Atma Bodha - Post 41

Verse 31

आविद्यकं शरीरादि दृश्यं बुद्बुदवत्क्षरम् ।

एतद्विलक्षणं विद्यादहं ब्रह्मेति निर्मलम् ॥ ३१॥

AAVIDYAKAM SARIR-AADI

DRISHYAM BUDBUDA-VAT KSHARAM

ETAD VI-LAKSHANAM VIDYAAT

“AHAM BRAHMA” ITI NIRMALAM

(The body, etc, up to the causal body; are perceivable objects, perishable as bubbles.  Realize, “I am different from all these”, “I am the ever pure Brahman”. This step may be compared with Sravana, as it acquaints us with the whole problem.)

This verse clearly identifies what is to be falsified or negated in the process of “NetiNeti”.

That which has to be falsified is everything right up to the causal body. This means the gross body, subtle body and the causal body.

Self & Upadhis - Their Relative Importance

What does it mean to negate the three bodies, viz. gross, subtle and causal? That which arises from ignorance is to be negated or falsified. By implication this means all three bodies as they all arise from Maya or Ignorance in association with Brahman.

It is not intended here to reduce the value of the functions that the three bodies perform, but merely to see their real value in relation to the absolute Truth of our very Being, the Self.

Nothing should presume to take the place of the Self; that is quite clear. However, in the process of establishing the superiority of the Self, these Upadhis are not to be run down; not to be relegated as worthless; not to be sneered upon as inconsequential.

They are simply to be seen for what they are – as instruments of the individual self. It would be against the spirit of Vedanta for the Self to proclaim its greatness by chopping off the worth of the other elements of creation (the Upadhis).

In the hands of the careless student, the verse is open to such incorrect interpretation. Hence, it is cautioned against such a puerile view of the Self’s greatness. Similarly when it is said that the Self is different from all these, again it is not said in a competitive spirit. The Self is not in need of being glorified.

The glorification, if any, is only to highlight to the seeker that he should never give undue importance to these Upadhis, that is, he should never make them so important in his life that he forgets the Self which is his real nature.

The Example: “Budbudavat Ksharam” - Evanescent Bubbles

When it is said that these Upadhis are like objects that are perceived and are therefore like bubbles, once again the above comment applies. It is simply to illustrate that they are not dependable in themselves. They have a function to perform in the plan of Maya, but they do not have the qualities of the Self, that is, being all-knowing, all-pervading and timeless.

Their existence is like the existence of bubbles – evanescent and fleeting. As bubbles they may also be viewed as having little significance in the true purpose of life, in relation to the evolutionary purpose of life. For if not utilized for what they were intended, they have a strong tendency to distract us from that purpose, and even make us recede from that purpose.

If we allow ourselves to be engrossed by the bubbles, we are in danger of further delusion and bondage to this world. Earlier the same simile was used to describe the macrocosmic creation of all the worlds. Now it is being applied to the microcosmic existence of the human body, which is just as fleeting as the mighty worlds out there.

Dear All,

The commentary of the verse ends with the above lines.

Now, about the state after all Neti is dealt by Sankara, which will come after few verses.

In one of the recent sessions, the author dealt with water, wave, bubble, ocean illustration in detail to drive home the essence of “Brahma Sathyam Jagat Mithya”.

While the 3 bodies are being related to bubble in this verse by Sankara in the sense that they are ephemeral, they arise and they disappear and exactly in the same way, Human beings’ 3 bodies - Gross, Subtle and Causal - emerge when a being is born, they exist with his existence and they are gone when the body dies / when the prana leaves the body.

However, a different or to say, the ultimate dimension was given in the illustration of the water, bubble, wave, ocean given by the author to few disciples.

All the “NETI, NETI, NETI in Vedanta, negation of all upadhis, all 3 bodies etc. is gone through, only to arrive at the ONE ITI, the SELF, the PURE CONSCIOUSNESS or the ATMAN.”

Sankara’s Nirvana Shatakam which is all about negating every possible perception of this creation, the human beings and all the 3 bodies of a being, at the end, Sankara does and Sankara must end with the last verse which says,

Aham Nirvikalpo Niraakaara-Ruupo

Vibhu-Tvaacca Sarvatra Sarve[a-I]ndriyaannaam

Na Caa-Sanggatam Naiva Muktirna Meyah

Cid-ananda-rupah Shivoham Shivoham

 I am Without any Variation, and Without any Form, I am Present Everywhere as the underlying Substratum of everything, and behind all Sense Organs, Neither do I get Attached to anything, nor get Freed from anything,

I am the Ever Pure Blissful Consciousness; I am Siva, I am Siva, The Ever Pure Blissful Consciousness.

Now, if the same bubble which signifies 3 bodies of a human being, after reaching the state as per the above verse, then  how the same bubble or our 3 bodies appear / what they mean to a Jivan Mukhta who has realized SELF and exists as SIVOHAM???

The answer was revealed in the session by the author when he said,

 

“The bubble, the wave, the ocean and all bubble, all waves, the entire ocean and all oceans do not have an independent identity when one realizes the SELF.”

To such a seer, all these, in fact, everything in this creation are no more separate from the state in which he exists. All duality ends there, when it says, even there is no mukhtir, na bandah, there is neither bondage nor liberation!!!

At that state, there is nothing separate from His state, His SELF, there are no upadhis for Him, there is no more NETI for Him!!!

Love.