gST€TTGt|CtPAEI'UAC'F

WANqTRA

b!SADHU SANTIDEV

VOLUME 5

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CONTENTS

Thewaking State andThe'why'ol the Samadhi-Plunge 1

- What is SamadhiorYogic Trance ?

The CJitlque oI theTrancesolution 21The Crilioue otlh€'Jivanmukti-Solution' 31The lssue : Status ol Dynamis €The mind-Consciousness :Its Achiev€mnels and Failures 53The Inwa.dization and the Ascension 71TheConquest

Sureivara- The Works of the Author of the Vartika- Ih6 closeconnection between the

BrahmaSiddhiandtheSambandhaVartika- The Raval Doctrines Examined in the

SambandhaVartika- Refutation of Mandana's Posilions in the

Vartika- The Tretment of lhe Dockine ot

Bhartrpraanca in the Vartika- Nretaphysical lgnorance in Suresvara- Objections and answers onthe subject

of lvlelaphysical I gnoranceThe trealment of lgnorance by SriSankara and Suresvara ComparedEnquiry into the seat of ignorance andthe objecl with il concealsThe Operation ofthe lvleans ol KnowledgeCancellalion ol lllusionAuthority ot the Veda: Role ofNegativeTexlsPreception, etc Cannol ContradicltheVedaTreatment of theTopic of Causeand EifeclThe trealment of Universal andParticularThe treahent ol the Discriminationof the Five SheathsTeaching by examinalion olTheThree States oJWaking, Dram andDreamless SleepCan there be an Injunclion torKnowledgeCompaison ol SriSankara andSuresvara on theTopic of Hearingand the RestsThe Iniunclion lor Inne. and OuterConlroland lhe other disciplinesHow Action and Mediiation RelaleThere is noother Liberation ExceplEradication of lgnoranceAll Duality is lmagined lhroughlgnoranceThe torm ot Non-Duality Approvedin the vartika

9. The Masrery ol the Nighls- How Best to Enter ihe State ol Sleep?- How to Relaan the Awareness

of Dreams ?- Howto Grow Conscious in Sleep- The Lure ol the Dream-Consciousness

't 0. TheVision otlhe Divine Body

11. TheConquest of Sleep- Howto Reduce the Hours of Sleep ?- How to Eliminate the Necessity

ol Sleep ?'12. Attemptsai'Kayasiddhi'

and Reiuvenation13. The Mystery of Life and Dealh

- Death at the Service of Lile14. Metaphysical Factors of Dealh

- First FactorThe Parl Against theWholeSecond FactorThe Parl Against AllOther PartsThird FaclorAclion and Reaction

- Fourth FactorLi letheConsumer

- Fifth FactorWarollhe l\rembers

- Sixth Factorlmpertect Poise ol Consciousnessand Force

- Sevenlh FaclorThe tntinite as a Summation oflhe Finite

227

237

243

257

283

viii

The Physiology ot Senescence and Death- fi/eiaphysics ol Life and Death

Chapter-1

The Waking state and Theof the Samadhi-Plunge

'why'

Chapter-1

Above us dwells a superconscient godHiddan in the mystery of his own light:Arcund us is a vast oI ignoranceLil by the uncartain ray ol the human mind,Below us sleeps the lnconscient datk ancl mute

(Sri Aurobindo, Sayttr; Book Vll , Canto l l , p.484)

Since mind-consciousness is lhe sole waking state pos-sessed by mental baing,...il cannot otdina ly quile enter intoanother without leaving behind completely both all our wakingexistenie and all ou inward mind. This is the necessity of theYogic trance

(sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis ol Yoqa, p.379).

To enler into Sahadhi is to pass inlo a state of which noconscious memory remains on awakening...

When people speak ol Samadhi, I te them, "We , try todevelop youl inner individuality and you can enter into these veryregions infull consciousness, with the delight of communion withthe highest rcgions without losing consciousness for thal andretuming with a zefo in,tead ol an expeience."

flhe N,lolher, Bu etin, Vol. XlV, No. 3, pp. 43-45)

Yes, they [a the states ol higher rcalisation] can be aftainedeven in lull activity. Tance is not essential.

(Sri Aurobindo, Letterc on Yoga, p.744)

A THOROUGHGOING psychological self-invesligalion larkanscending its present artilicialbounds, an occull-spirilual ex-ploralion ot the tolallield ol our boing, rev€als the truth that whatwe normally know oi ourselves is not all we are: il is no morelhan'a bubble on the ocean of our eristence,' lndeed, apart from

Chaplef l

the very insigniJicanl and restr icled parl oJ our wakrng individualconsciousness, we are normally perlectly ignoranl of the wholeol the rest of our being, " lhe immense more', lhat l ies hiddenin apparenlly inaccessible "reaches of being which descend intolhe protoundesl depths ol lhe subconscient and rise io higheslpeaks ol superconscience, or which sufiound the l i t t ie l ield olour waking self with a wide circumconscienl existence ol whicho!r mrnd and sense catch only a lew indications."

As a matter of fact, following the ancient Wisdom of theL.Jpanishads, we can broadly divide the tolality ol our existenceinto Jor.ir provinces or states: the waking siate' \jagrat). thesublirninal or lhe 'dream-state' (syapna), the superconscienl orthe sieep-state' (sr/suptl and l inal ly the state beyond or lhe'ultimate slate' (lurjia, Co(esponding lo lhese lour stales of ourexistence, we have in us tour selves or rather lhe fourfold sta-lus ol the one Self thal is Brahman:the wakjng sell ot Vaisvanara.the Waker;the dream,se[ or faiasa, ihe Dreamer;the sleep-setfor P/e/,ia, the Sleeper; and tinally the supreme or absotute selJo t be ing , l he Fou t th ( ca tu r l ha ) , t he Incommun icab le(avyavahey@), lhe Ooe wilhoul second (adyaia), ot which thethree betore are derivations,

In less abstrlse and mysiicallerms, we may state that thefourfold scale ol being delineated above represenls, so to say,lhe 'degrees of the ladder ot being'that an embodied soul mustsuccessively atiain i l he would seek io clrrnb back hom hjsphenomenal and ignorant s€lf-view towards the supremesuperconscience of the highest state of his sel l-being. But whatare lhe essenlial traits of these lour statuses?

The Waking State: Ow waking consciousness, theconscious-ness lhal we normally poss€ss and that is dominated by thephysical mind, is a l imping surlace consciousness shul up in thebody l imitation and wilhin ihe conlines o{ the l i t t le bit ol personalmind. We are ordinari ly awate only ol our su ace selves andquite ignorant ot al l that lunctions behind lhe veil . And vet .what

s on the sur lace, whal we know or lhink we know ol ourselves

and even bel ieve that lhat is al lwe are. is only a smal l part oi

our being , and by lar the larger part l ies hidden "behind lhelrontal consciousness behind the vei l , occtr l t and known only by

an occult knowledge."

Whi le in this normalwaking consciousness, a rnan becomesrxlerna ised and gazes outward and rarely i l ever inward

lparampasya nenlaralman). Hence the selt in this slalus ol

exlernal v,/aketulness has been described as wrse ol the oul_watd (jegaritaslhe no bahihprajfiah).No spiiluallife or any higher

or deepr rea isal ion becomes possible i f one remarns iet tered tolhrs wakrng slale

The Dream-Stab:fhis represents the subl imina cond t ionol our conscrous exislence, the large luminous realm ol in ler ior

consciousness, thal corresponds lo lhe subl ler l i le_plane andmind plane and even a subl le physical plane or our being. lndeed. behind our outer exislence, our outer mind and lr le and

Our arger be ngs si ts behind crypt ic wal ls:'hprp are grealnesses hrdden In our unspFn parls

Thal wait their hour to slep into l i le s konl:

our inner Mind dwel ls in a larger l ight,I ts br ghtness looks al us through hidden doors;

A m ghly l i le-sei wi lhSupports lhe dwart ishmodicum we cal l l i fe;

Our body s subl le sel f as lhroned wi lhrnIn r ts viewless palace ol ver idical dreams.

Thus, lhe subl iminal reach oJ our berng comprrses our Inner-oxrslence, thal s to say, our inner mind, inner l i le and innerphysica wi lh lhe soul or psychic ent i ty supporl ing them al l . l ts of lhe nature oi a secrel Intraconsctent ano clrcumconscrenl

Chapterl

awareness rn lul l possession of a bri l l ianl mind oower. a l imoidl i te torce and un unclouded subtle physical sense ol things.

It rs in th s subliminal realm of our interior existence. lherea m of sublle subjective supraphysical experiences and otdreams and visions and heavenly int imations, a vefltable wor dol wondertul i l luminations, that our mind and vi lal being retirewhen they wilhdraw by inward-drawn concentralton from their ab,sorpl on In surlace activt ies,

It s because ol i ls inward plunge bringing n i ts irain a wealthol nner experiences, dreams and visions, that lhe sell tn thisstatLrs has been termed the dream-self that is wise ot lhe in,ward lsvapnastheno' ntahpajfiah).

The Sleep-State: This corresponds to a st i l l highers rpe rconsc ien l s l a lus , a s la te o l pu re consc tousness\prajhanaghana), pwe bliss lenandamaya hyenandabhuk) and pwenaslety lsatvesvara).T his exalted slate ol seltabsorbed con-scrousness rs cal led'sleep'because al l mental or sensory ex-peflences cease when we enter this superconscience. This'dreamless sleep state'{yatr supto... na kafrcana svapnampasyall,), lhis status oJ massed consciousness and omnipotenllnle )gerce (satvesvara saNajfta), canlains in it "alllhe powersot being bul a 1 compressed within i tsetf and concentrated solelyon lse I and when active, then active in aconsciousness wherea I rs the self." l t is in this superconscienl 'sleep state'thai webecome "inherently and intr insical ly conscious ot our sel l andspir l , not as here below by a reflectton in si lenl mind or bVacquisrt ion ol lhe knowledge oi a hidden Being within us; i l isthrough i l , through lhat either of super conscience, lhal we canpass to a supreme status. knowledge experience."

The Turiya Slarc:fhis corresponds to the highesl status larlranscending the t irst three, being the stalus ol pure sell-exist-ence and absolute being, where consciousness and unconscious_ness as we aclually conceive ol both lose lheir validily. lt is thesupreme state ol Sachchidananda,'a state ol superconscience

absorbed in its self-existence, in a s€l'.silenc€ ora self-ecstasy.'

About the self ol this lourth ortheTuriya state, the MandukyaUpanishacl sPeaks:

"He who is neither inward-wise, nor oulward-wise, nor bolhinward and oulward wise, norwisdom seU-gathered, norpossessedol wisdom, nor unpossessed of wisdom, H€ who is unseen andincommun icab le , unse izab le , f ea tu re less , un th inkab le ,andunnameable, Whose essential i ty is awareness ol the Seli inits single exisl€nce, in Whom all phenomena dissolve, Who isCalm, Who is Good, Who is One than Whom lhere is no oiher,Him they deem the lourth: He is the Self, He is the object otKnowledge."

Such is lhen the fourtold division of the totality ot our exist-ence, and true knowledge, that is to say, spiritual knowledgeaboul our seltbeing as well as about the world-being becomesavailable to us only when we succeed in establishing a consciousrapport with the subliminal and the now superconscient realmsoJ our being. But unforlunately our waking slate is blissfullyignorant ot its connection with or even the very existence o tthese supernal reaches. So the goalof Yoga which is essentiallyan attempt at arriving at an integral s6lf-knowledge, an entireconscrousness and power ot being and a supreme Lrnion or !nilywith Sachchidananda, the Existence-Consciousness-Bliss Ab-solute, can be altained only by a progressive ascension ot lhem nd lo higher and sl i l i higher plan6s or degrees oJ conscious-

But here a serious and see mingley insuperable hitch presentsitsel i . For mind is the sole waking consciousness aciLlal ly pos,sessed by rnan the mental being and this mind in i ts acluali lycompletely lails to remain awake, beyond a certain line, in lhereally higher states of realisalion where the heightened and in-tensilied spirilualexperiences are ao the nature ot things sought.Inrs almost absolute incompatibilily of ourwaking mentality withhe highest ranges ol spiritualconsciousness is strikingly brought

out in the lollowing very interesling account ot Sri Ramakrishna,srepeated lai lures to hain remain physical ly awake on the sum-mrls ol reai isation. Swami Saradananda, one ol lhe closesldirecl discipl€s ol Sri Rarnakrishna and the writer of his author!lative biography, is reporling:

"ln how sirnpie lerms lhe Thakur [ i .e. Sri Famakr]shnal usedlo expiarn lo L_ts these aJstruse lruths ol sptr i lual l i le

" 'Well, something rises lrom my teel and cl imbs towards thehead. So long as i t does not reach the heao, rera n consctous-ness; but as soon as it reaches lhere, an utter t'otgett'ulnessovenakes me - lhen lhere is no more seeing or hearing, lar beil to speak oltalking. 'Who would speakthen? _ Thevery senseoi l' and 'ThoLr' vanishes altogether! | often decide lo speakeverylhing to yo!, al l about the visions and experiences thalaccompany lhis ascension. So long as thal has reached so larIpointing to his heart) ot even so lar (pointing to his throat), jlseems somebody shuts my mouth and I fajltocontrot mv lorcet_tutnessl tPonlng to his thloat) when one ascenos sti t i turi ierlhan ihts level, no sooner lhan I conlemplate ior a mornenl tospeak oi lhe visions and experiences there, the mind immedr-ately shoots upwards and no reportjng becomes anv mor-a oos-

' 'Oh, innumerable aretheoccaslons when theThakur soughtto exerctse lhe utmost conkol over himsell so lhal he could reporl10 us about the types ot experiences lhat one has when the mindtranscends the throal-cenlre but each t ime he fai ledl.. . One davhe emphatical lv stated:

' ' 'Today I must speak to you everything , not a bi l would Ihide' and he started to speak. He coutd very we speak atlabout the centres uplo the heart and the throal, and then poinl.ing lo ihe junciion ol his eye-brows he said, .Whenever the mrndascends here, lhe embodied soul has a vjsion of lhe supremeSell and goes into Samadhi. Then there exists bul a thin trans,parent vei l between lhe individual Sell and the S!preme. And

there the so!l experiences in this way-'. Speaking so lar, assoon as he start€d d€tailing the realjsation ot the Supreme, hewent into lhe Samadhislate. Attercoming oul ol his trance state,he recommenced reporting again, bui again w€nt into Samadhi.Altet such repeated attempts and lailurcs ho spoko to us withtears in his eves:

' lvy sons, my intontion is to repo to you everylhing wilh-oui hiding the l6ast bit oi i l : but lhe l \rother won'l al low me tospeak - She compleloly shut my mouthl '

"We wondered at lhis and thought: 'How slrangel l t is apparenl lhal he is kying to report and that he is even suffering be-cause of his lai lure lo do so, but he seems lo be altogelherhelpless in this maller - Surely lhe Mother must have been verynaughty indeedl He wants lo speak about holy things, about lhevision ol God, and it is surely odd thal She should shut his mouth!'

