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Advaita for the 21st Century

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Chapter 6

CitradIpa
The Picture on Pure Consciousness

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5

The titles of chapters 6 to 10 contain the word �dIpa� which means �lamp�. This word denotes the Consciousness aspect of brahman which is dealt with in these chapters.

The supreme Self is explained by comparison with the canvas on which a picture is drawn. Just as there are four stages in the painting of a picture, there are four stages in the apparent modification of the supreme Self. In the painting of a picture the four stages are: a clean white canvas; the canvas stiffened with starch; the canvas with outlines drawn on it with a black pencil; and the canvas with colours applied to the picture. The corresponding four stages with regard to the Self are: pure Consciousness; Consciousness as the indwelling controller in all beings; Consciousness as associated with the totality of subtle bodies; and Consciousness as associated with the totality of gross bodies.

Just as in a picture there are superior and inferior objects, there are in the universe various grades of beings from brahma (the Creator God) and other gods to human beings, animals, birds, etc. In a picture, human beings are painted as wearing clothes of different kinds, and the clothes painted appear to be as real as the canvas on which the pictures are painted. All the forms in the universe are superimposed on brahman which is pure Consciousness. This Consciousness is reflected in these forms and the forms with the reflection of Consciousness in them are known as jIvas. The jIvas go through the cycle of repeated births and deaths. Ignorant people would think that the clothes painted in a picture are as real as the canvas itself. Similarly, ignorant people think that the transmigrations of the jIvas are undergone by pure Consciousness itself. Just as the inanimate objects in a picture are not painted as dressed in clothes, inanimate objects in the universe do not have the reflection of Consciousness in them. The wrong notion that transmigration is real and that the Self, which is pure Consciousness, is subject to it is what is called 'avidyA' or nescience. This nescience is removed by the knowledge of the real nature of the Self. Transmigration is only for the jIva, which is a reflection of the Self, and not for the Self. This understanding is knowledge and it is gained by enquiry. Therefore one should always enquire into the nature of the jIva, the universe and the supreme Self. When the jIva and the universe are negated, the pure Self alone remains as the only reality. Negation does not mean that the jIva and the universe cease to be perceived, as that happens even in deep sleep or in a faint. Negation means the conviction that the jIva and the universe do not have absolute reality and that they are only 'mithyA', i.e., they have only empirical reality.

The knowledge that brahman exists is only mediate (parokSha) knowledge. The knowledge 'I am brahman' is called realization.

The same brahman is spoken of in four ways: as 'kUTastha' or immutable; brahman; jIva; and Ishvara, just as the same space is spoken of as pot-space; all-pervading space; space conditioned by water; and space conditioned by a cloud. The sky with clouds and stars reflected in a pot of water is known as space conditioned by water. The sky reflected in the water particles in a cloud is known as space conditioned by a cloud. The Self or pure Consciousness which is the substratum on which the gross and subtle bodies are superimposed, and which is not affected by any change in the two bodies, is known as 'kUTastha' or immutable, since it is changeless, like the 'kUTa' or anvil on which the goldsmith fashions his jewellery. The reflection of the Self in the subtle body is the jIva or individual who goes from one birth to another (transmigrates). He is known as the jIva because he is animated by prANa (the vital air). (The verbal root 'jIva' means 'to be endowed with prANa' or vital air). Because of nescience which is beginningless, the jIva identifies himself with the body and does not realize that he is in reality the kUTastha or brahman. This nescience has two powers; the power to conceal brahman, known as AvaraNa shakti and the power to project the universe, known as vikShepa shakti. The power to conceal brahman makes the jIva totally ignorant of the existence of brahman. Because of the power of projection, the jIva experiences the subtle and gross bodies and looks upon them as real. This is what is known as the superimposition of these bodies on brahman. It is like a rope being mistaken for a snake in dim light when the rope is not clearly seen. Because of such superimposition caused by nescience, the mind, with the reflection of Consciousness in it, is mistakenly thought to be the pure Self or Consciousness itself. The mind with the reflection of Consciousness in it is known as the 'ego' or ahaMkAra'.

brahman or pure Consciousness is the substratum on which all animate beings as well as inanimate objects are projected. The animate beings have life and are able to function because they have a subtle body which receives the reflection of pure Consciousness. Because of this reflection of Consciousness they themselves appear to have Consciousness, just as the moon shines because of the reflection of the light of the sun on it. The inanimate objects do not have a subtle body to receive the reflection of Consciousness. Death is the separation of the subtle body from the gross body. When the subtle body departs from the gross body, the living being becomes lifeless.

It is nescience that conceals the real nature of the Self and makes the jIva identify himself with the body. This concealment as well as the wrong identification cease when nescience is destroyed. But as long as the prArabdha karma which gave rise to the present body lasts, the mind and body, which are the effects of nescience continue.

