavingMaya with all her changesand fiodilications
existence theascension andentryintothehigherrealmsol our far behind,....shinesthegloryoltheEtenalBrahmanin the
beingbecomesal all possibleonly by rccedingfartherand lar Nirvikalpa Samadhi. Knowledge, knowet dissolve in the
lher Ircm the wakingmentality,by vtilhdtawingfrom and losing mensttuumof One EternalConsciou'ness:bitth,growthand
touchwilh the dynamicsurfacelife and iakinga plungeinlolhe death vanEh in that infinite Existence:and love. lovet and
immobileor ecstaticlrancaof absorbedsupetconscience.And belovedmeryeinthatunboundedoceanol SuptemeFelic,
hereinliestor thespiritual seekerlhe necessily or eventhe in- tty... Breakingdownthe idge-polesol thattabenaclein which
evilabilityol the Yogiclrancestate,so much Fo that n is em- the soul had made its abode lot untoldages-stillingthe
phalically asserled thatSamadhi is'notonlya suprememeans body, calming the mind and drowning the ego, comes the
ot arrivingal thehighesl consciousness, b!t...lheverycondition sweetjoy ol Brahmanin thatsupetconsciousstate.Space
andstatusof thathigheslconsciousness ilself,in whrchaloneit disappears in nothingness, time is swallowedup in Eter
can be completsly poss€ssed andenjoyedwhilewe are in lhe nny...[and] it is all stillnessindefinable....
The Nivikalpa
Sanadhi is the highest fliqht ol Advaita Philosophy
(Llleof Sri Ramakrishna, AdvaitaAshrcm,Almoa, p. 181)
Butin lhal caseour goalotdynamicdivinisalion
oi lifebe-
comesforedoomedlo lailure. So we mustnow seewhether the The acquisition ol the highestspiritual consciousness, at
trancecanbe progressively intoa wakingSamadhi
transformed leastslaticallyif nol dynamacally, is the goal of all spiritual
andilsspirilualgains
mademanilest andacliveevenin ourwak- endeavor. But,as we havenotedbefore,the sDaritual reachesof
In9extstence, conscrousness lie taabehindand aboveour notmalwaking
mentality. Now lhe questionis: is it possiblelo possessthe
WHATISSAMADHI
ORYOGICTBANCE? spirilualconsciousness whilestillremaining €hbeddedin the
ln her owndepthsshehead the unuttercdthoughl ordrnary menlalfunclioning? In otherwords, canlhe normalun-
regenerate sudac6consciousness andlhespiaitual onebecon-
Thatmadeunrealtheworldand alllife meant.
'Whoart thouwhoclaim'stthycrownor separalebtrlh, comilant andsimultaneously operative? Seekers anallagesand
clrmes,who have ihe necessarycredentialsto pronounceon
Theillusionol lhe soul'srcaity
this poinl,are universallyagreedto denylhis possibility.
Andperconalgoclheacl on an ignorantglobe
In the animalbodyof impedectman? So,broadlyspeaking,fourallernalivesmayopenout before
Onlythe blankEternalcan be true hose whoasprreafterspiritualily:
All elseis shadowand flashin Mindbbrighl glass, (i)Tocreatea division, a separation. a dissociataon of con-
O soul,inventotof man'sthoughtsand hopes. scrousness and to be spiritual withinor abovewhilethe outer
Thyselfthe inventianof lhe moments'stream, conscroJsness and its ignorantmovemenls are Indiflerenfly
illusions'centreor sublleapexpoint, walched andfelltobesomething intrinsically
loreignanddrspa-
At lastknowthyself,from vainexistencecease." 'ore lr s s thesolulion
ol the WitnessConsciousness .
($ Aurabindo,Saviil.,BookVll, CantaVl,p 535 (rr)To be satisiiedwiththe
indirectgloriesot the spiriiual
rh. Wak'ng slale and The
12 Chaplerl
sell,enlers,whenhis consciousness, throughan inwardcon- rateslrom the lasl vestingof mentality- Then it becomesan
cenlration, withdrawstromlhe surfaceworldas perceivedby ihe absolute impossibility for anyrecords ortranscripls ot theexpe-
sensesand reliresto progressively deeperinleriorrealmsof r ences lherein to reach lhe portals
ol the normal waking con-
supersensus experiences.In thisprocessof inwardwithdrawal scio!sness. Thlsis lhe state of Nirvikalpa Samadhi claimed lo
or upwardascension,theconsciousness firstenlersthe 'dream- be the hlgheststatusof spiritualattainmeni and assidLrously
state'andthenproceeds to th€'sleeo-state'.Whilejnthedram, soughtafterby everyseekerafterlrance.
slalae,the ouler mindol the Sadhakabecomesquiescenland In lhrsultrmate lrance-state ot puresuperconscienl exist-
his innarmind.separated fromlhe outerandnolongercovered this supra-mental immersion in lhe infinite
being and
ence.in
upbyit, rangeslh.oughawondorlulworldol richandvariegated theuncondilioned bliss,timeand space and hence the worldoi
Innerexpenences. ol mentalaware'
nameslandformsvanishinlonoihing, allaction
To obviateany possjblernisunderstanding that the nomen- resswhelherof outwardor ol inwardthingsis allogether abol_
cialuredram-stale'or'sleep-state'may engenderin an unwary ishedandeverything is drawnup inlothesupercosmicBeyond
spirit,we may{orthwithstate herethattheyogicdream,orsleep- Onceatlaining thissupremestaleof Nirvikalpa trance,the
slaleshavenothingto do wilhthe physicalstalesof dreamand \,1/ell"nigh
sou l ndsrt diilicull, impossible, lo return
agarn to the
sleep."lntheYogicdream-slate...lhe mindisinclearpossession aclveIfe-consciousness,tor"illoseslheholdonthecordwhi
ol itself,lhoughnot ofhtephysical world,workscoherently,... (is b ndsil lo the consciousness of life,andlhe bodyis leJl,main-
perlectlyl awake...notwiththe out-going,butwithan ingalhered ta ned indeedin its sel position, nol deadby dissolution, bul
wakefulness in which,thoughimmersed in ilseli,it exercises
all incapabie ol recovering the ensoluedlitewhichhadinhabitedit."
Wehavesolaranalysed in abskacllermsthe physiognomy
In thedream-state itselfthereis an infinite
serieso{ deplhs ol iheYogictrance.Iocomplele theaccounlwe wouldnowlike
startjngwith thal tor whichthe worldol physicalsensesis al- to reproduce in brieftheconcreie caiesof thesagesUddalaka
moslal the doorsthoughmomentarily shirtout,and reachingto andRamakrishna to showhowin laclthe consciousness with-
depthsnot likelyto be brokenin uponby the impact or cattof drawnginwardpassesthrough progressively deepening slaies
the sensuousphysicalworld.As a malter ol Jact,"beyonda 01be ng to rGposefinallyin lhe absolutesiale of inrvikalpa
certainpointlhelrancebecomescomplet€and it is thenalmost Samadhi.
quile impossibleto awakenor call back lhe soutthat has re-
cededintothem;ilcanonlycomebackby itsownwillorat most Fjrstthe scripluralaccouniol the lrance of Uddalakaas
oeplctedintothe grealwotk Yoga-Vasishtha Mahanmayana:
by a violentshock.olphysicalappealdangerousto the system
owrnglo lhe abruptUpheavalofrelurn." Theftanceaf lJddalaka:"One daythesagedeliberaled:'When
wrllyouatlainlo eternalpeaceby reachingtheslatusot mindless'
Withthe incr€asingdepthsor heighlsof lhe degreesof con,
nes(.lo'sJchrsIndeedthecondrtron forgettinglreedfromlhe
sciousness altainedby the soul,the experiences obtained be- oondaqa
comeprogressively remoleandlessandlesscommunicable ol reoealed brrlhs?'
...Thenhe Brahmin Uddalakasat
to downto concentrate
the wakingmind,unlilthe trancebecomescompletein an utter and withdraw his mind.But he couldnot
sLcceeo al olce . alta,nrng
theSamadhi state.lor hrs?nrnd,
in
selfgatheringol the berngwhenlhe centralconscrousnesssepa-
Chaoter.l
the tashionof a restlessbaboon,beganto tleet from objectto consciousness hasbeenequallylorcefully broughtoul by the
objeci...At a lalerstag6,the mind-monkey wouldat limesleave Yoga-Vasishtha in lhe tollowing accoilnt ol the Samadhiol
outsidecontractsand lelt eagerfor the enjoymentol lhe inner Shlkhidhvajal
Sattwicbliss;butthiswasindeedan intermillentmood.lor most wentto theforestandloundlherethe
"ThequeenChudala
ollenthe mindwouldrushlowardsoutwardobjeclsagain,as il it lree,in the staleol
klngShikhidhvaja saated, likea sculptured
was stungby a wouldrushlowardoutwardobjoctagain,as if it I mustnow seektore'awaken
\rrvrkarpalrance.she deliberaled:
was stungby a venomoussnak6.Al times,his innerstatewas his body very soon'Thenthe
beingclearedol thoobscurity the king,otheruisehe willleav€
of ignoranc€ andUddalaka visioned theking'sbodyandshouted at the
the glory of a sun; but in no lime his Chittabecameres ess oueenChudalaapproached
againand flewoulwardin the mannerof a starfledbjrd.Again, too oi her voice.This loudsoundand thenthe soundot lhe
trumpetfrightened and slartledlhe sylvancreatures' but the
he withdrewinwardand oxperienced al limesa vacantspaceor failed to evoke any response lrom
queen'srepeated attempts
the Zerool an impenetrable darkness...As a warriorin bat e kanced and immobile like a gran_
killshis enemieswitha sword,Uddalakaslarleddestroyingone thekingwhosebodyromained
ile mass.Chudalalhen laidherhandsonthebodyof Shikhidhvaja
by onealllhe vikalpas gone,he thalwereappearjng inhiscon-
andslafledviolently agilating it.Thusshaken,the king'sbody
sciousness.lhe vikalpasl9on6,he saw into he innerspace a ground, but eventhenhe did not
lell down and rolled on the
green-black Sunbutproceed immediat€ly to eradicatethisinky recove-his waking consciousness Then the queenwonde'ed
darkness.Then the softnessof a massedlustr€greetedlhe sage be an easypropostlron to
and lhought.'lldoesnol seem lo
Uddalaka Butthattooheeliminated jn notimefotlowing theway gain desire
awakenmy KinglOnlyil he slillpossesses the ol a
ol an elephantcalf that gets into a lotuspondand tears away willhelphimto comeback
somewhere hiddenin seed'lorm,lhat '
anddevastates thelotuses allaround. Oncethismassedsplen- againto thewakingslale,In no otherwisecanhe bearoused
dourwasgone,Uddalaka's mindsuccumbed to a spellof dseo
sleepjustas manhighlyintoxicated loseshissobriety andthen TheTrance-Experience ol Si Ramaki'hna:Nowwe cometo
getsrntotorpor;butthesagewaspromptenoughlo annullhis thevervaulhentic hislorical caseol theSageol Dakshinesvara
stateof sleep.Then his mindwaslilledwiththeconscjousness whosetrance-experiences as depicled in hisauthoritative biog'
ol vyoma;puliustas thewindsweepsawaythedew-drops, raphypublished by the Ramakrishn Orderitself we reproduce
he
loo sweptawayfromhismindthisclearandstainlessconscious- below:
nessof vyoma.But,followingthat,somesori of dazeddullness -Sr Ramakr,shna s Samadhi covereda widetangeo' expe_
ovenookhimas if he was a heavilydrunkmanwho had just I encesfromhisDerceplion of variousvisions lo theannihilalion
comeoutol his torpidslale.Eventhistoo he vanquished. oi hismindin theintinile consciousness ot Erahman. lt hadalso
"Then,at longlast,lhe sageUddalakareachedthe slalusof rnanyforms....Thus heentered intoa'worldof powel, or'aworld
Nirvikatpa Samadhi, wherethe16wasneitheranvobscuritv of beauty',or'a worldof spiritual grandeur'... He wouldcofil_
nor
anYePhemeral luster." rnunewith invisiblebeingsJo rmsol theDivinity or DivineIncarna-
fons ot the pasl,
That, in the state of Nirvikalpalrance,the body becomes
immobilelik6a paintedimage(citdrpjtamivacalah) and evena "Suchvisionshowever belonglo thedomainol Personalily,
vrolenlsense-appeal tailsto bringbackthe soullo the waking whlchis notthelastwordin spiritual experiences So longas a
18 Chapt€Fl
sadhakais salisliedwith lhis kindol samadhi.his a ainments Ramakrihan in theverysameposition in whichhe hadlelthim.
cannoibe side to be complele.He has not reachedunlathom- There was no manifeslalionof lile in the body,bul lhe counle'
abledepthsof the ocean,lhoughundoubtedly he hasgonelar nancewas calm,sereneand radiani. He sawthatthe disciple
b€hindthe sudace,encouni6ring the lormsol life abounding wasstilldeadio the objective world,his mindabsorbed in the
lhere,but he has noty6t ransacked th6 pricelesstreasuresoJ Sell,w lhouta llicker-absolutelysteady!.
ihe deep,whichr6v€althemselves onlylo thosewhohavethe
courageto diveandon tilltheyhavetouchedbo om. "Withthe utmoslcare he lTotapurildeterminedil lhe hearl
was beatingor il there was lhe slightestkace of respiration
"So we ,ind Sri Famakrishna takingup anothercourseot Againandagainhetouchedthedisciple's corpse_likebody.There
sadhana allogether lromhisprevious
dilterent ones." wasno signeitherof lileor ol consciousness....ll undoubl-
was
Then,a lewpagesluriheron,the biographer givesa vivid edy a caseof the Nirviklapa
Samadhi-lhe culminationol Advaila
d6scriptionof thefirstNirvikalpaSamadhi-siate of Sri Ramak-
rishnal ''Tolapuri immedialely look stepsio bringthe mindol Sri
"Sri Ramakrishna passedintothe ineJfable gloryof the Ramakrishna downto lheworldof phenomena.
NirvikalpaSamadhi.In ihal rapturousestasythe sensesand AflerTotapurilell Dakshineswar, Sri Ramakrishna decideto
'Mine'and live conslanllyin
mindsloppedlhei lunctions.Thebodybecamemotionless as a withdrawtrom lhe worldot 'l' and
corose.The universerolledawaylrom h's vrson.evenspace unilywilhihe Supreme.What lollowed thenisverymuchreveal'
itsellrneltedaway.Everythingwasreducedto ideaswhichlloated nglromour point of viewand worth reproducingintohe sainfs
llkeshadowsin th€ dimbackground of the mind.Onlylhe faint owninimltable words:
conscioLrsness ot'l'repeateditselfin dullmonotony. presently ''Islayedin thatineffable
thatloo stopped, andwhalremained wasExistence alone.Ihe StateJorsix monthsat a slretch,a
soulloslitselfin the Selt,andall ideaot duality, statefromwhichan ordinarysoul knowsno reiurn,his body
ot subjectand
objecl,waseflaced.Limitations droppingolj lifea witheredleaffroma treelTherewas no sense
weregone,andtinitespacewas
onewithinfinile oi lhe passageol lime,ol howthe daysandthe nighlswentbyl
space.Eeyond speech, beyondexperience and Fliesand insectsusedto getinlothe mouthandnostrils ol my
beyondthought, SriRamakrishna hadrealised theBrahman-had bodyas J in thoseol a corpse,but theyevoked no response
becometheBrahman.
fromme.OJtentimes lwould easenalureinvoluntarily withoul
"Tolapuri {SriRamakrishna'sGuruorthespiritual preceplorl berngn lhe leaslawareol itl trlybodywouldnot haveremalned
sal lor a ionglime,silentlywatchinghis discipte. Findinghim viablefor long,it wouldhavesurelydropped downdead,bullor
pertectlymotionless,he stoleout ot the roornand lockedthe lhecircumstance ol lhearrivalatthistimeol Sannyasin
a wilha
doorlestanybodyshouldinkudewithouthis knowledge.Then he heavystick in his hand.he realisedmy state at the very firsl
awajled thecalllromSriRamakrishna to openthedoor.The daV glanceandiell lhat il thisbodycouldsomehow be pr€served,
passedon,thenightcame.Another dayandstillanother - three muchgoodwouldbe doneto the worldlhroughits agency.li
days passed andlh€rewas nocall.Tolapuriwasastonished and thusso happened thal duringmeal-iimes he usedio beatmy
wenl to seewhatwas wrong. oodywilhthestickandnosoonerdidhefindthata taintglimmer
'He opened ol awareness hadcome,he wouldpushsomemorselsot good
the door and enteredthe room.Theresat Sri
Chapter'1
G ory ol the Supercoscient intoo!r normalwakingconscious- !ie Samadhiand cessaiionol all modiflcalions, therers no relurn
ness.B!l Samadhiexperiences cannotsulJice in the leasttor I r o m t h a t s t a t e ; a s t h e V e d a n t aa p h o rs m s a y s : a n a v l t t l
the objecloi ourYogaol TransJormation; 1or,our goaljs no less savdat........Bul the AvaIarc cherish a few desires lor the good
lhanthedynamrc divinisationol o!r total€xistenceincluding the al lhe wa d. By taking hold of that thread they come down hom
oulermost partsof Pradriti.Tobe morespecilic, viewedfromlhe the superconscous to the consciousslale:' (ltalicsours)
perspeclrve goal- lhe goalof embodying
off oulrspirilual and Narralionhis own personalexperiencethe Swamrsays in
manitesting lhe highestspiritualconscjo!sess hereuponearth the same conlexl:
itseli- lhe kance-solution lor ihe actualimperietionsof our ''| had
world'exstencesulJers, amongothers,Iromtheioliowing lust a lrcce of the feeltng af Ego, so I could again
defi- (/bld.,p. 139).
retur,to ihe worldoi relatvily lrom the Samadhi."
(lta cs oufs)
(i)Th. supremetrance-state represents a slateol conscious,
(iv)ln a moregeneralway we may statethatii the enlry into
nessor rathersuperconsciousness to whichonlya rareiewcan
ordinarilyaitain. the lr gherreachesoi our beingis elleciedonly in ihe absorbed
Thus,ii hasgotnogeneralvalldity so faras lhe
goalol a wide-based superconscienl staie ol trance,the experiencecannolbecorne
terrestrial
fealisation is concerned. realto the whole existence,beingvalid only for a remoleparl
(ii)Evenwhenattained, thereis no returnforthemajority ot o l i l . T h , J si l m i l i l a t e sa g a i n s t o u r g o a o J t h e c o m p l e l e
seekersfromlhissLlpteme heighlof splrituat consctousness. tt sprrlLra isalionof lhe tolalilyoi our existence,
rsonlytheexceplionaily giftedlswarakotis or ,,divine
souis,,
who
succeedin comingbackto the wakingstate. {v) TheYogiclrancehelpsus to fix lhe spiritualexperiences
rn our nner consciousness aloneiii cannotautomalicallyead
CI. SwamiVivekananda,CampleteWotks,Val.Vl, p. 4gg: to the sp rilualsationol the outerwakingconsciousness. so lor
"Whenoncethey[ordinary Sadhakas] somehow {rswho a m al a lotal spirlual and supramenlalchange,even,
allainto the
direclrealisalion of Brahman, theycannoiagaincomebackto and In partcular,oi lhe outerpans of our Nalure,Samadhias
the lowerplaneof rnaterial perception. an InslrLrmentat on provesto be altogetherinadequaleand fu-
Theymeltawavin Brah,
rran .' A5,reniavat - likewareri. milk. I e.
onlytheaddition of an unkeptor a remembered bul no longer (ii ) not onlylo experiencelhe Truthsubleclvelyand in ones
dynamicexperience," nneTConsciousness a one, but to manliestt even in full acliv_
Llyi
It rs becauseof this persistence o1the disabilities of the
wakingmentalityeven after attainmentoJ Samadhithat it is ( v) an inlegra possesslonol the iniegraity of the D vine n
somelimes asserted thatan absolute eradication of lgnorance lhe tfe ol this world and nol on y beyond I
or a compieleascension 'lt
of consciousness from the "mortal ln short, in the words of Sri Aurobindo: is the obieclof
mentality" becomeleasibleohlywhenthe bodyandthe bodily myyogalo iransformiileby bringingdowninto t the Light,Power
rfeceaseto lunctionat dealh.\Cf. Yoga-Shikhopanishad,l. i63 and B iss of the DivineTruthand its dynamiccerlitudes.This
pendapalena ya muktihse muktirnatu hanyate.) Yogals not a yoga of world_shunning asceticism,but ol d vine
Theforegoing discussion makesil clearthaltrance,exper - ife . .il aLmsal a changeol liJeand existence,nol as somelhng
encesmaybe all righlso lar as the traditionatYogas are con, subordlnate oi nc dental,but as a d stinctand centra oblect"
cerned;ior, afterall,according lo themthetruebondageis the ElsewhereSfi Aurobindopointsout that "not on y musl the
veryprocesso{ birthihe liability of the individual 1orebirthln m nd be ab e to r se in abnormalstaiesout of itselllntoa higher
this"unhappylransienlwo..ld"\anltyamasukham lokam).Libeta- consc oLrsness,brl iIs waking mentality also miust be entiely
tionachievedthroughthe altainmentof the knowledge of Reality
shoLrld thereforehavelor its practical consiequence lhe defini- a/ore
Th s then s ourgoal, and hencetrance-experlences
lrvesloppage oi lhis cyclicprocessoff birth-death-rebirth. cannolhe p us much in ach evingour objeclive.lvoreoverlhe
Andii thisis so,if the cessalion fromemboded existence Samadhstateas ordinarilyrealisedsutierslrom anotrlergreal
ls consrdered lo be the summumbonum,one needconcentrale disablily which may not be considereras such when viewed
onlyon an innerrealisaiion ol the innerDivineand not bother lrom the standpointoi the goal oJth lrad tionalworld-sh!rnning
oneself wilhthepossjbililyor olhelwise of an integral terreskial Yogasbut certainlyso from our pointof view.Thiss as regrads
rea sation. Also,thebody,allhough initiallya necessary instru- theabsenceof any consciousmemorj/of the tranceexperence
menl for the realisalionot our spirjtualdesliny\sariramadyam wl -r or " erLrns o lha wakrngmenlaL.IV agd 1.
khaludharmasadhanam), may be allowedto disintegrateonce As a rnalterof factthe aim of the old Yoga stopassaway
thaigoalis achieved. (Cf.Sfi Bamakrishna: "Takeoul thethorn rntolhe Superconscient and not to bringbackLlsdynamic[iches
with the helpot a thorn"tand Yoga-Vasishtha: "Renounceihat 11rthe wakingouler existencewith a view lo effectuatea spi.
wrlh whichyou rcnounce"lyena Iyajasitamtyala). ituallransformallon ther.Hence,as soonas theYogingoesabove
Butthiscan by no meansbe our altitude10the bodyand Ine evel ol the spirtuai mind, he does not seek lo retarnany
bodilylile. For the IntegralYogahas for ils objectve: contnuilyof awarenesslhere;instead,he passesintothe mys-
I c sleep ol Samadhi,a slale of superconsciousness in wh ch
(i)io makespiriiualexperiences reallothewholeconscious- Ine humamrnrndin ils actuallyevolvedconditioncannotremain
nessincluding thatof the outerbeing; awakeevenwith what has beent€rmedthe " innerwaking"and
(ii)toestablishthehighest possible realisation ln thewakinq nencepasses nto 'the blankincomprehension and oon-recep
stateand makeit endurethere;
2a Chapter_2
-
I he Passaoeclescribes lhe slale of consciousness when
one is alool frc; a thlngseven whenin lheh midstand allis
lelt lo be unreal, an illusion. Therc arc then no prefercnces or
desies becausethings are too unreal to desire orto prefer one
lo another.But,at the sametime,oneloelsno necessityto llee
kom the worldor not to do any action,becausebeingfrce lrcm
the illusian,actionot livingin the wo d does not weighupan
one, one is nol boundor involved.
fSri Aurobindo,Lette6 on Yoga,pp.682-83)
Whenone seesa mircgefotthefircttime,he mistakesit lor
a reality,and after vainly trying to quench his thitst in it, leans
lhat il is a miage. Eut wheneverhe seessucha phenomenon
in luture,in spiteol the apparcntrcality,the idea that he sees
a miage always preaonts itself to him. So is the wo d ol Maya
to a Jivanmukta (the libeftted in life)
(SwamiVivekananda, Co ected Wotks,Vol.Vl, p. 104)
I am neitherthe doet nor the enjoyer.Action' haveI none,
pasl or present or fulute. I possess ,o body nor does
todylessnesscharacteiseiry state.Howcan I say whatis mine
ence. But belore we pass the finatjudgmentjt would be bellef lor alreadydiscussedin Chapterl. SincePrarabdhaKarmas(lhal is
us lo examine,in howeverbriel a manner,some ol lhe princioal to say, lhose that have started bearing lheir rrujts) have pro'
lrails ol the Jivanmukti-realisation. ducedour presentbody and sincethesecannotbe in kuciitied
Jivanmuktiand Videhaml,k i Jivanmuktiis neverconsidered exceptthroughtheirexhaustionby sufferance,even on the al_
lo be ihe goal in itselt;it is, so to say,no more lhan a slopgap ta nmenlol liberation,lhe body may continuelo remainviable
arrangemenl,waysideinn, - the ultimategoal, the gaalpat exceL lor sometime,bul lor sometime only.Whenthe Prarabdhas are
/erce, being always v/itehamuktlorthe liberationthat is attained over,the body automatically disintegratesand ihe Jivanmukir
with the dissolutionol the body.But this vjdehamuktiot disem- stalusgives placeto Videhamukti.
bodied liberation"is sorJghttobe eflected in two stages: the lirst Thus lhe Jivanmuktirealisationappearsalmosias lhe vrr-
slage, the penullimateatlainmenl as il were, is reached when lue ol a necessilyand lhe waking physicalexistenceIn lhrs
throughthe gainingof ihe kue Knowledgeol Realityof one,sown phenomenaluniversecannolbe consideredin ihis viewto be a
beingas wellas ol lhe world-existence, the propensitvto futLlre I eld speciallyworthyol spiritualisalion
brths In lhts phenomenaluntversets al(ogethersrampedoul; the pointsthalwe havemadeabove,
In ordeflo substantiale
the secondand linal stagebeingthe dropping oll of the current we adduce below a lew observalionsdrawn lrom dillerenl
body{ormation and the afiainmentto the stalus ol videhamukti_
Jivanmukti represents the status ol thal seeker who has at_ _...Alterrealisingthat slate describedin lhe scrrplures,lhe
ready attainedSettKnowledgebut is still leadingthe presenl
sarnlse€s the Self in all beingsand in that consciousness de_
bodilylifeawaitingthe day whenthis willceasetor goodand he
will become "liberatedjn bodylessness,'fyldehamukta) voles h mself lo service, so thal any Karma that was yel lell lo
be warked oul thought the body may exhausf /lse/i ll rs lhis
h followsthenihal the Jivanrnuktistatus is the morevatued statewhich has beendescfibedby the authorsol the Shaslras
the moreil approaches lhe characterofVideharnukti evenwhile (scriplures)as Jivanmukti,'Freedom whileliving'."
the Siddha is sti'l is his body.So lhe divine transtormationol the
(llalicsours)
bodrly exislence has here no relevance al all. As a mater ol
lacl, lhe famous VidyaranyaMuni, one of the reputedaulhors of CompleteWorks,Vol.Vll pp ll2'
{SwamiVivekdnanda,
the l\ronislicWork Panchadashtwrote aJulllrealiseonJivanmuk- 113).
t , calledJivanmukti- Viveka,only to proveat the end thal after A Devolee:Doeslhe body remainevenaiterthe realizalion
all Videhamuktiis the sum mun bonum and Jivanmuktiis a o'God?
slep towardsthissupremegoal.
Masler:'Thebodysurviveswithsomeso lhal lhey may worK
But il this so, lhe queslion arises: why, then, even after the out lheirPrarabdhaKarmaor worklor the weltareoi others....Ol
allarnmentof Sell-Realisalion. shoutdthe Siddhaagreeat all to course,he ..escapesfuture births which would otherwisebe
remarnlor some time in lhe body in the Jivanmukti-status and necessaryior reapng lhe resultsol his pasl Karma.His presenl
n0t pass immediatelyand direc y into VrdehamLrkti, when lhe body remainsaliveas long as its momenlumis not exhausted;
lalteris the realobjeciivesoughlalter?The answerthat is oen- but luture blrlhs are no longerpossible.The wheelmoves so
erallyolle'eo is in te.msof the Theoryof Karmawhrchwe ;ave
38 Chapter-3 39
repossess and remouldour mind,lifeand bodywiththe lumi- ilual;and then lhe !,rillol lhe individualPurushaunilyingilsell
nousdynamisot the'activeBrahman'and identifyourselves, with thrspoiseknow;edger€ieclslhe lowerand drawsbackto
freeiyand in the infinitesel'-delight ol lhe Being,withall the lh6 supremeplane,dwellsther6,los€smindand body,sheds
oulpouringol Chil-Tapas,ofConsciousness anditscreativeForce, litetromil andmergesilselfin the supremePurusha, is deliv-
inTimeandin Space- eredkom individualexaslence."