"We djd nol know al time that lhe mind's range is indeed verymuch Irmited and thal, unless one proceeds farther then itsiarthesl reach, one cannot expecl to have the realisation ol theSupremel ln our innocence we could not.understand ai lhal t imelhat out of sheer love lor us lhe Thakur was attemotino thempossiblel"

Sri Ramakrishna himsell in hls inimiiabte style ernphas sedon more than one occasion this lact of lhe inabil i ty of our mindconsciousness to relain i is 'power oJ conscious disceroment anddefin ng experience' when it r ises to the superconscient heights,'1e said:

. What happens when the mind reaches the seventh planeLano goes into Smadhil cannol be described. Once a boal entersthe [black waters]ollhe ocean, il does not relurn. Nobodv knowswhat happens to the boal aller thal. Theretore the boat Ii.e. Mindludrlnol grve us any Informalion about lhe ocean,

' 'Ofce a salt dol lwentio measure ihe depth ol the ocean. Nosooner did i t enter the water than it melted. Now, who would tel l

1 0 Chapler-1

how deep the ocean was?"

So it is seen that jn the actual slate of our evolved wakingexistence the ascension and entry into the higher realms ol ourbeing becomes al all possible only by rcceding farther and larlher Ircm the waking mentality, by vtilhdtawing from and losingtouch wilh the dynamic surface life and iaking a plunge inlo lheimmobile or ecstatic lranca of absorbed supet conscience. Andherein l ies tor the spir i tual seeker lhe necessily or even the in-evilability ol the Yogic lrance state, so much Fo that n is em-phalical ly asserled that Samadhi is 'not only a supreme meansot arriving al the highesl consciousness, b!t. . . lhe very condit ionand status of that highesl consciousness i lself, in whrch alone itcan be completsly poss€ssed and enjoyed while we are in lhe

But in lhal case our goalot dynamic divinisal ion oi l i fe be-comes fore doomed lo lai lure. So we must now see whether thetrance can be progressively transformed into a waking Samadhiand i ls spir i lualgains made manilest and acl ive even in ourwak-In9 extstence,

WHAT IS SAMADHI ORYOGICTBANCE?

ln her own depths she head the unuttercd thoughlThat made unrealthe world and alllife meant.'Who art thou who claim'stthy crown or separale btrlh,The illusion ol lhe soul's rcaityAnd perconal goclheacl on an ignorantglobeIn the animal body of impedect man?Only the blank Eternal can be trueAll else is shadow and flash in Mindb brighl glass,O soul, inventot of man's thoughts and hopes.Thyself the inventian of lhe moments'stream,illusions' centre or sublle apex point,At last know thyself, from vain existence cease."

($ Aurabindo, Saviil., BookVll, Canta Vl, p 535

Beyand the realm of thought, trcnscending the domain oldual ity, leaving Maya with all her changes and fiodilicationsfar behind,.... shinesthegloryol the EtenalBrahman in theNirvikalpa Samadhi. Knowledge, knowet dissolve in themensttuum of One EternalConsciou'ness: bitth, growth anddeath vanEh in that infinite Existence: and love. lovet andbeloved merye inthatunbounded ocean ol Supteme Felic,tty.. . B reaking down the idge-poles ol that tabenacle in whichthe soul had made its abode lot untold ages- stilling thebody, calming the mind and drowning the ego, comes thesweet joy ol Brahman in that supet conscious state. Spacedisappears in nothingness, time is swallowed up in Eternny... [and] it is all stillness indefinable.... The NivikalpaSanadhi is the highest fliqht ol Advaita Philosophy(Llle of Sri Ramakrishna, Advaita Ashrcm, Almoa, p. 181)

The acquisit ion ol the highest spir i tual consciousness, atleast slat ical ly i f nol dynamacally, is the goal of al l spir i tualendeavor. But, as we have noted before, the sDaritual reaches ofconscrousness l ie taa behind and above our notmal wakingmental i ty. Now lhe question is: is i t possible lo possess thespir i lual consciousness while st i l l remaining €hbedded in theordrnary menlal funcl ioning? In otherwords, can lhe normalun-regenerate sudac6 consciousness and lhe spiaitual one be con-comilant and simultaneously operative? Seekers an al l ages andclrmes, who have ihe necessary credentials to pronounce onthis poinl, are universally agreed to deny lhis possibility.

So, broadly speaking, four allernalives may open out beforehose who asprre after spiritualily:

( i)To create a division, a separation. a dissociataon of con-scrousness and to be spir i tual within or above while the outerconscroJsness and its ignorant movemenls are Indif lerenflywalched and fel l to be something intr insical ly loreign and drspa-'ore lr s s the solul ion ol the Witness Consciousness .

(rr) To be satisi ied with the indirect glories ot the spir i iual

rhe we!493919-34-I!9-9ry

rh. Wak'ng s la le and The

1 2 Chaplerl

consciousness as reflected and rel lacted in lhe bosom ol oulnormal mentality- This is whal has been termed 'spiritual menlalrea tsalron

(i i i )To sti l l and withdraw lrom the menlal conscrousness andrelire lo ihe supra-menlal reaches. This is whal can be calledthe' lrance-solul ion-

(iv)To translorm the nalure ol the normalwaking conscious-ness, to divinise i l as we would say, by bringing down lhere lheful lest weath and splendor of the spir i lual heighls, so that i tspresent opacity and relractorin€ss may be altogether recti l edThis is the solul ion of 'divine transligural ion'as envlsaged byour Yoga.

Evidently the'Wiiness Consciousness' and'spir i lual_menlalrealisatio n' Jal l tar shorl ol our goal; for.be it once agarn slaled,this goal is no less than the establishment ol Lite Divine uponearth, a dynamic waking exislence embodying Sachchidanandain his tu 1y maniiesled glories.

But since the yogic kance or Samadhi is so oi len held upnot only as a supreme means ol access to lhe higher possrb espir i lua consciousness but'as the very condit ion and status olthal highest consciousness itselt, in which alone i l can be com_plelely possessed and enjoyed while we are in the body," wemusl digress here lor a while to examine the nature of Samadhiand f ind oul i ts uti l i ty or olherwise in the pursuit ol lhe Integralyoga .

Samadtu a' Yagtc 1ence. Since mind-Co'lsciousneSS rS 10rnally lound to be lncompalible wrlh the highest slate ot spir i tualrealisat on, a verrlable yoga or union must almost by detinit olrconno te l he cessa l i on o f a l l men la l l unc t rons(yogascittavrt l inirodhahl) or even ol the mind i lsel l \manoneso

Now. 1o lollow the terminology as used by Vyasa, lhe grealcommentatoron the'Yoga Aphorisms'ol Paianjal i , our rnind slul l

mav lunctlon in five dilferenl levels or conditions (cilhbhhmayah).

These. l rom down upwards or l rom out inward, are ( i ) Ksipta or

resl tess, lhe dissipated condit ion in which the mind is acl ive and

externalsed and runs al ler objecls ol var ious sorts; ( i i ) mtidha

or lorprd, the stupel ied condit ion in which he mind under the in_

Iluence ot an excessjve larnas gravitales downwards and wal-

tows In the obscure depths ol ignorance: (iii) v,ksrplaordistracled,

a condi l ron in which lhe mind becomes relat ively paci l ied and attimes somewhal concentrated but lhrown out again outwards

because ot lhe dislract ing movemenls; ( iv) ekagraor concen.

t fated, a condi l ion dominated by sal lva in which the mind is ableto concenlfale lor a prolonged stretch ot i ime to the exclusion ola I olhef lhoughls, upon some part icular chosen object or sub-jecl ol concenlration; and lastly (v) niruddha or slilled. a condr-l ion n whrch even the acl or r !ncl ion ol contemplat ion ceasesand. ai l modi l icat ions ol the mind being stopped. nothing whalso ever s known or conceived bv lhe latter.

The ltrst lhree conditions olthe mind enumerated above areol caLtrse nol al al l conducive to lhe pracl ice ol spir i tuai i tylyogapakse na vartate)t il is only the lasl two o ihal make possi.ble afy spir i tual i l luminal ion. As a matter ol tacl , in the parlanceol lhe Palanjal i System, "ekegra or the state ol concentral ion.when permanenily eslablished, is called sampfali eh Yoga ot lhelrance ol medi lal ion. in which th€re is a clear and dist incl con-scrousness of the obiect of contemolat ion. l t is known also assamepalei or samprain ta samedhi in as much as citla or lhemrnd is. in lhis stale, entirely pul inlo the objecl and assum€sIne lorm of lhe obiect itsell. So also lhe state o, niruddha rscaled asampalnala Yoga orasampajneb samedhi... becauseInrs is lhe l rance of absorpl ion in which al l psychoses and ap-pearances o{ objects are stopped,, , , '

general lerms we may say that Samadhr or yogrcrrarco s lhal s lale of super consciousness in which the asprr-anl. div ing deep or soaring high in the search ol ihe sout or the

1 4 Chapter-1

sell , enlers, when his consciousness, through an inward con-cenlration, withdraws trom lhe surface world as perceived by ihesenses and relires to progressively deeper inlerior realms ofsupersensus experiences. In this process of inward withdrawalor upward ascension, the consciousness first enlersth e 'd ream-state'and then proceeds to th€'sleeo-state'. While jnthe dram,slalae, the ouler mind ol the Sadhaka becomes quiescenl andhis innar mind. separated from lhe outer andno longer coveredupby it, ranges lh.ough awondorlulworld ol rich and variegatedInner expenences.

To obviate any possjble rnisunderstanding that the nomen-cialure dram-stale' or'sleep-state' may engender in an unwaryspirit, we may {orthwithstate here that theyogic dream,or sleep-slales have nothing to do wilh the physical stales of dream andsleep. " lnthe Yogic dream-slate... lhe mindis inclear possessionol i tself, lhoughnot ofhte physical world, works coherently,.. . ( isperlectlyl awake...not withthe out-going, but with an ingalheredwakefulness in which, though immersed in i lsel i , i t exercises al l

In the dream-state i tself there is an inf inite series o{ deplhsstartjng with thal tor which the world ol physical senses is al-mosl al the doors though momentarily shirt out, and reaching todepths not likely to be broken in upon by the impact or catt ofthe sensuous physical world. As a malter ol Jact, "beyond acertain point lhelrance becomes complet€ and it is then almostquile impossible to awaken or call back lhe sout that has re-ceded into them;i l can onlycome back by i ts own wil lor at mostby a violent shock.ol physical appeal dangerous to the systemowrng lo lhe abrupt Upheavalof relurn."

With the incr€asing depths or heighls of lhe degrees of con,sciousness altained by the soul, the experiences obtained be-come progressively remole and less and less communicable tothe waking mind, unlil the trance becomes complete in an utterself gathering ol the berng when lhe central consc rous ness sepa-

rates lrom the lasl vesting of mental i ty- Then it becomes an

absolute impossibi l i ty for any records ortranscripls ot the expe-

r ences lherein to reach lhe portals ol the normal waking con-

scio!sness. Thls is lhe state of Nirvikalpa Samadhi claimed lo

be the hlghest status of spir i tual attainmeni and assidLrouslysought after by every seeker after lrance.

In lhrs ultrmate lrance-state ot pure superconscienl exist-ence. in this supra-mental immersion in lhe inf inite being andthe un condil ioned bl iss, t ime and space and hence the world oinames land forms vanish inlo noihing, al laction ol mentalaware'ress whelher of outward or ol inward things is al logether abol_ished and everything is drawn up inlo the super cosmic Beyond

Once atlaining this supreme stale of Nirvikalpa trance, thesou l nds rt di i l icul l , \ ,1/el l"nigh impossible, lo return agarn to theac l ve I fe -consc iousness , to r " i l l oses lheho ldon theco rdwh ichb nds i l lo the consciousness of l i fe, and lhe body is leJl, main-ta ned indeed in i ts sel posit ion, nol dead by dissolution, bulincapabie ol recovering the ensolued lite which had inhabited it."

We have solaranalysed in abskacllermsthe physiognomyol ihe Yogic trance.Io complele the accounl we would now l iketo reproduce in brief the concreie caies of the sages Uddalakaand Ramakrishna to show how in lacl the consciousness with-draw ng inward passes through progressively deepening slaies01 be ng to rGpose f inal ly in lhe absolute siale of inrvikalpaSamadhi.