The word �karma� is used in two different senses in vedAnta---(1) the results of actions performed, in the form of merit and demerit (puNya and pApa), which produce their effects later on, usually in another birth, and (2) the action itself, whether secular or religious. Here we are speaking about karma in the first sense. This karma is of three kinds� known as sancita, prArabdha and AgAmi. The karma accumulated over innumerable past lives is known as saMchita karma. Out of this, a portion gives rise to the present birth. This portion is known as prArabdha karma, meaning �what has already started (Arabdha) giving its effect�. The karma that results from the actions performed during this life is known as AgAmi karma. This gets added to the saMchita karma. On the dawn of brahmaj~nAna the entire saMchita karma as at that time is destroyed. Actions performed after the dawn of knowledge do not produce any karma because identification with the body-mind complex, which is the cause of karma, has ceased to exist. Thus there is no further AgAmi karma. But prArabdha karma is not destroyed by knowledge. It continues to give its results until it is exhausted. Therefore the present body-mind complex continues to exist till the exhaustion of the prArabdha karma. But since the j~nAnI does not identify himself with his body and mind, he is not affected by whatever happens to them, but remains established in his real essence as brahman. This is known as �jIvanmukti� or liberation-in-life. (Reference may be made in this context to Shri Shankara�s bhAShya on the following:- bRRihadAraNyaka upaniShad (1.4.7), bRRihadAraNyaka upaniShad (1.4.10), chhAndogya upaniShad (6.14.2), bRRihadAraNyaka upaniShad (4.4.22), bhagavadgItA (4.37).

Various views are held by different schools regarding the Self. One group of LokAyatas (materialists) consider the physical body to be the Self. Another group holds the senses to be the Self, another the vital airs, another the mind, and yet another the intellect. All these are undergoing changes all the time and so they cannot be the Self which is changeless. The Buddhists say that perception, as well as the objects of perception, are creations of illusion. The advaita vedAntins reject this view by pointing out that there can be no illusion without a substratum. There can be no illusion of a snake without a rope as the substratum. The Buddhists hold that there is only void, but even a void must have some one to witness it; otherwise it would be impossible to say that there is a void. We are, therefore, led to the conclusion that there must be a changeless substratum for the changing universe. That substratum is brahman or the Self. There are also different views about the size of the Self. Some hold that it is atomic, some that it is all-pervading and some that it is of medium size.

The advaita vedAntins hold that the Self is pure Consciousness, infinite, devoid of parts and all-pervading. mAyA or prakRRiti, which is the power of brahman is neither real nor unreal; it is indeterminable. mAyA can be looked upon in three ways. For the ordinary people it is real. For the enlightened person (j~nAnI) it does not exist at all. For those who try to understand mAyA through reasoning it is indeterminable. mAyA projects the universe without in anyway affecting brahman. Making the impossible happen is the nature of mAyA.

brahman reflected in mAyA is Ishvara. Ishvara controls mAyA, but the jIva is under the control of mAyA. Ishvara is the indweller and inner controller (antaryAmI) in every living being. He is omniscient and is the cause of the universe. He causes the manifestation of the universe and creates beings in accordance with their past karma. Creation is like the unrolling of a painted canvas. If the painted canvas is rolled up, the picture is no longer visible. In the same way, when the karma of living beings is exhausted, Ishvara withdraws the universe into Himself. Then the universe and all beings remain in a latent form till the commencement of the next cycle of creation. Ishvara is the cause of the inanimate objects through the tamasic aspect of mAyA. He is the cause of the jIvas through the reflection of pure Consciousness. brahman is unconditioned by mAyA, while Ishvara is conditioned by mAyA and is the creator of the universe. The upaniShads declare that brahman is reality, Consciousness and infinity. The sense organs and the mind cannot grasp it.

HiraNyagarbha is the totality of the subtle bodies of all jIvas. virAT is the totality of all gross bodies.

The whole world is a creation of Ishvara and jIva. From the determination of Ishvara to create, down to His entrance into the created objects as the inner controller, is the creation of Ishvara. From the waking state to liberation is the creation of the jIva.

A person who has realized his identity with the changeless Self that is pure Consciousness is not affected by anything that happens to the body.

Detachment, knowledge of reality and giving up desire-prompted actions mutually assist one another. Detachment arises from the realization that the happiness arising from objects is impermanent. Knowledge of reality is attained by hearing the scriptures, reflecting on them and meditation. Cessation of desire-prompted activities results from control of the mind. Of these three, the knowledge of the Reality is the most important. These three come to a person who has acquired a vast store of merit (puNya) in innumerable past lives. The summit of detachment is the total absence of desire even for the pleasures of the world of brahmA (the Creator God). The summit of the knowledge of reality is reached when a person experiences his identity with the supreme Self as firmly as an ordinary man identifies himself with his physical body. The height of cessation of desire-prompted activities is the complete forgetfulness of all worldly affairs even in the waking state as in the state of deep sleep.

Enlightened people may behave in different ways according to their fructifying karma, but there is no difference in their knowledge of reality or in the nature of their liberation.

The universe is like a picture drawn on the supreme brahman. When we ignore the distinctions, which are all caused by mAyA, pure Consciousness alone remains.

This chapter, when regularly studied, frees the intelligent aspirant from the delusion that the world is real, even though he may continue to see the world as before.

End of Chapter 6

Chapter 7

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