But lhe goalis easierstatedthan realised.For,almoston Bui a deeperandhigherspiritualexploralion revealsthelacl
universalevidence,any greatstressol dynamismgenerallyob- thallhe aboveassumptionis notcorfeclaft€rall.Mindis notlhe
scureslhe innervision,bringsin a relalivelossof the Peaceand highestprincipleol cosmicetistence,wilh onlythe pure Spiril.
Sllenceol the soul,and olherwise l€ndsto lowerthe statusol lhe lmp€rsonalAbsolut€beyondils€lf.As a matterottacl,there
spiritualatlainm€nl. is a hierarchyol superiorprinciplslar transcending the normal
But his disabiliiyarisesfrom the lacl that attemplsto pos- mindconsciousness andconsequ€nlly al presentsuperconscienl
sessthe activeBrahmanhaveso lar beenmadeexclusivelv lo il. A supremeTrulh-Consciousness, Rita-Chit,whichSri
lhoughlhe I\rind-consciousness. AndsinceI\,4ind,ihe greatdi- Aurobindo lermsas Supermind, lops the seriesand this is a
vider,suflersfromsomeintrinsicandiffemediable limitaiion
lhese Powernotrnerelystaticandintrospeclive butsupremelydynarnic
allemplshavebeenlore doomedto lailure. andcrealive.lt is lhis Sup6.mindthat mustb€ consciouslypos-
sessedand macleto descendinto out ea h-natureil we would
Bul thequestion maybe raised:sinceMind,in lhe aclually havea translormedwakingexistence.Otherwisestaticr€leas€
evolvedexistence, is the highestpossible inslrumeni available remainslhe solepossibililybefor€lhe spirilualseeker.
andsincethereis noolherstillhigherorganised powerthrough
l.Jnto(unately, lhe knowledge ol the exislenceot thes6
whichto realise lhe Sellor Brahman or to oossessdivinelvlhe
supernal planesol ourbeinghasbeenalmosiloslto thespiritual
world,is it not almoslaxiomatic thallhe transformation oi our
memoryol lhe racewithall the adverseconsequences atlend-
dynamic wakingexistence as we envisage in oursadhana is an
proposition? anluponil.Inanci€nt lore."inlheUpanishad (usually
theTaillirya)
impossible
thereare someindicationsof lhesehigherplanesand lheir na-
Of course,if lhe aboveassumplion is correct,lheliberation Iureandlhe possability ol gatheringupthewholeconsciousness
and transformalion of our embodiedexislencewouldbe impos- and risingintolhem-Bul thiswaslorgotlenafterwardsandpeo-
siblenereuponea h, andinsteadof runningafietlhe jgnisfatuus plespokeonlyol theBuddhias thehigheslthing withthePurusha
ilwouldbe moresensibleto passawayinloSuperconscienl and or Se f jusl above,but therewas no clearideaol lhese planes.
notto seekto bringdownlheSuperconscient intothetieldof our
Now,so longas lhesehigherspirilual planesof lhe menlle
wakrngconscrousness, beingand linallythe planeol Supermind are not consciously
As a matlerof fact,thishasbeenso far ihe generaltrend. possessedand madeactiveand organisedin the norhal
For"intheordinary Yoga...itis onlynecessary lo recogniselwo conscrousness ol theembodi6d beino,so longas thespiritualised
planesot ourconsciousness, thespiritualand malerialisedmen- firindapproaches theSupr€m€direcllyand notpassingthrough
1a1;the purereasonstanding belweenlhesetow viewsthem thisTruth-Consciousness, lhe supramonlal Gnosis,oneis bound
bolh,culs lhroughlhe illusions ol lhe phenomenal vrorld,ex- lo expel|encedilriculties
fromth€ pointot viewol the realisation
ceedsthemalerialised mentalplane,seestherealjlyoi thespir'
Chapter'5 The m nd-Consciousness
:
edge.In lhis transilionil is possibleto be arvaketo al lhe slates co!rsetruelhat our normalconsciousness, evenat ils waking
of beingtogelhefin a ha.monisedand uniliedexperelnceand to moments,can becomeawareof Brahmanlhrougha processol
see the Realityevery where."'z Then we experience,as Sri inwardconcentration. But the pointto noteis that il is onlyihe
pul, that it is not an unrealor real' slaleand passive aspeclof Brahmanlhal is thusapprehended,
Aurobindohas so beaulilully
unrealuniverselhal is reposingon alranscendentRealily,but a nol its activeainddynamicside.
real universereposingon a Realilyal once universaland lran_ Theresultis lhat intoreturnuponworld-extslence the nental
scendenlor absolule. being Iinds a wall ot non-communication betweenthe passive
For even beyond the avyaktam,the Unmanitest,beyond lhe andtheactiveBrahman andall dynamicactivityappearslo its
divine Darkness,tamasahparcstat, is lhe SupremeOne Exist st lledandinaclrve consciousn€ss eilhetas a hallucination or a
ence, ekam advaitam, the Para Purusha who holds in His vasl dream,or like a puppetshou or evenas a purelyrnechanical
Inlegra'Realrtylhe lrulh ol cosmic consciousness as well as actionbroLightaboutby th8 playol Prakritiwithoulany activee
Nirvana o, world_consciousness. He is beyond the partiiicpation oi Purusha.The incommunicabilily maysometimes
lhal of the
duality and the non-dualily, paratah panh and,s aclityavana tn be so slrong,the gulf separating the innerconsciousness and
conlrasl to ttie darkness o{ the Unmanitest. He is ihe light of lhe dynamicouterbeingso widethatlo all outwardappearance
lighls, jyotisam jyotih, and lies in a supreme golden sheath. the seekermy a "moveaboul likea thinginerl in the handsol
hiranmaveparc kose.lndeed,"the sun in theYoga is the symbo
Nalure,/adayatlikea lealin the wind,or otherwisetinl a slateol
purehappyandfreeirresponsibility ot action,balayat...Theouter
oJ the slrpermindand the supermindis the tirst power ol the
Suorernewhichone meelsacrossthe boaderwherethe expen-
being[may] livein a God-possessed lrenzycarelessol itselland
mindceasesandthe unmodified divinecon- lhewotld,unmattavat, or withan entkedisregardwhelherol the
enceol spiritualised
convenlions andprop.ieties offittinghumanactionor of theha.
sciousnessbeginsthe domain ol the supreme Naiure. Para
Prakrlr. h is lhal Light of which the Vedic mystics got a glimpse
monyand rhylhmsof a greaterTruth. lt actsas the unboundvital
darknessol lhe Christian lrerngplsacayal,the divinemaniacor elsethe divinedemoniac."
and it is lhe oppositeof the interuening
mysiics,Ior the supermind is all light and no darknessTo the Butthissorlot'stalicpossession by theSelf'or'theunregu-
mind the Supreme is avyaktat parcm avyaktam' bul il we follow ateddynamicpossession whythe physicaland vitalNature,is
the line leading to the supermind,it is an increasingaffimation lar removed Jrornthe goalof the lnlegralYoga, forwhatwe aim
ralher lhan an incrcasing negationthrcugh whichwe mave al s ihe 'mastery ol the Prakritiby the Purusha landlthesubli-
lhal I;e m'no mairon of Nalureintoherownsupremepower,the intiniteglo-
We have so iar dwell upon lhe disabrhtres
lo lhe sum_
nesot the ParaShakti.'
consclousness sullersirom on its way ol ascensLon
Tils o' spirlual consciousness or ralher superco_scousness Conlrontedwith this inabilityto participateaclivetyin the
.
qynam
Now lel us turn oLlrgaze on the limitationsthat vitiateits at' c manilestalion withoulat the sametime losingthe
lempl at complelepossessionot the active Brahman,when rl possessron oi thekeedomandpeaceoflhesilentSel{,the mental
seeks10 returnJromthe summiland embracelhe lile oi action oernggels lemptedto adootlhe aliitudeof an indiflerentand
nactve witnessol the world-play andat lhe beslallowhis oF
ga'< ol senseandmotor-act,on a freeplayof lheirwo1unsup.
The tncomplete possessionof the aclive Brahman: llls al
:
The mrnd-Consciousness
the troubleis that in this operation"the minddoes not entirely hasperforcetogetridot mindallogelherand enterintothe abso-
possessthe divineor bscomedivine,but is possessedby rl or lule mindlesssusupti.lt is for this reasonthat so manyseekers
by a luminousrellectionof it so long at ils remansan... pure of the pasl have recommendedmanonasaot lhe annulmenl ol
oassivitv."The momenl it becomesactivemindbecomesturbid the Mind as lhe v,a/oyalto lhe supremespirilualexperience.
aqainandthe rellection ol thedivrnes losl. thuswe lind Sri Flamakrishnadeclaring:"The knowledgeol
Henceit is ollend€clar€dlhat an absolutequielismand lhe Brahmancannotbe allainedexceptlhroughthe annulmeniol
cessalionol alloulerandinneraclionis lhe onlywayo!l of lhe A Guru lold his disciple,'Giveme your mind and I shall
[,4ind.
aboveimpasse. this,ailsto satisfythe demand
But evidently giveyou knowledge."'
soy lhe IntegralYoga. Whatwe seekas"a positivetransforma- The RajarshiJanaka of old declared,"NowI haveawakened
lionandnotmerely quiescence
a nogative ollhewakingmentali- and discoveredlhe thiefthat is l\.4indt I must kill it, musl scorch
ly. il lo death.For lvlindis the rootof this worldol rgnorance.'
Bul the basicdil{icultywiththe mind-conscaousness is lhal According10lhe grealsageVasishtha, a greal goodcomes
rl is an inveleraledividerol lhe indivisibleand dwellsuponone oul ol lhe deslruclion ol Mind, manaso'bhyudaya manonaso
aspeclat a time lo the exclusionol all others.For "mrndin ils mahadayah and lhe Mind ol lhe knower ol the Truth verily gels
essenceis a consciousness whichmeas!res.lamits.cuts oul annulled.lnantno nasamabhyeti.The Yoga Shikhopanishadtoo
tormsof lhingslrom lhe indivisiblewholeand containslhem as declaresthat mindlessnessis the supremestalus. ,a marah
il eachwerea separaleinteger...Mind maydivide,mulliply,add,
sublract,bul it cannot get b€yondthe limitsol this malhemat-
rcs.lJit goesbeyondandtriesto conceive a realwhole. it loses Thus. almosl on universallestimony,lhe ideal belorelhe
rtsellin a loreignelemenl;it fallslromits wonfirmgroundinto seekeratler the Truth is 10 gel lo lhe slale ot mindlessness,
lheoceanof theinlangible, inlolheabysmsof theinlinite where amaraslawherelhe m nd losesall itsJaculties , yade na manule
I caneilher perceive,concoive, sensenordealwilhits subject tnanahandbeaomesnon'mindso to say,unmanibhuyal.
lor creation cannotpossessthe infinite,
andenjoymenl....l\,4ind Whatis lhen the solutionJorus who asprrealterthe freedom
rt can onlysufferil or be possessed by il; it canonlylie bliss- oi drvne aclionas well as the liberationol divinerest? ll mind
tullvheioless undertheluminous shadowol theRealcastdown conscousnessrnclusve oi ils highestspiritualreachesproves
on it lrom planesof existencebeyondits reach." ils inadequacyas an instrumenland medium lof lhe divine
possessionol our wakingexistence,whal othercosmicprinc-
It is becauseol lhis inherenlpropensitylo divideand
p1e/s there that can help us to realiseour goal? For. lor the
overstresslhal lhe Mind cannothold at once Unityand Multi-
plicily.consciousness properlullillmentol our objeciive,"we have lo reviewand re'
andaction,beingand becomingt it can-
nol possesssimullaneously mo! d lhe lower livingin lhe light,lorce and joy ol lhe higher
lhe active and the passiveBrah-
rea ly We have to realiselvlatleras a sense-crealed mouldol
man.Andbecauseot Mind'sinability lo possessthe Inlinite. it
instead ol beingsalisliedwilhthe'luminous goldenlid, Sp r(. a vehicletor all manifeslation
of the light,forceand ioy o1
shadow',
hiranmayapatrc, one wouldseekto realisethe uttef Real,one Sachchdanandain lhe highestconditions ot lerrestral be ng and
aclivty.We have lo see Liie as a channe for the ni n te Force
Chaple.5 :
The mrnd-Consciousnoss 67
Thenall grewlranqullinherbeing'sspace,
Onlysometimessmallthoughtsaroseand fell
Llfequielwavesupona silentsea
' f-rom
Sr Alrobindos Sav l.i, Book Vll cantoVl, pp 538 49 ( la csours)
68 Chapter-5 The mind-Consciousness
: 69
Hisknowledgean inviewcaughtunlathomable,
An outviewby no briefhorizonscut:
He thaughtand feltin all, hisgazehadpower.
(SirAurobindo,
Sayll4Bookll, CantoXV,p. 301)
Thethingto begainedis the binging in ol a Pawerat'Con-
sciousness(the Supramenlal)not yet oryanisedor activedi-
reclly in eatth-natute,even in the spirituallife, but yet to be
orcanisedand madedircctlyactive
{SirAurobindo,On Hinself p. lag)
Theaverheadascensionis not indispensable for the usual
spirilualputposes,- far the putposesof
but itisindispensable
this Yaga.For its aim is to becomeawarc of and liberuteand
transfamanduniteallthebeinginthe lightof a Trulh-Conscious-
nesswhichis aboveand cannotbe rcachedil tbereis no en
ttrelyinward-goingand notranscendingand upward-goingmove-
(tbid..pp. t79-A0
I he l_le'gralYogaol nansformation naslor hs objectrve
nolmerelylhe supreme realisation ol Sachchidananda, butHls
0lvne seli-expression, thellawlessmanifestation of the aclive
Brahman, inourdivinely tansiigured embodied earthly existence.
Bulthequestion is:howlo realisethisgoalol ourYogaand
whalit is ihai my possibly bethemediumof theserealising as-
censions and world-possessing descents? For,in the aclually
elaborated evolullonary statusol humanconsciousness, rnind
represenls thehighest cosmicprinciple andpowerol conscous
n e s ss o l a r o r g a n i s e idn a m n t h e m e n t a b
l e i n g .B u 1t h s
rnndconsciousness, evnin itshighest llights,is no morethana
Chapter-6 The Inwardizalion
and the Ascension 75
movemenl inthe lgnorance: il is nolinherentlyTruth-Conscious- Absolule,it can only disappearinto il in a swoonor extinclion-
And henceit is allogeiher incapable of possessing or evenal_ rnloSt.Johno{ the Cross's'divine DafknessoflhemyslicNight-'
tainingto the Divine;at bestil can immobilise itselfand rest Also, as a mediumof divineexpressionand aclion,the mrnd
satisfiedwithRetlections of the sunln watercsll planecannotin its very natureallowot the supremeworklngs
wlh "brightor natlveto the d ivineConsciousness- Force.'The m ind spiritualised,
But ii is far kom our goalto be contented
pholog lhatthemrnd purilied,liberated,perfectedwithinits own limitsmay come as
shadowy raphsor filmsof a disla0lReality"
canat mostachievefor us:we wantto ascendto the supreme near as possibleto a faithfulmentaliranslaiion,but-..this is
andbringdownilsdynamic glores and atter all a relatve lidelityand an imperfectperJection...The
Realiiyiniullawaireness
in the playoi our waking siate. mind...cantake iis llhe Inlinite's]suggestrons and act ihernout
splendours
in its own way, a way always fragmentary, derivative and sub-
Bul we cannotbuttakenoteof the lact ot sp ritualexperr- iect lo a greateror less deformalion,but it cannotbe ilsellthe
encece ifiedby mosiseekersoi the Truthihal an immense directand perlecl instrumenlof lhe infiniteSpiritacting in its
hialusseemsto exislbelween lhesupramentalTrulh_Conscious_ ownknowledge."
nessand the l\rind-consciousness we normay knowol, And
unbridgeable gulf inierveningbelween the It becomesimperaiivethen lor the fullillmentot our divine
unlessthisseemingly
bridged, we haveio torego
our dream dest nv uoon earth thal man should be able to raise hrmsellmuch
two is satisfactorily
abovethe planeoi mindand normallyand permanent{y, evenin
...to planton earthihe livingTruth his wakrngstate,live in the supernalheightsof the Sprril,also
Or makeol lvlatter'sworldthe homeof God. to manifesland organisein his embodiedexistencenew plances
In thatcase,we shallhaveno otherchoicethanto takea and powersof consciousness otherlhan and superiorio mind,
super-consclent leaplromthestationol MindintotheUnknowab e so that these may offer lhemseivesas ihe proper media and
beyondandlo agreewilly-nilly to thelollowrng conclu-
lrenclrant insirLrmentalronthroughwhichthe divineWill and Wisdomcan
s on oi theincredulous Darkness persuadingSavitrlioabandon lreelvact and self-exoress,
herlaskoi world-translormationl But betweenthe l\,,lind
and the Spirit,arethere other superior
He "vhowouldturn.loGodmustleavetheword; p aces of spiritualconsciousness-not merelyslalic and ntro-
speclive,bul creativeand dynamic-which man can possibly
He whowouldlivein lhe Spirit,musigiveup life;
hopeto ascend?And is il al all possiblefor manlo developand
He whohasmetthe Sell,renounces selt.
o-o ,ricp hese supernalplanes In his wakrngconscioLs-essso
Thevoyagers of the m;llionroutesof mind
muchso lhat he may outgrowand lranscendhis presenimenla
Whohavelravelled lhroughExislence to is end.
statusand becomesomethingmorethan human?
Sagesexploring theworld'ocean s vasts,
Havefoundextinction thesoleharbour safe. The anweiand hopelie in the processof evoluiionaryelabo-
.at on ol manifesiedexislencehere uponthe face of the earlh.
lndeed,m ndfailsas an inslrument andmediLrm bothforour The resullsso lar achievedby Evolutionare indeedtruly slrik-
conscousascension intothe Iniinite
as weLl
as for the dynamic ng: rl is surelyalong march from the insentientN,4alter
powersof io the
descentand manileslationof the supreme the Spirit- sell consciousmlndoJman,But who can savlhat the evolutton
As hasbeenso wellsald,mindcannolarriveal ideniilywilhthe
76 Chapter6 The Inwardzationand lho Ascension 77
ary nisushas exhausleditsellwith lhe emergenceof man the aller establishingthe plausibilityol our goal ol divinetranslor
mentalbeing,so thal the only possiblecourselelt tor the em- malion of the wakingexislence, we musl now speciallypoinlout
bodiedsoul is how lo make an exit lrom lhis not loo perlecl the slepsfollowing which lhis goal can be realisedin practice.
world-exislence a n d t a k e t h e t r a n s c e n d e n lte a p i n i o i h e And lor this we must relt surelynot on philosophical specula_
Unknowable and Unmanitest? I on or logicalsurmisings,bul solelyon the verdictol ihe ever-
ascendingand ever'deepening spiriiualexploralion
of our being
As a maller o{ fact, the evolutionaryoestrusis e'/en now For,this alonehas any realvalidityin lhjs tield.
and becorning-
very much at work and il is nol liableto annul itselfuntil and
unlessthe divineSachchidananda is fullymanifesledhereIn our Now. lhere are two lypes ol movemenls oi our conscrous-
embodiedexislenceand'thisearthlylitebecomethe liJedivine.' ness lhroughwhich il becomespossiblefor us lo have access
For such is the originalintendedmeaningol crealion,lhisis lhe Io lhe deeperand sLrperior reachesof our being,a movemenl
secrel spirituaisense of the evolulionarymarch.Thus Savitri tnwardand an upward ascension.
answeredto retulethe conjectureoJlhe sophislPowerol do!bt By the firsi movementol inward penetration,we seek to
and denial: breakasunderthe wall separatingou. subliminalselt from our
How sayslhouTruthcan neverlightlhe humanmind Dresentsurfaceexistence. leavethe surlaceconscrousness and
And blisscan neverinvadelhe mortals heart lLVeenlirelyin the realmol our innermind,innerlile, innefsub
Or God descendintolhe worldhe made? lle'physrcaland finallyin the in most soul ot our being-This in
ll in the meaningless Voidthe creataonrose, moslsoulorthepsychicbeingis the Purushain the secrethearl,
li frorna bodilessForceMallerwas bron, hrdye guheyem, a potton of lhe Divine Sell supporting the indi-
ll Lifecou d climbin lhe unconscioustree, vrdualnature,
li greendeLighlbreakintoemeraldleaves Now,an enlargemenl andcomplelion ot our aclualevolulron-
And its laughterof beaulyblossomin the flower, ary slatus becomes the very lirsl consequenceot such an
ll sensecouldwake in lrssue,nerve and cell, nwardizalion oi consciousness. For,our Innerberngis toundlo
And Thoughtseizethe gregmatlerof the brain. possessa dynamismand potenlialities much superiorlo those
And soul peep {romits secrecylhroughlhe llesh, ol our sLrrfacemind and liJeand body.As a mallerot fact,"il rs
How shallthenamelesslightnot leap on men, capable of a direct communication wilh lhe universal forces,
And unknownpowersemergefrom Nalure'sSleep? movements,objecls of the cosmos, a dircct feeling and open-
Evennow hintsot a luminousTruthlike stats l9lalhefi. a direcl action on thernand even a wideningol lsell
Afisein the mind-mooned splednourol 'gnorance; beyondthe limitsol the personalmind, ihe personal fe, the
Evennow the dealhlessLover'stouch we leel: body.so lhat il feels iiselfmore and more a universalbeing no
It the chamber'sdoor is evena lillleatar, onger limitedby the existingwalls oJ our loo narrow mental,
Whatthen can hinderGod from stealingin vilal physicalexislence.This wideningcan extendilsell to a
Or who lorbidhis kisson the sleepingsoul?' compleleenlryinlolhe consciousness of cosmrcMind,inlounrly
But the skeplicmay sti I rejointhatthe pasl is no sure guide w lh the universalLife,even into a onenesswilh unlversaMal_
to the tutureand plausibiltys neverequivalentlo cerlainly.So,
and lhe Ascension
The Inwardization 79
Chapter-6
Butthisfirstresuliis nolallthatcanbe deslred. For,howe- our mind,the latierlailsto tema n awakethereand hencecon-
ver cosmicin scopeand perfected in dynamism, our beingre- siderstheseascentsas only luminouslyblank Thus,our mind_
mainsslillembedded in the lieldol diminished cosmiclruth,if consciousness is lempiedto eflecluatea short_culand lake a
notin totalcosmiclgnorance. ll we wouldlranscend lhe limita- straght jump to the Transcendent. On this line,"the firsl mosl
tions of our presert evolulionarystatus,we musl seek 10 be- ord nary resu t is a discovery of a vast staticand silenl Self
whichwe feel to be our real or our basic existence...There may
come consciousin what is now superconsceint lo us and as-
presenl be evenan exlinction,a Niruanabothof our aclive being and ot
cendtothenativeheights ol lhe Spirilnotat accesslble
to ourwakingconsciousness, Thus,"thepsychicmovemenl in- t h e s e n s e o f s e l l i n t o a R e a l i t y t h a t i s i n d e f i n a b l ea n d
wardio theinnerbeing,...must becompleled by an openrng up- nexpressible...lt ls posslbleto remainin a Nirvanaoi all ind -
wardto a supreme spiritualstatusl' v dualily,to stop at a siaiic realisation or, regardingall ihe cos_
rn c movemenl as a superficial play or illusionimposedon the
Now.lhisislhe second-andlrom our pointol view,much more
sient Se I, 10 pass inlo some supreme irnmobile and lmmulabe
momentous-consequence ot an accomplished inwardliving.For, statusbeyondihe universe,
il is loundthatoncetheentryinlotheinnersublimirlal realmsls
pres_ Butforlunate yth s is notiheonlypossiblelineof supernormal
successfully underlaken, lhe innerbeingexertsa growin9
sureonthe"strong hardandbightlidof mind,-mind constricling, spifllua experience: the withdrawalfrom all pariicipaton n lhe
dividing andseparative" thatcloudsthesuperconscienl 1(omour wor d-ex stence and the immergenceor exlinctloninlo the
wakingconsciousness, This ptessure be comes in the end so Llnmanifest is not lhe only spiritualdestjnydecreedfor lhe hu
greatthatthe lidol mindwearsthin,opensanddisappear. and mansou , A supremedivinereturnf romthe vergeoJNirvanaLnto
the world-playis eqLrally possibleand thrswiththe und minished
our consciousness becomesprivileged to havea visionof the
supernal things.Whatwe seebythisis upwardopenrng 1s"anin- splendorsand potenciesof all the spiritualwealihamasseda1
finityaboveus,an eternalPresence or an inlinileExistence, an the summits.The choice is indeedhard and dlif cult For, lhe
infinityo{ coflsciousness, an infinilyol bljss,-aboundless Sell, u timateand definitivewithdrawalintothe Infiniteand Eterrrilys
a boundlessLight,a bou|ldlessPower,a boundlessEcslasy." too a uring a prospectto be easilyrejeciedby the ascending
soul.To have nstead'thesupernalbirth'onemusl have
Buteventhis'wideawareness trombelow'isnotsuliicient.
We mustmakean actualascension lo the heightol the spirit narlowedge
..trodalongextinclion's
above,Fortunaiely, this too is an alternativeor subsequentre- Neafthe h gh vergesoi eternlly.
sultof lhe inwardliving.Our consciousness risesup towards Th s doublealternative ot choosingbetween
and the dilJicull
thereaches of ourbeing,muchbeyondthe presentmentallevel. the two havebeen beautiiully depicledin lhe lo lowrngpassage
and unless of Sri Aurobindo's Savlllrli
But herea very seriousdilticultysupervenes
thisis successfully
remedied in time,one maybe verywellled She had risen up lrom body,mindand life;
awaylrom lhe palh of divinelransformationol Natureinto the She was no morea Personin aworld
silenlimmobility
o1theTranscendent and L,nmanilest She had escapedinto inlinity.
10 whichour consciousness
lndeed,sincethe heights at-
are in generalsuperconscient
to Only same last annulmenlnow rematned,
tainsin its upwardascension
80 Chapt6r-6 and the Ascension
The Inwardrzalron a1
con screnceand this dark herrtageol orrginalNescienceis st Th s is the reasonwhy it has been alwaysJoundthal a sub,
we ghl ng very heavilyuponour nalure.Our normalbe ng is al- lectve spirtualty concentrated on lh6 changeof the innerbeing
mostwhollyrnoLrlded oul of the Inconsceince and "it s lhis sub a one, leavng the outernalureto go its old way,is mucheaster
stanceol nesciencelhat has10be_transformed nto a substace to accomplishlhan to objectiviesthis spirituality in lhe dynamic
ol sLrperconscience,a subslancen whrchconscrousness and a I|lecl a lree wor d,action.In the courseol our SpirituatSadhana.
spirtual awarenessare alwayslhere even when lhey are nol our lola|ly of existencevery soon and very easilydissociates
aclive,nol expressed...Tilllhal is done,lhe nescence rnvades nto iwo I elds,an innerone and an ouler one,The jnner being
or encompasses or even ceilsup and absorbsinto ts oblivrous and nalure has always a much less letteredgait: it awakens
darknessa thal enlers inlo it; il compelsthe desc€nding tht €as y enough,receiveslreelythe higherspiritualiniluences and
to compromisewilh ihe iesserlght il enlers:thereis a mrxlure, gels moreor lesstranslormed, Bul ihe externalsurfaceselj and
a diminuton and iilution oi itsell,a drminution,a rnodilcailon. natureare mosttymouldedby the iorcesof the established lgno_
an nconrpcte authentlcriyol its lrulh and power.' ranceand the originalNescience.And hencethey are tardy in
ll s becauseol this blind opposingNecessrty,th s dark awakenrng,sluggishin receivingand imperviousto uninhiblted
altach,nenllo Ihe a readyestablshedan seemingy nexorabe ass mrlalion.lt is, for this reason,"alwayseasierto spiritualise
Lavr'so1lhe ignorancethatlhe h ghersp rilua Lghlsand powers. the innerselt sullicientpartsthan to transformlhe ouler aclion;
even lhoseol lhe overmind,com ng down nto the obscunlyol a perieclionot introspective, indwelling_..spiritualily
atoottrom
our physrcalconseiousness Iosemuchot lheirtranslormrng po' the worldor selt protectedagainstit is easierthan a perlection
tencyand becomeinsteadmuliated,circumscfibed and nol al- ol lhe wholenaturein a dynamic,kineticspirituality objeclivised
iogetherdynamicallyefiective. n the ie, embracingthe world,masterol jls environment, sov_
e.e qn In ts comrnercewathworld-naiure.,'
Thus a peffecilranslguralon oi our lowernatureis a far cry
f we u/ouldrely on the sp ritua menlalpowersalone.We may Bul whethereasy of fulfillmentor nol, this is what we have
l€€l rndeedour innerconsciousness luminousand beratedand p ace0 bel0reus as our goal:an inlegraltranslormation ol our
e c s l a l i cb ! 1 o u ro u t e rb e i n ga n dn a l u r ew i l l s ll l g o o n n t h e i ro l d culer betngand nalureas wellas thatof the innerone, entailing
u n f e g e n e r aw l ea y ,b r i n gn g n p e r i o d s o l d u lol b s c u r a t o nas n d the drvnrsaltonoi our wakingphysicalexistenceand ot the dv_
.amic llleol aclion.And as lve have menlionedbefore,it is
!n\lanled reaclionsdue to lhe play ol the guras The powerof onlv
d v ne y rllumirred mind may be rmmensecompareow th ordi- lrreoverlinterventionof lhe divinesupermindin our earlh-nature
nary powers. bul t will st b€ sublecllo incapacilyand lhere lhal .an negativethe dark Necessityol downwardpull ol our
presenlevolulionaryexistenceand usheranthe eslablishmenl
can be no perleclcorrespondence belweenthe force ol the el-
fectve w and lhe ght oi the dea which nsp rcs L The tnftntte oi the L fe Divine
Presence may be lhere tn slalus, but dynamis af the operatians And for thal an ascenlout ot the lowerhemispheretopped
of nal)rc stillbelangsta the lowerPruk lt. riruslfolow i1s1rple by lhe Overmindontothe planeol suprarnenlal Gnasisbecomes
modes oJ workingand cannol grve any aclequalelorm 1o lhe Ine I rs1necessily.For, the dynamicas well as the stalic reah-
greatness$ilhin il Ths is ihe lragedyol rn eilectv ty. ol ihe sa1on oi Sachchidanandacannolbe inseparcbly and simultane-
h , a l ! sb e l u / e e nd e a la n d e i f e c i v e w r l .. .!s/v fad exceptthroughlhe Supermind,the T.,Jth-Conscious-
f-as5.)l the drvineReality_"The universeis uynamrsm.move-
90 Chapler-6
The Inwardizatlon
and th€ Ascension 91
In the gnoss lhe dualismoi purushaand prakriti,Soutand nalLrghlandihe eternalFire andthe eternalWinde of the nectare.