Fjrst the scriplural accouni ol the lrance of Uddalaka asoeplcted into the greal wotk Yoga-Vasishtha Mahanmayana:

The ftance af lJddalaka:"One day the sage deliberaled:'Whenwrllyou atlain lo eternalpeace by reachingthe slatus ot mindless'nes(. lo'sJch rs Indeed the condrtron for gett ing lreed from lheoondaqa ol reoealed brrlhs?' . . . Then he Brahmin Uddalaka satdown to concentrate and withdraw his mind. But he could notsLcceeo al olce . alta,nrng the Samadhi state. lor hrs?nrnd, in

Chaoter.l

the tashion of a restless baboon, began to tleet from object toobjeci... At a laler stag6, the mind-monkey would at limes leaveoutside contracts and lelt eager for the enjoyment ol lhe innerSattwic bliss; but this was indeed an intermillent mood. lor mostollen the mind would rush lowards outward objecls again, as il itwas stung by a would rush loward outward objoct again, as if itwas stung by a venomous snak6. Al times, his inner state wasbeing cleared ol tho obscurity of ignoranc€ and Uddalaka visionedthe glory of a sun; but in no lime his Chitta became res essagain and flew oulward in the manner of a starfled bjrd. Again,he withdrew inward and oxperienced al limes a vacant space orthe Zero ol an impenetrable darkness...As a warrior in bat ekills his enemies with a sword, Uddalaka slarled destroying oneby one al l lhe vikalpas gone, he thal were appearjng inhis con-sciousness. lhe vikalpasl 9on6, he saw into he inner space agreen-black Sun but proceed immediat€ly to eradicate this inkydarkness.Then the softness of a massed lustr€ greeted lhe sageUddalaka But thattoo he el iminated jn no t ime fotlowing the wayol an elephant calf that gets into a lotus pond and tears awayand devastates the lotuses al laround. Once this massed splen-dour was gone, Uddalaka's mind succumbed to a spell of dseosleepjust as man highly intoxicated loses his sobriety and thengets rnto torpor; but the sage was prompt enough lo annullhisstate of sleep.Then his mind was l i l led with the conscjousnessol vyoma;pul iust as the wind sweeps away the dew-drops, heloo swept away from his mind this clearand stainless conscious-ness of vyoma. But, following that, some sori of dazed dullnessovenook him as if he was a heavily drunk man who had justcome out ol his torpid slale. Even this too he vanquished.

"Then, at long last, lhe sage Uddalaka reached the slalus ofNirvikatpa Samadhi, where the16 was neither anv obscuritv noranY ePhemeral luster."

That, in the state of Nirvikalpa lrance, the body becomesimmobile lik6 a painted image (citdrpjtamivacalah) and even avrolenl sense-appeal tai ls to bring back the soullo the waking

consciousness has been equally lorceful ly brought oul by the

Yoga-Vasishtha in lhe tol lowing accoilnt ol the Samadhi ol

Shlkhidhvajal"The queen Chudala went to the forest and lound lhere the

klng Shikhidhvaja saated, l ike a sculptured lree, in the stale ol

\rrvrkarpa lrance.she deliberaled: I mustnow seekto re'awaken

the king, otheruise he wil l leav€ his body very soon'Then the

oueen Chudala approached the king's body and shouted at the

too oi her voice. This loud sound and then the sound ot lhe

trumpet fr ightened and slart led lhe sylvan creatures' but thequeen's repeated attempts failed to evoke any response lrom

the king whose body romained kanced and immobile l ike a gran_

ile mass. Chudalalhen laid her hands on the body of Shikhidhvaja

and slafled violently agilat ing i t .Thus shaken, the king's bodylel l down and rol led on the ground, but even then he did not

recove- his waking consciousness Then the queen wonde'edand lhought. ' l l does nol seem lo be an easy propostlron to

awaken my Kingl Only i l he sl i l lpossesses the gain ol a desiresomewhere hidden in seed'lorm,lhat wil l help him to come backagain to the waking slale, In no other wise can he be aroused '

TheTrance-Experience ol Si Ramaki'hna:Now we come tothe verv aulhentic hislorical case ol the Sage ol Dakshinesvarawhose trance-experiences as depicled in his authoritat ive biog'raphy published by the Ramakrishn Order i tself we reproducebelow:

-Sr Ramakr,shna s Samadhi covered a wide tange o' expe_I ences from his Derceplion of various visions lo the annihi lal ionoi his mind in the int ini le consciousness ot Erahman. l t had alsornany forms....Thus he entered into a'world of powel, or 'a worldof beauty', or 'a world of spir i tual grandeur'. . . He would cofi l_rnunewith inv is ible beingsJo rms ol the Divinity or Divine Incarna-fons ot the pasl,

"Such visions however belong lo the domain ol Personali ly,whlch is not the last word in spir i tual experiences So long as a

1 8 Chapt€Fl

sadhaka is salislied with lhis kind ol samadhi. his a ainmentscannoi be side to be complele. He has not reached unlathom-able depths of the ocean, lhough undoubtedly he has gone larb€hind the sudace, encouni6ring the lorms ol l i fe aboundinglhere, but he has not y6t ransacked th6 priceless treasures oJihe deep, which r6v€al themselves only lo those who have thecourage to dive and on t i l l they have touched bo om.

"So we , ind Sri Famakrishna taking up another course otsadhana al logether di l terent lrom his previous ones."

Then, a lew pages luriher on, the biographer gives a vividd6script ion of the f irst Nirvikalpa Samadhi-siate of Sri Ramak-rishnal

"Sri Ramakrishna passe dinto the ineJfable glory of theNirvikalpa Samadhi. In ihal rapturous estasy the senses andmind slopped lhei lu nctions. The body became motionless as acorose. The universe rol led away lrom h's vrs on.even spaceitsell rnelted away. Everything was reduced to ideas which lloatedllke shadows in th€ dim background of the mind. Only lhe faintconscioLrsness ot ' l ' repeated itself in dull monotony. presentlythat loo stopped, and whal remained was Existence alone.Ihesoul losl i tself in the Selt, and al l idea ot duali ty, ot subject andobjecl, was eflaced. Limitations were gone, and tinite space wasone with inf ini le space. Eeyond speech, beyond experience andbeyond thought, SriRamakrishna had realised the Brahman-hadbecome the Brahman.

"Tolapuri {Sri Ramakrishna's Guru orthe spir i tual preceplorlsal lor a iong l ime, si lently watching his discipte. Finding himpertectly motionless, he stole out ot the roorn and locked thedoor lest anybody should inkude without his knowledge.Then heawajled the call lrom Sri Ramakrishna to open the door.The daVpassed on, the night came. Another day and sti l l another - threedays passed andlh€rewas no call . Tolapuri was astonished andwenl to see what was wrong.

'He opened the door and entered the room. There sat Sri

Ramakrihan in the very same posit ion in which he had lelt him.There was no manifeslalion of lile in the body, bul lhe counle'nance was calm, serene and radiani. He saw that the disciplewas sti l l dead io the objective world, his mind absorbed in theSell, w lhout a l l icker-absolutely steady!.

"With the utmosl care he lTotapuril determined il lhe hearlwas beating or il there was lhe slightest kace of respirationAgain and again he touchedthe disciple's corpse_like body.Therewas no sign either of l i le or ol consciousness.... l l was undoubl-ed y a case of the Nirviklapa Samadhi-lhe culmination ol Advaila

' 'Tolapuri immedialely look steps io bring the mind ol SriRamakrishna down to lhe world of phenomena.

AflerTotapuri lell Dakshineswar, Sri Ramakrishna decide towithdraw trom lhe world ot 'l' and 'Mine' and live conslanlly inunily wilh ihe Supreme.What lol lowed then is very much reveal 'ng lrom our point of view and worth reproducing into he sainfsown inimltable words:

' ' I slayed in that ineffable State Jor six months at a slretch, astate from which an ordinary soul knows no reiurn, his bodydropping olj life a withered leaf from a treel There was no senseoi lhe passage ol lime, ol how the days and the nighls went bylFl ies and insects used to get inlo the mouth and nostri ls ol mybody as J in those ol a corpse, but they evoked no responsefrom me. OJtentimes lwould ease nalure involuntari ly withoulberng n lhe leasl aware ol itl trly body would not have remalnedviable for long, i t would have surely dropped down dead, bul lorlhe circumstance ol lhe arrivalat this t ime ol a Sannyasin wilh aheavy stick in his hand. he realised my state at the very firslglance and iel l lhat i l this body could somehow be pr€served,much good would be done to the world lhrough its agency. l ithus so happened thal during meal-i imes he used io beat myoody wilh the stick and no sooner did he f ind that a taint gl immerol awareness had come, he would push some morsels ot good

Chapter'1

in lo the moulh. In this way, on some days, l i t t le bi t ol lood couldreach my stomach whi le on other days event hat much tai led.

'Six months rolled by in lhis wise. Then I heard the MothersVoace: Come down a bit and stay in thdya-Samddl,i do stay inBhava-Samadhi lor lhe weltare ol the world! 'Then a ser ious dis-ease assailed my bodily lrame-blood-dysenlery it wasl I had lhenlrequent bouts ot gr iping pains and unbearable cramps andwrenches in the stomach! After I had suffered lrom such in lenseagony lor long six monlhs, my consciences could come downl i t t le by; l i l l le in lo my body and l inal ly I regained the wakingslate ol or indarv men,"

So we have seen what Samadhi means and how the stal olNirvikalpa Samadhi is eulgisedas lhe spiritual slalus pat excel-/ence, Now w€ proceed to show thal t rance-experiences, how-ever lol ly or however deep, fai l to meel the demands ol ourYoga.and at lhe sametime indicale howourgoalol dynamic divinisat ionol lhe waking physical exislence can be realised.

Chapter-2

The Critique ofTrance-Solution

the

Chapter-2

The Voice rcplied: "ls this enough, O Spirit?And whal shall thy soul say when il wakes and knowsThe wo* was left undone tot which it came?Ot is this a for thy being bon on earthChatged with a mandato from eternity,

Ta pass and leave unchanqed the old dusty laws?Shall therc be no new lable6, no new Word,No greater light come down upon the earthDelivering her from her unconsciousness,Man's spitit lrcm unalterable fate?

ls this then lhe rcporl that I must make,My head bowed with shame beforc the Eternal's sea!,-His powet he kindled in thy body has failed,His labourcr rctuns, her task undone?"

fsri Aurobindo, Sayili', Eook Vll, Canlo ll, pp. 475-76)

"l am concened wilh the eatth, not with wotlds beyond forthetr own sake; it is a lartestial rcalisation that I seek anc! nota flight lo distant summits."

(Sri Aurobindo, On Himsef. p. 124)TRANCE-experiences are undoubledly ot great value in lhe

pursurt ol the spir i tual goal as ordinari ly undersiood, and theNirvikalpa Samadhitaken in the specif ic sense in whjch the termrs used, no doubt represents a supreme height ol real isation thata seeker may aspire after. Naturally enough, this most elevatedtrance-slale proves to be adequats if the goal is to pass awaylnlo lhe Superconscient and nol to bring down ihe Power and

24 ChapteF2

G ory ol the Supercoscient into o!r normal waking conscious-ness. B!l Samadhi experiences cannot sulJice in the least torthe objecl oi our Yoga ol TransJormation; 1or, our goal js no lesslhan the dynamrc divinisation ol o!r total €xistence including theoulermost parts of Pradrit i .To be more specil ic, viewed from lheperspeclrve off oulr spir i lual goal - lhe goal of embodying andmanitesting lhe highest spir i tualconscjo!sess here upon earthitsel i - lhe kance-solution lor ihe actual imperie t ions of ourworld'ex stence sulJers, among others, Irom the iol iowing defi-

(i)Th. supreme trance-state represents a slate ol conscious,ness or rather superconsciousness to which only a rare iew canordinari ly aitain. Thus, i i has got no general val ldity so far as lhegoal ol a wide-based terrestr ial feal isation is concerned.

(i i) Even when attained, there is no return for the majority otseekers from lhis sLlpteme heighl of splr i tuat consctousness. ttrs only the exceplionaily gifted lswarakotis or ,,divine souis,, whosucceed in coming back to the waking state.

CI. Swami Vivekananda, Camplete Wotks, Val. Vl, p. 4gg:"When once they [ordinary Sadhakas] somehow allain to the

direcl realisal ion of Brahman, they cannoi again come back tothe lower plane of rnaterial perception. They melt awav in Brah,rran . ' A5,re niavat - l ike warer i . milk.

So the question ol the divlnisation ot the wakinq existencebecomes otiose and if televanl,

(lll) Trad lionally, it is avefred thal even lhose rare iew whohappen lo return lrom lhe supreme state can do so on y throughlhe inlermediary ol a trace of ego and desires. Hence a cerlain.lower ng ol lhe key" becomes unavoidabte which places it at aremove lorrn lhe perfecl div ne realisatlon we aspire atter,

Cl. Swami Vivekananda, Camplete Works, Val. Vl, l p. 140:"The conclusion of the Vedanta is that when there is abso-

The Cri l ique ol the Trance-Solt t t ion

! ie Samadhi and cessai ion ol al l modif lcal ions, there rs no relurn

I r o m t h a t s t a t e ; a s t h e V e d a n t a a p h o r s m s a y s : a n a v l t t l

savdat........ Bul the AvaIarc cherish a few desires lor the good

al lhe wa d. By taking hold of that thread they come down hom

the superconsc ous to the conscious slale: ' ( l ta l ics ours)

Narral ion his own personal experience the Swamr says inthe same conlexl :

''| had lust a lrcce of the feeltng af Ego, so I could againretur, to ihe world oi relat v i ly l rom the Samadhi." ( /bld. , p. 139).( l ta cs oufs)

( iv) ln a more general way we may state that i i the enlry intothe lr gher reaches oi our being is el lecied only in ihe absorbedsuperconscienl staie ol t rance, the experience cannol becornereal to the whole existence, being val id only for a remole parlo l i l . T h , J s i l m i l i l a t e s a g a i n s t o u r g o a o J t h e c o m p l e l esprr lLra isal ion of lhe tolal i ly oi our existence,

{v) The Yogic l rance helps us to f ix lhe spir i tual experiencesrn our nner consciousness alonei i i cannot automal ical ly eadto the sp r i lual sat ion ol the outer waking consciousness. so lor{rs who a m al a lotal spir lual and supramenlal change, even,and In part cular, oi lhe outer pans of our Nalure, Samadhi asan InslrLrmentat on proves to be al together inadequale and fu-I e .

