Namaskar Mahatmas!
Svethaketu was the son of sage Uddaalaka. The sage sends his son to an able Guru to attain knowledge. After twelve long years Swathaketu learnt all kinds of arts and he had a thought in his mind that he has mastered everything that a man can study. When he came back to the father after the studies the father noticed the pride in his son’s speech and behavior. The presence of pride showed that he is still in ignorance.
To make the son understand that he is in ignorance he puts a question to the son, “Dear son, you say you know everything that can be known. Then do you have the knowledge or wisdom by which what is unknown becomes known and what is unseen becomes seen?” Swethaketu could not find the answer for this question and humbled, fell at his father’s feet.
The father took him to the potter’s house and explained to him all the toys and vessels that he sees around is essentially a lump of clay. Toys and vessels are mere names and forms given to the clay. By knowing a lump of clay, all that is made of clay can be known. Similarly, by knowing the essence of oneself he comes to know about the essence of all beings.
He took him to the river and explained to him that the river flows from one direction to the other and merges with the ocean, rises in the form of vapour and drops again in the form of rain, only to merge again in to the ocean. Just as the rivers do not remember what they were so also we beings do not know that we have come from the truth.
He then took him to a tree and explained that when each branch is forsaken by life, the branch dries up. Finally, when the entire tree is forsaken by life, the whole tree dries up. Likewise, when life forsakes the body, the body dies but life does not die. That which does not die is Atman and you are that Atman.
In this temple called body, there is Lord inside our heart. Kshetras are many but the Self is only one. The highest of all companionship is the company of the real self. If we learn to enjoy the real self within us we are never lonely. Who makes us lonely? Those who claim to know and love us, or those whom we love, create loneliness and make us dependent. When we learn to know our real self, we do not depend on externals. This sloka explains about the obstacles to Jnanam and how the seeker gets over it and enjoys bliss like Swethaketu.
SLOKA 16
POOSHAN EKARSHE YAMA SURYA PRAAJAAPATYA
VYUHA RASHMEEN SAMOOHA
TEJO YAT TE ROOPAM KALYAANA-TAMAM
TAT TE PASHYAAMI YO’ SAAV’ASAU PURUSHAH SO’HAM ASMI (16)
Pushan – the supporter; ekarse – the lonely courser; yama – controller; praajaapatya – the son of Prajaapathi; surya – O Sun; rashmin – the rays; vyuhaa – remove; tejah – light; samuha – withdraw; yat – which; te – thy; kalyaanatamam – the most glorious, the most; roopam – form; tat – that; te – through thy grace; pashyaami – I behold; yah – who; asau – that; purushah – Being; sah – He; aham – I; asmi – am
O Sun, offspring of Prajaapathi, Thou lonely courser of the heaven, Thou controller and supporter of all, contract Thy rays, withdraw Thy light. Through Thy grace, I behold the most blessed form of Thine. I am indeed He, that Being who dwells there.
Why is the seeker praying to the Sun? What is the greatness of the Sun? The praises in this sloka explains that.
The Sun is the son of Prajapathi. The Sun is the nourisher, the supporter (pushan) of everything that exists. Without its heat and light nothing can survive in this world. He is also the controller (Yama). The Sun is the indicator of time and every being is controlled by time. He travels all alone (ekarshi). There is nothing which is equal to the power of the Sun. When he is there in the sky, nothing else can be seen.
Those who respect light, they get up before the sun rise. When we have to go to the temple, we are properly washed, properly dressed. In this world that is a temple, every morning the Lord sun is the deity to be received with all the great love and purity. We all have put thick curtains and covered ourselves with thick blanket so that the light doesn’t disturb us. But those who respect light and those who do understand the importance of Sun get up early in the morning. They add three hours per day to their life time.
When we look at the Sun for few seconds and take our eyes on other object, we cannot see anything for some time. Our vision is blind by that light. The Sun’s rays are not different from the Sun. But the rays and light of the Sun blocks the vision of Sun itself. Even though this world is created by the Lord Himself, the power of the thoughts on material things which are brighter like the rays of the sun, blocks the vision of the Self which supports everything and one gets lost in the light (material world). We forget to look at the source.
The seeker prays to the Lord, “O Son of Prajapathi! Do remove your rays. Withdraw your light and the excessive shining. Only if you withdraw, I can see that most benign and the most graceful form of you. Please shower your grace on me. I want to become you”
That Sun which is outside, which is addressed here is also present within us. The external Sun is illumined by the inner light. The rays are nothing but the thoughts in our mind. So long as the rays of thought are coming out intensely, we won’t be able to understand who we are. The empty mind is the place of reality. So, “Lord! Please take away the rays which are constantly coming in the form of thoughts and also your reflection be kindly withdrawn.”
Lord heard his prayer and said ‘thataastu’. When thoughts are withdrawn completely, the seeker enters into reality. “O Lord! Now I have discovered you, who is the most auspicious, the most wonderful.”
Three things are absent in auspiciousness. 1. Desire 2.Anger and 3.Greed. In Bhagavat Gita the Lord tells us that these three are the door to hell. All are nothing but the projection of mind. Having given up every form of thought, the seeker cries in joy, “I am able to see you. I have understood what I am; I have discovered myself”.
Whom did he see? He saw the Purushah, the Supreme reality. He is not the object to be seen or to be understood or the experience It is being. No mind = to be. The seeker is now like a salt doll put into the water which loses its complete identity. One crosses the fear of death only when he comes to realize that he is the Self.
After death people say: ‘Raam naam satya hai’. He becomes Raam; He becomes the Satya. He joins himself with the truth. Then only Raam naam becomes auspicious. We have to identify ourselves with the Self.
Azhvaar writes in his paasuram “Unnai ennuL vaithaen; ennaium unnuL ittaen” – which means “I have kept the Lord in Me and I have offered myself (ego) to You”. Through the Bhakthi and Jnanam, when the seeker started looking at the Self, he saw ‘He’ as separate and ‘I’ as separate. “I” is still there. But “I” cannot behold the Lord. The ego is subtler than the mind and is the father of all thoughts. When that ego dies, there are no two – the one Self, the one Lord, the one Truth remains.
The next two slokas form the prayer of the devotee, who has not given up his individuality at the time of death. We will cover that in the next week. Hari Om!