Nature d sappearsin their biuneunity,the dynamicmysieryoi ll possessesth€ infiniteof lhe Self and jl possessesthe infinile
lhe occullSuprerne. The Truth-being
is the Hara-Gaurioi lhe In- ol Nalure...The gnosticsoul is the child,butihe King-child; here
d an rconologrcal symbol (the biune body ol the Lord and his rslhe royalandeiernalchildhoodwhosetoysarklheworldsand
Spouse,lshwaraand Shaki, the rght half male, the ett hali a un versal Natureis the miraculousgardenot the play that
iemae); ii s the doublePowermascultneborn Jromand sup" t res never....This biunebeingof Purusha,pfakriti is as if a flam,
pofledby the supremeShakliof the Supreme.,, rng Sun anybodyoi DivineL ghts sellcarriedin its orbit by iis
Bul evenihena lasl po nl remans. FoT,we do nol wanl lo own nner consctousness and poweral one with lhe universe,
w tirdrawlromthe matera planeof exislence atonewilh a supremeTranscendent, lts madnessconsciousness
inioihe Supermrnd's
sei-exisienlream: we want insteadthe supramenlaun on oi and powervibratng withan infinitesenseof freedomand inten-
Sou and Naturein the very bosomoi the physcaly embodied slty ln iis divineliie-movement....-a dance this also, a whirl ol
exrslencehere upon earth. Thus, what js essentia ior the m ghly energes, but the Masterol the dancehoidsthe handsot
iuli lmenl ol our objectiveis not rnefelythe asceni nlo the Hrs energes and keepsthem to the rhythmicorder,the self-
supramental tracedharmoniccirces of His Rasa-Lila,,'
Gnosisbutthe evenluallranslorming descenlof ts
Conscrousness Forceintoour enlirebeingano naiureano a con- Thus,wrthlhe supramenlattransforrnation ot our beingand
com lant or subsequenl emergenceol the concealedSupermrnd nalure,lhrs earthly lie wiil flowerinto the Lrie divineand our
al presenl nvolvedhere be ow,This tniluxirom aboveand lhe wak ng phystcalex stencewill be adivinisedexistenceol tnie,
unveilng Irombelowwillbetweenihem removewhal s leitoi lhe grarconsctousness and dynamis,Neitherwill one then have lo
natureol the Ignorance. The rule ot ihe inconscienlwtll disap- p unge Inlo tlre superconscient trance-statein orderto experi-
pear:lor lhe e the In consciencewillbe changedby the ouibursi ence the AbsoluteExislenceor non -Exislence,nor to conlent
ol the grealersecretConsciousness withinlt, the hiddenL ght, onesellwith the J vanmukti-status waitingall the whileior the
n t o w h a t i t a l w a y s w a s i n r e a l i t y ,a r e a s o r r n e s e c f e l linal releasein Videha-lVuktt. Because,then
Superconscience". Nalureshal ve to rnanifestsecretGod,
The supramentalbe ng, the gnoslicsout,lhe Vijfianamaya The Sp rit shalltake up the humanplay,
Purusa,lhrs appearingin earlh-existence wr be lhe list un- This earthlylife becomethe tifedivine.
ve ed manlieslation ol Sachchidananda in the malerialuniverse. ln the wordsol lhe lvlotheri
Noi a self oblivionin the lnfinite,but an integratseI possession 'ln
the supramental crealrontherewillbe no more__.whal
men
and worldplssession rnthe Infinitewillbe its charactersticrnove, n o wc a l g o d s .
menl lt will be the I rsi to participatein world aci on not only n ''Thesegreat
the Ireedom but in the powerand sovereignty dlvtnebelngsthemselveswtll be able lo par-
ol the Terna. For
Ircrpaten lhe new creation,bul lor ihat they us pul on what we
t rec ves the iullness,it has the senseof plenitudeoi the God
head n ts act on t sharesthe lorce,sp endidand roya marcho1 may cal/ the supramenialsubstanceon earlh.And I there are
sorne!!irochooseto remainin lheirworld,as lhey are, if lhey do
the n|nile, is a vesse oi the orrginaknowledge,the mmacu-
dec de not to rnanilesithemselves physically,Iheirrelattonwih
ate power lhe tnviolabe bltss,iransmutesall ie inlo the eter-
lhe oiher beingsoflhe supramenlatworldan earthwillbetela
104 Chaptdr-7
beginningwilh on€ sayingthat onlyhe whowas withoutattach- is alreadyknown.And the meaningof 'non-existence' is also
mentfor lhe en,oymenlof anythingin thisworldor the nextwas known. The non'existenceof plurality
is the newlruthcommu-
a fil candidatefor liberation. nicaledas a sentence-meaning by the associationlhesejwo
(3)'Children runalterext€rnal pleasures. . .'(Kalhall. i.2) word'meaning (B.Sid.p. 157,cp. M.V 99,1).
and again?He whodesires pleasures and dwellson themis Theselwo lheoriesare tefutedby Suresvara.He remarks
reborn'(Mund. lll. ii.2)andagain'Hewho hasno desires. againandagainthatthereis noassocialion or exclusion ol word'
. . (beingnothingbut th6 Absolute,he dissolv€sin the Ab: meaningsin textsteachingth€ idenlityof the true Seli withthe
solute', Brhad.lV iv.6). (Havingthusdoclaredlhal onlyhe Absoluie. because lheinmoslnon-dualSelf cannolbethemean-
who is indillerentto the enjoymentol objectsin this world ingexpressed by anysentence (N.Sid.lll.25, 26;76. S.V902,909-
andlhe nextqualifi€sfor metaphysicallgnorance,nothing 10;B.B.VL iv.1406-8, 1431;lll.iv.29,33,46; lll.v.100,184,190).
is requiredbut metaphyscial knowledge, SriSuresvaracon- In explaining the text'TheInfinite, verily,remains(Brhad.Vi.1)
tinues: ) To removemetaphysical knowledge.And lo give he expresses himselfthus:
riseto suchknowledg€,nothingelseis requiredexceptihe (4) Reallity,
whichdoesnotadmilof anydistinction between
virluesbeginning withinnerand oulercontrol.In orderlo Godandthe individualsoul, appears throughlgnorance to
acquirethesevirtues,nothingis requiredbut purification ol incl!dethisdistinclion.
Whenlgnorance is abolished lhrough
the mind,andfor purificalionof the mindnolhingis required theknowledgo thatsays"neitherthis northat',onlytheSelf
butthe pedormanceol the obligatorydailyritualas a duty. remains.Thereis seento be no association or exclusionot
Sincethoughl,wordand bodilydeedarisosolelyfromigno- word-meanings to lorm a senlence-meaning, no evena
ranceof the Sell (readatma-ajnana), whenthal has b€en -
negation whenlgnorance, the rootof all thesefalseno-
canc€lledby knowledgeol lhe S9lf,howcouldlher€b€ d6-
tions,is abulishedthroughauthoritalive knowledge derived
pendence on actionafteMards? (8.8.V l. iii.97-100)
fromthe Vedain the mannerexplained. (B.B.VVi.21-2)
One may nole lwo turtherdoctrinesof the BrahmaSiddhi
thatwererelutedby Suresvara- lvlandana arguesasfollows.Every The Treatmentol the Doctrine ot Bhartrpraancain the The
meaningful sentence communicalos a particularnol previously Vartika
knownto the hearerIn the Vedicterts proclaiming lhs Absolute, We havespokenso lar as il the principle doctrine
lo be re-
we findihe universal notion'catlse'andthe universal nolion'being' futedln theNaiskarmva SiddhiandthetwoVerlikas waslhatol
conveyedby phrasessuchas'Thatfromwhich(thesecreatures lVandana [,4isra.
Bui il shouldbe rememb€red thatwhathasbeen
areborn)'(Taitt.lll..1)and'Nolgross.. .'.The6eideas(inthem- describedabovecouldequallywellhavebeenintended10refule
selvesunrversal)acquirea particular meaningnotknownthrough Bharlfprapafrca. Andthereare somestrongreasonsJorsuppos'
olher meansof knowledg€wh€nthoiruniv6rsalmeaningis nar- ingthisto haveactuallybeenthe case.BecauseBhartrprapafrca
roweddownby themeaningol olherwordsinthe sentence, eith€r was an exponeniof the doctrineof Dualilyin Nonduality, he
by wayof association or of exclusion;and thispalticularmean- accepledthe doclrinethatlhe meaningevonol the supreme
ing is the burdenol the texl (B.Sid. p. 157,cp.M. V 99, 1).Or texts oi the Veda was based on the mulualassocialionand
againthe elirnination of plurality
may be elfectedthroughrevela- exclusion o{ the word-meanings to forma senlence-mearrng.
tron-Themeaninbof the term 'plurality'
(readprapafrca-pdartha)
I14 Chapter'8 SLrresvara I t5
ol own, with great ingenuily,and spokeas iollows,qu le so we I known n lviandana'sday,why is il that rneticulousphiloso'
of whal the Upanishads actually pher drd nol so much as vouchsaleil a glance?As I am nol
wilhoutany underslanding
mean'(B.B.Vll.ii.90).'There is another Absolulist (brahma- mysel able lo settlethis doubtJulquesiion,ljust raise il and
vadin)who explainsthe example(of the spokes hub and oller t lo philoogistsand historians,
whilewe ourselveswrllcarry
fellyof a well givenat Brhadaranyaka ll. v.15)diffefentlyn on wilh the malterin hand.
orderto suit his own dogmasaboutthe Self constituting a
(B.B.V.11.v.67,cp. N,r1.V.86,4) Here, a Secause the unity and sole realily ol the sell expresses itself
whole and so forth'
greal genious a spec al piece ol wrsdom by nalure as awareness, il is self-evident
certaln taught,as
supp ed lree by Vaisvanara, lhai a personis not I nallylib_ The reveredCommentalor porntedout thal the Selfwas seli
erated even when he has been liberatedfrom his lwo bodies trevident.He sad, The Sell is not a thing lhal a supersedes
"Theretore
(B.B.v.lll.ii.41). the wholedoctrinethatlhe Abso anylhng e se; tor il s self-eslablished and sell-manitesl. The
lute s both one as a collectiveunity and many as the meanso{ knowledgebe ong lo it. ll does nol dependon lhem to
d fferentiatedparts is a rneresuperstllronll may Dea spec al eslablsh 1sexislence(B.S.Bh.ll.iii.7, M.V.28,3).'We do not base
preceol wisdomsuppliedlree by Vaisvanara,but il does our doctrineol the unilyand solerealitvof the Sellon lhe aulhor
n01obeythe rulesol reason(8.8.V lV. ii.1187) Dependlng ilativemeans oi knowledge,since ihe Self is bare irnmediale
(not on reasonbut) on a free donationof wisdom lrorf awarenessby very nature.so we shallshowlaterthal no means
Vaisvanara... (B.B.VlV iv-391).This was lhe explanaton ol knowledgeapp y to t. The meansot knowledgelhemselves
givenby that augustsage,lhe greal Bharlrprapaaca, sup resl in and dependon awareness'1hrs textof Suresvara(N.SLd.
porledneitherby the Vedanor by reason (B.B V lV v 4l2) .8S)shows thal h s teachrngiully agreedwilh sri sankaraon
He explainedit olherwisewith marvellousingenurty lh s po nt ln rnanyp aces in the Vartlkait is poinledoul lhat lhe
(B.B.V.V..28). presenceand a so the absenceoi meansof knowledgecan on y
be eslablshedby the seli as awareness,and lhat the sel s
In lhese and otherpassages,the doctrineol Absolutismas
selt-evd€nt For instanceihereis the verseKrrowef, knowledge,
nfectedwith plurality,and ihe doclrineof liberationthfougha
knownand cerlil!d€ a dependior their establshmenton the
cornbination ot knowledgeand activilywere t relessy rnocked
presencecl the Self On whal,lhen,cou d lhe Sel{dependlor rts
and criticizedin hundredsof ways.When Suresvararepeatedly
o!^rneslab shmeni?{B.B.V,Liv.870),and thereare manyolher
specifiedthe irue naiure ol the Self or Absolute as ne lher s r n a r t e x t s ( e q . B . B . V 1 1 . i . 5 5 2l ,l l . i v . 9 1 ,l V i i . l 9 l 6 ,
lranscendenlnor immanenthe probablyhad Bharlrprapahcan r v . 8 9 1. .) .
mind-Bhartrprapaicawho heidthal the Absolulewas a un 1y
as a colleclivewho e and a pluralty as a systemol nterreate ad llletaphysicallgnorancein Suresvara
p a r l s ( B . B . Vl.. i v .5 2 9 ,6 5 6 , 1 4 4 5 ;1 i . i . 8 83,6 1 ; l i i i i l 2 ; l l v l 8 ;
i v . 4 1 1 , 4 7 3l lil . i x . 1 5 6l V; . 1 . 3 6 81; V i v 5 6 9 , 8 4 6 - 7 , 1 2V9 8110 ) The reveredComrnentalor, it is weil known,said: Superim'
post on lhus delin€dlhe wrsecal lgnorarrce' (B.SBh.l..l . ntro..
Puttinga this together,it seernsmofe reasonabe to sup c p l , / 1 . V . p . 1 9M) .a n d a n a ,l o r h i s p a i t , s p o k e o l n a l u r a l
poselhat Bhartrprapanca was s ngledout as lhe chielopponent {begnnrngless)melaphysicallgnorancen lhe ind vidualsouls
to be refuted.And lhere is anotherrelatedpoint lhal requres
l{ Bharirprapa6ca's
investigatlon. was
vrttion the Brhadafanyaka
|8 Chapter-8 Su.esvara 119
and lhere on the surlaceol the earth, be correct.ll lgno_ rea and so would not be lgnorance_ But il it were tolally
rancearoselrom lhe supremeSell,lt wouldmeanthat lib_ Ltnreat, trkea llowersupposedto be growng in the sky, il
erationwouldbe impossible. weredeslroyed,
Or it lgnorance
wouldnoi enterintoexperience. So it is indelerminabte (ei-
ol lhe Selt.,
lhenon thislheoryit wouldirnplythe destruction lher as reat or unreal,LSid. p.9)...lf the matter is con-
the erroneousdoclrineof lhe Buddhisis.(B.B.V.ll.iii.130_1) cervedthus, lgnorancemay be taken as belonging10the
Thesetwo verses werc compasedto rclule Bhartrprapaica. indivdual souts,regardedas dirt€rentlrom the Absolute,
wrthoulthe deieciscomplainedot by the opponent,(B.Sd.
Objections and answers on lhe subjeclof Metaphysical lgno' p . 1 0 s, u m m a r i z e d )
rance
On the same lopic, an objectionis quotedlrom lhe Sloka
In lhe courseol reilectingon the lopic ol lhe cessalionoi lgno_ Vartlkaoi Kumarita.
rance,the iollowinghypothelicalobjeciionwas raised I the
(3) ll rgnorancewerelhe true natureoi anylhing,il couldnot
B r a h m aS i d d h .
be exlrrpatedever.For what exists naturallycan only be
r 1) Srncethe Absoluteis elernal,ils essencets ndeslrucl_ deslroyedby the advenlol some dilferentexternaitactor.
ible.lgnorance,lheretore,(whichrequireslo be deslroyed) Bu1lhose who claimlhat all is the one Seli cannoladmt
canncl be of lhe nalureol the Absolute.lgnorancemust the advenl oi any dillerent externatfactor (S.V.
eilherbe or nol be diffefentlrom the Absolule.ll it is not Sarnbandhaksepa PariharaSS,6;cp.tV.V95, inlro.)
diitereni,whai couldtherebe in it thatcouldbe deslroyed?
ll The relulalionof the objecllonby l\randana
is throughappea
So lel us say that lgnoranceis mere non'apprehenslon.
ule. . . . ro lhe rn delerminabilily ol lgnorance.But lgnoranceis never
couldnol lhen be anythingdifierent {rom ihe Abso
puts lound reierredto as indeterminable anywherein Suresvara,s
Bul knowledge which an endto lgnorancers elernally
Varl ka. I rs lhereaccepledas betngof the narureor non appre-
preseniin the Absolute.And nothingelse aparl irom lhe
lgno- nenson, expfessedas the feellng,ldo nol know,.So we musl
Absoluleexisls.. lt, on the olher hand,metaphysical
if nk how lh s objectionwouldhave been met by Suresvara.In
rancewere posilivewrongapprehension. lhen how couldil
r'r s aonneclon Ihe loilowtngverses are worthyol considera,
be broughlio an end? For we have now pointedout how
such a theoryhas defecls,whelherlgnorancebe laken as
be ng olthe nalureoftheAbsouleornolol its nalure (B.Sid. l.lrThoughth/smelaphys/cal ignoranceis nalurat,it is mani
pp. 8-9,summarzed) festonlyon accounlof the Selfas immedtateexperence.lt
rs ousledand destroyedby knowledge,as darknessis de
The answergivento ihis objeclionwas as Iollows slroyed by lhe riseol the s!n. Begrnningiess lgnorancers
(2) gnorances nol partot the nalureoi the Absolute,nor rs seen lo be destroyedin an instanlby metaphysicat knowt-
I a secondthingover aga nst il, nor rs I a togelherunrea. edge u.hichhas begrnningin time.We do nol acceptthal
n o r s i t r e a l . T h a ls w h yt h i sl g n o r a n c1esc a L e dM a y aa n d sLJcn(nowtedgerequiresrealfirmaton.Thoughhis our in_
a Ialseappearance.lf il were lhe nalureol anylhlng.lhen. nrosl Sel{ is thus self-uminousand is the Witnessof atl
whelherdillerentlromthal thingor nol,it wouldbe periectly lnorance and ils eltects,yet it is not propery known be-
f o r e n r e t a p h y cs a l k n o we d g e h a s a r s e n t h r o u g ht h e
122 C h a p l e r8
Suresvara 123
eslablish only through lack ol rcllection - that is the meaning. threeIorms- wrongknowledge, absenceol knowledae or doubl.
Thefacttha! lgno?nce and itsellectsarc estabtished ontylhrough [ro ol lFes6.{w,ongknowledge and osubtj,b.rrg p;srtrverea I
lack ol rcllection i6 often mentioned in the Varika, lor exampte lies,are explrcatrie as due to somedelectin thetactorsof knowl,
in such places as: B.B.V.l.iu1170, 1529, t341: .iii.t92, 224: edge (Kumarila,S.V CodanaSutra54). Basingths...1r...|1
lll.iv.131; lll.vi.42: lll.viii.31; lViv.3O7. th s texl from an acknowledged authorjiy,lhey hotdthat errone-
ous knowledge,beinga positivereality,can functtons a cause.
(9) Merelyhom the rise ol the correctidea kom the iexl
'Thal bul thalmere ackol knowledge cannotbe regarded
thou a 'one findthat lgnorance,togetherwith ils ef- as the cause
oi tranmigralory experience, becauseil is nol a postllverealily.
lects,neverexistedin the past,does not existnow,and wtll
Th s was probablylhe reasonwhyAcaryaMandanalaidthe ma;
neverexistin the luture.And so il is not possble lo show
emphass on posttiveerroneousknowledgeas lhe nature ol lq,
by aulhorilalivemeansol knowledgelhat lgnorance betongs ' r o r o _ L er e m a r kn g . N o n - a p p . e h e n s r o n .
lo the Self,or to explajnits natu.e or indicaleits source. b e i n ga n o n - e n r . i y
(abhava).cannol be the cause ol anythjng'(|Vj.V.92. intro.i.
For its sole exislenceis our experienceoi it. He who is
Agd _srlhrs SsLresvaraargJeoas Iollows.
afflicledwith lgnorancecannotdeterminethe lruth about
that lgnorance,lt is only one who has experienced (l0) Afe you sayingthat,in the case of error,
lhe final what is ne_
realiiywho can make the discovery,by relerenceto that, gatedby an authoritalive meansof knowedgeis rcality?ll
'lgnorance realiiywere negatedthus,whatwoutdbe tefitor an authori-
does not exils'.(S.V 1e3-4,179).
lalrve means of knowledgelo knou/?...How could fa se
The cessationof lgnoranceis onty intelligibleit lgnatance is t o w e d g et o b e ' e d l t t yT? l e l a t s es " o r t n p r a , t t ^ q n a - L
seen to be established only thraugh lack af reftectjan. is anty -JJ;
(htough the vision of ane wha has knawn the Setf that ane can o, hnowlpdoebeing lalse and 'l o"'"g ,"at,t;- lh;
on y come irom a greatgeniuslike Kurnarila.Even ri the
say, ll cloes to exist', because only after such visian will one
erfoneo!snottonot a snakeor lhe lk€
have seen tha!, unlikethe Self, tgnoranceis not se| estabtished.
And so, from he standpointof vtsionof the fjnattruth, questions
were
raken
asarearity
'" n""n,
n*",ioll,inflt"l,:.li"jr:
pearancewhenidentified withthe rope,and,as such,would
such as'What is the nature of lgnorance?, ar ,Wheredjd it come
be contradjcled and cancelled by knowledge o, the latter.lf
fram?'are simply not raised (as it is known that Ignatance had
erroneousknowedge hada cause,as it doestn Kumanla,s
tfreory,then he oughl to be able to stalethat cause. L he
ln the viewol Suresvara,lackof metaphysicat knowtedgeis were lo say il was a real etlectbut had no cause. thal would
the causeoi lransmigfatoryexperience.Therefore he lays il down: be laughedoul of courl evenby children...
'Failure The iact is lhal
to realizethai one s olvnSell is the sole realitys called n the tnad absenceol knowtedge,, ,wrong
'doLol knowtedoe,and
melaphyscai lgnorance.lts seat is the Self as immedialeexpe, . absence(B.BV.t.tv.423.425.7,1368)
rence. lt s the seed ol lransmigration. lts deslructionconsli- Wl at s arquedhercis thatetrons7us4nsr1.^.a;.2n tt^rc-
tules lhe liberaiionol the soul' (N.Sid.1.7)_ .,t | ,L,sth^c t that non.ent y) ot knowtedge n",
,r"*nii i"
On th s proinl,lhe M mamsakasand othersraisean objec canttadictedand cancel absenceedby authoriAtive "",
knowledge.
llon. Absenceof authorilaliveknowLedge may assumeone ol ntnce erroneous knowledge can anly a se as
a resul! of ab-
126 ChapleFS Suresvara
and nol sell lhal conditionsall empiricalexperience- Bul lhe two s u p p o s i t r o n(. B
. . . S B h . l . i . 1i ,n l r o a
. dJin.)
casesare noi lhe same.In lhe case ol the worldlyexarnple,the
And Suresvaraacceptsthissarneview,butexpressest n a
one who saw lhe silverwas alreadyestablishedas indrvldual
dilierentway by sayrngAbsenceol knowledge,constantlypresenl
empircal expefiencebelorehe saw il. In the caseof lhe mutual
as I s, s dentcal wilh erroneousknowledge'(8.8.V,1.iv.386,
superimposition oi the Seil and not-self,however, the Sell is nol
cp. N.f.V. p.311). So one should not supposelhat there is any
alreadyeslablishedas an individual experence belorelhat su-
tundamenlaldifference belweenlhe lwo systemson lhrshead.
per mposrtronrs nrade.The sell, ai thal slage is not (yel an
W h e n t h e m a l l e r s e x a r nn e d i n l h i s l g h t , i l s I a r t o s e e
ndivdua experiencerand so nto) yet in a posilionto'lail to
Suresvara's trealmenlot non-apprehension andlalseapprehen-
d scrrminateSell and not se l'. So we cannotspeakol any such
sion as d rectedonly lo reiutinga pariicularform of the lheory
{ail!rrelo discrimrnale as the causeot the mulua supermposi-
that metaphysicalgnorancewas erroneouscogntlon-lhe Iorm
t on ot Sell and not selt. For lhe teachingis that becomingan
n wh ch that doctrinewas advancedby anolherschool(ihatol
nd vrdu?lexperencercan on y occurthroughthe sa d supenm-
Mandana). Bul wrongapprehension, non-apprehension andcloubl
posrlon. lt lo ows lhal (rnlhe caseof lhis in I al superimposilion
can on y occur n lhe caseof an ndividualexperiencer (r.e.w ihin
that makesall olherspossible)it was not inlendedto assertreal
lhe realmoi superimposition). Such is our own view o{ the mal'
Iemporalsequencebelweennon-discriminalion and superimpo
ler.
sition,but onlylogicalsequenceaccordingto the conceptions oi
lhe humanrnindlhe COnceplion of superimpositlon impliesthe Enquiry into the seat ol ignorance and the obiect wilh it con-
conceplon ol non-discriminalion as rls ogicallypriorcondilion. ceals
As lor the objectron lhal lhere are no exceplionsto lhe rule
The Brahmas ddhi raiseslhe question'Towho does nrela
thalabsenceoi knowledge is lhe causeof all emp ical phenome- physcal Lgnorance belong?'andanswer'Wesay "it be ongs to
na, becausewrongknowledges ts eilect-1h s obleclionmay
the indrvidualsouls"'(B.Sid.p.10).We have alreadyexamined
be answeredon srm aT nes as lollows.The whoe nolion ol
th s v ew (M.V.94;95). Bhartrprapaicaheld thal rneiaphysc a
causeand ellecl,we may say,lallswithinsuperimpost on. For gnorancesprngs sponlaneoLrs y fromthe Abso ute,and,modi-
unirlsupermposilionhad lselfalreadycome nto being,il cou d
fy ng a pori on oi the latler,has ts seat in the indlvidualsou . lt
n o t s e i u p l e m p o r a ol r c a u s a ls e q u e n c ew
, h i c h d e p e n do n s, however,a characterisl c oi the nofsef- Lislen now to lhe
wordsol Suresvara.
Hence our own view is that, n relalionto lhe Sef, all ap, (1) Now,lgnorancecannolexislrn the void.ll musl always
pearancgof non apprehension, doubtand Wrong-apprehenston
be lgnorance ol somecneaboutsomething. Furtherwe have
riseI superimposlton, and thal in this conlexlthere s no occa-
alreadyeslablished thatiwo calegoriesexist,and on y lwo.
sion to enquireintothe natureof its materialor eff crentcause.
the Selfand lhe not'selt.Fromlhis it followsthatthe seatol
as lhere mighlbe in lhe case of lhe rncidental
superimposilions lgnorance(lhe consciousbeingwhich lgnoranceailecls)
thatoccurin lhe courseOlempiricalexperience. Forthereversed cannolbe the nol-seli For the very nalureol the not'sef rs
Comrnenlalor says. Thus lhis natural(i.e.uncaused)beginnrng lgnorance,and lgnorancecannolaf{ectlgnorance.Even i
lessand endlesssupermposrton, whjch s of the nalureol la se
whal dillerencewouldthe tiseot lgnorancen lgno
it coLrld,
130 Chapler8 131
rafce bringaboul(thatwe couldsay thal il was an eventat What.then. s the oblectconcealedby this lgnoranceper
a l?l larningio the Sei/The Selfis thal objecl.Bll is rt nol a lacl lhal
gnofancers ncompatble wilh the Seli,srncethe latteris ot lhe
Nor s the atla nmentoi knowedge possiblen the nol'sei, very natureo1knowedge,and is withouldifferentlation (sothal t
thaton-acouldarguelhattheremusthavebeensomecontradc- cannotserveas a seat lor lgnorance,whichwouldimp y a dls-
tory lgnorancein the nol-sell(for it to negate).Furlher,lhe not_
tincton belweenthe seatand the thingseated)?And is it nol lhe
seii is born oi lgnorance.ll is absurdto supposethal wh ch is
case lhai the Sell givesr se to knowledge,and s contradiclory
ogrcalyand causaly pr or can only ex st supporledby and de
to lgnorancein olherway too?
pendenton is own efiect.Nor,again,has lhe not se I any form
ndependeniof and d Iferenilrom lgnorance.wherebyil could To this oblecton we rep y that lgnoranceis compaliblewith
serveas ls seatand supporl. the Seli. For in realltythe Self remalnsund Ilerentialed.t ap
pearsto becomed lfereniialed inioknower,knowledge
andknown
Thesearguments(wh ch retuleihe possibilily ol lhe nol sell
throughmere gnorancealone,jusl as il is throLrgh mere igno
serv ng as the seatoi lgnorarce) alsc,showihal t cannotbe the
rancethat the rope appearsto becomea snake-the Seli and
objectconceaed by lgnorancee lher.Thereforethe nol-selfls in really quiteunaiiected.Hencewhen gfo-
the roperemainrng
ne ther the seato{ lgnorancenor the obleclconcealedby lgno
ranceis shakenoll lhere s completeabsenceol alllhe evilsof
d L i a l i l lyN. S d l l 1 n t f o . )
Hencewe conclude,as the only femaningallernatve lhat i1
AnciSuresvara'sview is lhat from lhe standpoint of the
s the Seli a one wh ch is both lhe seat of and the obleclcon_
highest truth there is no lgnorancelor anyone.
c e a e d b y l g n o r a n c eA.l l o i u s h a v et h e e x p e r i e n c eI d o n o l
kfow . and in the V€dawe hear'l am on y a knowelol lfre man (21No.Thenotionihal lgnorancehas ils seat in the Abso-
, y c r d ;I d o n o l k n o wt h e S e l f ' ( C h a n dV l l l . 3 ) .