(v ) Because of the aforesaid tnabi l i ty 10 exercise anything0ul a re at ve and rnoderaie e evat ion inf luence on lhe ouler con,sc ousness, t so happens ihal when lhe Samadh ceases, lheihread rs broken and the sou relurns once again to the.,dis lrac-I o r ' " ' o I p F . t l c i o n s o l r h e o u t w a ' d l l € ,

As a rnalter oi fact, s ince one cannot cont inlaly rema n inl h e t r a n c e - s l a l e , w h i e l e a d i n g a n e m b o d i e d e x i s t e n c e ,vyufthanaat lhe ' re|u.n" l rom the superconscious slate becomesunavoidable, and wi lh lh s vyuthana " lhe lawet consc ousnessrom wh ch lhe ascent took p ace fal ls back lo whal i t was, wi lhe

Chapler-2

only the addit ion of an unkept or a remembered bul no longerdynamic experience,"

It rs because of this persistence o1 the disabil i t ies of thewaking mentality even after attainment oJ Samadhi that it issomelimes asserted that an absolute eradication of lgnoranceor a compiele ascension of consciousness from the "mortalmental i ty" become leasible ohly when the body and the bodilyrfe cease to lunction at dealh. \Cf . Yoga-Shikhopanishad,l. i63pendapalena ya muktih se muktirna tu hanyate.)

The foregoing discussion makes i l clear thal trance,exper -ences may be al l r ighl so lar as the tradit ionatYogas are con,cerned;ior, after al l , according lo them the true bondage is thevery process o{ birth ihe l iabi l i ty of the individual 1o rebirth lnthis "unhappy lransienl wo..ld" \anltyamasukham lokam). Libeta-tion achieved through the altainment of the knowledge of RealityshoLrld therefore have lor i ts practical consiequence lhe defini-lrve sloppage oi lhis cycl ic process off birth-death-rebirth.

And i i this is so, i f the cessalion from embod ed existencels consrdered lo be the summum bonum, one need concentraleonly on an inner realisai ion ol the inner Divine and not botheroneself wilh the possjbi l i ly or olhelwise of an integral terreskialrea sation. Also, the body, al lhough init ial ly a necessary instru-menl for the realisalion ot our spirjtual desliny \sariramadyamkhalu dharmasadhanam), may be allowed to disintegrate oncethai goal is achieved. (Cf. Sfi Bamakrishna: "Take oul the thornwith the help ot a thorn"t and Yoga-Vasishtha: "Renounce ihatwrlh which you rcnounce" lyena Iyajasitam tyala).

But this can by no means be our alt i tude 10 the body andbodily lile. For the Integral Yoga has for ils object ve:

( i) io make spir i iualexperiences reallo the whole conscious-ness including that of the outer being;

(i i) to establish the highest possible realisation ln the wakinqstate and make it endure there;

The Cri i que otthe Tr nc ion

( i i ) not only lo experience lhe Truth sublecl vely and in one s

nneT Consciousness a one, but to manl iest t even in ful l acl iv_

L l y i

( v) an inlegra possesslon ol the iniegra i ty of the D vine n

lhe t fe ol this world and nol on y beyond I

ln short , in the words of Sr i Aurobindo: ' l t is the obiecl of

my yoga lo i ransform i i le by br inging down into t the Light, Power

and B iss of the Divine Truth and i ts dynamic cer l i tudes. This

Yoga ls not a yoga of world_shunning ascet ic ism, but ol d vine

i fe . . i l aLms al a change ol l iJe and existence, nol as somelh ng

subordlnate oi nc dental , but as a d st inct and centra oblect "

Elsewhere Sf i Aurobindo points out that "not on y musl the

m nd be ab e to r se in abnormal staies out of i tsel l lnto a higher

consc oLrsness, brl iIs waking mentality also miust be entiely

Th s then s ourgoal, and hence trance-experlences a/orecannol he p us much in ach eving our objecl ive. lvoreover lheSamadh state as ordinari ly real ised sut iers l rom anotr ler greal

disab l i ly which may not be considerer as such when viewedlrom the standpoint oi the goal oJ th l rad t ional world-sh!rnningYogas but certainly so from our point of v iew.This s as regradsthe absence of any conscious memorj / of the trance exper encewl -r or " erLrns o lha wakrng menlaL.IV agd 1.

As a rnalter of fact the aim of the old Yoga stopassawayrnto lhe Superconscient and not to br ing back Lls dynamic [ iches11r the waking ouler existence with a view lo effectuate a spi .i tual l ransformal lon ther. Hence, as soon as theYogin goes aboveIne evel ol the spir tuai mind, he does not seek lo retarn anycont nui ly of awareness lhere; instead, he passes into the mys-I c sleep ol Samadhi, a slale of superconsciousness in wh chIne humam rnrnd in i ls actual ly evolved condit ion cannot remainawake even with what has been t€rmed the " inner waking" andnence passes nto ' the blank incomprehension and oon-recep

27

2a Chapter_2

tion oJ slumber." And as a resull, because ot the gull o, oblivion.lhe spirjlualexp€raences ol lhe superconscrenr rlance_stale loseall their dynamjc valu6 lor the waking conscrousness.

Brit this disability has to be remedied. Since we seek lo bringdown lhe Superconscjent into our normalwaking consciousness-we must sorn€how bridge the gur, heighten and inlensify o[jrsp{,tuat awakentng 6ven in the normally superconscienl reachesol berng and train our consciousness to bring back in lul l thedynamic memory ,, lrom the inner to the outer wakjng.,,

ln this connectton we leel tempted lo ,eprooJ ce tn extensownar lhe Mother said In repty lo the question.. ls the stare o,lrance or Samadhi a sign ol progress?,

"To enter inlo Saftadhi is to pass into a state ol which noconscious memory remains on awakenirrg.

. "ln ancient tirhes thjs was considereo as a very hagh condi-tion. lt was even thought that it was the sign ot a jreai reatisa_tion. .. .- l have read in al l kinds of so-ca ed spir i tuat t i terratuernarvellous thjngs aboul lhis state of trance of Sarnadhi; and ilhappened ihat I had never had it . I did not know iJ i t was a sign::^it : . :1I

A"9 *i"" larnved here lar pondicherry]. one ot r iyr,rs! questions to Sa Aurob,ndo was..Whal Ao you tnrnr. oi5amadnt. this slate ot lrace which one does nol remembe.? Oneenters into a condit ion which seems lo be bl issrul lbut when onecomes ol l of i l one never knows what happened.,He looked atrr le, he saw whal lmeant and lold me., l l is unconsctousness,

... yes, one enlers into what is cal led Samadhi, when one comesout ol one's conscioqs being and enters into a pan ol one,s beingwhich is completely unconscious or rather into a domain wherione_has no corresponding consciousness _ one goes beyondlhe field ul one's conscjousness and enters into a i"gton ,ri"reone has no mor€ consclousness. One is in the impersonal slale.That is why naturally one remembers nothing, oecause one hasnor been conscious ol anything'.. . . ..So you have lh6 reply. The sign of progress ts when there

is no morc unconsciousness, when you can ise to the sameregians without enteing inlo a trance."

At the time ot the publication ol thes Talk, the Molher addedlhe fol lowing remark:

.There are peopie who enter into domains where they havea consciousness, but between this conscious state and theirnormal wakeful consciousnes ihere is a gap: lheir individuali tydoes not exist between th€ waking state and th deeper state;ihen in the pa66age lhey lorgeL They cannot cafiy the conscious-ness thev had there into the consciousness here becaLrse lheres a gap belween the lwo. There is even an occult disciplinewhich consists in building the intermediary f ields, so thal onemay be able to remember things.'

But even this does not suff ice lor our goal. Forwhat we aimal is nol the conscious b nging back of the impressions, thereprolrng back lo lhe waking consciousness, in transcriptionsrnore or less pedect, whal on€ experiences in states al presenlsuperconscrent to al: we want inslead an integral supramenlallransformalion ol the waking existence itself. In lhe luminouswords ot Sri Aurobrndo:

"l t lhe control of [ th€] highest spir i tual being is to be broughtinto our wakrng lile, there must be a conscious heightening andwtderind inla mnens€ ranges of new being, new consciot/s-ness. new potential i t ies ol aci ion, a taking up - as integral asposs ble - ol our pregenl being, consciousness, activit ies anda lransmulation of them inlo divine values which would euecl aIransfiguratton of our human exislence. For wherever a radicallransition has to be made, lhere is always thjs triple movement,- ascenl, widening of f ield and base, integration..."

So we see that an orderto have a divinely translo.med wak-rng exrstence, and ascension to lhe trance-stale or even theoL dr^q up ot a conscrous bndge between that and the wakingslale rs nol enoJgh Something much more revolutinary is needed:

c

.e€

+.=

:6o ,,,|.=

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2

6

oc

=(5E

'P.=

() F

-J

Chapter-3

-I he Passaoe clescribes lhe slale of consciousness when

one is alool frc; a thlngs even when in lheh midst and all islelt lo be unreal, an illusion. Therc arc then no prefercnces ordesies because things are too unreal to desire orto prefer onelo another. But, at the same time, oneloels no necessity to lleekom the world or not to do any action, because being frce lrcmthe illusian, action ot living in the wo d does not weigh upanone, one is nol bound or involved.

fSri Aurobindo, Lette6 on Yoga, pp. 682-83)

When one sees a mircgefotthefirct time, he mistakes it lora reality, and after vainly trying to quench his thitst in it, leanslhat il is a miage. Eut whenever he sees such a phenomenonin luture, in spite ol the apparcnt rcality, the idea that he seesa miage always preaonts itself to him. So is the wo d ol Mayato a Jivanmukta (the libeftted in life)

(Swami Vivekananda, Co ected Wotks, Vol. Vl, p. 104)

I am neither the doet nor the enjoyer. Action' have I none,pasl or present or fulute. I possess ,o body nor doestodylessness characteise iry state. How can I say what is mine

lDattal(aya, Avadhuta-G ita, 1.66]l

We have seen in lhe previous chapler why the Yogic kanceeven i l i t be of lhe supreme sort, the Nirvikalpa Samadhi, fai l tomeet the demands ol theYoga of Transformalion. As a matter oftact whal we envasage tor our goal is very much wider in base,iar superior in scope and loJtier in i ts Jl ight than lhe attainmentsoflered bV ihe Nrrvikalpa trance. In Sri Aurol indo's own words,' ' the realisai ion oi this yoga is noi lower but higher than Nlrvana

Chaoter-3

or N rvika pa Samadhi," For, we do nol want to be sat isf ied withinner psycho,sp r i lLal experiences alone, we seek loo the iotalano cornptele real lsatron oi lhe Divine in lhe ouler;onscious,ness and in lhe l i fe of acl0n.

Bul rhe detractor may inler ject at ih s po nt: .The wakingrealsalg on thai you are aiming al-has 1 nol been already pos,sessed by those who have been varously lermed i ivanmukta{ berated wh e sl i l l leading a bod|y t i le ' ) . s/h/ tapral ta ( ,estab_shed in the l rue Knowetdge and Wisdom), at ivarn asrami ( ,be-

yond al standards ol conducl')ot brahmavid('one who has knownand become lhe BrahmanT )?" - 1he impl ical lon of the quest ionbelng lhat there is al ler al nothing esseni iai ty new in lhe deal

BLrt a r i t e ref ect on w I suff ice io show that the Jivanmuktirealrsatron or real isal ionS of the Same gerr"e lal l iar shori of thegoal ol div idnised waking physlcal existence that is lhe objectof our own Yoga. Alter al l , who is a Jivanmukta? And what es_sent al ly characler ises his comportmenl vis-a-vts lhis world oidynamtc manJeslat ion? For a sui table answer et us lal l backupon three c lal ions, chosen ai random Jrom amongst a host otolhers and cul led trom ancient texts as wel l as l rom lhose of ouroay.

F rst lrom the great lvlonislic texl yoga-Vasishtha Bamayana:"The Jivanmukia is one to whose consciousness only the

und l terent ialed Vyoma exists and this phenornenal world haslost ai l real i iy, ahhough his organs may appear to tunct ion asbelore.. . . He maintains his body wi lh whatever l i t e comes to i tnaiural ly and effort lessly. . . He is cal led a Jivanmukta who is nomore awake to the wot ld oi senses al though his sense-organsappear to be awake as ever, , . . He who has transceaded the ego_sense and does nol gel involved in act ion is indeed a Jivanmuktawfrelher he is acl ive or not. ' ,

Now from Sri Famakrishna: , ,He who has ai iained this knowl,

The Cri t ique of the J vanmukti 'Solul ion 35

edge ol Brahman is a Jivanmukta, l iberated wh le l iv ing In the

body. He righily undersland that lhe Atman and the body are two

separate thinqs.. . . These two are separate l ike the kerne and

lhe shel l of the coronul whi le i ts mi lk dr ies up The Alman moves,

as i t were, within lhe body. The kernel of a green almond or

beleL-nut cannot be separaled lrom the shel l ; but when lrrey are

r ioe the luice dr ies up and ihe kernelseparales Irom lhe shel l

AJter ihe al tainment ol Knouieldge ol Brahman' the'mi lk ol

worldlv-mindedness dires uP.

Final ly a long excerpi f rom Swami ;Vivekananda: - He has

reached ihe perfect ion which the Advai l ist wants lo at iain; atd

at that mament. . . Ihe vei l of ignorance fal l away irom him' and he

wil l teel his own nature. Even in this l i ie, he wi l leel thal he rs

one with lhe universe. For a dme, as i t were, ihe whole oJ this

ohenomenalworld wi i l d isappear for him, and he wrl l realLse whal

he is- But so long as lhe Karna ol this body remains he wtll

have 1o / jve. This siate, when the vei l has vanished and yet lhe

bodv rema ns tor some t lme, is what the Vedant ist ca Jlvan

mukl i , the l iv ing freedom. l i a man is deluded by a mirage ior

some t ime ano one daY the mirage disappears_i i i l comes back

again nexl day or ai some future l ime, he wi l l nat be deluded

Belore the mirage i i rst broke, the man could not dls i inguish

belween the real i ly and the decept ion But when l t has once

broken, as long as he has organs and eyes to work with ' he wi l l

s€e lhe image, but wi l l no more be deluded Thal t ine disl inct on

between the actualworld and the mirage, he has caught, and thelatter cannol delude him any more. So when the Vedanl lst has

real ised his own naiure, the whole world has vanished for him. /1wilt come back again, bul no mare the same wo d.

The above three excerpts purpoding to characief ise the sta-tus oi a Jivanmukla make il abundantly clear Ihal prima facieJivanmukti in the specif ic sense in which i l is general ly underslood can be" by no means measure up lo our ideal of the di_vinelv dvnamic transformation of the whole ol our waking exist

The Cfl t rque of lhe J,vanmukh_Solul ion 37

ence. But belore we pass the finatjudgment jt would be bellef lorus lo examine, in however briel a manner, some ol lhe princioall rai ls ol the Jivanmukti-real isat ion.

Jivanmukti and Videhaml,k i Jivanmukti is never consideredlo be ihe goal in i tsel t ; i t is, so to say, no more lhan a slopgaparrangemenl, wayside inn, - the ultimate goal, the gaal pat exceL/erce, being always v/itehamuktlor the liberation that is attainedwith the dissolution ol the body. But this vjdehamukti ot disem-bodied liberation" is sorJghtto be eflected in two stages: the lirstslage, the penullimate atlainmenl as il were, is reached whenthrough the gaining of ihe kue Knowledge ol Reality of one,s ownbeing as wel l as ol lhe world-existence, the propensitv to futLlrebrths In lhts phenomenal untverse ts al(ogether sramped oul;the second and l inal stage being the drop ping ol l of the currentbody{ormation and the afiainment to the stalus ol videhamukti_Jivanmukti represents the status ol thal seeker who has at_ready attained SettKnowledge but is st i l l leading the presenlbodi ly l i fe await ing the day when this wi l l cease tor good and hewill become "liberated jn bodylessness,' fyldehamukta)

h fol lows then ihal the Jivanrnukt istatus is the more vatuedthe more i l approaches lhe characterof Videharnukt i even whi lethe Siddha is sti'l is his body. So lhe divine transtormation ol thebodrly exislence has here no relevance al all. As a mater ollacl, lhe famous Vidyaranya Muni, one of the reputed aulhors ofthe l\ronislic Work Panchadasht wrote aJulllrealise onJivanmuk-t , cal led Jivanmukti - Viveka, only to prove at the end thal af teral l Videhamukti is the sum mun bonum and Jivanmukti is aslep towards this supreme goal.

But il this so, lhe queslion arises: why, then, even after theal larnment of Sel l -Real isal ion. shoutd the Siddha agree at al l toremarn lor some t ime in lhe body in the Jivanmukti-status andn0t pass immediately and direc y into VrdehamLrkt i , when lhelal ter is the real objeci ive soughl al ter? The answer that is oen-eral ly ol le 'eo is in te.ms of the Theory of Karma whrch we ;ave

already discussed in Chapter l . Since Prarabdha Karmas ( lhal is

to say, lhose that have started bearing lheir rrujts) have pro'

duced our present body and since these cannot be in kuci i t ied

except through their exhaust ion by sufferance, even on the al_

ta nmenl ol l iberat ion, lhe body may cont inue lo remain viable

lor some t ime, bul lor some t ime only. When the Prarabdhas are

over, the body automatical ly dis integrates and ihe Jivanmukirstalus gives place to Videhamukti .

Thus lhe Jivanmukti real isat ion appears almosi as lhe vrr-

lue ol a necessi ly and lhe waking physical existence In lhrsphenomenal universe cannol be considered in ihis view to be a

I eld special ly worthy ol spir i tual isal ion

In ordef lo substant iale the points thal we have made above,

we adduce below a lew observal ions drawn lrom di l lerenl

_.. .Al ter real is ing that s late descr ibed in lhe scrrplures, lhe

sarnl se€s the Self in al l beings and in that consciousness de_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 lhisstate which has been descf ibed by the authors ol the Shaslras(scr iplures) as Jivanmukti , 'Freedom whi le l iv ing' ."

( l la l ics ours)

{Swami Vivekdnanda, Complete Works, Vol.Vl l pp l l2 '1 1 3 ) .

A Devolee: Does lhe body remain even ai ter the real izal iono ' G o d ?

Masler: 'The body survives with some so lhal lhey may worKout lheir Prarabdha Karma or work lor the weltare oi others.. . . Olcourse, he . .escapes future bir ths which would otherwise benecessary ior reap ng lhe results ol his pasl Karma. His presenlbody remains al ive as long as i ts momenlum is not exhausted;but luture blr lhs are no longer possible. The wheel moves so

3 8 Chapter-3 39

long as the impulsethal has set t tn molion lasts. Then tt comes

( t a l i c s o u r s )

(The Gaspel of Sr i Ranakrishna, p.431

"The ul l i rnate l iberat ion f f rom the cha]n of bir thsl is at tarnedw th the dawning of ihe Knowledge itsetl.l' ('tiaar asamakabmutahk a i v a l y a m y e t i " r S h e s h a c h a r y a , P a r a m e r t h a s e r a a rAryapafrcasili,Sl).

" O n c e a J v a n m u k t a , o n e h a s n o r n o r e f u t u r e b i r t h s ,l 'bhhyajanmavinirmuktam jivanmuktasya tanmanah : yoga-yesrstha Upashama-Prakarana, 90. 1 8).

'He that has Knowledge.. .reaches that goal whence he isnaI bam again" ('yastu vijfiiinayan bhavati...sa tu talpadamepno[ivasmrd bhRyo no jeyate"r Katha-Upanisad, / / / .8).

'Even after at laining to the stalus i J ivanmukia, one conl in-!es for a whie to remain in his body, merely loexhausl themementum ol ihe Prarabdha" ('prerabdhakarmavegeraiivanmuktoyadi i bhavet. Kahci l kalamathe tabd ha ka rm av and h asy a

Shankaracharya, Ve kyav rtti, 52).' t le has to wait f for h]s Videhamukti l only so long as he is

not released trorn his body. A1 the fal l of the body he at iains tothe supreme status" ("tasya Evadeva clram yevanna yimakseaiha sampatsye": ChSrdagya-Upanisad, 6. 1 4. 2 )

"Once the Prarabdhas are expenenced and gone ihrough,one acquires the supreme liberation' (bhogera tvitare ksapayitverarrpadydte : Vva.a, B2hmasnlra,4 1 19 .

' 'Once the body gels consumed byTime, the Knower leavesh i s s t a t u s o l J i v a n m u k t i a n d e n l e r s i n t o l h e s t a l e o f V i d e h a m u k t 'l j ivanmuktapadam tyaktva svadehe kalasetkrte,vrsaiyadehamuktalvam": Yoga-VAslstha, l l . I 14 )

"When he takes up his abode in i t , he grieves noi, but whenhe is set free lrom it, that is his deliverance"l ("anusheya nasacati v i muktasca vimucyate" : Katha-U panisad, V.l.)

"The Jivanmukia, even while he is sl i l l al ive, has in reali tyrc body alAll" \"jivato'pi asairatvan siddham" :Shankat).

"The l iberai lcn thai one gains atthe fal lof lhe body is indeedthe highest one, for thls liberation cannot be negatived any more"("pindapArcna ya muktih 6a muktina lu hanyate":Yogasikhopan isad, 1 .163)

' 'At Jhe ial l oi his body theYogi merges in his supreme sell

be ng, just as the space inside an ear then poi vanishes in thegreat-cosmic Space, when the pol is broken and gone" (ghatebhinne ghaEkesa, ekase liyate yathe, dehebhAve talha yogisv at upe patametnani": Dallateya, Avadhuta'G i6, 1 .69\

"Once one attains toVidehamukti, there is no more return toih s phenomenal wo(ld" \"punarevrt l irchitam kaivalyami @tipadyale" : S h a n k a echa rya, V e kyawtti ).

"There is more coming back forthem" (tesem na punatawftih":Bthad atanyaka Upanisad, 6.2.15).

"No more whee l i ng i n t h i s human wh i r l poo l " ( " i r rammanavamavartam nevartante" I C endogya Upanisad,8.15).

ll is clear irom what goes before lhat, contrary to olr ownatl tude to the body and physical existence, th€ Jivanmukti idealdoes not altach much impoftance to any terrestrial realisationas such; i t only tolerates lhe bodily l i fe so long as i l has io beborne and thus lr ies, i f we may say so, make the besl ol a badbargain.

But whalever be the nature ol the ideal sought, how does aJlvanmukta behave so far as his waking state is concerned?Does his dynarric l i fe sal isly the cri lerion ol a divinely purposiveand actve phys ical exislence? Heretoothe answeris an unambig-U O U S N O

4 140 Chaple.3

Jivanmuktaand the DynamicWaking State:The goalwe en-visage for our sadhana is, as we have slressed so many timesbeiore, is "not only to r ise oul o, the ordinary ignorant world'consciousness into lhe divin€ consciousness, but lo bring lhesupramental power ol that divine consciousness down inlo lheignoranca of mind, l i f€ and body, to lranslorm them, to manilestlhe Divine here and creat€ a divine lite in Matter." lt is ihus al-mostan axiomatic truth lhat Yoga byworks should Jorm an indis-Densable oart of our sadhana and an essential element ot ourrealisation iJ we would seek lo transplantthe fullness ol the spiriiin ihe f ield ol l i fe and acl ion., But the Jivanmukla does not in theleast manifest this divine dvnamis and thus does not measureup to our ideal.

As a matter of lact he is altogether indifferenl lo acl ion\kurvato' kutvatah). For, although apparently sljll in his body, theJivanmukia does not really participate in any of iis workings.The world st i l l app€ars beforo him, but he is no longer deceivedby whal he would cal l i ts mry6. Indoed he looks upon h s body"as if a corpse separated from his Sell" ('syavapuh kunapamivad r s yate yatasladvapu rapad hvasta m" : Pa ra m ac h ms a - U pa n i sad ).

The result is that a Jivanmukta is indi lJereni lo his bodllyl i le. Jusi as a person inloxicaled wilh l iquor is altogelher oblivi-ous ol the absence or olhelwise of his dress, so ts lhe Jivanm!kaotlhe stal€tand location ol his ephemeral body. Whether the bodyremains stal ionary al a place or qets displaced lrom lhere oreven sturnbles down is equal to him." Also, " lhe Brahmavid doesnever remember his body. l l continu€s lo be maintained by theLile brcalh, pfina-veyu, just as a trarned horse goes on pullingthecaflas evereven when lhedriver has withdrawn a this atien-lron. '

Thusthebodily mechanism ol a Jivanmukta may indeed con-i inue 1o iunction because oi the galhered force ol Prakrit i and hemay apparently walk and speak and behave as belore, but allthis is l ike an emply machine in no way supported by any par

The Critioue ol the 'JivanmuKi-Solution

ticipating consciousness. The liberat€d spirit wilnesses lheseaction (Seksyaham) butdoes not take partthem ("ksiyante cesyakarmeni: Yoga-sikhoparisa4 lV45). There is no sense of per'

sonal aclion lno ku e napi kaaye) hence lor the Jivanmuktathere is no bondage or responsibility lna sa mudhavallipyate;mamekatturaleqasYa).

As a matler of facl, it is ihe organs o, sense and action lhalbecome automalical lY acl ive for the conlinued maintenance ollhe body (cak suredindriyam svalah pavatlate vahihsva he )and the Jivanmukla himseif l iving al l the while " in communaon oloneness with the Transcendent" soems 10 the oulward eye to beacting as a somanbulist \suptabuddhaval ). Fot''although he haseyes, he acts as lhe eyeless; al lhough he has ears, he acts as'rF ea4ess: al lhough he has sDeech, he acls as lhe speechless;and although he has l i le, he acts as the l i leless." '

Thus there cannot be any dynamically purposive action inthe l i fe ol a Jivanmukta. He pari icipates, i f at al l , only in simpleinnocuous acl ion meanl solely lor the upkeep of lhe bodylkevalam seiam karma), or in those which are occasioned byhisprevlous Samskaras ('lrurvacerakamegabm ecerumecannti" )or at the mosl in lhose apparently signi l icant aci ions which arebroughl about nollhrough his personal init iat ion butonly throughthe agency of the Prarabdha (yathepreptam hikarlyavyam, kutukeryam yathegahm).

The loregoing analysis shows unmistakably lhat Jivanmuktias tradit ionallv conceived cannot at al l be equated to our ideal.What we aim at is somelhing radically dillerent lrom lhis statusol rnner l iberation,

.9EGcooofGoo

t;E;o()F

Chapter-4

I have met Spirit with spitit, Seff with self,BUI I have loved too the body ol my god,

(Sri Aurobindo, Savltfi, Book X, Canto lV p. 649)Nature shall live to manildst secrct God,The Spitit sha lake up lhe hunan pla,,This earthly hfo become lif6 divine

(ibld,Book Xl, Canro I, p. 711)

Elernal status and etenal dynamb dt6 both true of the Beal-tty which it9elf aurpasses both status and dynamis; the immo-bile and the mobile Brahman arc both ;the same Realitv

(Sir Aufobindo, The Lile Divine, p.459)

We have...to possess consciouslythe active Bnhmanwith-au! losing possession ot the silent Se , We have a presetye theinnet silence, tranquility, passivity as a foundation: but in placeof an alool indilfercnce to tha ti/orks ol th6 actjve Brahman wehave ta arrive at an equal and ifipattial delight in them: in placeot a rclusalto participate le6t oul heedom and peace be lost wenave lo arrive at a conscious possession ol the aclive Bahmanwhase jay of existence does not abrcgate Hi6 peace, not Hisladship al atl workings impah Hie catm lrcedom in the midst of

fSri Aurobindo, The Synthesis ol Yoga, p.389).The discussion in lhe preceding chapter has mad€ the point

c ear thal since ourYoga aims at the realisation ol the Divine inIhe outer consciousness and l i le as well as in the inner one, theJlvanmukh with his aiool inditferonco to or al the best a be-nevolent lolerance lor lhe dynamic r,vaking oxistence can neveroe ouf ideal_

Chapter'4

8ut what are atier all the essenijal ditficulties ot spirilualrealisalion on lhe gross physical plan€? Why is the liie ol actionand creation viewed with so much misgiving by most ol the kadt-l ional. spir i lual seekers? What makes our pre6enl worldly exist,ence apparently so incorrigible in i ts nature as to induce even SrlKrishna, the propounderofthe gospelof dlvine actton, to almostadmitaltheendthatloshunthistransientand unhappyworld inperhaps after al l the best possible solution?