1 r a sm ute anc!belongsto rt is itselfonly magned in gnorance.
Fronrthe standpon1oi lhe Absolute,lgnorance can intoway
l\or oo -.r'gLrenl.! tsrhle ?gain-l rF o q.rdssacl
e xs t ( s . v r 7 6 j .
01lgnofanceapp y to the Seli.)TheSel{, ndeed. s not rdenlca1
!,r'th gnoranc€,s nce its natureis pureConscousness.[/oTeo Whal s heresaidis ihal lhere s no olherm€iaphysicagno-
ver, (lhe flse ol) gnorancen the Se f producesa d fierence n rance,wilh ls seatin the noi-selfoverandabovelhe lgnorance
the formol an obstruction ol knowledge. And atialnrnenloi knowl- s,.eledin the Se I thalobscuresthe Self Bul lhis does not mean
edge s poss ble becausethe Se i s lhe source oj know edge llral one can rlterprelSuresvaralo be sayinglhal there s no
Nor has the Se I the characlerlslic oi being an eliecl oi lgno- otlref gnoranceat the empificalevel,suchas lgnoranceol she
rance,(which,as we haveseen,prevented lhe not-sef iromiunc rnlhe shell s ver error.Thatwoulddrsagreewith h s arguments
t oningas ils seat):for t is rock ilrm and raisedh gh abovea menl ofed severalt mes jn the prevous secton (M.V112) and
changeby nalure.And I na ly,the conscoLs Se i has a formand supporledwilh the usualexampleslike the rope-snake,aboul
existence lndependento{lhoseoi lgnorance, wherebyii canserve absen.e ol knowledgebeinga iacior (andthe iundanrental iac-
as a seat ior the laller.Hence we conc ude that t s ihe Sel tcr) n error,over and abovelhe erroneouscogniltontsef But
a one that s aiiectedby gnorance. Iiori the stafdpo nt of the highestlruth lhere is on y one lgno
t32 Chapter8 Suresvara 133
rance,which has the Self lor its seat and aiso lor the object does nol lhe Vedasay that I arnthe Lord?'werep y,']i you
whrchil conceas. Thereare not reallyiwo dilferentkindsoi lg_ are awaketo this (you will see that)thereis no lgnorance
norance.And that Lsallhewishedtosay.Ths w be madeclear iof anybody (B S.Bh.lV.i.3.)
at lvl.V1T5 (wherehe deniesa realilylo lhe s ver ereor).We
(5) ll may be asked,'Whoseis th s lgnorance"/Thereplyrs,
have alreadyreferredat [1.V.69,9 to his refutaton ol the doc_ 'It belongsto him to whom it
lfine o{ two klndsof lgnorance.Thai was said in the courseot appearsio belong'.(Bh.GBh
inlroducng a refutation ol lhe Prasankhyana Vadins(exponents x| 2)
ol the doctrinethat I beralon cornesthrough repeatedmeditation (6) The Teachersays:Youtake that which rs the supreme
on lhe lexts),whosedocirinewas as iollows: Se I and which s notsubjectlo transmtgration
wronglyand
(3)They (the Prasankhyana Vadins)hold that th€re are a have the conviclon 'l am subjectlo lransmigration'. You
two k nds of lgnorance,nat!ral and adventitlous. The ad take lhat wh ch does not per'ormactionas a perlormerol
venritiouskind appliesto worldy obiecls,the naturalk nd aclion,you take one who does not enioyemp rica exper.
lgnorancedisappearslhroughthe
lo the Self.Adventitious -anceas lhe emp r ca experiencer,youtakethatwh ch alon-o
riseoi knowledgeoccurring once,as in lhe caseol the prince y
rea exisisas f I werenon existent.Thats melaphysica
broughtup as a ioresl-dweler and th nking himsei to be lgnorance(U S. (prose)seclion5tl)
such.and who rememberedhe was a pnncewftena mLnrs- Hef€ aso we see lhat the leachrngsol Sr Sankaraand
'Youare to a toresler,you are a pr nce .
ter camelo 1e him, S!resvaraare esseniially
the same Bolhtakeabsenceoi knor('1,
Nalura lgnorance, lhough t may be removedthroughthese edgeand erroneoussupermposrtion as lundamentaly o ne.
oi knowledgeoccurringonce,nevertheless relurns,as we
see irom exampes of attachmentand olher deleclsarising The Operationof the Meansol Knowledge
lrom gnoranceonce more,even in the cas€ ol thosewho The facl ol obleclsbeingunknowns not estab shed by !he
have knownlhe metaphysical truth.(B.B.V.lV.v.881-3) means ol kno!|/edge (perceplion,inlerence.reveation, elc. l
This coni rms our thesis,as it shows lhat Suresvarawas becauseit is the invariabe pre-condtionbelorea meansol know,
awareof the dcctrlneoi two kindsof lgnoranceand rejecledii. edge can be appled. li t couldbe eslablishedby a validmeans
ol knowedge that an objeclwas unknown,this wou C irnpy the
In lhe sameway in the systemol the reveredCommentator
absurdresut lhal the stateof a thingas unknov/nwoLrd persisl
himseli,by whom ignorancels dentltiedwith supenrnposition,
ior everlwhereaswe knowthatlh ngsprevtoLls y unknownsome
the Se f is the seatoi lgnorancejusl as lt s le I to b€ n practcal
t r f e s c o n r e1 0 5 e k n o w n c p . M . V 1 1 4 , 2a n d 3 ) F o r t h e s a m e
experence ( n lhe Iorm'l do not know). Bul thereis no occaston
reason t cannolbe eslab shed by lhe valid meansol knovrl-
for subte lheores about t, Fof the who e noi on ol knowledge
edgethal tl ngs ar,oIn doubto. erroneouslyrepresenled(s fcr
and gnoranceilselibelongsto the sphereol ignorance.On thls
va d kro\r edge rernovesIhe doubl and m srepresentalcrl
\i/emightquotethe Iollowing.
S V.688).Indeed.the meansol knowedgeonlyapJ:r y 1ovrhai s
(4) li you ask'To whom does this lgnorancebeong?'we i o l a l l y! f k n o w n 1 B . B . VL,v . 2 5 8 l P e r c e p l i oar n d t h e r e s t a r .
feply'To you who ask this queslion'.lf you lhen ask, But meansof knovr'ledge precisey becausetheypLrian end to r!tIo
134 Chapter'8 Su.esvara
ranceof potsand otherobjecls,wh ch lalterare themselveste in rea ty.Hencelhe word be ng' on referto only one ent ty ancl
vealedas unknownoniy in and through(theSe I as) immediale t r s t h a t a n d l h a t a o n e w h i c h t s L r n k n o w nT.h e i n d i vd u a l
experence Therefore the meansol knowledge neverlrearon lne experencerandthe meansol knowledge at h1sd sposalare bolh
nol self withoutalso bearingon the supreme Sell (S V 1002) experencedas appearances of a selJ-uminousentily.And n ts
Potsand otherwor dly objectsare known on y througnan au that ent ty wh ch ts Be ng and (becauseii is lhe on y realty) I s
thoritativemeansoi knowledge,and do not ose lhe r condition t h a ta n dl h a ta o n ew h c h i s u n k n o w n( N . Sd . l l l . 7 - 8 ) .
of beingunknownwithoutone.TheSelf,however,be ng lhe seli Aga n, a meansoi knowledgeestablishesan obiecl, ke a
establishedrea lty, may be understoodto lose lts condilon of pieceof she lhat is alreadyexistentbelorethalmeansot knowi
be ng unknowndirectlythroughthe nreansol valid knowledge edge is app ed. lt does nol estabtishthe existenceoj anything
(the Vedc texl) and withoutan act of cognilionproducng as lolallynon ex sienl. But it wouldhave been wronglo have sa d
resutantcognition.(S.V.1004). tlrat the usory s vef for wh ch the she I was mislak€nwas
Anandagiri explains this verse af Surcsvara diffetently He ex slentbut unknown,rkethe she was.And t wouldhavebeer
','/rong to have saidthat the siiverwas elernalyex stentblrtun-
says: The Self cannot be knoatn wiihaut the help of a cagnilian
thrcugh the meansaf validknawledge(i.e.theVeda) an account knov/nirkelhe Selt Thereforeit is wrong,tn the case oi lusory
af its vety nature as inmost Self and realny. Far I E anly srlver,to say that a meansof knowledgeis app ed io removea
consclorsness in the farm of a cagnitton lhraugh a means ol s p e c a l n c r e m e n l o ig n o r a n c ceo n c e a t n g
l h e s i l v e ro. v e ra n d
vahdkno^tledge(as oppasedto the Self as pure Conscloustess/ abovelhe ignorancethat conceatslhe Self (B.B.V.lV.r|.j66-7).
thatcontradrclslgnorance.Consciousnessin itspure larm does It is the !nknownshe ihat is wfongly nierpreted as sIver.ln the
sameway the Selfis wrongy interpreted as the not-seliby lhose
ta clasa (since it co exists with il as its Witness)
who have not gainedmetaphyscal knowtedge. In the exampe
This is nat in contradrctionwith the true teaching af the sys knowedgeol the illusorysilveris not knowledgelhrougha va d
lem. Nevertheiess,I submit that what Surcsvarats rcally saying meansoi knowledge,as herethe ex slenceof silverindepend_
h the present verse is as t'ollows.Pals and ather waldly objects eft of the illusorycognilon s never eslabtished.Nof is lhe
establishedby the empiricalmeansof knawledgedepend onthe si ver' I usionbasedon lhe app icattonol a vaId meansof knowl-
self-luminouscognitianrcsulljng fram the meaus af valtclknorr'll- edgeto the she I as lgnorance ol lhe shell s not removed(B.B.V
-"(lge ta lase thetr state of being unknawn. The Selt',hawever' v v.904).
].)ses il direclly thraugh lhe Vedic text (M.V.l16). lt does not
In the caseot erroneousknowedgeof the Sell,lhe phenom
depend on a self luminous resultantcognitian'fram lhe applrca
enon that the srlver-lusionexampiewas intendedto illustrate.
tian al ane af the means of knowledge ta lase its slate cl being
no cognt on bearingon the nofsell are examplesot the applca
unknawn. For it is non dift'erentfrom right'knowledgeby nature
t on oi va d cogn t on. The nol sell can nertherbe known ncr
ln 1rulh,hon'ever,what was reallynol_selfcou d not even unkncwn any morethanthe illusorysr ver can lbecaLtset does
reachthe stageof be ng !nknown.Thegrealphilosophers oi al not-aexlsi).Nor can lhe Seli be knownthrougha va d cognI on
schoos hold thal in practicalexperence obiectslike pots are beafng on the not,sef; ior a cogntionbearingon the nol-sell\/ |
-rfknownbeforethe r se ol the cogntionlhroughwh ch tireycome n.t deslroyihe gnorancefelatng to the Sett.Ffomthe emprfcal
1obe known(B.BV lV.lii158) Howeverthereare nc d st nctrons
136 chapler-8 Sur€svara
wordsto communicalea meaning thatlranscends nolmalhuman worldlrom lhe Vedaand from no othersource.(B.B.V.
comprehension, namelylhe oJtheAbsolute
identity andlheSelt tiv.339).
We have knowledg€of the deili6sand heaven anoth€r supor- (2)Thalwhichhaslo beknownhere,andknownlhrough the
naluralmatterslhroughth€ texlsol the Vedain justihe same Upanishads as th6 meansot validcogniiion, is pureCon'
sciousness, whichmanilests alsoas the resullanl-cogni-
ln lhisconnection we findtexlslike'Thatthouarl'and'l am lionwhenthe empkicalmeansof cognition are appliedlo
theAbsol!ie'having ofwordsin subiect-predicat€
pairs relation. external obiects.(s.v1 59).
Fromlhiswe conclude thatthe meanings o{ the words in each (3)Nordo we maintain thatthereasonlortaithin theVeda
suchoairslandas qualilied and qualilier. Bythe process ol quali- is its ownstatement thatit is of suporhuman origin(atBrhad.
ficalionlhe element'th€ sullerer'(the individual expenencer) ls thereasonis theimpossibility
ll. iv.10); of the usualcauses
ol lheword 'thou', andtheelement
eliminated homthemeaning of invalidity
ol slal€ments (humanorigin,whichimplies fal-
'notdirectlyknown'iseliminated lromthe meaning ol lhe word libilily,
beingaccessible to othermeansot knowledge, elc.)
'that'.H€ncetheproperlyprepared siud€nlacqukeslhroughthese in the statements ol V6da.(B.B.Vll.iv.325).
textsknowledge ol the identilyof ihe Selt,indirecily indicated
'thous' and
(4) N4etaphysicallgnorance andiis elfeclscannotbe proved
as the meaningof the word throlgh knowership
to exist,eitheril take as idenlicalwil the Absoluteor as
egohood(whichpointto lhe Consciousness o, the hearer),with
ol theword'1hat" diflerent.Henewe say that it is only establishedai all 'for
lhe Absolule, ihe indirectly indicat€d meaning
(transcendenl lackol reflection'.Th€ oplionlhat the etherof lhe sky is
Thisknowledge is immediate exporience ol that
(i.e cannotbe dr' bluelikea lotus-petal by dayandthenchanges lo become
principle)whichis notthe meaning ol which
ealher blacklikethebellyof a bumbl6-b€e al nighlis onlyaccepied
rectlydenotedby)any sentence; it is notcommunicated
lor lackof rellection.Oneshouldseethallhe wholenotion
bv lhe exclusion or association of word-meanings to lorma sen'
oi any ot the existenceol metaphysical lgnoranceand ils eltecls
tence-meaning. Herolhereis no needof the applicalion
'Jrrherreans ot knowledge has ptoperly ls an illusionol lhe samskind.(B.B.V1.iv.332-3).
{once lhe lext been
understccd),sincethereterence is to Consciousness as the Real, So we see that nelaphysicallgnoranceand its affectsare
and consciousness in its tnle natureis super_lerrestrral (alau- indeleminableeitheras the rcal ot as anythingdilferent,and
kika),and Realilyis of the natureol absoluleawarenessThere theyarc established(accepted)onlyfor lackof deepciticalreflec-
canonlybedependence on knowledge lromsomeotherquarter
or on sornething otherthanthe Vedic lert in a casewherelhe (5)Though enlghtenedby nalura,lheSelfacceplsandiol-
thinglo be knownis withinihe scopeol someoiher meansot eratesnotbeingknown,beingth6onlyentityableto do so,
knowledge. Inthisconnection, lhefollowing versesfromtheBlhad- sinceit is ihe onlyentitythat is real.lt doesnot desiroy
aranyakaVartikaare relevant. lgnorance wilhouttheaidol a validcognition.TheSelJde'
(1)Thaiwhichhasullirnately to be known,whichis initially stroysitsownlgnorance onlywhenmo!ntedonlhepedes-
unknown andwhichtranscends the individual knowerand ta ol a meansof validknowledge, andnotolherwise. The
his knowledge -
and its objects thatcan be knownin thls meansof validknowledge destroys lgnorance, In al ance
Suresvafa '147
146 Chap]er-8
couldinlobe an aulhoritalive meansol knowledge sinceihey reallyinlendedto say.No realexistenceof causeand eilectis tn
stoodn contradiction withothervalidmeansof cognilion that lacl admilted,as a sl!dy of cerlainparts ot Suresvara's
works
conveyed a knowledge ol duality.Ourownviewis lhatSuresvara would show.lndeed,he stales it openly,and also reluteslhe
onlyraisedlhisobjection whenarguing hisposition onthebasis wholeconceplio,r of causeand effect.
ol deliberaie concossions to lhe viewoJ oih€rs,For elsewhere (l ) And lhe wholeuncritically acceptedworldof dua ity is
he reiulesin cleartermslhedoclrin6 thallhe ditlerent meansol per se erdless,in lhat it restson barelgnoranceol lhe non
knowledge couldcontradicl one anolher(S.V.1076'81rN.Sd. dua Sell, as the lanciedSilverresls on lgnoranceol lhe
lll.86).He alsoreluiesthe doctrine lhal the variousmeansol shell Henceit is lgnorance01the Se J whichrs ultrmalety
knowledge couldconlradict oneanolheronthelopc ot lheunity l h e c a u s eo f a e v i l . ( N . S dl.. 1 , i n t r o . )
andsolerealrty oftheSelfinthecourse ol explainingSriSankara's
Hete t mtghl appeat at firsl glance as thaugh lgnorance at'
Erhadaranyaka Commentary (B.B.Vll.i.588-94;cp N.Sd. 11.96)
'Suchan authorcouldnolseriously the Self were bejng taken as the malerial cause of duality. ln
admiilhallhemelaphysrca
realily,hawever,il is clear from an examinatianof such lexls as
textsoJthe Upanishads couldstandin conlradiclion withthe
l1narance,whrchmeans 'l nal know"'(TB.UIL176,cp.M.U 11O,
deliverances ol olhermeanso{ knowledge. He alsoheldthat
1 ) 222.1 nale thal lgnaratrceis a nonentity(abhava)and cauld
eventheVedawasan authoritalive meansof knowledge ol the
nat posstblybe a materialcause.
Selfonlythfoughnegating lgnorance, it
nolthat couldcommunr'
cateit directly-
For,as reexplained al Sambandha Varlika999. ( 2 ) F u r l h e rt.h e n o t - s e l1t sb o r no l l g n o r a n c e( N
. . S r dl l l . 1 ,
hisviewwasthattheexislence of lheindividual exoeriencer and r n r f o .c. p .l ! . 4 . v 1 1 1
3 ), .
his knowedgeanditsobjecls,alongwithtimeandolhercond' Here agatn,ane might make lhe mistakeof suppostngthat il
t ons,depended entirely on ihe imrnediate experience supplied was beitg said that lgnorancewas the maleflal cause of the nal-
by the Sell.Howcouldanyof themaff€ctlhe Se I in anyway? sel{. 8u! infact the preceding senlence has clearly denied the
' (Cp. NSID.lll.96,intrc.:'Wespeakthus (of lhe passibility :txtsl-anceot any lgnarancecontradtclingknawledgetn lhe wards,
of a canfliclbelweenVedictevelationand perceptton)an lhe Nar 's the attainmenl of knawledgeiasstble in the not-se]l thal
basisal a delibenteconcession. Otherwise,we havemarethan a.e could atgue thatthere musl have been some contradrctoty
once remarkedthat one meansof cagniliancannotbe conlrc- lgnctance ttn the not-self lat such knowledge ta negate, cp.
dictedbv anolher'.TN.) 1M13 1)
(3)For 9norances nolhng butabsenceof knowiedge, and,
Treatmenlof theTopic of Causeand Elfect srncethe laller s a non-entilyby nature,t cannolstandas
AsinSanka€'s Brahma SLrtra Commenlarv, so jn Suresvaras llre causeo1lransmrgratofy experience. The existenlcan-
BrhadaranyakaVartika,thesubjeclcauseandeiiectis intraduce nol spr ng irom lhe non'exislenl.(N.Sid.11.7,
inlro.)
onlyinorderloreJutethewhoLe notionol causeandettect.There Hete an oblectarsu99eststhatgnorance cannotbe lhe cause
areplacesintheVarlikawhereSuresvara appears lo lakelgno-
ranceaslhemateral causeoJtheworld,bullhisis onlya super-
i cialviewlhal mighloccurai lirslsightto one unableto grve L:1)
Srnceeveryobjectis unknou/n
belorethe ideaot ils anses
n our mrnds,and since(evenas unknown)il ex sts by lhe
dueconsrderaiion 1owhaltheVartikas and Naiskarmya S ddhl
Suresvara
il
tl
Suresvara 159
menls etsewherelhat noot lgnonnce was bul a particular farm oul a proper underclandingof the meantngof lhe verce an which
assumed by lgnorance, namely the Unmanilest Principle Nei' ne was commenllng.
thetwas anv atlentionpaid Io the descriptionaf lgnarancegiven (13) ln th s conlexl(of leachingthal the world-appearance
in lhe words'lgnorance is lhe leeling "l do not know"' (cp TB.V ariseslrom absenceof knowledgeol the Absolule)we iind
.176). the clearverseol Gaudapada, whichbegins,wellsupporled
We may pass lhis by as incidonlal.qut the follawingshould by analoges,'As a ropeirnperlectly perceived...(inthe dark
herc be noled. Whercvet in lhe Vertika lhere is a telercnce la is variouslyinaginedas a snakeor a slreamoi waler or in
lgnarance as a material cause, this is predicated af lgnorance olher ways, so s the Selt wrongy imaginedas this and
co4sdered as having assumed ls lorm as lhe non-conscious lhal (G.K 11.17, cp. l\r.V23)-That whch as no name or
IJnmanifestPrinciple.lt is not a refetenceto it in its awn charac lormmanifesled (allhe beginningolthe world-perlod)through
letistic nalure as conlusion. For the whole conceplbn ol cause bare gnorance.(8.8.V Liv.389-90).
and effect is only mentioned in the Veriktaat all lo show thal ls Whal lhe aulhor ts saying is:'One the toptc of manlestatian
is crealed by lgnoance. Frcmthe slandpoint ol practicalexperi' proceedtnghom lhe UndevelapedPinciple, ane should see t'rom
ence, on lhe otherhand, causalitycanbe accepteclwhere evet tl the explanalionof creatiangiven by Gaudapada.with examples,
thatthe notion of the worldandthe Absoluteas effect and cause
(12) Ths illusion(maya)which,lhough utterlyreal,manl must be intetptetedas agreeingin every way with the anatogyol
tesls as name.lorm and action- its subtlestiorm is called the illusory snake misperceivedin lhe rcpe'. In lhe same way,
'Death'.(B.B.V l.iv.135). the authot laler (B.B.U Liv.443)quo!es Bhagava9eda Sankara's
' tgnorance displays itsell here in the world as name, a lorm UpadesaSehasi XVlll.46:'Justas the rope-snake,(thaughunre-
a4, possesses being by vittue ol lhe rope unltl dtscriminated
and action. lts subtlestform, which may alsa be called Meya' is
lram it, sa alsa does the complex ol the Self, the ret'lectingme'
called Death'. lt had been said earlier in the Vedicpassage un'
dium and lhe teflection passessbeing by vittue al the change-
der commenL'This was covercd over by Death'(Brhad 'l ii 1)
less Self, (unlil it is discriminatedlrcm it', cp. M.v. 144, 10).
Here again, it is only lgnorance in its form as seed-state ol the
nol-self consistingol name, form and action that is telerred to (14)Transmigratory experience is taughlto be an erroneous
by the wotd'MAye'- And lhis agtees with numerous texts in Sn superimposilion on the Sell.And, accordingto lhe genera
Sankara's commentaries,such as'Name and farm imagtnecJ wor dly view , lhere cannolbe erroneoussuperimpositton
thtough lgnoranceas iflhey were the very naturc of the omnis' wilhoula cause.Therefore,lo explainwhal is the cause.Sri
cient Lord, indeteminable eilhet as the real principle or as any- Sankarasaysin hisbrhadaranyaka CommenlaryThat(Se1)
lhng chlletentlrcm iL ihe seed ol lrcnsmigrctoryexpctence and wh ch rs lhe causeol the wholeuniverse..Eut has not the
the diflercnliated $/orld,are spoken of in the Vedaand Smtti as causealreadybeendeclaredto havebeenthe superimposr-
"The Power ol Meya belonging to the Omniscient Lord"' tionon the Self,lhroughnaturallgnorance, ol the notionsoJ
(B.S.Bh.lt.i.14,cp. M.U45, 1). Anandagiri's rematk in hts sub' beingone who acls,alongwilh actionand its resulls?Yes.
commentarv here,'The wotd Meey is introduced to refute thase Bui the leachingls repeatedin a specialJormintendedlo
who distnguish between lgnoranceand Meye" was nacle wtth' relulethe SankhyadoctrinethatNature(non-conscious and
160 Chapter-8 Suresvara 161
independentol Spirit)is the malerialcause ol lhe world. which is the cause of allthe universe', that was only ta show
The causeol the world s lhe Se t, unknownlhroughlgno that because the whole universe ts merely imagined, the Abso,
(guna) mak ng up
rance lt ls not the three constituents' lute can anly be the cause in the sense ol being lhe realsubstra,
Nalurespokenoi by the Sankhyas (B.B.V 1 v.478-80) tum an which the imaginationsare made. There is lo this extent
a differencebelween lhe explanationsof lgnorance alfered by
This is an explanalrcnof the passage in StiSankara's Com'
SriSankan and Suresvarc.Thetwo explanationsagree basical
menlary an the Brhaderanyaka (l.tv.7 ad init.) whtch begtns,
'This Self, for the sake of which all the tradtlional texts came ly, hawever,as we have aheady explainedat M.V.112.
tnta being, an which the notionaf being one who acts, along wtth (15) li lhe etfeclwere taken as diflerenllrom the cause,
that of actian and its results, are supeimposed through natutal how couldthey becauseand effecl?They wouldbe known
lgnannce, that which is lhe cause af the whaleworld, that v/htch as separate,unconnected enlilies,lke lhe Himalayasand
is the true nature of name any fatm..,',There is menlton here of ihe V ndhyamountains. But if the effectwerelakenas non-
Iransmigratian,cansistingof thefeeling that ane ts acttng,a and difierent,lhen, sincethere would be identty, there could
assaciatedwith aclion and its resDlts,as being supettmpasiion. nol becaLrse and eflect.Whal is actronless cannotfunclion
The watd 'superimpositian'is used here lo mean lhe result at as a cause.Thatwhrchs not ihe oblecloi aclionshouldnot
superimpasltian,not lhe act, according to the intetpretatian A be calledan efiect.And lhal whlch s void oi aclioncannot
superimpositrcn is what is superimpased'. The reference (tn be a factorof action.Time and aclioncouldnot be causes,
Suresvara's verses) to (the worldly viev/ that thete must be) a as ihey lhemselvesonly exst throughthal (the Self) n
ceuse af supenmpositionrefers tothe tealsubslratum an whtch whichthey are due lo d ssolve.lt is evidentthat what can
an tmagtnedenttty must re9t. nol evenbr ng tself nio berngcouldnol br ng anythingelse
nlo be ng, whateverts efforts.(B.B.V11.i.399 402).