And what about that wonderful dynamic sain SwamiVivekananda? Did he not at the snd give the simile of a god,s tailIn order to represent tho impossibi l i ly of transformation? Alas,slraighlen il as much as you like, but release i! and the momeniafter, lbe wretched thing becomes curled again! l t looks almostan irony of s'tuation that this dynarhic personality who did notflinch lo declare in the earlier part ol his Yogic lite:

"l have lost all wish lor my salvation, may I be born againand again and suffers thousands of miserjes so thal I may worship the only God that exists, th6 only cod I betieve in, lhe sum-total ol al l souls,-and above al l , my God the wicked, my cod ihemiserable, my God the poor of al l races, of al l €pecies is thespecial obie€t 0f my worship."

-should almost abdicate and confess just two years beforehis passing away:

"l have bundled my thing and am wait ing of the great deliv-

"Shiva, O Shiva, cafiy my boat to the other shore/"AJler al l , I am only the boy who used io l islen with rapt

wonclerment to the wonderlul words of Ramakrishna under theEanyan at Dakshineswar. That js my lrue nature:works and ac-t ivit ies, doing good and so forth are al l superimposit ions. Now Iagain hsar his voice: the same old voice thri l l ing my soul. Bondsare breaking-love dying, work becoming tasteless- lhe glamour

s of i l i fe. Only the voice ol the [ /aster is cal l ing. - | come Lord,

I come. 'Let the dead bury the dead, fol low thou me. ' ' ' l come,

l.iy be oved Lord, i come..Yes, I come.Nirvana is before me: I leel r i at t imes-the same

inl lni te ocean of peace, withoul a r ipple, a brealh..-

"The sweetesl moments of my life have been when I was

dtillin$ I am difling agan-with the bright warm sun ahead and

masses oi vegetat ion around-and in ihe heat everything is so

st i l l , so st i l l , so calm-and lam dri l t ing languidly _ in the warm

heart ol the tivetl I dare not make a splash with my hands orfeet-fat fear ol breaking the maryilous stillness, still ness ihalmakes you Je6l sure it is an //usion,

"Behind my work was ambilion, behind my love was person'

alny, behind my putky was lear, behind my guidance the thirstforpowel/ Now they are vanishing, and I dr i t l . I comel Molher, Icomel In Thy warm bosom, f loat ing wheresoever Thou takestme, in the voiceless, in the skange, inlo he wonder,and, I come-a speclalor, no mote an actor.'

Are lhen act ions and creat ions such great binding elernentsas to be obl igator i ly lef t oul al lhe end? Did not Sr i Ramakrishnagive the image ol a pregnant woman whose work- load dimin_ishes day by day?

Bul the di f f icul ty experienced by a spir i tual seeker in guard_ing the peace of the si lenl Self whi le engaged in dynamics act iv_i ly is more incidenlal lhen intr insic. l t ar ises oul of the menlalbeing's exclusive concentrat ion on i ls "plane ol pule exislencein which consciousness is at rest in passivi ly and del ight oJexrsience al rest in peace ol existence." Because of lhis exclLrsiveness, when the Mind seeks at t imes to al ly i tsel f to acl ion,Ln the absence of adequate preparat ion i l p lunges headlong inloIne old obscuring movemant of lotce instead ol exercisrng aconscious maslery over i t ,

4a ChapleF4

I t is because of this ignorant relapse brought about by thedynamic play ihal lhe menlal Purusha is so ready to condemnall action and dynamism,. To i ls judgment, al l dynamism mustbe loreign to ihe supreme nalure otlheAbsolute whose onlytrueand whole bring musl be a status silent and immulable, fealure-ess and quiescenl. Thus cancell ing the dynamis of Brahman,lhe Mind goes on to asserl thal lhis supreme Reality can at al lbe rea sed only lhrough a consciousness thal has itsel l laltennonaclive and si lenl and, what is more, " l iberal ion musl dostroyall possibi l i ty ot mental or bodily l iving and annihiate the lndi-vidual exrstence for ever in an impersonal inf inity."

But we shall presently see that none of the foregoing as-sumplions is absolulely val id. As a matter of facl, al l the ditf i-cul ly disappears i f along with the plane ot pure existence onecan embrace lhe plane ol conscious force of exjslence, the ChitTapas, of Sachchidananda. in which "consciousness is acliveas power and wjll and delight is active as joy ol exislence."

And lhis is possible. Eecause Brahman i lselt is integral, l lhas an aclive aspect as well asa slatic one and both are equallyrea l . The i n teg ra l rea l i sa t i on demands the rea l i sa t i on o fSachchldananda rn both His aspects, in the aspecl ln which H6is 'sovereign, free, lord ot things, acting out of an inal ienablecalm pouring rlselt oul in inJinite action and quali ly oul ol aneternal seitconcenlration, the one supreme Person holding inhimself al l lhis play ol personali ly in a vast equal impersonatity,possessing lhe inf ini le phenomenon oi the universe wilhoul at-lachmenl but wilhoul any inseparable aloolness, wilh a divinemastery and an innumerable radial ion of his eternal luminoussejf-delight - as a manilestation which he holds, but by which heis not held, which he governslreely and by which therelore he isnol bound." -as well as in that in which He is "sj lenl passivequi-. l isi jc, seif absorbed, self-suft icient,.. .one, impersonal, with-out play of quali t ies,lurned away lrom lhe inf ini le phenomenonol the universe or viewing it wiih indi l lerence and without part ici

palron.

We have said lhal the elernalstalus ol being as well as lhe

eternal movemenl ol being are both real ol the supreme Flealily

8ut lhe question arises: can lhese two staluses co-erisl? Are

lhese simultaneouslyrcalisable? Or, rather, one has lo withdrawlrom one ol lhe slaluses in order to realise the olher' so much so

lhal depending on the slalus on which one concenltales al lhe

momenl. one ol these may appear to be lhe inerl ia ol reposewhile the olher the inert ia of mechanical repeii l ion ot movement

An rntegral spir i lLlal real isal ion atl irms lhal the elernal sla'lus and lhe eternal dvnamis are not only bolh /eal but lhey arealso simullaneous, 'The status admits ol action ol dynamis and

the action does not abrogate the status.'Thus "all lhai is in he

kinesas, lhe movemenl, the action, the creation, is the Brahman;the becomang is a movement of the being;Time is a manilestal ion ot the Elernal. Al l is one Being' one Consciousness oneeven in inlinite multiplicily, and there is no need lo basect il Inlo

an opposit ion ol transcendent Reali ly and unrealcosmic May-'

Bul the dif{iculty is that il is often trenchantly asseded as alact ol sDirituat experience that the Reality is ind€€d leaiurelessand immutablo and lhe universe ol mani{eslation is broughl aboulby the i l l lsionary l \ ,4aya'Power ol the Suprome Allhough thisassert ion lhal the onlv active Power lhe absolule Truth pos'

sesses is lhat of creating i l lusion and lalsehood and'dissolving'lhem in lurn lacks in vraisimil i tude, the rejoinder is made ihatthis is nol a question of vraisemblance or no, nor is i l an issuelhat can be seitled by means ot logical validalion or otherwrse'lor this is the inetlable myslery ol Maya (aniNacaniye) nollo hecomprehended by reason or mind.

And lhis posil ion is sound ind€ed. For, whalever the merltsor demerits, the slrong or weak points, oi a parl icular philosophl 'cal iormulal ion. the spir i tual experience lhal i l s€eks lo repre_senl remains in i lsel i eiernally val id and can only be integrated

4 9

50 Chapter-4

in the compass of another expe ence much more wide and muchmore lofty. For, as SriAurobindo has so forcelul ly pointed out, 'a

single decisive spir i tLral experience may undo a whole edil ice ofreasoning and conclusions erecled by the logical intel l igence."

So, instead ol engaging in sterile intellectuai d ebates, in thismatter ol lhe realily orotheMise ot the dynamis of the Absolute,let us l isten to SriAurobindo describing his own personalspir-lual real;sation:

"The solul ion of the malter must rest not upon logic, butupon a growing, ever heightening, widening spir i tual experience-an experience which must of course include or have passedthrough that of Niruana nad Maya, othewige it wauld not be com-plete and wauld have no decisive value.

"Now to reach Nirvana was the first radical result ol my ownYoga. l t lhrew me suddenly into a condit ion above and withoutthrough, unslained by any mentalor vital movement; thefe wasna ego, no real wo d- only when one looked through lhe immo-brle senses, something perceived or bore upon i ls sheer si lencea world ol empty forms, materialised shadows ,lithout true sub-slance- There was no One or many even, only just absolutelyThal, Iealureless, relationless, sheer, indescribable. unthinkable.absolute, yet supremely teal and solely realfhis was no mentairealisal ion nor something gl impsed somewhere above,_noabstracl,on,-it was posilive, the only posjtive reallty,alihough nota spalral physical wofld pervading, occupying or rather l loodingand drowning lhis semblance ol a physical wortd, leaving noroom or space tor any reali ty but i tsel l , al lowing nothing else toseem at al l actual, posit ive or substantial. . . What i t [ lhe exper!encel brought was an inexpressible peace, a stupendous Si_ence, an inf inity oi release and freedom. I l ived in that Nirvanaday and night before i t began to admit other things into i tsel l ormodily i lself al al l , and the jnner heart of experience. a constantmemory of i t and its power to return remained unti l in the end

The lssue: Status or Dynamis

t began to disappear lrto a greater Super consciousness tram

above. But meanwhile realisal ion added itself to realisation and

fused ltself with this original experience At an early stage tte

aspect of an ittusionary wotld gave place to one in which illusion

is only a small su{ace phenomenon wilh an immense Divine

Realitv behind i l and a supreme Divine Reali ly above it and an

lntense Divine Reality in the heart of everything thai had seemed

a1 lrrst onlV a cinematic shape or shadow. And thls was no /eim_

Drisanmenl in the sense, no dininution orfalltrom supreme ex-perience, i t cam ralher as a constanl heighlening and widening

oi the Truthi il was the Spiril that saw objects, nol lne senses'

and the Peace, the Silence,lhe keedom in InJinity remained al '

wavs wlth the wold or al lworlds only as a continuous incidenl ln

lhe t lmeless eternitY oi lhe Divine' ' . .Nrrvana n my l iberated consciousness turned oLl Io be

the beginning of my realisation, a fist step towards the com'ptete thing, noi the sole irue attainment possible or even a

cuiminat ng f inale."

The world is thus real, the Becoming is as realas the Be ng'

lhe dynamls ol Sachchidananda is as rnuch a spir i tLlal tacl as

His lmmobile slatus. Indeed, the Divine does nol contain al l only

n'a transcendent consciousness. He is the one Sell oJ al l ' saf-vabheantaretma. He is Ihe All, vesudeva saryam, nol merely In

the'unioue essence'bul in the manifold names and forms "Allthe soul- l i fe, mental, vital, bodily existence of al l lhal exisis I is]one ndivisible movemenl and activity ol lhe Being who is thesame for ever." "All is one Being, one consciousness, one evenin inl inite mull iDl ici lv,."

Thus action and creation cannot in the very nature oi lhingsbe lncompaiible wilh the pedect and total realisalion oJ the Su_preme; a really dynamic l iving cannot go counier lo ihe al lain-ment oi the supreme status of being; lor "al l thatisin kinesis'lhe movement. lhe acl ion, the creation is Brahman."

Chapter-4

Granled that Brahman has two aspecls equally real, equallylrue: an acl ive one as well as a passive one, Granted that thereis ample lheorei lcal jusl jJication why lhe two aspecls can besimuitaneously embraced and realised. Bul sl i l l the question re-mains: Why is il lhat "1r, expeience we lind thal...il is, normally,a qubscence lhat brings in lhe stable realisation ol the eternaland the rnl initer i t is in si lence or quietude thal we leel mosti irmly ihe Something that is behind the world shown to us bV ourmind and sens€s.?"

l l is ihus reasonedihat, nprucl lceif not intheory, al laction,al l creal on, al l delermining perception must n their very natufemit and obscure lhe stable realisal ion, and hence these have

to diminish and disappear i f we would seek to enler the rndivis-ible consciousness oi the Real.

Here too, as well shall presently see, the reasoning s fal la,cious. Fcr i t is not dynamism as sLrch that binds and invotvesthe soul of lhe seeker; i t is lhe intr insic incapacity ol our rnind-conscrounsess that is al the root of lhe trouble.

Chapter-5

The mind-Consciousness : itsachievements and Failures

Chapter-5

A bldck veil has been lifted; we have seenThe mighty shadou'| ot ths omniscient Lord;But who has lifted up the veil ol lightAnd who has seen the body ol the King?

(SriAurobindo, Savit i Eook l l l , Canto l l . p. 311)

It is ce ain lhat you won't be able lo know the Atman throughlhe mind.You have to go beyond the mind. As lherc is no tnstru'menl beyond the mind-foronlythe Atman existstherclhete theobiect of knowledge becomes lhe same as the instrument olknowledge....lt is therefore that the Shruti says, 'Viineadmere

kena vijeniyetlhough whal are you to know lhe El€rnal Sub-iect?

(swami Vivekananda, Compldte Wo*s, vol.vll, p.142)

lf the Mind6 were the last word and there were nothing be'yond it except the purc Sphit, I would not be avetse lo accephngil [Mayavad wilh its sole strcss on Nivana] as the only wayout.. But my experience is thal therc is something beyond mind;Mind is not the lasl t/od hele ol the Spirit...There is a TrulhConsciousness, nol static only and sell-introspective, but alsodynamic and creative...

(Sri Aurobino, On Himsel, P.1a3)

we have seen thai for the seeker of the lnlegral Yoga lherealisation of lhe'passive 8lahman', of the pure quiescenl selt-existence independent ol al iworld-play, cannol be more than lhenecessarvJirst basis.We cannol restwith an ul ler wilhdrawal inconsciousness lrom ihe univetsal manileslation. We musl in-slead return upon lhe world of action and creation and seek lo

Chapter-5

repossess and remould our mind, l i fe and body with the lumi-nous dynamis ot the'active Brahman'and identify ourselves,freeiy and in the inf inite sel '-del ight ol lhe Being, with al l theoulpouringol Chil-Tapas, ofConsciousness and its creative Force,inTime and in Space-

But lhe goal is easier stated than realised. For, almost onuniversal evidence, any great stress ol dynamism generally ob-scures lhe inner vision, brings in a relalive loss of the Peace andSllence ol the soul, and olherwise l€nds to lower the status olspir i tual at lainm€nl.

But his disabiliiy arises from the lacl that attempls to pos-sess the active Brahman have so lar been made exclusivelvlhough lhe I\r ind-consciousness. And since I\,4ind, ihe great di-vider, suflers from some intrinsic and iffemediable limitaiion lheseallempls have been lore doomed to lailure.

Bul the question may be raised: since Mind, in lhe acluallyevolved existence, is the highest possible inslrumeni availableand since there is no olher st i l l higher organised power throughwhich to realise lhe Sell or Brahman or to oossess divinelv lheworld, is i t not almosl axiomatic thal lhe transformation oi ourdynamic waking existence as we envisage in our sadhana is animpossible proposition?

Of course, i f lhe above assumplion is correct, lhe l iberationand transformalion of our embodied exislence would be impos-sible nere upon ea h, and instead of running afiet lhe jgnis fatuusilwould be moresensibleto pass away inlo Superconscienl andnot to seek to bring down lhe Superconscient into the t ield of ourwakrng conscrousness,

As a matler of fact, this has been so far ihe general trend.For " in the ordinary Yoga... i t is only necessary lo recognise lwoplanes ot our consciousness, the spir i tualand malerial ised men-1a1; the pure reason standing belween lhese tow views thembolh, culs lhrough lhe i l lusions ol lhe phenomenal vrorld, ex-ceeds the malerial ised mental plane, sees the realj ly oi the spir '

The mind-Consciousness :

ilual; and then lhe !,rill ol lhe individual Purusha unilying ilsellwith thrs poise know;edge r€iecls lhe lower and draws back tolh6 supreme plane, dwells ther6, los€s mind and body, shedsli te trom i l and merges i lself in the supreme Purusha, is deliv-ered kom individual exaslence."

Bui a deeper and higher spiritual exploralion reveals the laclthal lhe above assumption is not corfecl aft€rall. Mind is not lhehighest principle ol cosmic etistence, wilh only the pure Spiril.lhe lmp€rsonal Absolut€ beyond ils€lf. As a matterot tacl, thereis a hierarchy ol superior principls lar transcending the normalmind consciousness and consequ€nlly al present superconscienllo i l . A supreme Trulh-Consciousness, Rita-Chit, which SriAurobindo lerms as Supermind, lops the series and this is aPower not rnerely static and introspeclive but supremely dynarnicand crealive. lt is lhis Sup6.mind that must b€ consciously pos-sessed and macle to descend into out ea h-nature il we wouldhave a translormed waking existence. Otherwise static r€leas€remains lhe sole possibilily befor€ lhe spirilual seeker.

l .Jnto(unately, lhe knowledge ol the exislence ot thes6supernal planes ol our being has been almosi losl to the spir i tualmemory ol lhe race with all the adverse consequences atlend-anl upon i l . In anci€nt lore. " inlhe Upanishad (usually theTail l i rya)there are some indications of lhese higher planes and lheir na-Iure and lhe possability ol gathering up the whole consciousnessand rising into lhem- Bul this was lorgotlen afterwards and peo-ple spoke only ol the Buddhias the higheslthing with the Purushaor Se f jusl above, but there was no clear idea ol lhese planes.

Now, so long as lhese higher spir i lual planes of lhe menllebeing and l inal ly the plane ol Supermind are not consciouslypossessed and made active and organised in the norhalconscrousness ol the embodi6d beino, so long as the spiritualisedfirind approaches the Supr€m€ direclly and not passing throughthis Truth-Consciousness, lhe supramonlal Gnosis, one is boundlo expel|ence dilriculties from th€ point ot view ol the realisation

Chapter'5

oi our goal, both in the mind's ascent and in i ts attempted reali-sal ion of the acl ive Brahman.

Lel us have a bird's-eye view of sorne ol the more salientdi l l icult ies encounlered and, at the same time, ot the achieve-menls of Mind as wellas of i ts fai lures.

The Ascent and lllusoiness. lJ Mind is taken lo be the high-est possible cosmic principle, since lhe Absolute is not seizableby lhe mind-consciousness, the seeker of lhe lradit ionalYogaslr ies to get away from the morlalrai l ings ol mind into the superconscient In{inite, by shedding al l i ts activit ies f lnd formalions,making a biank of i t and f inal ly 'engulf ing i i is in ihe Unmanitest, 'Darcm awaktam.

In ihis progressive wilhdrawal lrom mind-consciounsess, thesadhak comes to realise the Sad-Atman, the 'pure, slill, self'aware existence, one undivided, peaceful, active, undisturbedby the action ot lhe world."

Although this Sad-Atman is the unique Origin and SuslaineroJ eveMhing, saryari hyetad b@hma, being itself passive, theonly relation i t appears lo have with thrs world of manileslationis lhat ot 'a disinlerested Witness not at al l involved n or al-lected even touched by any ol i ts activi l ies.

When one pushes larther lhis stale of conscious_ess onecom€s lo realase 'an alool and transcendent Feal Exislence'appearing to have no conneciion or commerce at al l w th lheworld-existence.

When the mental being seeks lo go sti l l beyond, i t negalesyet {urlher and arrives al an Asal "a Void of everything thal ishere, a Void ol unnameabl€ peace and extlnction ol al l , even ollhe Sal, even of that Existent which is the impersonal basis olindividual or universal personali ty." l l is this Asat arrived at bythe absolute annulm€nt of mind-existence and world-exrstence,that has been variously lermed as T!riya or featureless and rela-t ion less Absolute by the monistic Vedantins, the Shunyarn by

t r e _ hr src r !4adhyamrka Buddhists, theTaooromnrpresenlardtranscendenl Nihi l by lhe Chinese, and as the indet inable andnellab e Permanenl by the [,,lahayanists.

llany Christiian mystics too, notably Sl. John ol lhe Crosswrth his doctrine of noche obscure, speak ol a complete igno,rance , ' a div ine Darkness' through which the spir tualsied lv l indhas to pass belore one can expect to attain lo the supremeexperience. And i t s because of this incompal ibi l i ty of mind-consciousness Lvi th the experience ol lhe Absolule that so manysvstems of sprr i tual discipl ine have come to condemn the cos-mic p ay. As a matter ot Jact. i l is this very incompatibi l i ty thal isat th€ basis ol the l l lusionist that " lakes such f i rm hold oi thehuman m nd in i ls highesl overleaping o{ i tsel l . "

l i wl thoul any rnlermediale transi l ions, withoul awakening inthe s!pernal reaches of ourexistence, of which we have alreadyspoken, the Mind kies lo lake a short-cut and pass suddenlV the'gaies of the Transcendenf where stands' the mere and perlectSprnt lhe inact ive Brahman, the transcendent Si lence, a senseol ut ter unreal i ty and i l lusory character o{ al l cosmic exislencesezes i l n a mosl convincing and oveRhelming experience.'The unverse and al l that is. . .appears( l then] to the mind as a0'au1 1 o'e Lnsubstant ial than any dream ever seen or tmag-lred. so t fLal even the word dream seems loo oositrve a thinos toexpress ts ent i re unreal i iy l '

Bul h s universal l l lusionism is not a necessaryconcomitantoi the supreme spirit ual experience. ll inslead ol the mind's abruptSa.nadhi-plunge into the mysic sleep slate ol susupt i that isnow superconscient and therefore inaccessible lo i l , one suc-ceeos n acquir ing spir i lualwaketulness in ihe supernal stalesnlerven ng between lhe l r ind and the Spir i t , one does not passInrough lhe percept ion oJ an i l lusionary Maya, bui rather haslhe experience of ihe passage from Mind to what is beyond i i so

Inal our menlal s lructLlre of lhe universe ceases to be val id andanother reahly oi 11 is subst i tuted for the rgnorant mental knowf

The m nd-Consciousness :

ChapleF5

edge. In lhis transi l ion i l is possible to be arvake to al lhe slates

of being togelhef in a ha.monised and uni l ied experelnce and to

see the Real i ty every where." 'z Then we experience, as Sri

Aurobindo has so beaul i lu l ly pul , that i t is not an unreal or real '

unreal universe lhal is reposing on alranscendent Real i ly, but a

real universe reposing on a Real i ly al once universal and lran_

scendenl or absolule.

For even beyond the avyaktam, the Unmanitest, beyond lhe

divine Darkness, tamasah parcstat, is lhe Supreme One Exist

ence, ekam advaitam, the Para Purusha who holds in His vaslInlegra'Realr ty lhe l rulh ol cosmic consciousness as wel l as

lhal of the Nirvana o, world_consciousness. He is beyond the

duality and the non-dualily, paratah panh and,s aclityavana tn

conlrasl to ttie darkness o{ the Unmanitest. He is ihe light of

lighls, jyotisam jyotih, and lies in a supreme golden sheath.

hiranmave parc kose.lndeed, "the sun in theYoga is the symbo

oJ the slrpermind and the supermind is the t i rst power ol the

Suorerne which one meels across the boader where the expen-

ence ol spir i tual ised mind ceases andthe unmodif ied divine con-

sciousness begins the domain ol the supreme Naiure. Para

Prakrlr. h is lhal Light of which the Vedic mystics got a glimpse

and i t is lhe opposite of the interuening darkness ol lhe Christ ian

mysi ics, Ior the supermind is al l l ight and no darkness To themind the Supreme is avyaktat parcm avyaktam' bul il we follow

the line leading to the supermind, it is an increasing affimation

ralher lhan an incrcasing negation thrcugh whichwe mave

We have so iar dwel l upon lhe disabrhtres lhal I ;e m'no

consclousness sul lers i rom on i ts way ol ascensLon lo lhe sum_

Ti ls o' spir lual consciousness or ralher superco_sc ousness

Now lel us turn oLlr gaze on the l imitat ions that v i t iate i ts at '

lempl at complele possession ot the act ive Brahman, when r l

seeks 10 return Jrom the summil and embrace lhe l i le oi act ion

The tncomplete possession of the aclive Brahman: llls al

co!rse true lhat our normal consciousness, even at i ls wakingmoments, can become aware of Brahman lhrough a process olinward concentration. But the point to note is that il is only iheslale and passive aspecl of Brahman lhal is thus apprehended,nol its active aind dynamic side.

The result is lhat into return upon world-extslence the nentalbeing Iinds a wall ot non-communication between the passiveand the active Brahman and al l dynamic activity appears lo i tsst l led and inaclrve consciousn€ss ei lhet as a hallucination or adream, or like a puppet shou or even as a purely rnechanicalaction broLight about by th8 play ol Prakriti withoul any active epart i i icpation oi Purusha.The incommunicabil i ly maysometimesbe so slrong, the gulf separating the inner consciousness andlhe dynamic outer being so wide that lo all outward appearancethe seeker my a "move aboul like a thing inerl in the hands olNalu re, /adayat like a leal in the wind, or otherwisetinl a slate olpure happy and free irresponsibility ot action, balayat... Theouterbeing[may] live in a God-possessed lrenzy careless ol itsell andlhewotld, unmattavat, or with an entke disregard whelher ol theconvenlions and prop.iet ies off i t t ing human action or of the ha.mony and rhylhms of a greaterTruth. lt acts as the unbound vitallrerng plsacayal, the divine maniac or else the divine demoniac."

But this sorl ot 'stal ic possession by the Self 'or ' the unregu-ated dynamic possession why the physicaland vital Nature,islar removed Jrorn the goal of the lnlegralYoga, for what we aimal s ihe 'mastery ol the Prakrit i by the Purusha landl the subli-mairon of Nalure into her own supreme power, the int inite glo-nes ot the Para Shakti.'

. Conlronted with this inability to participate aclivety in theqynam c manilestal ion withoul at the same time losing thepossessron oi thekeedomand peace oflhesilent Sel{, the mentaloerng gels lempted to adoot lhe aliitude of an indiflerent andnact ve witness ol the world-play and at lhe besl al low his oFga'< ol sense and motor-act,on a free play of lheir wo1 unsup.

The mind-Consciousness :

The mrnd-Consciousness :

ported by any conscious ini t iat ion on lhe part of the witnessing

sel l The rdeal oi course is 10 reduce act ion to the barest m n

mum possible compatible wi ih lhe maintenance oi ihe bodi ly

l i fe.

Oi course, there is another possibi l i ty, an al ternalrve chorce

T5'oLgt a proper discipl ine one may come lo a slale where a

pelecr inner passvi ty 1\ay co-exlsl wl lh periect o. l Ie 'dynamisnbul al together independent ol each olher ' In this si tuat on i t rs

n01 the wi l led motive of lhe conscious mind in lhe Sadhaka thal

lni i ia les and ei iectuates the act iv i tv,but ralher the universal in-

tel l igence and wi l l of nature thal uses the l iv ing inslrumenl and

works f lawlessly trom centrs superconscious or subl imlnal to

lhe conscious mind.

But thls loo js nol what we seek 1o real ise in our Yoga ol

dynam c divinisat ion. Fo. in this part icular s latus ol inner pas'

sivitv and ouler aciion bV the mere organs, kevalair indriyair'" lhere is an evident absence ot integral i ty; lor there is st i l l a gulf '

an unreal ised unity or a lel t of consciousness belween the pas

sive and lhe act ive Brahman. We have st i l l lo possess con-

s( rously tne aclrve Brahman wi lroul loslng lhe oossession ol

ihe si lent Self . We have to preserue the inner si lence, tranquLl i ty,passivi iy as a loundal ion; bu1 in place ol an aloof indi f ference to

lhe works o' lhe act ive Brahman we have lo arr ive at a_ equal

and mpart ial del ight in them; in place ot a relusal to part ic ipate

lesl our freedom and peace be lost, we have to alr ive at a con_

scious possesslon ol the act ive Brahman whose ioy ol exlst-

ence does noi abrogaie His peace, nor His lordshlp oi al lwork

ings impair His calm lreedom rn the midsl ol His works " But lhe

c r u c i a l q u e s t i o n i s : i s i t a t a l l p o s s i b l e f o r l h e m e n t a l b e n g i n h i s

actual lv evolved stalus lo embrace at once, eq!al ly and lul ly,

both the world and the being, both consciousdess and act ion?