Suresvaratakes lhe phrase'throughlgnorance'ham Sri
Sankares Cammenlary,interprels ll according to hts own sys Here the whale concepttanaf causally ts rejected as atian-
tem as meaning absence of knawledge,and lhen refers to the ally indefensibie.A few verses later Suesvara sums up.'And so
objection thatmight be rajsed, Therc cannat be superimpositian lhe creationsand withdrawalsofthe universedawn the ages arc
withaut a (positive)cause'. On his awn view, lhe statemenl Ab' imagtned,just as the disltncttonsof time and space are. When
sence of knowledgeis lhe cause al allthe world'does nol refel you have seen realtty,yau know that lhe creatian,maintenance
to absence of knowledgealane as the independentcause. The and wtthdtat al of the universe ate lnpossible (B.B.U. 11.i.411,
cause is the Se/f as urknawn. This, at least, is my awn under' 14.v.129,8).And so Sresvara keeps lo thal lndttton of the ttue
standing af the verses. And lhen the reply cones, saying that -.xperts in Vedanta,which says that the causality suppased ta
therc was na accasian fot the objectianthat was nised. praduce lhe watld ts tllusory,
On the system of the revercd Commenlatathimself,lhere is
The Treatmentof Universaland Particular
na ptoblem abaut the falsity al lrcnsmigrattan,consEttng in the
feeltng that one is acting, associatedwlh action and its results Thuslhe treatrnentoi causeandeiieclin Suresvafa's
works
Far he says, Transmigralianis sel up lhtough nalural 19norance rs not ntroducedlo show lhal lhe Absoluters lhe causeol lhe
in the form af erroneous knowledge'.Where he said,'That Selt \\rord. ts purpose s aclua y to refutelhe who e conceptionol
ChaplerS Suresvara
causalityby firstsuperimposing lhe notionol causalilyonlo lhe ent Consciousness in ils lrue stateonly.Examplessuch as lhe
Selt in orderlo leach and existenceol lhe laller(lhe Sell,read sounds ol lhe conch and lute are also given to tllustratelhe
almano slilvam),and lhen rellling caLrsalityn the lighl o{ the drssoutron01all parlicularseverywhereintothe one greal uni-
Sel In ts lrue nature.Thecase wilh lhe teachingol universal v e r s a, ' B e r n g "
and oarl cular is simllar.The firststeo is to teachthe ex stence
And yet one musl rememberthat in realilyna distinctiantnto
ol lhe Sell by superimposing onlo ri lhe nolionlhal il is a univer' untvetsal and patticular exisls, For though the universal is in-
sa . n order,in the end,lo be ableto denylhal il is characlerizabie
variably found tn lhe patticula€, the particulars are not invan-
erlheras a universalor as a particular, Here loo. Suresvaralol-
ably found tnthe untversal.Butlhe unive6alcannol be perceived
lowslhe methodof lhe reveredCommentalor. Indeed,n the pre-
separatelyand withoutbeng in some way rclaled ta lhe pattrcu-
I m naryialseattribulionof lhe notionsol universaand parlicu-
larc. Even if ane admitted that universal somehow existed n
ar, he Io lowslhe methodof the Upanshadilse t, as we can now
tsolalian from patticulars, lhey would then become parlicularc
see,
lhemselves,like thal parlicularshort'homed cow'wi!hin the 9en-
As the parlicularbealsin a drum-rollcannotbe heardsepa- eral species caw. And il ane cannot establish lhe existence al
ralelylrornthe drum'roll tsel{,even so lhe thingswhoseexrst' universalsone cannal establishthe existenceof particulars ei-
ence dependson lhe Sell cannotbe perceivedseparatelylrom thet When one cannat establish lhe existenceol either univer
he Se f (B.B.V.ll.iv.267-8, condensed). Fisl one has the general sals or particulars, tl ts vain to talk about a particular falltng
perceplion,Thoseare the soundsoi a drum, or one rnayheaf wtthin a universal. Far the relation ol canlatnet and contained
them in a morespecific,but stillgeneral,lorm as Thosesounds tmplteslwa terms. And na telatian ol distinctianor af any olher
arrsetromthe slrikingol a drum in a specraway' Bul any rela- krn.l can be establishedas holding between universal and par-
live y speci|c sounds,or particriiarsounds,are only heard as ticular. This is the ltne taken by Suresvan in his retrcction. ln
pa( ol theiruniversal, the generaldrum-roll (cp.B.B.V.ll.iv.275- thrc connectian the follawingve6es are warlhy at' note.
80) Aga n. lirst one has the genera indeterminate perceplion
(1)The sound ol lhe drum in generalis mentionedto exem-
pot. aller ihat lhe specitication'is',
yieldingexrslenlpcf. And
p||lythe broad unrversalas such.The drum,roll'reiersto
so lhe ongina generalperceplionis lurtherspectredinexper'
lhe partrculars conceved as the universaiin its other (r e.
enceby sub generalperceplionis turtherspeciliedin experience
parlicuarized)lorm.And lhe referencelo 'exlernalsounds'
by subseqLrenl parircular zation(havinga longspoul,existingat
(Brhad.ll.v.7)reierslo the ( mpossbil ty oi hearng the)par
such and such a place and time, etc.: B.B.V.ll. v.281).Again,
I cu aTs alone (conceived as somehow separcte from the
eachiurtherspeciticaton in our knowledge of a !niversalandto
unlversal).Theseare the threeexamplesthat lhe Upanishad
the accornpanmenl ol il. And, in the same way,everygenusor
gives (ta show lhal sound in a patticular form is dependent
parl cularrs itselfknownas accompanied by Consciousness (cil)
an saund tn a more genetallotm both ta exist and la be
rrnperleclly known.ll is superimposed on lhe Sel{ lhfoughab-
knatyn.sathat particular Being,also, dependson mare gen-
senceof knowledgeol lhe laller.Bll lhe inmoslSell does nol
eralBetng bath la exisl and to be knawn). (B.B.v.ll.tv.288-
requireany exlernalsupporllo eslab sh ts own ex stence.The
9)
Sellbeholdsthe nol-sellonlywhenrtsputson ihe I very of belng
anindvdual experience. B!i il experiencesitsellas ndepend (2) Nothng wha,'ever
can be establishedby the meansot
Chapter-8 Suresvara r65
sub-speciesamang species, ot a partlcular among parttculars constttutinga sheath of lhe Absolute (ihe anandamaya-kasa)
whtch is a false appearance ol the Absolute (TB.U ll.340-2),
Thetreatmenl ot the Oiscriminationolthe Five Sheaths thaugh its tue nalute ts nothing other than the Absotute (T.B.V.
The view ol Suresvaraexpressedin his Varlikais lhal the u.341).T.N.)
leachingaboutthe FiveSheaths(cp.N/.v.39),10o, rs ntroduced li (no accounlweretakenof the cosmicplaneand)ontythe
in lhe Upanishadsin orderto bringout the natureot the Sell as sheathsoi lhe ndivdualp ane were dissolved, the resullwoutd
lhe Absolute by first attributingto il possessionof the Five be the knowledgeof a'seli' ndividualized by ts own body and
Sheaths,blrtonly wilh a view to denyingthenrafterwards. This m nd. rnlhe mannerol the Sankhyateaching(T B.V 268).Each
methodot teachingmay be brreflysummarized as {ollows. lalersheaththal s menlionedin the seriesis spokenoi as some,
The nolionthatwe are in deilicalwilhlhe shealsis implanled th ng separaletrom lhe earlierones,lt is regardedas .anolher
in us by an impresslons arisinglrom beginnnglesslgnorance.ln rnlerna seli accordng to the formula'it(lhe precedng seti) s
jilled by that (lhe later one)'.As the seriesprogresses,each
Vedanta,lhe sheaihs are nitiallyaccepledas a devicethrough
whLchto introducelhe idea ot the inmosl Sell ex st ng wilhln sheathis said lo be illed by ihe next one followingt, whrch
them (TB.V. 11.232'3). The inmosl Sell, tholgh only one, ap- conslrlutesits true'se l'. So we se6lhal the sheathmadeup of
pearsthroughlgnoranceas if limitedby lhe Five sheathsin two iood s accompaniesby the remainingfour,beginningwth the
ways, lhl is, on the individualplans and on lhe cosmicplane sheathmade !p ot the vitalenergy.The shealhmade up ot the
(T.B.V.11.234-5).The sheaths,beginningwith the sheathmade vrtalenergyis accompanied by the remaininglhree, beginning
up oi lood (the physical body)are eJlects. They each haveto be w th the sheathmade up ol mind (i.e.the sheathsmade up of
f rsl dissolvedinlo their malerialcauses,food and so on.Then rn nd intelect and bliss).On this basis,ail elfectshave to be
each earlierone in turn has to be dissolvedinlo the next in the d sso ved in the supremecause by not notingthat the taler
series,untiltheSelfis leftas lhe supremeca!se, and lhen even sheathsare rn conslanlconcomitance with the earlierones of
lhe nolionlhal ii is a causeis cancelledby the knowledgeans_ the series,while the earlierones are not inconstanlconcom,
ing lrom the upanishadic lexls,and il finallyremainsoveras lhe lance w lh lhe laterones (T.B.Vll.263).
A6solute n its lrue lorm (T.B.V236_7). The realilylhal has to be communicated by this device s
(Firsl ane must meditale one ane's own individual body as lhe Absoute. lt ls laughtin the secondSectionol ihe Tait|riya
being nalhing avet and above'food , the matler ol lhe casmos, Upanishad (theAnandaor Brahmananda Valll).
And thethirdSec-
Ltntilil ts finally felt to be so (T.B.V 11.253).The none must medt lron (BhrguVa i) explainshow the exislenceand natLrre of lhe
tate ane s own vilal eneryy lill it is felt la be ane with the cosmic Absoule has ear|er beenlaughtby poinlingto the mutLratcon,
on one'smind (manas,M.v.25,8)as comrlance and non-concomtlance amongslthe varioLls sheaths.
vitalenergy(T.B.V 11.254),
sc lhal the two Sectionsagree.There is onty this sma I drifer-
ta casmrc mind (exprcssed as lhe Veda,T.B V IL3A6), on one s
lntellect(buddhi,M.U25,8)as the cosmicintellect(hiranyagarbha -.ncethal In lhe lhird Sectionthe Absolute s taughl as being
pure Eliss n ils lrue nalure throughthe negaiionol the Fve
the one wha'has'and rcaiizesthe ideas tn lhe casmic mind'
Sheathswh ch are effeclsof lgnorance,as is rmp cit in the lext
1'.8 V. 11.306f.), and an lhe ioy arising lram the merit af ane s
fie had the knowledge"The Absoluteis bljss"'lTaitt.lll.6).
(See
riluals and prescribed meditations (TB.V. 11.320'22:342'5)as
ChapteFS SLrresvafa 16S
il
Sutesvala 173
172 Chapter€
imitations,
iiketheappar€ntlimitations
in spac6introduced
(2) Consciousness is one only every where. t s differenl by the productionol apot(cp.M.V 27,1)(B-B-Vlll.iv.gg-
frorn all the not-sell.This one Consciousness undergoes 100).
illusorymanitestationin many dillerentlorms through causes
(5) Andin caselhe characlerization'directly evidenl'sug-
arisinglrom lgnoranceof it. (B.B.V. lll.vii.60).
gesls an active seer,the phrase'ihm€diatelyevident'is
(3) Consciousness, which is actionless,assumesthis la' addedio prevent thissupposition (Brah.lll.iv.1)...
Thephrase
miliarform ot empirjcalknowledge,dividedinlo individua 'rmmedialely '
evidenl (aparoksad) is usedto negatelhedis-
subject,act of knowingand objecl.But consciousnessil' linclion inlo individualsubjecl,knownobject,and knowl-
self ls wilhoutthis division.Eecauseil is one and the sole edge,and lo conveya realaly that is wilhoutdistinctions.
reality,lhe familiarempiricallormonlyarisesas an appear Whenlhe disiincllonitnosubject,obj€cland knowledgeis
ance,everpervadedby consciousness in ils truelorm. i is negdled, the self-revealed Witnessaloneremarns overas
onlywhenpervaderand pervadedare exhaustedIn thatre- established, revealed by lhe characterizalion'immediately
latianlhal we have peruasionIn the irue sense,as ln lhe evidenl'.(B.B.Vlll.lV.15,17-8).
case ol the pervasionol the rope-snakeby the rope.There 'i: (6) ll is sald(bythe revered Commentator) that,sincethe
cannolbe pervasionin the full sense betweenlhingslhat
are dilterentiatedby spaceor lime, likethe Himalayanand
Vindhyaranges.(B.B-Vlll.iv.96-8)
f rndv dualsubjectandhisknowledge
relalrvelV to oneanother,
anditsobjectonlyexisl
it is thetrueandeternalnalureol
Teaching by Examinatlon otThoThree Stelos ofwaking, Dram desire In dreamlesssleepits adiunctis Ingornaceatone,and it
and Oreamless Sleep lhere standsas lhe causeol the nind and otherlaclorsoJlhe
The expositionof the lhree slates ol waking,dream and ndividualorganism;;thalis the diflerencebetweenihe slatesol
dreamless sleep is nol aimed al teachinglhal those three states dreamand dreamlesssleep(B.B.VlViii.1528).
reallyexrsl.The purposeot the aulhorot the Vartikais only to ln this connection,Suresvarafollowsthe method of the
communitethe vLrenalureof th€ Sell by tirstleachingI lhrough lJpansiahd andlhe reversedComrnentator in usinglhe example
supermposingon it lhe threestates,and then, by a cr lical ex- ol a greal lish. The fish slands,in his exposition, tor lhe Se J,
aminationol the latter,lo revealin immediateexperiencethe diilerenlbolh fromthe bodyand the organsot the wakingstate,
elernalSelf Ireefrom all changingstates. knownas'deaih', and trom the desireand activitythat prompt
Brielly,the praclicalrnethodJollowedlorrealizingthe Fourlh' lhe Jurtherexrstence ol lhe physicalbody.And so it can be shown
([/.V. 23, intro.)or ljnal realityis this. Whjle slill in the stale lhal lhe notionthat lhe Sell undergoestransmigralorfexperi-
where he rs subjectlo talse superimposition, lhe studenlmusl ence is due to melaphysical lgnorance(B_B.VlViii.1148-51).
Indidty,he nust then realizethe identilyof lhe body of lhe uni- t In dreamlesssleepthesoulstandsas'lheSeliunknown'lhe
versew th lhe cosmicmldn (Hiranyagrabha). He mustlhen dis- causeot wakingand dreamexperience, and,beingvoidoJname
solve thal In the Sell as cause, calledPrajna.And linally,he i a n d i o r m , i s v e r i i y l h e A b s o l u t e .F o r , a s r e m a r k e d a t
m!st ernergein his own lrue nature,beyondcauseand effecl, Brhadaranyaka Varlikall.i.451,2.we havethe upanrshadic lexls
'All
as'neitherthis nor that'. ihesecreaturesgo da ly lot he realmol lhe Absolulebul are
The detailsof this orocessare exolainedin lhe Vartikaon caff ed away by de usionand do nol know it' (Chand.Vlll.iii.2)
lhe sectlonol lhe Brhadaranyaka Upanishaddealingwith light and Thus all thingshere returnlo lhe supremeSelf' (Prasna
: lV 7).The upanishadic texl givingthe exampleof ihe hawk,too.
(lyol h,Brhad.lV.iii.l ft.).The individualsoul as the SpirI viewed
( B r h a d . j V. 1 9 ,c p . M . V . 8 31,2 ,n o t e )i s i n i e n d e d t o e x p o L r n d l h e
underadlunctswiih intellectpredominaling (M.V 44, 5, note)is
ol the naiureof Ight. fhroughlgnorancehe enjoyswakingexpe- lrue natureol the Sellas eternallypure,consciousand liberaled
(B.B.V lV.iri.1158). The phrase folds its wings'referslo its re-
riencewhenlhe intellectis awake,and when il is asleephe sees
d r € a m s( B . B . Vl V
. i i . 4 4 8 ) . T h i si n d i v i d u as lo u l ,a f a s e a p p e a r ' marnrngin lgnorance. The phrase'(isbornedown)to lhe nesl'
ance composedof impressionsand consistingof an individual relersio llle tacl thal n dreamlesssleepeven the relleclionol
subjecland hismeansofcognition, is saidlo passintothedream- Conscousnessresisin lhe lorm ot pureSpirI (B.B.VlViii.l 172,
slate whenlhe m nd becomesits won objectas lighl,and in that 3) Thal.lheretore,which,in lhe lwo statesol wakingand dream
dream-state alsoihe soulis selt-luminous
less sleep the only conditioningadjunctis metaphysicallgno'
liqhlonly.Bui in dream- l was assooaledwilh lgnorancein the senseol havingapparent
condilon ng adjunctsthat were eJlectsot lgnorance,now ln
rance.TheSeli hereis lhe causewhichwill lalerproducewaking dream ess sleep stands separaled lrom lgnorance (B-8.V.
and dram as rts effecls (8.8.V lV iii.979).In the wakingstate V.iii.J174'5). This is the kue torm of lhe soul,Iree lrom lgno,
lhe soul perlormsactionsthroughits bodyand organsand expe- rance,desireand action.But in wakingand dreamlhere is an
r encespleasureand parn,ln lhe dream-stale,with the intellect extraneouscondrlioning adjuncl,caused by lgnorance(B.B.V.
lor condilioningadjunct,it sees dreams under the impulseoi V ir 1205-6).One musl, however,remberthe other point thal
a though as explained,desiresceasewhenwakingand dream
Suresvara r79
174 ChapterS
i is begrnningless, (in the senseol limeless),no doubt.But il is
cease.neverlheless lhev do remainin dreamlesssleep In lhe
and they manilestagainin the case
Iorm o1a lalenlimpression, I acceptedthal ts relationwilh such elfeclsof lgnoranceas posr-
live acls ol eroneous cognition,destresand so iorth has a be
oi one who has awokenlrom sleep.They are nevercompletely ginning(B.B.V.iii.1408-9).
ellminatedtillmetaphysicalknowledgeol the Sell dawns(B.B.V.
BLrlwhat is lhe connectionol one who is lhe victimof ab-
Viv.378).
senceof knowledgeand erroneousknowledgewiih the meta-
In dream,the Selfis deliledby desireand meritand demerit. physicalteaching(B.B.V lViii.l4lO)? To answerthis queslion
Yetit is oarllvluminous.becauseunrelaled lo the exlernalworld, dreamlesssleep is expoundedas a statelree lrom ignorance,
and rt conformsto and illuminesthe objeclscreatedby menlal desireand actiorr.Evenin the dteam-state thesense-organs dts-
rmoressicnsunderihe imoulseol desire.On lhe otherhand,in solveinlo the vehicleof the impressions, as we knowfrom the
dreamlesssleepthe Sell slandsalone,conditioned only as lhe lext,'Himselinot sleeping,he looksdownon ihe sleeprngsense-
cause,and assumes pedectiranquillity,
Hence dreamless s eep 1 1o )w. c o u l di h e o r g a n sb e p r e s e n il n
o r g a n s ' ( B r h a d . l v . i i i .H
rs calledpertectpeace(sampraseda,B.B.V lViii.976-8).We admit dreamlesssleepwhen not even their impressionsare presenl
absenceof knowledgein dreamlesssleep in a certainsense. (B.B.V.lViii.1416)?So, sincethe actionof seeingand ils Jac,
Thereis absenceof internal knowledgeof the form'Thisam l , lors and resullsare alikeimpossible, a persondoes nol see in
and also absenceof externalknowledge of lhe lorm thesecrea- dreamlesssleep.And (in anothersense)he does see, sincehe
tures'.But lhis absenceol knowledge comes Jrombeingin iden_ is Consciousness by nalure(B.B.V.lViii1417).
trtywrlh the supremeSell as the'consciousOne'(prajna).lt s
qultedilierenliromlheabsenceoJ ge I hatoccurs Lndram Fromihe l6e rng'l did not see (anylhing)'onthe part ol one
knowled
who has woken up, we know thal, in dreamlesssleep,the ab-
and waking,whichis due to apparentconditioning adjuncts.And
senceol the lndividualsubjectand his knolwegeand il oblects
this is iaught in the Upanishadwith the help of the exampleol
has beendirectlyexperienced In thal slateby Consciousness in
lhe man embracinghis wite {B.B.V.lVili.1309'10).
ils true nalure(8.8.V lV.iii.1420).It therehad beenany breakin
But howdowe knowthatthisabsenceol knowledge indream' the visionof consciousness one wouldnot be awareof dream,
less sleep rs due to allainingidentity,and not to a naluralab_ ess sleep, as it would nol have been experienced(B.B.V.
senceot consciousness? AbsenceoJ knowlegeis, alter all,lhe lv.ii.1a38).The presentparliciple'seeingin the phrase, . .al
typicalcharacteristrcol non-consciousbeings(B.B.V.lV.iii.1
384) thoughseeing,He does not see. For there is no break in lhe
It is to answerlhls objectionthat the Upanishadsays,'Verily, seeingof the seer...'(brhad.lViii.23) does not meanlhal there s
whenthere(in the stateot dreamlesssleep)he does not see,he an ind vidualsubjeclenjoyingexperience. Forthatis impossib/e
s, verily,seeing,thoughhe does not see. For lhere is no break in dreamlesssleep,Youhavelo be conienlwiththe explanatron
n the seekingol lhe seer'(Brhad.lViii.23). lhal the l-notionot dreamlessslaep ('remembered'retrospec
Desire,aclion,ignoranceand the like the nol lhe natureol live y in subsequentwakingexperience)representsthe Seli in
lhe Seil, as Consciousness is. And the Upanishadtells us lhat rls lrue natufe.lt is ihe subjeclol lhe participle'seeing'in lhe
lhe soul is unattachedand is nol tollowedin wakingby the et- samesort ot (meiaphorical) sense (noi implyingaction)thatwe
iects ol rts experienceswhen dreaming(Brhad.lV.i.15-6, cp. speak af space as'givtng'rooms lB.B.V.lV.iii.l1442).
The relalionol the Sell with melaphysicallgnorance
l\,,1.V40,3).
180 ChapteF8
Sur€svara 181
'Howcanthe SelJsee al
Oneshouldnot raiselhe objoction,
all if it hasnofaclorsol actionat ils disposal?'For evenin world and its effectscannotpenetEtethatwhichis eternaltyconsciaus
we do nol s€e the factorsot actional work beforean aclion. by nature. lt is one, without inlemal distinctions,and not itself
Whethertherers action1obe doneor not, belorean action standing as an individual within a clas6.That i6, it is one only,
Whetherlhere is actionto be doneor nol, laciorsol actionas a withouta second. It is not a seer (in the empidcal sanseol ona
peioming the act ol seeing), Fot it is by nature void of the
pre-condition can be ruledoul in €ilher case(M.V 122'15).
l\roreover, in lhe casewhereseeingis constant,ii is impossible factots ol action, and there b nothingtot it to see. lt is atso non-
lo eslablisha relationot tomporalsequencebelweenan aclion clualbecause it tanscends ln lgnotunce and its effects (8.8.V
and its resull.so thal it is imDossible toestablishthe existence iii. 1798-1806). h is everimmediatelyevident.Thercatmol the
ol an€ndandmoans (and honceimpo6sible lo thinkol thesee- Ab'oluteis no,prcpe y speaking,eitherltanscendent ot tmma-
ingot theWilnessas an aclion,B.B.VlViii.1449). Thedislinc' nent. It is that [6latel (oka) which is the Absolute. The imptica-
tionslhalsei upthe appearance of an individual seer,hissee- tion is that the trus nature of th6 Sell is the Absotute. This is
ingandils resullsareshownto ariselhroughlgnorance (B.B.V knownfrcmlhe highesttextsol the Upanishads, whercthe sub-
tor relation with ject-ptedicaterclationol the wotds,andlhe mutualqLlalilication
lViii.1450). Th€reis depend€nce on lgnoranc€
knowledgeoJthe not-selt;but there is no such dependence or ol lhe word-meanings givesriseto a sdntencewhichcan only
lgnorance,orlhe lactorsol actionwhicharea mere appearance expressan indjcation(andnotdenolea definitemeaning,B.B.V
lv.iii.l8'l9-21). thisis the higheststat6ol th€sout,whichputs
derivingtromit, whenit is knownthatonlythe Sell exists(B B V
lviii.1451-2). an end to all otherstates(B.B.V.lviii,1828).lt is his supreme
possessaon, hasunsurpassable slalo ol glory.lt is the highest
Thusin dr€amand wakingthe Seltappearsihroughlgno" realmto which he can attain,lor it is indestructible. ll is his
ranceloundergodislinction according lo ihe dislinclions ot name supreme bliss.Forit exceEds alloth6rbliss,and'allothercrea-
andlorm,Butthisis lo the casein dreamless sleep, lhal in
so turessubsiston a fraction of tho bliss'(B.VVtViai.iB2B,-32, -
thai slateone doesto see dualily,as one doesin waking.In 36, -40).
dreamless sleep,eveMhinghasassumed lhelormof thechang€-
lessSell.Thereis thenneitherlgnorance, no ils efiecis,no. Thls troln an examinationof the stateso, wakrng,dream
absenceof lgnorance,for ther€ is then nothingapartfrom the anddreamlesssleepwe caneslablishthatth€ sell is real,lhat it
Self tor th€ Sell to '6/itness as its objecl(B.B.VlViii.1518-23) kanscendsaillhe not-self,thal it is unalloyed,that its natureis
Theretore,in dreamlesssleeplhe S€ll knowsnolhing,without unsurepassablebliss,lhat it is a pureunily,that it is Conscious-
therebygivingup its natureas Conscious ness.Thus alldifiicul- nessand nothingelseand thal it is withouta second.
lrescanbe explained. The moslimportantverseslo consid6rin lhis regardare the
TheUpanishad sumsofthelinallruth aboutdreamless sleep iollowing.
in the passag€ b€ginning'(ln dr€amless sleep) the see is one' (1)The6eekerof liberation(havingidentified
himsellwilh
transparent likewater'(Brhad. cp M.V.44,
lV.iii.32), iniro.) Her€ Vaisvanara,the Sellas associated
withthe cosmosin its
is lhe moaning. Waleris pure.In th€ stat€of dreamless sleep objective
lorm,cp.M.V43,6), proceedsonlromVaisvanara
there is no awarenessol causeand oflectbecauselgnorance andidentilies
himsellin hish6anwithitsinnerself,Taijasa
or Hiranyagarbha{M.V23;43,6).Thenhedissolvesthisinro
Suresvara
r83
(16)whereaconnection oJtheSelfwilhthenot-sellis taught, co olf oi lhe (colourless)elher ot the sky. But if it turns its gaze
therelhe relerenceis to be a connectionbased on lgno_ nwards,it tinds neilherignorancenordoubt norwrong knowledge
rance,lorminglhe notion,basedequallyon lgnorance,ol n waking,dreamor dreamlesssleep(B.B.V1.iv298,9). And one
an individual ableto acl, and ol factorsol actional his dis- shouldnol raisetheobjeclionthat one has to acceptthatlgnorance
posal,etc.But whenfor the man oi wisdomlhen notion"All was presenlin dreamless sleeponeaccountotlhememory'lknew
is the (actionless) idea is basedon realrly
SelJ'arises.lhis noth ng lhal is supposedlo occurto no who has awokenirom it,
il does nol. like the notionot a not-selJ,dependon lgno' For in dreamless sleeponedoesnoi in lacthavethe experience'l
ranceand its elt€cls.(B.B.V lViii.1451-2) do nol know'. And il is not right to say thai the Jeeling'l did noi
(17)Wherethereare distinciions (as in wakingand dream) know (that comes to one after he has woken !p reDresentsa
lhereis the appearance o{ lgnorance(inlhe lorm oi'l do not nremory. When DevadattaremembeF'l knew that then', he re-
known'.Butthereare nodisiinclions whateverIn dreamless members what he had previously experiencedaccording to its
sleep(and consequenllyno ieeilng'l do noi know'and no properdetailsol lime and place. But one cannct say that this sett
lgnorance. cp.l\r.V122,19). lgnorancebelongslo ihe mrnd' Looksback over what il had previouslyexperiencedin this way.
as that s where it is consislently found.ll does not belong For.sincethe Sell is the Wilnesso{ time.spaceand causation, it
lo Consciousness in the stateol dreamlesssleep(prana) cannolundergodelerminationbyiime, spaceand causation(since
ln lhe one undividedConsciousnessraisedaboveall change il wllnessesthese as objectsand the.eforeas distinctlrom ilselt).
an (apparent) distinction ariseslhroughvlsionbasedon lg' lgnorance,again,does nol exist for its own sake. (That which
norance,a distinctionwhich compriseslhousandsol lur_ exists for the sake of another is non-consc;ous,cp.U.S.(prose)
ther d stinctlonsthrough name, form and aolion Bul n seclian 71. That far whtchit existsmust be consciousand self-
dreamlesssleep that dualilyis not lound lgnorance'lhe exstent, tn short the one Self taught in the Upanishads. What
causeot evil, is not present.There is thanno dualityfor lhe existsfor the Self has no exstence independentaf the Setl and is
soul to pefceivelhroL.lgh distinclioninlo lndividualsublecl, rcducible to a temparary illusion arising on the substratum ol the
emoiricalknowledgeand obiecls,as thereis in the wak ng Set, cp. (A)nandagirionB.B.V.Liu 301, lVii.25.TN.) lgnoranceis
and reamstates.Tospeakoftheabsenceof lgnoranceand an illusron arisingin the Sell and appearingbeloreit, likethe illu,
ils eflectsis lo altirmthe sole existerlceol ihe Seli.eternal 5ronof a rope-snakeand so on. lt is lhus correcl to dismissii as
and raisedaboveall change,as lhe only realilyTo alfirm nrerefa se imaginalion. As lhe rope,snakeis talsely imagrnedin
lhe soleexistenceof the Sell,lhe cause,in dreamlesssleep the ropeand rs nothingotherthanthe rope,so lgnoranceis imag,
s lo the exislenceof the elfect as a reality.(B B Vl\/.iii ned in Consciousness, and, beingin its trlle natureConscious-
1517-20).We now showthe methodol the negalon of the ness.rnanlleslsthere. And whenthe eternalConsciousness rarsed
lh ree states. :bo'/e a lch3nge is known,lgno.anceafld its elfectsare canceled
ignoranceoi lhe Seli is nolhingreal Our cerltude as to rls 3.tsV l.,v300 6)
ex slencerestsonlyonlhe{eeling'ldonol knovvlhal arisesln the li is tftrelhat ai Naiskarmya
S ddhi lll.58(prcseintrod!ction)
courseol emplricalexperience (T B V 11176) The sou ' cenlredIn SLrresvara rrakesa caseforthe existenceof lgnorancein dream-
lhe rrind and lookingnot inwardsbul ouiw3rds conv nces itsell ol lcss s eep,sayrng,'lndreamlesssieepthere s presenithal ,rei/
its gnoranceoi ihe Selt,as one convlncesonasel ol lhe blue
Suresvara 189
188 ChapleFS
ones own true Sellthatconstiuiesihe goaloi lhe Vedantic spir, lhe melaphyscaiiexts ever lack verbs,as forms of the verb'to be'
rlualdiscrpine. can alwaysbe understood and supplied,
The remarkaboutthere
'll beinglruils on the iver bankconcernsa matterwhichcan be known
shoud be seen',then,is nol an injunction. Why not?In lhe
phrase'TheSeli shouldbe seen'the work'Seli refersto one's Iromsourcesolherlhan the spokenword. lt does nol concerna
nmosi Se i, and knowledgeof one's Sell rs already one's own by maiterlhalcan onlybe knownlhroughverbalrevelation, so il was
natureAgain,the knowledge expressedhere by the verb'seen' an fie evanl exarnpte.
cannot be enjo ned, as t is conditionedby reality.When the word Hereare lhe chiefversesto consider.
'('owedge
s Jseo to reler lo synboic med alo-s \sJah as (1) In the phrase'TheSelfthatshouldbe seen'(Brhad.ll. v.5)
'Woman,O Gaularn,
is the sacrlfic ialfire',Chand,Vvi 1.1)it stands lhe word Sell'fefersto lhe inmostSelf,as lhe Sell is invari'
lor something thatcan be enjoined, bui symboic meditation is not ablyexperienced as lhal whichis inmosl.The words'should
lhe lopic ot lhe presentpassage.Again,there ts no otherseer be seen'relertoa correctknowedgeofthatthrough theVeda.
aparlfrornlhenrnoslSell.Andwhereiheseerandthatwhchhas It s trLe thal everyone s naturallyaware of lher own Seli
to be seen are lhe sametherecan be no nlunclionoi the lorm'lt Bu1whaltheydo notknowis thal it is the Selfol all. ll is that
shoud be seen'. For therecannotbe an injunction to an acl of deathal s alilrmedby theVedaas something newthathaslo
seeng wheretheseer,actingon himsell, is performerand objeclof be known.Thistext,however, couldonlybe an injunclion to
the same act. Thereiorelhe teachingAl thls (world)is bLrtlhe acl f lhe knowerandthe thingto be knownweredifierenl In
Sell'(Brhad.ll.iv.6) is givenby the Vedaafterit had f rsl usedthe lhe presentcontexllherecan be no injunclion to acl,tor ack
Iormulanetherthis nor ihat' (Brhad.ll.ii.6) to negatethe notion ol any ditferencebetweenwhai was enjo ned and the one on
t h a t t h e S e hl fa d a s s u m e d t h e t o r mt hoef n o f s e i . A n d s o t h e r e a l whomlhe injunclon v,/aslaid.(B.B.Vll.iv.95-7)
lorceoi the apparenlinjunclionlheSelfshouldbe seen' s to give
some nlormalionaboutsomelhingthe hearerdld not previously (The idea is that, becauseone does nat know that allthis is
know Th s s the gisi of Suresvara'srefutalon 01the possibililyot one's own Self, il is carrect lo suppase that this is whet the text
tnefebe ng an injunction for seeing. affirms.But there js na cammandto perlorm any acl here since,
allhaughlhe lexl assumeslhe grcmmaticalformol an lnpnctrcn,
Oblectionsra sed by opponenlsare disposeclof as fo lows. there is no distinclianbetv/eenwhatis enjoinedand lhe one on whom
One shou d not objectthat the Vedictexts mak ng rnetaphysi lhe niunctpn is laid. Whatwe have, rather,is the communicatian
cal stalementsare no rnoreaulhoriativelhan casualworldlyre- af a piece af hilhertounknowninformation.)
markslke'Thereare fiveiruilson the riverbank'. Norshoutdone (2) The idea'Alllhisis the Self is validknowledge conditroned
oblectlhal the wordscannotbe properlyinterconnected io iorrna by the objeclknown Only if it had been the idea ol somelhing
sentenceior ack of a verb. For the Vedawill be an authoritat ve akeadylamilari.oin wor d y experience,l ke f re,couldri havear sen
meansolknowedgeii il canawakenanyonetolhe truthoi thesole rndependence on lhe arbitrary willof theindividualknow ng subjecl
rearly of lhe one Seli,a truth naccessb e lo any olhermeansof ( a n d o n l yn s u c h a c a s e c o u L d i t h a v e b e e n l h e o b l e cnl ol ul annc
knowedge.AndtheVedictext canpedormthisfunctionevenwhen tion,for nstancean injunclion to rneditate, as s mp icily lhe case
the connectons of the wordswithlherrrneanrngs are nol appre- n the lext Woman,O Gautama,is the sacriiicial fire', (Chand.
hended,as in the caseoi sentences thalawakensleepers. Nordo V v i i . l , c p M . V p . 3 6 1 )S. o l h e r e c a n n o t b e ai nni u n c t o n i o r m e l a -
r96 ChapteFS
Suresvara 197
physicalknowl€dge ot lhe Self,as il is not ideathatarisesin de-
pendenceon the willol man. Butactionslikereasoning overth€ see oneb own Self,whethetsuchvisionbe ol the verynatureol the
meaningol lhe wordsol lh€ texlsby ihe methodol agreement an seeror whethetit be associatedwithan individualknowingsubjec!.
dilterenceare enjoined,sinceihey are dependenton the will ol (6) Here.loo, in the Brhadaranyaka as welt as in ihe
man. (B.B.Vll.iv.120-1)
Chandogya, thelextacceptson thebasisof commonexperi-
(3) Whensubjeclandobjeclaredifierent, thereis pervasion ence all lhal il hasnegatedas notbeingof the nalureot the
ol lhe objectby the subjeclin orderloknowil, as in the case inmostSelfin lh6 words'n6ithsr lhisnorlhat'(Brhad. .iii.6)
oi perception of a pot. Bul the Selfcannotactivelypervade andatfirms'All lhis(world) is theS€lf'(Brhad. ll.iv.6).....The
itsellto haveknowledge of ilsellin thisway.Therecannolbe injunclion her6'TheSeltshouldbe seen'(Brhad.ll.iv.5.6) is
pervasion wh6r€lhereis non-diflerence, for the very reason lherefore nomorethanth€communication ol hithertounknown
lhalperuader andperuaded wouldalreadybe identical. (B.B.V inlormation (i.e.'TheSellshouldbeseen'='Seethat,narnelv.
ll.iv.135) lam tellingyouthat,theSetfis as heretaught',cp.M.V.12s,2).
Unlikea mateial obj1ct like a pot, the Self is not capabteol The texf lhe Sell shouldbs s€en'couldnot beintendedas
beingpeNadedlhroughthe activilyof the individualknowing6ub- an injunctionto act addressedto one not yet acting,as
ject in the lotm ot seeing. Not can the Sells own vision (act on actionis impossibie in the caseol the Setf.(B.B.Vll.iv.104
and)peryadeilself. and115)
(4) Noris thereanyothersubjectwhocouldseethe Sell as (7) lt is nolcorectto saythalallthetextsof the Upanishads
an objecl,Iorlhisis speciticallydeniedin thetext'Thereis no haveto be,nlerp.eled as injunclions, onthegroundthatstate,
otherseer...brltHe'(8rad.lll.vii.23). And,indeed,we do not menlsol lacl are never authorilalive, sincetheydependtor
tindintheworldtwosubjectsplayjngbetweenthemtheroleof theirvalidilyon knowlodge gainediromothersources.Forthe
subjectandobject.(B.B.V.ll.iv.1 36) meiaphysical slatements of lh€ lJpanishads are an author
italivemeansof knowl€dge, sincethey awakenone to the
Whenthe Vedbtextsays'Thereis no otherseer...but He'it solerealityot lhe Selt,not knowable fromany othersource,
meansthal,Ircmth6stdndpoint of thehighestttuth, theSelfis not as wordsare usedto awakena sleeper. (B.B.Vll.iv.148)
an object that can be seen, Even frch the standpointol wo dly
expe ence,onesubjectis nevet theobjectol the visionof anolher (8) Thereis no rulethata verbmLlstappearovertlyin a sen-
lencebeiorethewordscan b6 connected. ln the metaphysi-
caltexts, verbslike'art'and'am'canverywell beunderstood
(5) lf theseefwereableto seeitsell.thatwouldbe a conlra-
andsuppliedevenwhennotovertlyexpressed.ll is truethat
Andif (bysomestrangechance)
dictionol thelawsof ac,tion. thereis dependence on olhersourcesof knowledgein the
it coulddo so,it wouldalwaysbedoingso,so thattheinjunc-
caseol thecasualremark'There ate fruilsonthe riverbank'.
tionto do so wouldbe rendereduseless.lB.B.Vll.iv.137) becauselhere the thingsdenotedby the words'fruits'and
Thecontadblion ol th6laws ol actionwouldconsistin the lact 'riverbank'are accessible
lo anothermeansoI knowledoe.
oI the one doingan actionbeing himsef the objectof lhat action. namelyperceplion. (B.B.VlVii.161 -2)
Theimplicationol th6verceis thal therccannotbe an iniunctbn to
ChapleF8 Suresvara 199
198
t
Chapter8
Suresvara
201
One mighl supposethat the Sell should be seen thrcugh all
(vrlnana) as a synonym for il at Brhaderanyaka
lhe valid means of cognilion, because the Sell as Conscious- ll.iv.5,to
snowthatmeditations notheremeant.lalreadymentioned
ness conslitutesthe resultant-cognitionof each. But lhe lorce ol
eartierhow meditationand otherpracticesare a means
the words'lt must be heard about'ts to show that it is lhe to
rmmedtale experjence.Butimmediateexperj6nce doesnot
upanghadtc texls that arethe authorilativesaurce of knowledge
exrstlor ihe sakeof anylhingelse.ll is taughllo
o{ the Self, since i! i€ only thraugh them tha! metaphysicallgna- be just
0 e r a ! o n ,a l t a i n m e not f t h e l i n a l g o a lo f a l l . ( B . B . v
rance of lhe Self (readingetma-ajfrana)canbe brcughl to an end.
|.iv.217,220, 233-4J.
(4) lt is the applicationoi the Srx Formsot Evidence(Nl.V.
(7) Hearingandlhe reslare lhe means
p.23)lhat bringsoul lhe true lorce of the words.Then the lo thatjmnediate
inrurrion whichdepends on nothrng
texl says'lt (lhe Selt)mustbe ponderedover'lo delermLne aparttrofi ttselt. When
rhrshas arisen.nothi4g,nore is required apartkom thal
lhe lrue meaningof lhe traditionai texlscommunicaling it. lt
immedtate 6xperience of th€ S€ltalreadyaitain6d...
is clearirom lhe command'ltmust be ponderedover'that There
s noolherresultof knowledg€ lhatourSelfis thesolereat_
whal s beingtaughthereis realilyin ilslruenature.InWoman
rryexceplthe sradicaljon ol our ignorance ol the fact.For
s the sacriticral fire'(Brhad.Vl.ii.l3),we do nol lind any
rnrsrs everby natureour truestale,,. Theone inmostselJ
rnjunclion lo ponderover the meaning.(B.B.V ll.iv.214-5).
is rhe reatityof whichcauseand etfectare mere
latseap_
He jusl tema*s in passing that the injunction saying lhat 0earances. Whenthal56lfis known,howcouldtgnorance
lhere has to be ponderingshows that thetext here is cancerned 'artto be desroy€o?
Tellme,pray,howthe,6coutd€vefbe
with final vision, not with pleliminary medttalton. tgnorance ot the Sellagain.(B.B.Vll.iv.22t,205,231).
(5)Feasoningin coniormity withthe wordsol the Vedc lexls t have9tventhe totm.ajiena ( tgno.ance.)
at he enoot the
s also enjoined,for this is whal enablesone to delermrne u\t ve'se ( tgnoranceal the Set ) fottowlngAnandagitr.
accuralelywhat lhe words mean.(B-B.Vll.iv.2l6). lds woutdatsobetegtttmate) Bul
thewod wercrcad asnena.(knowt.
Reasoningis of help, for inslance,ta ftnd aul how lhe mean- edge), then we wouldhave.On accountof knowtedge
tnmostSelf,no othetknawt1dge ol the
ing of the word 'Thou'in'That lhou att' must be lhe Witnessand neodsta baacqutled..Thepas-
cannat be anything else. |.henaSrcewnhhe endottheprccedng verca
',::ge^:!ttd
'v.zrur. tyqtcnsays lhercis (lhen)no IB.B.u
(6)Awakenng to imrnediale knowledge ol lhe supremeSe I knowtectge that has not
oeenacqutred;there is no lgnorcncethathasta beendestrcyed,.
dependng on no externaltactoris calledNidrdhyasna. lt is
menl onedallerseeingand hearingto showthata lhey cul- C.ompa son ol S sankara and Suresvah
rn nate n lhat....Ones lirstknowledgeof lhe Sell is through on the Topicol
Heatingand the Rests
hearing,and then one pondersover whal one has heard.
When heaf ng and ponderingare comp ete, one comesto At ilrsts ghlthereappearsto bea cBrtain disagreemeni
.Iween be_
have immediateknowledgeot lhe Se f... Becausethe use Sri Sankaraand Suresvara on th6 queslonot whether
neafng and the resl can be the subjects
ol lhe word Niddidhyasana'( il sustainedmedtalion) might ot an injunction.
Sri
r€nxaramakesan opponentask,what
leadlhe hearerto supposelhat meditalionwas meant,lhe
( ons mean.texts|ke "The do these apparenlInlunc-
Upanshad deliberaielyuses lhe term'immedialelntuition self, verily,shouldbe seen,heard
Suresvara
'n didhyasana
about-.-'and so lorth?'(B.S.Bh l.i.4,cp [4 V68 3) On accounl refers toan ac hat has to b€ pedormed.He aims
ol lhe phrase apparenl injunctions, it mighlseemthal to demonslratelhat the term .njdidhyasana'didnot referlo medi,
o{ hisuse
he did notadmitthal hearing and the resi could be subjects ol latron(dhyana)becausethe lext usesthe term.immediate intui_
iniunciions. Bulal anolhora place he seems io admrl that hear_ t on (vijiana) as a synonymtor jl (B.B.V .iv.2gSM.V.124,6).
ingandlherestcanbeenjoined. Hesays:'Repetilio n ol thealJir- Do the two systems,those ot Sri Sankaraand Suresvara.
mationmustb€ carriedoul Why?Becauseil is taughlrepeat- agree'ordotheycontradictoneanolheronthesepolnts? lf thev
edlv.the repeated teachings like"TheSeltm!si be heardaboul' do ,n facrcontradictone another.whichts the be er? lt ,s a po,ni
pondered overad subj€ct€d to susiained meditation" poinlto a worlhconsidering.
repetition ot the aflirmation' S.Bh(B lVi.1) For he wolrld lnto
My own view is the lollowing.sriSankaraspokeof the ao_
saythatanything hadto be doneunlesslhee were an Iniunclron peardncoot an Injuncltonjn a particularconlexl.
His pr,roose
on the subjectin lh0Veda. wds to refutelhe Contenlton Ol the authOrsof the earlie,com-
ln SUresvara s Vadtka,on lheolherhano.lhe'eis no .eler- mentaries(vrtti)onthe BrhamaSutrathalthe metaphvsicaltexts
encelo iniunctions lor hearing andlhe reslas apparenlInlunc_ o'rhe Upa- shadswereauthoritat,ve onlyit regardedis subordr-
tions.On the conlrary,he saysopenlyand emphatically lhat nateto an injunctionto acquiremetaphysical knowledge.He did
thesepraclices areenjoined, in thewordsA person can oecroe r s iry assertrngthat metaphysicalknowtedgeis something
whelherlo carryouthearingandpondering... so alllheseprac_ conditionedby reatity,and dillerenttrom meditatjon. Here is hi;
licesare enioined' (B B.Vll.iv.122' M V 124'2) text as he himseltset it out.
Andthereisanolherapparent pointiordifferenceln SriSan- (1)Theldealol lire,whenone is in the presenceot that
wetl
kara'sBrahmaSulraCommenlary, the text'theSellshouldbe knownobjecl,rs not dependenton an injunction, nor is it a
subiected 1osuslained meditation' (Brhadll.iv5) is accepted as mere creatronot the human mind. lt is in lact a piece of
re'erring lo a dutylhal haslo be pertormedForiI s trealedas k odedge, condilionedbylhe nalureofthe obiectperceived.
an act.asis shownby the passage'And meditalion (upasana) rt ts not an act. And it is the same with all objectsol the
andsustained meditation (nididhyasana) are said lo constitute vaflousmeansol knowledge(suchas perception inference,
one acl that entailsrepelition (B.S Bh- lVi.1, cp. ['1 V56, 8, etc.).Th s being so, knowledgeof lhe Self in its true torm
note).Thereare groundstor supposing that he regaroeo sus- as the Absoluiecannotbe dependenton an in iunctionto
tainedmedilation (nididhyasana) as a speciesof medltation acl.l1 peraliveand si.rtlarlormsappttedlo tt, evenr,-Vedtc
(upasanaJ because in lhenexlpassage heglvesas exanpres ol lexls, lose lhere imperativelorce and becomeblunled,as
it'Heassiduously meditates on (or altends on) his Guru'and She razors oecome btuntedif used agajnsthard objecls tike
whosehusbandis abroaddwellson himfixedly' iB SAh lvi l) slones.For here the objec o whichthey are appliedis some-
'awakenrnglo rh!ngnot subjectto rejecton or acquisition.(B.S.Bh_1.1.4.
On the otherhand,in theVdriikao{ Suresvara
immediate knowledge of thesupreme Selloependrng on no ex- cp. lM.v68.21
lernaliaclof is clearly said to be the meaning oi the lerm Thus a view is Ientatrvety
. advancedby an opponenl(and
'nididhyasana' (B.B.V. ll.iv217, l\4V 124,6). And havLng saidthrs r?juiedby Sri Sankara).According10thisvievvthe Absolutecan
S u r e s v a r ag o e s o n i n t h e e q u a ll o d e n y t h a t t he term
Suresvara 205
204 Chapter-o
ingol suchphrasesrealyis'Payattention', and not,Acquire
only be taughtlhroughinjunclionsinvolvingsome duly lo be a pieceof dir€ctknowledge'. Whenanyoneis in proximity
done.But th6 wholetheoryis wrong.For there is also such a with a knowableobject,knowledgeol it sometimesarises
thingas knowledg€of the Absoluteconditionedby its true na- andsometjmesdoesnol.Therefore, anyonewhowishesto
ture-thatis the gist of this passagein the commentary. And it acquaint someonewithanobiectshouldshowit to him.When
goeson to ask,'Bulwhatdo theseapparentinjlnclionsmeans it hasbeenshownto him,knowledge willariseaccordingto
(wherelhereleronco is to passages whichsaythaltheSellshould the natureol the objectandlhe meansol cognitionapplied.
be'seen'or'heardabout'andso on).The very facl thal this {8.S.Bh. lll.ii.21,cp. M.V 68,4).
questionis raisedalso impliesthat knowledg€cannotbe the Thusthelorceol theinjunctions' apparently enjoining hear-
subjectol an injunction. Consider, loo,the refutalionol the oppo- ing and so on is not actuallylo enjoinimmediate knowledge
nent.lt runs:'Bulwhensucha personcomesto desirethe su_ lhroughthesedisciplines. Th6irforce,as therevered Comften-
premehumangoal,lextslike"TheSelf,verily,is lo be seen"and talorconcludes by saying,is to inculcale atlention to the Sell.
so on lurn him awaytrom the naluralconcernwith the psycho- Thereis noconkadiction wilhwhatis saidal BrahmaSulraCom-
physicalorganismand its allairs,and engagehimin conlinuous meniarylVi.1,as it is taughtlherethatit is justthis altentionto
remembrance of lhe inmostSell'(cp.M.V 68,3).lt doesnot say the Seltthat hasto be repealedlypracticod.
anythingaboutwhetherhearinglandthe rcst areor are notable Suresvaraalso maintainsin his Brhadaranyaka Varikathat
to be enjoin€d,as that is nol the questiona tissue(whichis lhe only that which is withinthe scope of hee humanwill can be
refutalionot theviewthalknowledge canbe enioined).No doubt enloined.He doesnotinsistondenyingthatknowledge canaise
there is the implicationthat lhere is also a certainelementol from one act ol hearingand so on. His wordsare'the actionof
enioininga duly in placeswhere gerundiveexpressionslike hearingand so on musl be continuedhere diligentlyuntil the
'shouldbe s€en'or'should be heardabout'areused; toronlyso rmmediateintuitionwe have spok€not arises in all its glory'
willthegerundive endingin thesuffixes -ya,-tavyaand-aniya,
(b.B.Vll.iv.218).So lhereis no dilferencs between thetwosys-
whichdenotsa dulyto act,havingmeaning. Bul thisdoesnol temsin regardto the toaching thai hearingand pondering are
meanthatonohastherightto insisllhatknowledge alsocanbe openslo iniunclion,
the subjeclol an iniunction, as the passage is only tntendedlo
strengthanthe argumeniin hand (namely lhe refLrtation
of lhe Suresvaradoesgiv€th6 appearanceol sayingthat no on6
oppon€nt'sviewthat knowledgecan be enjoined).Thereis an' colld attaindirectand immediate intuition
ol lhe Sell mer€ly
otherpassage in SriSankara's Commenlarythat expresses the lromhearing. Forone ol the versesol theVartikabeings'Ac-
quaintancewith the Self is first throughhearing,ad then one
sameidea.
pondersoverwhal one has h6ard'(B.B-V11.jv.220, M.V124,6).
(2)Texlsin lhetormol a commandsuchas'TheselJshould On the otherhandSri Sankarasaysin his BrahmaSutraCom-
be seen',M/hichare lound in the sectionsdealingwilh ihe menlary,'Repeaiedresorllo hearing,ponderingand sustained
hrghestknowledge.are lundamentallylor lhe purposeol meditationwouldinde€dbe uselessin lhe case of the person
turningthe hearerin the directionol knowledgeol lhe Self" who gainedimmediateexperienceol lhe tact that his true Self
and are not primarilyto be regardedas injunclionsto be' was the Absolutemerelyfrom hearingthe texl That thou art"
comeawareol lhe real.Eveninlhe world,whenpeoplegive
a command andsay'Look here'or'Listen lo this',themean'
Chapter-8 Suresvara
Iicialfireis not a notionbasedon the true natureol reatitv.ll rs tairghtto be jlst liberation,attainmentoi the iinat goal oi a ,
'o ned o_ y nroLgL
obeytngt're injJnc on ro'redrlato o: tt s (B.B.V l. .234,M.V124,6).ThisshowsthatthoughSri Sankara
theme and it bringsits resultsnot here in lhis like tile but n and Suresvaraundersloodthe tefrn'nididhvasana'in a different
olher worlds.(to be attalnedafterdeath).Bui aller death).Bul sense,their syslemsagree in munchinglhat medrtaton is an
trre case $7ih sustainedmeditations ditferent.Thal which one act v ty and a prel minarydisciplinefor knowedge. Howevef,
s!bjecls to suslainmeditationone perceiveshere ln lhis very suresvaiadoes nsiston lhe polntlhat becausethe Upanishad
le. ll is a case ol sustainedattentionand nothinge se Thal is u s e s t h e t e r m ' r m m e d i a t ei n t u i t i o n ' ( v i i R a n ian) t h e s e q u a
the d lfurencebelweenmeditation (upasana) and suslalnsmedi (Brhad.ll.iv.5) as a synonymlor the'nididhyasana'referred to
tat on (n d dhyasana)in the systemof Sri Sankara. jusl before,one shouldnot supposethal t had meanl'medta-
It swell knownthal words like'vison', 'knowledge, and so tion by'nididhyasana' (B.B.v.11.iv.233, l\,1.V124,6).
on may be loundused by Sn Sankaraqu ie appropriatetV eilher 'Nidd
dhyasana'isplacedhefe n ihe Upanishadin apposr-
to des gnateknowledgeof the realor elseto designalea certain t o n w i l hh e a rn g a n dp o n d e r i n g so , il spropertosupposelhalri
l o m o f d e b e r a t e a r b l t r a r y m e n l a t a c t i v i t y ; f omr tahVebye u s e d representsan acl v ty.And we tind the equrvaent of 'v liana n
n drlierenisensesaccordng to whetherthey are adclressed to lhe form oi a verb usede sewhereto denoleacl on lor the sake
i t c a n d r d a t e s f o r t h e h i g h e r o r l o r t h e l o w e r f okrnmoowf l e d g e o f ol immedate intuition,as n'That one shouid nvesligate, thal is
lhe Absolute(thelatterbeingnot so muchknowledgeol ihe Ab- what one shoud desireto know in immediate ntuition'
so uteas medtattonon il underprescribed lorms,)And we should (Chand.Vlll.i.l,vii.l;; cp-[,4.V52,9 and note).In the presenttext
understandthal, in the same wav,phrasessuch as,one should ( B r h a d . l l . i v . 5t o) o , w e c a n v e r y w e l l a c c e p tt h a t t h e l e r m
nredtale or'one shouldpracticesustalnedmedilation,may ei- 'nididhyasana'
means rnedtationior the sake of directv slon.
tlrer relerto lhe merecherishingoi a menial dea (bhavana)or For Suesvarahimselfacceptssuch meditaton as the causeoi
eise to suslainedattentionto previouslyattarnedrght knowl- d r e c i v s i o n .A n d i l o n e l a k e s ' T h e S e l f s h o u l db e s e e n '
edge - accordng lo the conlext.That is how we explan the use (Brhad.ll.iv.5) to relerlo immedrate exoerience conceivedas the
ol the lerm sustaned medilaton'in Sr Sankara,ssystem, resultol seeing,then lhere would be nothingwrong in taking
Now lel us considerSuesv.ara's Vartika,He says,'Awaken- hearng pondefingand sustainedmedilalion(nididhyasana) as
Ing to rmmedate knowledgeot the supremeSe f dependingon beinga lhreefod aclivilyenjoinedfor the sake ol that resull. t
n o e x t e r n a l a c t o ri s c a l l e dn i d i d h y a s a n a ' ( B . B .l V l . .i v . 2 1 7 l , seems,therelore,lhal lhe reveredCommenlator's exolanaton
M.V 124,6).Fromthis cleaTstatementone deducesthat for hrm of lhe term'n didhyasana'isthe belter one.Oiherwise(i.e.on
the term nididhyasana cannotrelerto any activityol the forrnol Suresvara'sview) it appearsihat uselessrepetiiionwou d be
cherishinga mentalldea(bhavana),althoughhe does not denV attributedto ihe iJpansiahd when it says'drastavya'(shou d be
that meditationis requiredas a prelimlnarydiscip ne for right seen) followedaier by'nididhyasitavya' (interpreted by SLrres-
melaphysical knowledge. We learnthisfromihe sequel,whenhe vara as 'shoud be seen in immediateinlution'),ln anv case.
says l alreadymentionedearlierhow meditation andotherprac- thereis no disagreement betweenthe two allhors on the ques-
lices are a means lo irnmediateexpenence,Blt immediate t on of whal are lhe meansio melaphysicalknowedge.so lhal
expenencedoes not exisl {or the sake oi anvthinqese, lt is no sef ous diiiicultyar ses.
214 Chapler-8 Suresvara 211
th€ Rituals-SectionandtheKnowledge-SectionoftheVeda,
merilihommerit comesdestructionot (tho karmiceff6ctsot) and th€re are no groundstor assedingany ditferentrela-
sin:tromthiscomespurityot mind;lromthiscomesa correct tion.(S.V329-31).
evaluationol lransmigratory lile;lromthiscomesindiffs16nce to Meditations:;Ihe referorce is to those meditationstaughtin
it; lrom this comesd€sirefor liberation; trom this com€s the
the Knowl9dge-Sectionol tha Vedadnd digsociatedwith the Path
searchforthem€ansto tiberallon:lrom thiscomesrenunciatlon of the Flame and other teachingsabout rclaase by stages.The
oJ all ritualisticactionand its accessorios(lhe sacrodthread' refercnce b not to all meditationsthtoughout the V6dain gen-
etc.);komthiscomespracticeofYoga;tromthis lhe locusingol
the mind withinifron this a knowledgeol the meaningot the
like'Thatlhouart';tromthisthe eradicalion Notlimitedin lh6ir rosultstol6 rewardspromisedforthem:/t
metaphysicaltexts
flomthisestablishmenl in one'sown meanslhat theyarc notmerclyconcemedwith meditation and
ol metaphysical lgnorance:
wotship,but ara also a meansto knowladge.No aftentionstould
Sell alone,accordingto the t€xts''Verily,beingnothingbul the
and be paid to the claim ol Anandagiri that thepuryo,e ol the medi-
Absolute.he dissolvesin th€ Absolute'(Brhad.lv.iv6)
'Thoughalreadyreleased, heacquiresfinalrolease'(Kalhall ii l) tations is liberation and that this putpose cannot be achieved
proseinlro.,cp M V 60'2 and 3) tvledilations' it is exceptthrougha 9uccession ol stages.Therc arc no grcundsfol
(N.Sid.l.s2,
clear,eachhaveth€irstatedrewardlikeriluals. And just as the
performance of theobligatory dailyritualisenjoined as prelimi- (4)WhatSriYaifiavalkya askedKingJanakawas(notabout
narucontributinq to the rise of knowledge. or oven as allrlUalis eniry intolh6 worldof a deilyat dealhlhroughmeditalion,
larddownas a ;6ans to theawakening ol theoesirelor knowl_ aboulwhichlhe king knew,but)'Wh€nyou leav6the first
edge,so in the sectionof the Veda devoled lo knowledgeand plane of exislence,what is th6 secondlo which you will
meditation, the meditations are laiddownas a meansto prepar- go?'Thiswas to showlhat moditalionon deiti€sand purili-
ing one to becomeJitlor knowledgeFor we havetextslike' cationoflhe mindthroughsimilarpraclicesar6alsoa means
'whenyouare reloased fromhere,wherewillyougo?'(Brhad, lo the (gradual)attainmentot knowledgo. SriYajidvalkya's
lV.ii.1)Andwe knowthatmeditations are uselulon the pathol question,'Whyyou are roleagedfrom here,wherewill you
oradualrelease,becausethey are laughl in conneclionwiththe go?'reallymeant'Doyou believethat,in the caseof onefit
iath of the Flameandelsewh'te. (On the Path of theFlame,see tor the higheslknowledge, alithe mediiationsprescrib€din
Deusssen, 1912,chapterxxx T.N) theUpanishads l6adto liberationby stages?'(B.B.V
lVii.12-
in the 13,cp,M.V 83,5).
{3)Whatever aslaughton the subjeciof medilalions
Knowledge-Section ol the Veda is only lor lhe sake ol pre- A such meditations may rcsult in release by stages: the
parirgoneselllor the knowledge lhat all lis lhe one Self We incidentalimplicationherc i6 that they rctain thehlower putpose
knowJrorn thetoxt'Whenyou arereleased fromhere where for those who arc to lit lor immediate liberation. Fot it is only
willyougo"/(BrhadlVii l) andtromreJeronc-'rlo the Path here.andthercin the Upanishads thatthe teachingol theAbso-
o{ the Flamethat meditations are not limited in theif results lute in its highest lo n is exhibited,as indicated,lot instance,by
lo the rewards promised for them (bui may also lsad lo certatnphrasesin the convercationbetweenGaryya an
oradualreleaso) Thisshowscorrectly ihe relation betweon
Suresvara 219
lext'Being thingbuttheAbsolute, he disolvesin theAbso- (1) Clothedin lhe liveryof b€ingan individual knowng
lute'(8rhad.lViv.6)
No laterupanishadic passage,theretore, subject,lhe Sell beholdslhe not-selJ;but it cannotbe-
couldmake!s believed lhatliberation depond onthedeath holdthe Setfas an objeclin lhis way,as the Sell is lhe
oi the body.(B.B.v lv iv.559-60). pure light of Consciousness and nothingelse.(B.B.V
Liv.734).
Liberatesakeady...before oneis...liberated fromrebirih:thls
is a reminiscence ol Katha Upanishad Il.ii.1. (2)Thedislinction betweenknownandunknown, thedis-
tinclionbetweenappearingas knowledge and as lgno-
All Duality ia lmaglnedThroughlgnorance rance,and the distinction betweenbeingand not being
an individual subjectenjoyingknowledge - noneol these
In the systemol Suresvara,all dualily is an elject oi
distinctions beingto lhe SelJ.For they are not self,es-
lgnorance. Thereis lherejorenolhingelse to be denounce
rablished. Theydependon lh€ Witness.{T.B.V. .666).
lgnorancehasbeeneradicated.The dislinclionbetweenlhe
Selfandlhe nol-sell,the distinclion betweenknownand un' (3)Texislike'Darkness (lgnorance) is death,(lightis im-
known,tho dislinctionbetweenreal and unreal,lhe distinc- ) n d ' l n t h e b e g i n n i n gt h, i s ! n i -
m o r t a l )('B r h a d .i li .i . 2 8 a
tionbetweenbeingandnotbeingindividual knowingsubject- versewas water'{Brhad-vv.1 ) showlhal melaphysical
all thesedislinclions arisethroughlgnorance. Five shealhs' lgnoranceis continuallyal work,eilherin manifeslor
encasing ths individualand tivecorrasponding cosmc sheaths u n m a n i f e sfto r m - ' E m e r g i n gf r o m l h e s e e l e m e n l s
standingas lheircausesaredislinguished onlythroughlgno_ (Brhad.ll-iv.12), theLord,thoughraisedaboveallchange.
rance.Olher distinctionslike lhat betweenmanilestand appearsthroughlgnornaceas the Knowerol ihe Field
unmanifesl, ellectand cause wholeand parls,aclronand li ([,1.V. p.35),lhroughof a illusoryappearance oJHimself
componenltacloasand res!lis aaealso sel up by lgnorance a s l h e n o t - s e l l(.B . B . V ,1 . i i . 1 3 6 -c7p, M . V . 1 1 8 , 1a1n d
alone.TheWitness. the Lord.crealion, mainlenance andwllh'
drawalol the universe, thethreestatssol waking,dreamand (4)Thatwhichis neithera causenor an ellectassumes
dreamiess sleep,and,in a word,the very relallonship ol ihe ihe appearance of causeand dllecllhroughlgnorance.
Seli wilh lgnorance itselJ,is allthe work of lgnornace alone Hencethe Vedaworkslor the eradicalion of the latler...
Thereforewhenvisionol the inmostprincipleis atlainedand lgnoranceof lhe Self manilestseverywhereas cause
lgnorancebroughtto an end,all bondageto transmigralory andeftect,thoughit haslor ils lrue naturelhat (theSell)
experienc6 ceasesimmedialely. The manileslalion of lgno' whichis not eilh€ra caus6or an eflect.lt is witnessed
ranceand its latereradication haveno ettectwhatoveron the as an objectby its ownlrue Self.(B.B.Vl.ii.130.1.jv.309)-
Sell,the principleof reality,any morethanlhe imagrnation ol
(5)The nolionwhichwe haveherein the worldol whole
a snakein a ropeand tha latercessation ol thal imaginalion
_aveany eflecton lne rooe.Herealso,as In the syslen ol and parts b€longsto the planeof lgnoranceot the in-
mosl Sell. ll does not balongto the suprem€Self. ih
tne reveredCom.nutator, lhe rrclhodol ial'e allrrbuton'ol-
lollowedeve- whichall lgnorance(lit.blindess)is negaledby'neither
oweo by subsequenl retraciion is consislenlly
l h i s n o rl h a t . ( 8 . 8 . Vl . i i a . 2 6 9 )
lo
rywhere.This we have accePl.
222 Chapler'8 Suresvara 223
(6) True Being does not undergoand is nol a cause. lt The lorm of Non-DualltyApprovodIn the Vartika
appearsas a cause lhrough lgnorance,and also as ac-
lion and all its componenl taclors and results. (B.B.V.
The Varlikaol Surssvaraacceptslhal the true Self.as
t .i i . 12 8) . lhe absolute, innon,dual. ll is accessible whenmetaohvsrcal
l g - o ' a _ c el h
. es o u r c eo l t h ew h o t ei m a g i n
a r yn e l w o r ;kf d u -
(7) That supreme principleol reality,which is rndicaied alily,hasbeeneradtcaled through lhe textsof theUpanishads.
by lhe negalrve lexls such as Nol gross... T h r s i s w h a t o n e l e a r n sl r o m l h e s t u d y o J t h e V a r t i k a .
(Brhad.lll.viii.S), which in its true nalure lies divestedol Suresvaracarya relut€dall lhe exislingsystemsof Advaila
l g n o r a n c ea n d i t s e t t e c l s a, p p e a r sa s ' t h e W r t n e s s ' a n d opposedlo his o',n. H€ did so on lhe authorityoJVedicrev_
' l h e I n n e rR u l e l w h e na p p a r e n l l lyi m i t e d
by theadjunct elation,backedby r6asonand his owndireclintuition, as we
o f l g n o r a n c e ,r l s o w n i l l u s o r ym a n i t e s t a t i o n(.8 . 8 . V . lravehad occasionto noleat the poinlwherewe examined
Liv.15l). the dilterentvarieliesol the earlyperiodof the teaching(cp.
(8) And so the creationsand wilhdrawalsol lhe universe M . V . 9 0i,n t r o . ) W he a v ea l s oe x p l a i n €hde r ea n dt h e r ei n t h e
d o w n t h e a g e s a r e i m a g i n e dj ,u s t a s l h e d i s l i n c t i o nos t presenlchaplersomeol lhe dilferences belweenthe syslem
time and space are, When you have seen realily, you ol AcaryaMandanaand thatol ihe Varlika.Varioustheories
know lhat the creation,mainlenanceand wilhdrawalol of Advailaacceptedor loleratedby lrandanaare relutedby
the universeare impossjble.(B.B.V ll.i.41I , cp l\4.V1 18, Sursvara:we mightreferlo the theoriesof Non-Dualism ol
15 and nole) lhe Word(Sabdadvaita, cp.[/4.V102,3),Non,duatism of Be-
(9) The imaginaryrdea thal the Self is asleep or awake Ing, whereBeingis conceivedas a universal(sattadvaita,
o r s d r e a m i n gb e l o n g so n l y l o c r e a t u r e sa s l e e pi n l h e c p . l \ 1 . V 1. 0 2 , 4 ) a n d N o n - D u a l i s mo l p o s i l i v e B e r n o
' b l ^ a v d d v a rcl ap..M . V .t 0 2 .
n r g h lo l l g n o r a n c e(.B . B . V1. 1 . i . 2 6 M
5 ,. V . 1 2 2 . 2 9 ) 5 ) .W e s h a l rc t o s et h . sc h a p l e ;
wilh a few verseson thesetopics.
(10)The indivjdualknower,stationedin the intellecland
idenliliedwith it, convinceshilnselt ol the presenceol (l ) Thatwhichhas in trulh no nameor lorm manilested as
lgnoranceand its eltects in the Sell, lhough ln lruth il is nameandtorm,dep6nd ingsolelyonlgnorance (i.e.manilested
not present,through his own exlravertedgaze - as sim- atthebeginning oftheworldperiod). Statemenl, ingeneral, is
p1esouls altribule blue colourlo the colourlesselher ol calied'name'(nama);the stated,in generai,is caled ,Jorm,
l r e s h y .( 8 . 8 . V .1 . r v . 2 9 8M. . V . 1 2 1 . 1 ( . (rupa).Through thesetwocategori€s lhe Lordis ableto mani_
lesl Hirnselflor all crealuresbornin the realmot manilesta-
It shauld be underctoodthat certain verses lha! have al- I on; il He had stay€din his unmanilest lormth s wouldnol
ready been quoted above in dift'etent contexts have been re- havepossible. (B.B.Vl. iv 390-2)
introduced in lhe prcsent section to show thal Suresvara ap-
proved the method al teaching through false allribution fol- For the Non-Dualsmol lhe Wod adoptedby Mandana,one
lowed by subsequent rctraction. shauldconsultBehna Siddhipp.lT-19 (cp.potteL19A1,pp.356-
8).
i
224 Chapt€r€ Sur€svara 225
condilionwhichmighlbecalledan innerwakingand whichisthe Hencewe seethai lhe iieldsof our sleepii propery cultl,
rnostaccessibe form of the lrancestate,"througha properand valedcany e d us a greatandeffective aidonourroadtowards
.lelhodica self-disciplining we nay g'ow n conscioLsness in se l-knowledge and seltmastery, alsoln the pursuitoi our na-
sleepitseiiso muchso thal in the end we may iollowin uninter- lure'lranslormatlon.B!t howto acq!irea cogniionof theactivi-
ruptedawardnessour passagelhroughvar ous realmsol our in- tiesol ournighis?Howto transform thenatureoi ouf sleep?
ner be ng and the returnjourneythereirom. " At a certainpilchoi Theprocedure to dealwih s eepandthedreamland maybe
this innerwakefulness this kind of sleep,a sleepof expeience sardto havelhreema n limbs:( ) howbestto enterthe staleoi
can replacethe ordinarysubconscrous slumber," sleep?( ) how10remainconscious in sleepitself?and(iii)how
It is thenthatwe haveveridicaldreams,dream-experiences to retainthe memoryoi ourdream-experiences evenwhenwe
oi grealvalLre, conveyinglruthsthal are nol so easylo gei in our comebackto thewakrng awareness?
ordinarywak ng staie.Thus problemsare solvedin our dream In our quesllor the answersto thistr ple query,to whom
consciousness, whichourwakingconsciousness couldnot pos- elsewouldwe lurn lhanio Sri Aurobindo andthe lvloiher.the
srblycope with;weare providewiih warningsand premonitions supremernasters of the fourloldworldsof our being,jagrat,
and indicalionsof the fulure and wiih "recordsof happenings svapna,susuptia^d llrya? so we makenoapology forquoting
seenor experienced by us on otherplanesol our own berngor oi n exlensofromlhe r luminous writingsin an atlempito offer
universabeinginiowhichwe enler."
Our sleep-exisience, ii we are consciousin il, rendersus
anothervaluableservicein the exploration ol our subconscient How Bestto Enterthe State ot Sleep?
nalurethat conlainsmuch that is obscurein us bul not distin- "Yourrusl lie flal on yourbackafd relaxall the musclesand
guishablyactivein ihe wakingsiate.A consciouspursuitof the nerves...lo be ike whal lcalls pieceoi clothon the bed, noih'
sLrbconscient wanderingsof our sleep-consciousness bringsto ing else remains.lf you can do that with the mind also,you get
our notrcea classoi dreamslhal "ariselrom the revengeof our r d of all stupiddreamsthat make you moretiredwhen you get
innerbeinglreed tor a momentfrom the constraintthat we im up than when you went lo bed. lt is the celluar activilyof the
poseon it.Thesedreamsojtenallowus lo perceivesorneof the brainlhal contnLeswilhoutcontrol,and lhat I res much.There-
tendencies, tastes,impulsesand desiresol whichwe wouldnol late a lotal rclaxatian,ak nd ol campletecalm, withauttension n
otherwisebe consciousso long as our will to rea rse our ideal whicheverylhng s slopped.But lhis ls only the beglnning.
heldlherndown,hiddenin some obscurerecessof our being." "Aileftards, a self-givingas total as possible,of all, lrom
For ii is one ol the most disconcertingdiscoveriesmade n
lop io bottom,lrom the oulsideto the inmosi,and an eradcation
Sadhanaihat whai we have thoughilo have settledand done aso as tota as possibe oi ail resisianceo{ the ego, and you
away wilh in lhe upper layersof our consciousness are obsti- beg n repeatng your mantra- your mantra,if you haveone or
fate y relainedby our glutinoussubconscienl. And just lor that any otherword whichhas powerover you, a word leapingIrom
reason,as SriAurobindohas poinledout,thesedreamsprovide
lhe hearl, spontaneously,ke a prayerand lhal surnsup your
u s w i t h a u s e l ui n d r c a t i olno,r " l h e ye n a b l eu s t o p u r s u et h i n g s
asp rat on. Aiter hav ng repealeda few t rnes, it you ale accls-
io thelrobscurerootsin this unde|worldand excisethem." lonredlo it, yau get inta lrance.Andlrom that tranceyoLrpass
ntosleep. Thekancelastsas longas it shouldend quitenalu- rnttednurnberol cells;the inertraot rnostof ihe organicsLtp-
rally,spontaneously you passinlosleep.8ul whenyou come portsol cerebralphenomenareduceslhe numberol lheir
acltve
backtromlhis sleep,you remembereverything'lhe sleepwas e ernenls,rmpovershesthe mentalsynthesisand makesil unlil
but a cantinuation of the tance. ro repfoducelhe act vity ol lhe inlernalstaiesolhet lhan by m
ages,ottenesivery vagueand inappropriare_..,
"Fundamenlally lhe solepurposeol sleepis to enablelhe
'The
bodyto assimilatethe sftecto{the lranceso thal the effectmay cerebra rende ng ot ihe activitiesot the night s al
be acceptedeverywhere,to enablethe bodylo do its nalural r mes so mucnd storledthata lorm js givenlo phenomena whtch
tunction ol lhenighlandeliminate thetoxinsAndwhenil wakes ts the exact oppasite of the rcalily,..
Lrp,thereis no lraceof heaviness whichcomefromsleep'lhe '[8u1]it
one knowshow to transtalein inte]iectual tanguage
eftectoJlhe lrance conlinues. lhe rfofe of less inadequaietmagesby whrchlhe brarnrepro-
"Evenforthosewhohaveneverbeenin lrance,it Lsgoodto duces ihese {acts.one may learn many thingswhtch lhe too
repeala mantra. a word,a prayerbeforegoingintosleep But rrmrledphyslcaliacullies do nol perrnitus to perceive.
theremuslbe a lilein lhe words,I do not meanan intellectual _Some
even succeed,by a specialcullureand lrarning,rn
signilication, nothingof thalkind,bula vib@lionAndon the body acq!rnngand retatningihe consciousness ot the deeperactrvi
ils eltectis extraordinary:itbeginslovibrale,vibrate'vibrale and tles ol lhelr lnner being ndependenUyot'theircerebrat transcrip-
quietlyyouletyourselfgo asthoughyouwaniedio get Inlosleep to, and are able lo recalland knowihem in lhe waktngstatern
Thebodvvibralesmoreandmoreandslillmoreanoawayyou all the plent!de ol lhelr taculties...
gol 'How
[lhenjto cutlivalelhrsiield of aclion?how lo acq!rrea
Howlo RetaintheAwareness of Dreams? cagntttcno out activjties ol the night?...
Theii€i partot ihisdiscipline shouldnaiurally dealwrththe 'fhe
same disctplineaf concentralian wh ch enables a ntaf
quesllon nowlorecognise our dreams and, above alL to dlstingu_ no ongerto remaina slrangerto his Inneractrviliesin the wak
shbelween them;toras we have noted beiore' they vary greally
ng state.a so furnrsheshim with lh; rneansor removng lrre
in lherrnalureandquality. Otlenin thesame nlghl we may nave rgnoranceol lhose,slill richer,ol the diverseslatesof S eep
severaldreamswhichbelongto dilterent categorles and tfrus 'Usuaty
Now,
value. as regards the procedure whrch theseac|vitiesleaveonlyrareanoconrusedmerno,
havedillerent inlrinsic
we shouldadoptto retainthe memory ol o!r nights Lel us lislen
.One
to thewordsot theMother: I nds howeverlhal at timesa fortuilousc rcumstance.
divergence be' an mpresslonrecelved,a word pronoLlnced is enonghla reawaken
"....There is almostalwaysa considerabLe
suddenly ta cansciousnessthe whale al a long dream al whtch
lweenwhatourmenlalactivityacllallyis andtheway n wh cn
thewayrnwhichv/eremarfcon- lhe monrenlbeioretherewas no recol/eclio[
we perceive il, andespecially
sciousoi it.Initsownsphere, determlnes
thisacllvily whalvibra_ "Fromthis simpletactwe may tnlerlhal our consctousact v
lionsare lo be lransmitted by repercussion up lo the cellLrlar ty parlicpates very ieebtein lhe phenomenaoi lhe steepng
syslemol ourcerebralorgan, butin o!r sleepybrain,lhesubte siale as n the normalstaieoi lhingsthey wou d rcrnaintostt'ar
vrbrations lfomthesupersensible domaincanonlyaliecta very ever tn subconsctenlmemoty..
234 Chapl6r-9
TheLightnow distantshallgrcwnativeherc,
TheStrenghtthalvtsitsus out comradepower;
Thelneflablesha finda secretvoice,
ThelnperishableburnthroughMatter'sscreen
Makinglhismorlalbodygodhead'srobe
(SriAurobindo, ll, Cantoll,p.110)
Savltli,Book
Pastand goneare threemortalgenercIions: the lourtltand
last inta lhe Sun willenlel
(Rig'Veda,V l.102.14)
ol thebodyis complete,thatmeansno
ll the transformalion
-
subjeclionto death il doesnot meanthatonewillbeboundlo
keep lhe same body lor all time. One crcatesa new body fol
oneselfwhenone wantsto change...
(SriAurobindo,leltels on Yaga,p.1
1)
i
240 Chapter-10 The V s on ol the D v ne Eody 241
and thal too "notas somethingsubordinate ol incidenla,butas a altenatrves needbe envisaged, For manhasconvjnclngly shown
d stincland cenlralobject".Also,"lhe obiectsoughlafter[in lhis by hrs pasl achievementihat he is capablejn a parts of h s
Yogalis not an individualachievemenlol divinerealisalionlor beingof exceedingadlrllrllumthe boundsol his actuality.Thus
lhe sake oi the individual,bul somelhingto be gainedtor lhe there s no inevitabilily
oi logicwhy he himselfshouldnot at the
here." glonousprospectol divinemanhood,by operjngal his mem-
earth-consciousness
bers,- h s menlaity,his life,and,ihe last but not the leasl,h s
Now, in this irameworkol the goal of a divineiuli lmentol bodyiise l, - to the unveiledaclionofthe Supermindand altow,
terrestriallife,the importanceof lhe bodyis indeedobvious.For, Ingthemio be integraly mouldedandtransiigured by that'grealer
as Sr Aurobindo himselfhas decared: term ol the Spifiimanriesling in Nalure.'
"A total perfection is the ultimale aim which we sel beJore For. rt shouldbe ciearlyborne in mind that the divrnebodv
us, for our idealis lhe DivineLiie whichwe wishto crealehere, lhus envrsaged can comeintoexistenceand ils physicalimmor-
the lrteof the Spiriifulfilledon earth,lifeaccomplishing its own talitybe achievedand assured,not throughthe pallry eitorts
spirituallransformation even here on earth in lhe conditionsol madeby scrence,northroughthe occull-spiriluralinlluences lhat
the materialuniverse.That cannotbe unlessthe bodvtoo under- seek lo act upon Mtlerthroughthe soleagencyofthepowersol
goesa transtormation, unlessils aciionand lunclioningattainlo conscrousness so lar organisedin earth-nature, bui throughlhe
actronol lhe SupramentalPower,lhe powerof "the lall Truth-
a supreme capacity''andthe physicalconsciousness,and physi
Consciousnessol the DivineNature".This Trulh-ConscioLlsness,
cal being.the iisell...besuflusedwith a light and beautyand
rla-clt.the Supermlnas SriAurobindo termsit, is a dynamicand
blissirom lhe Beyondand lhe litedivineassumea bodydivinel nol only a slalic Power,not onlya Knowledge. buta Willaccord-
ElsewhereSriAurobindosoundsanoleofwarning:'lt is be- inglo Knowledge,'lhat can"manilestdirectils worldof Ltghland
cause he has developedot been given a body and brain capable Trulhin whichall is luminously basedon the harmonyand unily
of receivingand servinga progressive menlalillumuinalron lhal oi the One, not dlsturbedby a veil of lgnorance".
man has risenabovethe animal.Equally,it can oniy be by de- Also,whenthisSupramenial Powerovertlyintervenes rnthe
velopinga body or at_leasta iunctioningof lhe physicalinslru. lield of body and Matter,its wofkingwill be 'notan intluenceon
menl capableof receivingand servinga stillhigherilluminalion lhe physica givingil abnormallaculties,but an enlranceand
that he will riseabovqhimselfand realise,not merelyin thought penetraton changingil whollyintoa supramenlalised physcal .
and in his internalbeingbut in life,a perlecllydivinemanhood. N o w , a s r e g a r d s t h e n a l u r e a n d c h a r a c t e ro t i h i s
Otherwrseeitherthe promiseof Lile is cancelled,its meaning supramenta|sed physcal makingpossiblethe appearance, here
annulledand earthlybeingcan only realse Sachchidananda by upon earth itsell, ot a who ly iransfigureddivlne body, Sri
abolishingitself,by sheddingfrom it mind, life and body and Aurobindohas wrtten in greatdelailin lhe penultrmale chapler
returningto the pure Inliniie,o{ elseman rs not the divlneinstru- ol The Llfe Diviae and, more exhaustivelv.in hrs last work Ihc
ment, lhere is a destinedlimit lo the consciouslyprogressive Supramenlal Manifestationupon Earth.
power which dislinguisheshim lrom all other terreslrialex st- The mitedspan ol the presentwork does nol perrnitus to
ences and as he has replacedthem in the ironl ol things,so discuss n luli lhe natureol this apotheosrs
ol the malerialbody
anothermusl evenluallyreplacehim and assumehis heritage." oi man, as env saged in ihe Yoga'Phllosophy ol Sri Aurobindo
and ihe Mother,nor can we ind caie howfor and.jnwhai waythe
But forlunaielyfor earth-lif€and for man neitherof these
242 Chapler-10
eliminale
Buteventhiscannotallogelher the necessily
ol of liiein malellalforms,it is lruethatas consciousness devel_
sleep.Thereasonis twofold, andoccuit-spirilual,
physiological opsmoreandmore,"asthelightof ils ownbeingemerges trom
we nowlurn.
lo whoseconsideralion lhe enerldarkness ol lhe involutionary
sleep,lheindivjduatex-
istencebecomesdimlyawareol the powsrin it and seeksferst
Howto Eliminatethe Nacessityof Sleep? nervouslyand ltrenmentallylo master,useand enjoythe play.".
Physicatprccondition: On the pi-rrelyphysico-physiological Bul,evenat ourbest,we mentalbeingsareboundareboundby
ptane,srncesleepis the body'sunavoidable responselo ils a poorandlimitedlile powerwhichis allthatourbodycanbear
overstrain andexhaustion lhroughan ill-balanced expenditure of ortowhichit cangivescope.And"intheconsequent interchange
energy, whal is needed is the totalannulment o, all possibility
of and balancingbetweenthe movementandinteractlon ol thevital
ourbody'siatigue. Andihisbrings us lo lhe general problem of energies normally al workin thebodyandtheirint6rchange with
incapacily andinertiaof our present physical organisation For' thosewh ch acl uponit fromoulside,whetherlhe energies ot
altho!ghit is a facllhal"eithertheyogicor thevitalenergycan olhersor the generalPranicforcevariouslv aclivein the envi-
longkeepat workan overstrained or declining physicalsystem' ronment,there rs a constantprecariousbalancingand adj!st-
a timecomeswhenthisdrav/ing is no longerso easynol per' menlwhichmayat anymomentgowrong"5
hapspossible"and lhe bad resullslongheldbacklrom mani' Thus,Inlhe verynalureol things,ourindividualised lifeand
lestrng explode allatonceancla breakdown ;nsues. lorce in lhe body cannol masterthe AlfForce workingin the
' world.On the contrary lhe resistancewhich it ottersthrough
So the problemof incapacityhasto betackledand sovedon
lhe ptaneof the body ilsell.For'the body is the key,the body blindignorance lo lhe movement ol the infiniteuniversal Life
''wilhwhoselolal will
thesecretbolhof bondage andot r€lease' ol animalweakness and kend its own will and trend may nol
andot divine power, of th€ obscuration ol the mindandsouland rmmedialely agree",rsubjectsit to the law oJincapacilyand ta-
ol theirillumination, of subiection to pain and limllalion and ot tlgue,one o{ lhe basiccharacteristics ol individualised anddi-
sellmastery, ot dealh andof immorlalily" videdLifein lhe body.
Bulwhatis the inherent reasontor lhislaligueol ourbody? Henceto cureou. physical systemot all liability lo fatigue,
Whydoes our physical system get periodically tired?Whycan it the lirrilationof ego has to be totallyabrogatednot only in the
nol workin a continuous wav? innerparlsol ourbeing,butin theveryphysical consciousness
and the malerialorganisationol the body.Our body has to be
In lhewordsot the Mother:"The latigueof the bodycomes
broughlinlo completeharmonywith the demandsot our own
lrom an innerdisharmony. Theremay be manyolhet apparen!
innerconscrousoess andwithlhe infinilecosmic|hvthm.
r;abons,bul allamounlto that lundamenlalcircumstance." 'lhat
Bul means',ln lhe words of the [,4other, " a work in
Whatis thiswantof harmony dueto?Theanswerliesin ihe
oi a limitedand eachcellof the body,in eachsmallaclivity, in eachmovement
factof a limitedlife-force, lodgedintheconfines
conlending in vainwilhthe of the organs... Youhaveto enterintothe disposition of the
egobound individualised existence,
cells,your innerphysicalorganisation if thebodyjs lo answerto
universalAllLile and All-Forceihal seeksconsianilyto govern ihe Forcelhatdescend..
emergence anddevelopmenl Youmustbe conscious ol yourphysi
and masterit. In lhe evolulionary calce s, youmusiknowtheirdifterent lunctions, thedegrees AI
Chapler-11 The Conq!rest
ol Sleep 253
in each,whichofthemarein goodconditionandwhich
receptivity becomethe governingprincipleol our embodiedmalerialsxisf
e..e. r_c nanrfesledbeingwiL be in securepossesson ot dn
withlhe helpol ihe lnsuillclent nlegralConsciousness and an integraS ght, so that therewill
Butthiscannotbealtempled
and inetficient lighlol mind'consciousness. lt rs onlythro!gh be no morea slale of sleepin oppositron to the stateof pefma-
andconcomilanl emetgence of the divineGnosis, nenlwaking,norforthatmatteralineol demarcation separating
thedescend
the inner and outer domainsof existence. The evolvingbeing
Supermind, hereinthemidslo{theevolutionary Becomrng, thal
wil lhen be fuly arousedfromthe self-oblivion of an Involulronary
Matterand materialbody can be rid ol their ineriia and
anda properequation established betweenhe life- sleepand,a ong withit, lhe spirilualcompulsion behindthe sleep
inconscience
playing formationand the surgesof lhe ol our body wlll altogelherlose its occultsupporl.
energy in an individual
embarking All-Force. For in lhe Supermind "aloneis ihe con' ln ihal loresbleGoldenDawn,the body will thrill w th lhe
sciousunilyof alldiversilies; therealonewillandknowledge are fu I menl of its destiny,it will parlicipatein tullawarenessin the
equalandin pedectharmony; therealoneConsclousness and gloriesof a d vrnisedlifeupon earth.andthe law of the inexora-
Forcearriveat lheirdivineequation." ble necessiiyol sleepwill be 10rever lilledfrom its head.
It is throughthesupramentaltranslormation ol ourphysica But ln the meantrmelet us notlorgel evenlor a momentlhe
body,-thal "is slill a llower of the material Inconscience."4- greal rolethai sleepcan play in the presentorganisation of our
downio itsverycellsandJunclioning thal the lawoJincapacity liieand being;10r,does it nol openlo us ihe doorsof the dream-
andconsequenl fatiguewillbe linallyabrogated andwllhit the land, the Yogicdream-world,if we oniy know how to put it lo
physiological compulsion for sleep.
Butlhererernains a finalhurdle,the occull-spirlual neces' And who can be litllelhe inlintlecharmand beaulyand bliss
sityof sleep,but thattoo will be completely annulled wilhthe ihat ihe [/otheroi Dreamsmay beslowupon us, if we only know
gnostictransformalion 01ourwakingexislence. how lo courl Her favour?
Occult-sDirilual
Drccondition: we have seen ihal n iis es-
sentialnatureourbody'ssleepis theaesponse lo thedemandol
the individualconsciousness to go inwardandawakein planes
of existence notat presentaccessible to thewakingawareness
whlchis stillin thegripol an involutionary hall-sleep.So,unless
anduntilhisspiritual slumberis totallyeliminated Jromailparts
of thebeingincluding ourveryphysical consciousness, molher
Naturewillconstrainour bodyto ialloccasionally intotheswoon
of s umberso thalthe podalsof the innerand higherlitecan
open.
Now,whenSupermind or Gnosis, lheTruth'Consciousness
ol Sachchidananda, overtly emerges in to
ihe fieldof evolution
ChapteFll Th€ Conqueslol Sleep 255
Whal rs ttie raisond 6lre of death,this crueland monstrous lhe very outsettry lo get rid ot a basicand besetlingerrorof
lest playedwith immortallife by some mysteriousnecessllyol perspective thattendslo vitiatea properandunbiased evalua-
thlngs,or by somediabolicalPower,as some in lherrexaspera- tionot lhe phenomenon ol death.For,if we cancontemplate lhis
tronwouldliketo declare? sombrephenomenon, nolfromthe limitedandnecessarily dis-
Nachikeias, ihe youngaspiranlol the Kathopanrshad,
asked lortedangleot visionol lhe linileterrorstruck ego-bound indi-
Yamalor lhe solulionto thisproblemol dealh-Yamalhe knower vidual,butfromlhe perspective ol cosmicBecoming,we cannot
and keeperol lhe cosmicLaw throughwhachthe soul haslo rise taillo discoverthaldealhanddissolution is nolsuchan unmili'
by deathand litetotheireedomoJlmmorlality:Evenwhenasked gated evilas it appearsat lirst sightto be. As a matterof facl,
byYama.lheLordol Death:"Anolher boonchoose,O Nachikelas; dealh as death has no sepaate ot intrinsic reality: it is there
imporluneme nol, nor urgeme;lhis,lhis abandon,lhe seeking solelyto servethe purposeol lite.Wecan evengo larlherand
soul of Nachikelasstoodlirm and declared:"Thisol whichthey statethat deathis a orocessand ohaseol life itselfand thatlhe
lhus debate,O Death,declareto me, even thal which is in lhe lalter,and by no meansdeath,is lhe fundamenlalall-pervading
grealpassage;lhanthisboonwhichentersin inlothe secrellhal lrulhof existence.
is hrddenlrom us, no otherchoosesNachikeias. But whal is Life,what are its criteria?Biologicalsciences
And Gilgameshol lhe ancientBabylonianlore who sel out knowno deliniteanswerlothesequestions.As a matterof fact.
on lhe quest afterthe Plantol EverlaslingLile but la led in his the moreprofoundlymenol sciencehavesoughlto probethe
allempt.raisedthe same insisientcry lo the departedsoul ot mysleryol lhe essenceof life,the moreit haseludedtheirgrasp,
Enkidu:'Tellme, my Friend,lell me, reveallo me, lhe myslery so muchso that lile at timesappearsto themto be jmmanently
oi dealhl' presenleverywhere, itsovertmanifeslaliondepending uponsome
As the Motherhasremarked:"Why is lheredeath?Thrsques' lavourableconditionswhichaloneSciencecan hopeto sludy
t on has been pul al leastonce in lheir life by all pefsonswhose and speciiy.To modernbiologicalthoughtlhere are no uriyer-
conscousnessis awakenedin lhe slightestdegree.In lhe deplh sally validctiletiaol lile- Ballledwiththe lask of deliningwhat
of each beingthereis sucha needlo prolong,develop,perpelu- a livingorganismis,biologyseeksat timesto proceedin a rounda-
ate lite that conlactwilh death producesa shock, a recorl:In boul way.as in the lollowingdefinilionofferedby Prof.George
somesensilivebeingsil produceshorror,in others,Indlgnatrcn. E. Hulchinson:
One asks: What is this monslrousfarce in which one has lo ''Thenecessary andsutlicienl conditionIoran objectlo be
lake part withoutwishingior il or Lrnderslandrng il? Why lo be recognizable as a livingorganism, andso to be thesubjecl
born,i{ ii rs to die?Why all this efiortlor growth,lor progress,lor oi biologicalinvestigation,is that il a discreetmassol mat'
lhe dev.lopmeniof iacullies,I it s lo arriveal an rmpovensh_ ter, with a detiniteboundary, undergoing conlinualinler-
menl and linaly al dec ne and decomposition?' Some submit changeof material withils surroundings withoutmanitest
passivey io a tale that seernsinexorable,others revolior, il alteratronol propertiesovershoft periodsol time and, as
theyare ess slrong,despair." ascerlainedeitherbydirectobservations of by analogywith
Whiledrscussing lhe necessilyand iuslilicationand the cu' otherobjeclsof thesameclass,originating by someproc-
firnal on and self-fuliment of the processol death.we musl al essot divisionor fortification fromoneor two pre-exisling
obiectsol lhe samekind.'
'dl
270 Chapter13 The Mysleryol Life and Dealh 271
. To crle a few observalions reflectingthe sense ol biotogical lhe slages.'Thus, "thereis no break,no rigidlineol demarcalion
predrcamenl belorethe task oJdeljmitingthe tieidof Liieand ot betweenthe earth and the meial tormed in rl or belweenlhe
lMrnd: meta andlheplant and...thereis none eilherbetweenthe ele_
(i) "Whilelhere is littledifficultyin tellingwhethera higher menlsand alomsthal constitute lhe earthor metaland lhe metal
organismts alive,thereis no agreementas lo whal char- or earlh that they constltule. Each step ol this gradedex sl
acleristicswould be requiredlor the most primrtiveor- enceprepareslhe nexl,holdsin ltselJwhal appearsin thatwh ch
ganisms in order to call them living."(Prof. Stanley iollowsit. Lite is everywhere, secrelor manilest,organisedor
L.Miller.) elemental,involvedor evolved,bli universal.all-pervading, im'
perishable; only its tormsand organisingdilter"
(r) In recenlyears,the "studyol viruseshas becomeinten
sive,leadtngto a blurringof the conceplionoi ihe ,vilal 1 s this prana sarvAyusam"the omnipresent Lile lhal has
phenomena.ll is still doubtlulwhethera v rus can be rnaniiesledand nhabilslhe malerialuniverse"lhatlhe Mother
describedas livingand,tndeed,as to whal we meanby has in view when she relets in one of her articleslo " a few
iiiing."(Prol.CharlesSinge0 lundamenlalnolions...needed to help us n our endeavour:lo
conqueflhe fear ol dealh.As she says:
In lacl, as the fainlglimmerings ol recentscientiircresearch
suggesl and spriritualexperienceand vision certity, Life reveals "The lrst and the mosl importanlthing is to know thal ,te a
rtseltas essentially the sameeverywhere laomlhe atomlo man, one and immottal.Onlv the lorms, counllessin number,are
thq atofi conlainingthe subconsciousstutl and rnovemeniot transientand brittle.This knowledgeone musl eslablish
beingwhichare releasedinloconsciousness in the an mal.with securelyand permanently in the mind,and as lar as poss-
plant lile as a midwaystage in lhe evolution.Lile s reallya b e one nrustidentifyone'sconscousnesswilh the lifeev-
unrversaloperationoi Conscious-Force actingsubccnsciously erlastingthat s independenloi any form but manifestsii-
on and in lvlatter;it is the ope.alionthat creales,mainlains.de, sell in a iorms.Thisgivesthe indispensable psychological
slfoys and re-createsforms or bodies and attempts by play of basrslrom wherelo facethe problem.
nerve-lorce,that is to say, by currents of interchangeol stimu- ''Lilethen does not die;bul the tormsare dissolve,and il is
latrngenergyto awakeconscioussensationin lhose bodies. In lhat physicalconsciousness
lhis dissolution lears- And yel
this operationlhere are threestages;the lowest s that in wh ch lhe form changes conslanllyand there is nolhinglhal de'
lhe v brationis stillin the sleepol Matterentirelysubconsclous barsthis changelrom being progressrve. Thispragressive
so as l0 seem wholly fiechanical;the middle stage ts thal in changealone can make it possiblelhal death wouldna more
wh ch rl becomescapableol a responsestill submentalbut on be tnevttable.
lhe vergeol whal we knowas consciousness; the higheslis thal Bul since,due to reasonslhal we shall presentlyexplore,
In whrch liJe develops conscious menlalily in lhe lorm of
lhis progresschangeoJlhe bodyand the physicalbeingof man,
ame,ntally perceplible sensalronwhichIn thtslransl on beco,r-es
respondingfullyto the demandsmade upon it by the divineIn_
lhe bas s lor lhe developmenlol sense-mtnd and .-te ligence.ll cou d nol be
habilaniin His inlinitelyprogressive sili-bocomtng,
s In lhe middlestage lhal we catch the idea ol life as distin-
so lar ellectuated.deathhasbeen puttorwardand madelo play
gu shed trom Matterand lviind,but in realityit is lhe same in all
rts roe as an agent ol life ilself lo serve the ends al cosmtc
The Mysteryol Lrle and Death 213
as conslilulesour bodiiylilebelweenbirthand dealh;lor unless inerla as ol livingslone,"ln the luminouswordsol the Mother:
the lorm-typeis changedand the experlencingmrndis lhrown
"Opposilesare lhe qurckeslandthe mosteftectivemeansof
inlonew formsin newcircumstances oJtime,placeand environ-
lashronng l\,4atterso that it may intens1yiis manifeslalion...In
ment,the necessaryvariationol experiencewhichthe very na-
v pn, o' lhrs. nere s evidel' y a- analogots expeience n 'e-
lure ol ex stencein Time and Spacedemands,cannotbe efJec-
specl ol whal one calls liie and death. li is lhis krndol'over-
luated. And il is onlyihe processof Deathby dissolution and by
shadowng'ol constantpresenceol Deathand the possibiityol
the devouring of life bV Life.ll is only the absence ol lreedom.
death, as t is said in Sayilriryou have conslanl companon
lhe compulsion, the struggle,lheparn,lhesubjectronto some'
lhro!ghoulyour lourneyfrom cradleto grave;you are cease,
thing lhal appearsto be Nol-Selfwhich makes this necessary lesslyaccornpanied by the menaceor presenceot Dealh. And
andsalutarychange appearterrible andundesirable to our moralal
alonqw th this there is in lhe cellsan ntensityof lhe call lar a
mentalilv Pawer of €lernily which wouldnot be lhere but t'at this constant
So we see that the shole oersoecliveot our discussionol menace.Ihen one understands, one beginslo leel in quile a
the problemof deathhas changed,andwe are ledto the conclu- concrele manner that allthese things are only ways ol tntensit'y-
sionlhat in lhe as vet imoerlectslatusol Lileso far evolvedand ng lhe Malifestation, making it progress, making more and
elaboraledupon earth,deathcannolbe viewedas a denialol morepe ect. And if the waysare crude,it is becausethe [/ant-
Life,bul as a pfocessol Liie".Indeed,Lile, in ils slill imperlecl lestationrlsell is very crude. And as it pertectsitselt,as il
manrleslalion, requireslhe spuaof death in order lo evolveto becomesmore lit 10 maniJeslthal which is eternallyprogres-
progressively higherandhigherformsol exislence.In lhewords sive.crudermeanswillbe lefl behindlor subllermeansand lhe
oi SriAurobindo: worldwill progress.wilhoutthe needol suchbrutalopposilions.
"Dealh rs the quesiionNalure puls conlinuallylo Lile and This is so. simplybecausethe worldjs stillin ils childhoodand
her reminderto it ihal il has not yet tounditself-ll lherewere no humanconscrousness also is altogetherin ils childhood.
s ege ol dealh,ihe creaturewouldbe boundlor ever in lhe torm Froma more practicalpoinlof viewtoo,the dispensalion ol
ol an imperfeclliving. Pursuedby dealhhe awakeslo lhe idea 'nalural death
comes indeedas a boon lo the lile-wearyindi,
ot perfectlifeand seeksoui its meansand iis possib ly." vrdua In his presentslatusoi ego-boundignoranlconscrous,
As a matlerot iaci, death has provedlo be highlysalllary, ness. Did not the grandfather ot Edisoniind lifetoo longaller a
cerl?inlyto the evolutionof their types ol species,bul also lo cenluryand drebecausehe wanledto? ll is onlyd vinisedcon-
lhe_ndividualsconstituting the speces, lhanks lo lhe spirilual scrousness and lilelhat caniind sourcesot perpelua nterestto
phenomenon ol soul-rebirth, keep lhem goingon. For lhe ordinarytime-boundlimlled'l'ol
lhe ind vrdual the very prospectof physrcalirnmorlality would
Deathservesa beneficialroleforlhe individual
creature,be- prove lo be a damnablecurse. In the picl!resquewords oi
causeit is an indispensablemeans10awaken lhe lattefscon-
in
sciousnesslhe needol perfectionand progression.Indeed,"with- ''Think
oul lt, creaiureswouldremaincontentedindelinitelyin lhe condr- of lhe k nd of lifewhichthese mmortalswouldhave
tionwheretheyare,"andit wouldhavebeenwel -n gh rmpossible io ve. Centuryaiier cenlury,millennrum aftermil enniumlhey
1obreaklhe 'deadresistance in the mortal'shear"'and"hisslow wouldsee lhe same everlasting laces,conlronllhe sameever
276 Chapter-13 The Myslery of Life and Death 277
recurrng phenomena, engagein the same worn-oulexercses, hypothesis,we may well quole Jromthe writingsol a lew sa-
or lounge dly in the same unchangingslagnalion.They have vanls,thus bringinglntofocuslhe consensusoi opinionheldby
drainedeveryspr ng ol knowledge.They haveexhausledevery conlemporarymen of science.
sourceof enjoymeni.No dim marvels,no bou4dlesshopes,bckon "Liie was describedby Bichatas'the sum ot the funclions
lhem iowardsthe fulure,They haveno fulure.They havenoth whichresistdealh',bul this is a one-sidedemphasis.For,while
Ing but neverendingnow The incessantrepetllron, the unmit- I rs charactefislic
oJorganismslhal they are conlinuallyal work
galed sameness,the eternalmonotonyoi things would grow n securingthe persrsienceof their specificorganizalion,rl s
horrble and appallingto lhem. The worldwouldbecomea hate- equallycharacteristic that they spend themselvesin securing
Iuldungeon,and lile an aMuldoom. What wouldthey not give the coniinuanceof thelrkind.(lnsteadol seekinglo avoiddealh.
lo migrateto some untriedexislencelThey would be lhanktul to speak metaphorically,they often rathet invite il, sacrilicrng
even lo lie down lor ever in the attractiveunconscrousness
of themselvesin producingand providinglorlhenexl generalion.
lhe lomb. ''Fromlhe standpointof survivalvalueol lhe species,rl
s
The process ol dealh has served the Inleresls nol merelyol desirablelor the individuals oi todaylo give placeeventuallylo
lhe individualsas individuals but of the speciesas well. Was il those ol lo-morrow,becauseenvironingconditionsare never
nol Goethe who declared:"Dealh is Nature'sexperlcontrvance conslanllor exlensiveperiods,and it is onlyby givingthe repro-
to get pleniyol lile"?lndeed,the dealhlessness ol lhe constilr.i- ductivevarianlsa changeihal new lilnessmay be established
lrve Individualswouldpreventothersol the same specieslrom and prolongedsirrvivalbe madepossible.Insuranceof the wel
being alive at all. A simple calculalionwould show lhat lhe iare of lhe speciesls the all-importantaccomplishmenl.'
descendanls oJAdam,endowedwithphysicalimmorlalrty, would _llwe couldproducetwo socieliesor two groupsol an rnals,
have doubledeverytwenly{ive years and in that process pro-
one ol them beingformedof immorlalindividuals and the olher
duced,in lessthana hundredgenerations, manylrillionsol hu- oi individuas growrngold and being progressivelyrep aced
man beingsso much so lhal theirbodies,packedlwo or three throughdealh by new and youngerones, il is wilhouta shadow
deep,and conglomeraied inioone solidmass,wouldhavecov- ol doubllhatlhe secondgroupwouldbe the hardierandsirongef
eredrl_eenliresurlaceoI lhe planetl ol the two.'
As a malterof facl. the remarkabletruth that lhe natural "Frornlhe pointof vlewof evolutionaryhistory,dealhhas nol
ind vidualisa mrnorierm of beingand existsby lhe universal" been the primaryphenomenoniil is ralhera late-comeron the
and that "lhe individuallife is compeled,and used, lo secure scene,appeaflngnot so much as an intrnsic and absolulene-
permanenceraiherfor its spec es thanfor itsel" s borneout by
cessilyinherng in the very essenceot livingmatter,as ihrough
b o ogicalevidencesthat havebeenspecilicand manilod. The a processol progressive'selection'in adaplalon lo the weliare
opinionhas evenbeenexpressedihal all liv ng matteroncepos- oi the species.A hidousanddreadfulevilforthe indvidual,dealh
sessedpotentialimmortalilvand deathas a condition,non-ex- has provedsalLriary for lhe species,srnce,thanksto rtsagency,
istenlin lhe beginning,was evenluallyadoptedtor lhe s mple lhe speciescan conlinually renovaleand revitarze tselflhrough
reasonlhal "juslsucha safetyvalvewas necessarylo permilol lhe inlroductionol youngerand rnorerobuslrndivdualsrep ac-
the rperpetuationoliherace'.Insteadof going ntoan !nneces- rnglhe worn-oulones.'
sary elaboraiionot lhe evolulionaryevidencesin supporlol this
274 Chapter,t
3 The Mysleryol Lile and Dealh 279
We are herediscussinglhe benefitlhat accrueslo the spe- of all inlra-humansDecies.it is nol at all so in the caseol man.
cies ihroughthe generalprocessol death of the constituting For,as has beennotedand commenleduponby someobserv-
individuals.Bul modernbiologicallhoughthas gone furtherto ers,manis uniqueamonglivingbeingsin havinga dispropoF
suggestthe astonishing viewthallhe'speciiicpolentiallile-span' tionately long,andJromonepointof viewbiologically useless,
ol the individualslorminga particularspeciesdoes nol depend posl-reproduclive phasein thelile-cycle. Theimplication is ob-
solely,or even primarily,upon lhe physiological factorsarising vio!s:theindividual manis noltheresolelyto fulfil
the inteiesls
rnlhe individualstakenin isolation,bul is ralhergovernedby the of therace.lndeed, wilhlheappearance of manupontheearth-
globalnecessilyoflhespecies. Thus,in the viewof Prof.J.Arthur scenethe evolutionhas docisively changedits processand
Thomson, naluraldealh is not to be thoughtof as like lhe run- bourse.Up lillth6 adventol manthe organicevolllionwasel'
n ng down ot a clock. ll is morclhan an individualphysialogical fectedthroughlhe automaticoperation of Naturewithoulthecon-
prablem; it is adjusled in reference lo the welfare af the spe- sciouspafticipation ot any livingb€ing,in the {ormof its self-
cres...Thereis goodreasonfor regarding occurrenceof deathat awarewillor seeking, aspiralion or endeavour. 8!l in manthe
a parliculartime as adaptive." livingcreaturehastorthe firsttimebecomeawakeandawareot
Metalnikovexpresseslhe sameideawhen he declareslhal himselt;he has felt that there can be a higherstatusol con-
''the individual sciousness thanhisown;lh€aspiration to exceed andtranscend
cells are as a rule polentiallyimmoral,but the
limitationof thisprincipleof immortality
in the caseof the higher himselfis'delivered andarliculate'in him. ll hasthusbecome a
lorms oJorganismsapparentlyoccursnol so much due to indi- praclicalpropositionlhal in mana conscaous evolutjonmay re'
vldualphysiological exigenciesas to some unspecifred supra, placethe subconscious and subliminalevolltionso far adopted
ndividualcauses (causessurlndividuelles." by Nature.
Dr.J.A.VButlerseekslo specitythissupra-indrvidua cause Theappearance ot manonlhe earth-scene hasbeonindeed
of naluraldecayand deathin the lollowingterms: a uniqueeventin lhe gr€alprocessof cosmicBecoming, and
''Itwouid his rolein the universe is verilycapital. For, "tothe Life-Spirit,
seem lhal the lite span is determinedby the inter-
play of two eflects,the necessityol livrngong enoughlo start the indivlduain whomils potentialities centreis pre"eminently
oll the new generation and, havingpertormedlhe task,the fact {\,4an,the Purusha.lt is theSonol Manwhois supremely capa'
bleol incarnating God. ThisNlanis the N,lanu,lhe thinker,the
lhal a furlher Helime is unnecessaryand, in many respecls,
harmlullo lhe well-beingand development ol lhe spectes.lt s Manomaya PurJsha,menlalpersonor soulin mindof lhe an-
quitepossiblethat mechanismsexistin organisrnswh ch bflng cienisages,No meresuporior mammalis he,bul a conceptiv€
aboulthis limitalionof ihe lifeperiod,whenthe biologically use- soulbasingitselfonlhe animalbodyin Matter.He is conscious
ful periodis over,bul we do nol knowwhal lhese mechanisms Nameor Numenacceplrng andutilisingformas a hediumthrcugh
whichPersoncandealwithsubstance.'
li these views represenledlhe wholelruth ol lhings,lhere Also."lhe ascentto lhg divineLile is the humanjourney,lhe
couldbe no possibilitywhatsoeverol increasinglhe lile-spanoJ Work ol works,lhe acceptableSacrifice.This alone is man's
prolonging realb{rsiness in lhe worldandlhe iustilication of hisexislence,
man.nol to speakoJindefinitely hislife. Bul although
without whichhewouldbeonlyas insectcrawling amo!ngolher
the aioresardbiologicalconclusionis probablyvalid n the case
eohemeral insectson a spockot surlacemudandwalerwhich
2aa Chaplef-13 The l,4yslery
ol Lrfeand D€alh 241
has managedto iorm ltselfamidthe appallng mmensiles oi ihe be done away withinthe life oi the individual,and cosmlcLife
physicaluniverse. can lu I itsell n a contlnuouslyprogressiveway,we seek lo
f nd out lhe basicmelaphysical iactorsthat renderthe adventoi
And this adds lor man a new dimensionlo the problemol
d€ath nevitablein the lile o{ a humanbeing. And for thal we
dealhand earthlyimmortaliiy.For,allhoughwe haveseenthal
may very well starl wilh the suggestiveconc usionsarrivedat
the naluralopposilion we are apl1omakebetweenlileanddeath
by contemporaryscientificresearchesin this field, not indeed
is an efior of the habilualmyopicconsciousness of man, an
as probalivebut only as iliustrative
oi the natureand processof
opposiiion"falselo innertruthlhoughvalid n surtacepractcal
Lrleand Dealh.Thrs approachis not allogetherLnjusiilied;for
experence", and also that "deathhas no realilyexceptas a
a- S r Ar'oo oo l-d" so clearlypo nled oJI:
pfocessoi fe", yel, the queslionremains:if death is not the
lundamental trulhot experience, if it is to be regardedas a proc_ "Scienceand metaphysics (whetherIoundedon pure intel-
ess ol 1e lselfin the latter'sstillimpe ect statusof self'unlold- lectualspeculation or, as in India,ultimately on a splritualvision
ing, does nol man, so iar the highesternbodiment ol evo v ng oi thingsand spiritualexperiencehave each rts own province
lile, possessthe capacty and capabilityot outgrowinglhal im' and methodol inquiry,Sciencecannoldiciateits conclusons
perlectstatus,andthusrendering the processof deathno longer to metaphyscs any morethanmelaphysics can imposeiis con-
a practca necessilyand hence eliminabe from his lndivdual c usronson Science- Slill if we acceptthe reasonablebeliel
le? thal Beingand Naturein all theirstateshavea syslemof corre-
spondences expressive of a commonTruihunderlying them,it s
Aiter all a rnovementoi progresslhai needsio be accom perrnissble to sLlppose that lrulhs of the physicaluniversecan
p shed throughrepeatedand radicalshuilling ol moltallorms,
ihrow sornelight on the nalureas well as lhe processoi lhe
th!s necessitating lhe appearanceof dealh, s nol a'game lhat
Force thal is aclive in the universe- not a completelight,for
s lundamentally conslrucliveor intrnsica y desrrabe. As the physicalScienceis necessarilyincompleteir the range oi ls
Motherhas observedwhile discussingthe queston ol lhe ne-
inqu ry and has no clueto the occultmovementsol the Force."'
cessityol dealh:
''She her successivelrials.
[Nature]lovesher meanderings,
hef deleals,her recoTnmencement, her new invenlions, She
joveslhe capricesot lhe way,the unexpecledness oi the expe-
r ence One mighta most say lhat for her the ongef lhe time it
1akes,ihe more il is amusing.
"B!l yougel trredevenwiththe besl ol games.Therecomes
a iime when one has needlo chanqe.
'And yo! dreamo{ a game in wh ch 1' no langerbe nec
essary to destray in order ta praqress.
And sincewe are asslrredby SrlAurobindoand the Mother
that.grventhe lullilmentol a certan sel ol cond t ons deathcan
,c
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
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E-'6
6=
Chapter-14
rt moveslhroughsuccessiveJields,successiveexperiencesor
lives,successiveaccumulations of knowledge,capacity,enjoy-
nenl and all lhis rl holds in subconscrous or superconsc'oJs
memoryas rts lund ot past acq!is lion in Time.To this process
change of lorn rs essenlial,and ior the soul nvolved n ndl-
vrdualbody changeot lorm meansdissolutionof the body,",
We havecompletedour studyoi lhe metaphysics of Deathi
vr'ehave seen lhe necessityand juslificalionlor lhis processof
Nature,not indeedas a denialofLife,but as the processol Liie
itseli.For lo repeatin part what we havequoiedbefore,"dealh
rs necessarybecauseelernalchangeof form is the sole immor-
talily lo which the ,rlle living substance can aspire and elernal
changeof experlencelhe sole infinilylo wh ch the linte mind Chapter-15
invalved in living body can allain."
Such rs lhen the problemol death;and once the problemis
The Physiologyof
kncrvnIn rrs'undamenla' nalure,lne solultonmustbe torlhcom-
ing inlhemarchof the spiril.Indeed,lhe italjcised
portionsot the
Senescenceand Death
above crlaliona ready suggestthe possibleclues lo tt.
Chapter-1S
T
I he phenomenon ol sentledecayand naluralctealhhas
remained lill thisdatean insolubleriddleto science.We have
willy.nillycometo acceplthe tacl that all thingsbornmustljve
lor a while,growoldwithtimeandeventually dje.Butphysiology
knowsno reasonwhy lhe bodyshouldineluclablywear out in
lhisway.As Dr Maurice Vernethasso kenchany poiniedoul.
"Biologically speakingand jn naturalcondations,that is io sav.
accidenlal vrolence beingexcluded, lhereshouldnotand need
not havebe endealhat all...Viewed fromths aspectof the bodv.
dealhseemslo us to be altogelher meaningless (unron-seas
Chapter-15