The lnlrinsic lncapacityi To answer the above quesllon we

musl I i rst noie that belween the normalconsclousness ol man

Lqp menlal berng a_d a l ruly spinlJal sJprame'Ia co_s' iolrs_

ness , t he re l es a th l ck ve i l , an a lmos t impene t rab le l i d ,satyasyapihitam mukham, and unless this veil is lifted and lheid rernoved, lhere is no possibi l i ty of knowing lhe divine, Jar beit to atta n to i t . But the di l l iculty is this that either through ardu-ous Tapasya or by an act oJ Grace lrom above, when the mentalbeing succeeds in pLrlt ing by veil , i l sees the 0ivine "as somelh'ing above, beyond, around even in a sense, bulwllh a gulf bet-ween that being 3nd ourbeing, an unbridged or even an unbridgea-ble chasm. Jhete is this int lnite eristence; but i t is quite otherthan the mental being who becomes aware of i i . . . .There rs lhisgreat, boundless, uncondit ioned consciousness and iorce; butour consciousness a iorce stands apatt l tom )1, even i l within i t ,m led, petiy, discouraged, disgusted wiih i tselJ and lhe world,

brl unable to patticipate in that higher thing which il has seen.There is th s immeasurable and unslained bl iss; bul our ownbe ng remains the sport of a lower Nature oJ pleasure and painand dull neutral sensation incapable of i ls divine delighi. Thereis thrs perfecl Knowledge and Wil l ; but our own remains alwaysthe menlal deiormed knowledge and l imping wil l incapable ois har ng in or even being in tune with that nature of Godheadl '

Now, in an attempl lo bridge lhis chasm and heal the r i i i , ihementai being seeks lo r ise through a Herculea al l- iorgett ing etIorl out oi lsel l nlo lhe Inl inite above. But in this process "them nd has to /eaye ils own consciousness,Io disappear into an-olher and lemporari ly or permanently lose l lse/i .- in lhe tranceof Samdhi." For obvrous reasons this mindless absolule lrance-slate cannot be our objective (vide Chap. V:The Crit ique ol lheTrance So ution). Our aim is to iransiorm the waking mental i lyi lselJ, and 10r thal we have lo invoke another possibi l i tv open lothe men ta tbe ing .

As a matler of fact, mind has a great reflecting capabil i ty,rel lecl ing whaiever i t knows and contemplates. Th{rs I i i pacirres tsel{ and calls down the divine into i tself. i t succeeds inrel lecting lhe mage of ihe divlne and geti ing spir i tual lsed. But

Chapler-5

the trouble is that in this operation" the mind does not entirelypossess the divine or bscome divine, but is possessed by rl orby a luminous rellection of it so long at ils remans an ... pureoassivitv."The momenl it becomes active mind becomes turbidaqain and the rel lection ol the divrne s losl.

Hence it is ollen d€clar€d lhat an absolute quielism and lhecessalion ol al l ouler and inner acl ion is lhe only way o!l of lheabove impasse. But evidently this ,ai ls to satisfy the demandsoy lhe IntegralYoga. What we seek as "a positive transforma-l ion and not merely a nogative quiescence ol lhe waking mental i-ly.

Bul the basic di l{ iculty with the mind-conscaousness is lhalrl is an invelerale divider ol lhe indivisible and dwells upon oneaspecl at a time lo the exclusion ol all others. For "mrnd in ilsessence is a consciousness which meas!res. lamits. cuts oultorms of lhings lrom lhe indivisible whole and contains lhem asil each were a separale integer...Mind may divide, mulliply, add,sublract, bul it cannot get b€yond the limits ol this malhemat-rcs. lJ i t goes beyond and tr ies to conceive a realwhole. i t losesrtsel l in a loreign elemenl; i t fal ls lrom its won f irm ground intolhe ocean of the inlangible, inlo lhe abysms of the inl inite whereI can ei lher perceive, concoive, sense nor dealwilh i ts subjectlor creation and enjoymenl... . l \ ,4ind cannot possess the inf inite,rt can only suffer i l or be possessed by i l ; i t can only l ie bl iss-tul lv heioless under the luminous shadow ol the Real cast downon it lrom planes of existence beyond its reach."

It is because ol lhis inherenl propensity lo divide andoverstress lhal lhe Mind cannot hold at once Unity and Multi-pl ici ly. consciousness and action, being and becomingt i t can-nol possess simullaneously lhe active and the passive Brah-man. And because ot Mind's inabil i ty lo possess the Inl inite. i tinstead ol being salisl iedwilh the' luminous shadow', golden l id,hiranmayapatrc, one would seek to realise the uttef Real, one

has perforcetoget r id ot mindal logelherand enter into the abso-lule mindless susupt i . l t is for this reason that so many seekersof the pasl have recommended manonasaot lhe annulmenl olthe Mind as lhe v,a /oyal to lhe supreme spir i lualexperience.

thus we l ind Sri Flamakrishna declar ing: "The knowledge olBrahman cannot be al lained except lhrough the annulmeni ol[ ,4ind. A Guru lold his disciple, 'Give me your mind and I shal lgive you knowledge." '

The RajarshiJanaka of old declared, "Now I have awakenedand discovered lhe thief that is l \ .4 indt I must ki l l i t , musl scorchi l lo death. For lv l ind is the root of this world ol rgnorance. '

According 10 lhe greal sage Vasishtha, a greal good comesoul ol lhe deslruclion ol Mind, manaso'bhyudaya manonasomahadayah and lhe Mind ol lhe knower ol the Truth verily gelsannulled. lnantno nasamabhyeti. The Yoga Shikhopanishad toodeclares that mindlessness is the supreme stalus. ,a marah

Thus. almosl on universal lest imony, lhe ideal belore lheseeker at ler the Truth is 10 gel lo lhe slale ot mindlessness,amarasla where lhe m nd loses al l i ts Jacult ies , yade na manuletnanah andbeaomes non'mind so to say, unmanibhuyal.

What is lhen the solut ion Jor us who asprre al ter the freedomoi drv ne acl ion as wel l as the l iberat ion ol div ine rest? l l mindconsc ousness rnclus ve oi i ls highest spir i tual reaches provesi ls inadequacy as an instrumenl and medium lof lhe divinepossession ol our waking existence, whal other cosmic pr inc -p1e /s there that can help us to real ise our goal? For. lor theproper lul l i l lment ol our objeci ive, "we have lo review and re'mo! d lhe lower l iv ing in lhe l ight, lorce and joy ol lhe higherrea ly We have to real ise lv lat ler as a sense-crealed mould olSp r( . a vehicle tor al l manifeslat ion of the l ight, force and ioy o1Sachch dananda in lhe highest condit ions ot lerrestr al be ng andacl iv ty. We have lo see Li ie as a channe for the ni n te Force

The nr ind-Consciousness

Chaple.5

divine and break the barr ierof a sense-crealed and mind-cratedlarness and divis ion l rom i t so lhat div ine Power may take pos-session ol and direcl and change al lour l i fe,aci iv i t ies unt j l ourvitality lransligured ceases in the end to be the limiled lile-forcewhich now supports mind and body and becones l jgure ol theal l -bl issful conscious lorce ot Sachchidananda. We have stmi-laf y lo change our sensat ional and emol ional mental i ly Into aplay oi dlv ine Love and universal Del ight; and we have to sur-charge lhe inlel lect which seeks to know and wi l l inus wi lh theght of lhe divine Knowledge-Wil l unt i l i t is t ranslormed n1o a

f gure ol lhai higher and subl ime act iv i ly. ' ,

Such is then our high ideal, bul how to real jse i l rn pract ice,how to conquer lhe spir i tual penLtry of our waking physical extst-ence and embrace equal ly the act ive and passive aspects ot theDivrne? l i Mind lai ls, what etse is there that saves lhe si luat ion.

The mrnd-Consciousnoss :

APPENDIX

ASCENT FROi'THEMtND-CONSCIOUSNESS'

' ' 'Conseni to be nothing and none, dissolve Time's work.Cast otl thy mind, step back lrom form and nameAnnualthyself that only God may be.

Thus spoke lhe mighly and upli l l ing voice,And Savitr iheardi she bowed her headand musedPlunging her deep regard inlo herseltIn her sou 's privacy in the si lent Night.A lool and standing back delached and calm,A rrllress ol the drama of hersell,A student ol her own inlenorscene,She wafchedthe passion and lhe loil ot lileAnd heard in lhe crowded thoroughfares ol mindThe unceasing lread and passage of her lhoughls.Al she allowed lo rise lhat chose to stir;Calling, compelling naughl, lorbidding noughl,She lelt al l to the process lormed in TimeAnd the free nit lal ive ol Nalure's wil l .

Above the birih of body and ol thoughlOur spir i t 's truth l ives in lhe naked sellAnd lrom that height, unbound, surveys the world.Out of the mind she rose to escape its lawThal i l might s/eep in some deep shadow of seltOr fall si/erl in the silence ol lhe Unseen.

Then all grew lranqullin her being's space,Only sometimes smallthoughts arose and fellLlfe quiel waves upon a si lent sea

67

' f-rom Sr Alrobindo s Sav l.i, Book Vll canto Vl, pp 538 49 ( la csours)

68 Chapter-5 The mind-Consciousness :

She saw a spir i tual immensityPervading and ecnompassing the world-spaceAs ei iher our iransparent tangible air,And through i l sai l ing lranquil ly a lhoughl.

As smoothly gl ides a shinearing aporl,ll came lo lhe bilenl city of the brainTowards il accustomed and expectanl quay,Bul met a barring wil l , a blow of ForceAnd sank vanishing in the immensityAtler aiong vacant pause anotherappearedAnd others one by one suddenly emerged,,4ind's unexpected vislors from lhe unseenLrie lar 'of l sials upon a lonely sea.But soon that commercefailed, none rcached mind's coastthen al l grew sti l l , nothing moved any more:lmmobile, seltrapt, t imeless, sol i taryA si lenl spir i t pervaded si lent Space.

lnlhal absolute stillness bare and formidableThere was gl impsed an al l-negaling Void supremethat claimed i ls mystic Nihi l 's sovereign rightTo cancel Naturc and deny the soul.Even the nude sense ot self grew pale and lhin:lmpersonal, signless, ieatureless, void ol lorms,A black purc consciousness had,teplaced the mind.

Yel st li her body saw and moved and spoke;It understood wilhout the aid ot thought,It said whatever needed to be said,

It drd whateverneeded to be doneThere was no persan therebehind the act,

69

Or ripples passingover a lonely poolWhen a stray stone dislvtbils drcaming rest.Yet the mind's factory had ceased lo work,There was no sound ofthedynamo's throbThere came no call lrom the sti l l f ields ol l le.There came no call from the sti l l f ield oi l i ie,.Then evcn lhose stiffing' rcse in her no more:Her mrnd now seemed l ike a vasl empty roomOr l ie a peacetul landscape without sound.This men call gulelude and prize as peace.

But to her deeper sight allyet was there,Elfervescing l ike a chaos undera l id;Feelings and thoughts cried outlorword and actBul found no response in the silenced brcjn:Allwas suppressedbut nothing yet expunged;At every moment mighl explosion come.Then this too paused;lhe body seemed a stone.A I now was a wide mighty vacancy,Bul slill excluded tom elernily's hutsh;For st i l lwas {arthe repose of the AbsoluteAnd lhe ocean Silence ol Inf ini ly,Even now some thoughts could closs her soltlude:lhese surged not trom the depths or Jrom withinCast up trom formlessness to seek a torm,Spoke not the body's need nor voiced mind's cal l .These seemed not born nor made in human Time,

Out ol sone Jar expanse they seems dot comeAs if carried on vasl wings l ike large whrle sai ls.And with easy access reached lhe inner ear.

As yet their path lay deep concealed in l ightthen looking lo know whence the inlruders came

7A Chapter-5

No mmdlhai chose or passed lhe f i t t ing word:AlLwrought l ike an unerr ing apt machine.As I contrnuing old habi lual turns,And pushed by an old !nexhausted forcelhe engine did the work for which i t was made:Her consciousness looked on and look no parl ;

This seeing was ident icalwi lh lhe seen:I t knew without knowledge al{ that could be known,l i saw impari la l ly ihe world go by,But in the same supreme unmovrng gtanceSaw 1oo i1s abysmal unreaItY.I t watched the l igure oJ ihe cosmic game,

Bui the thoughl and inner l i fe in Jorms seemed deadAbol ished by her own col lapse of ihought;A hallow physical shell persisted,still.

Once sepulchred al ive in brain and f leshShe had r isen up from body,mind and l i le;she was no rnore a Person in a world,She had escaped into infinitY.

,.,

Only sone lasl annulmentnow remained,Annihi lat ion's vague indef inable step"

Chapter-6

The Inwardization and theAscension

Chapter-6

His knowledge an inview caught unlathomable,An outview by no brief horizons cut:He thaught and felt in all, his gaze had power.

(Sir Aurobindo, Sayll4 Book l l , Canto XV, p. 301)

The thing to begained is the binging in ol a Pawer at' Con-sciousness (the Supramenlal) not yet oryanised or active di-reclly in eatth-natute, even in the spiritual life, but yet to beorcanised and made dircctly active

{SirAurobindo, On Hinself p. lag)

The averhead ascension is not indispensable for the usualspirilual putposes,- but itis indispensable far the putposes ofthis Yaga. For its aim is to become awarc of and liberute andtransfam and unite allthe being inthe light of a Trulh-Conscious-ness which is above and cannot be rcached il tbere is no enttrely inward-going and notranscending and upward-going move-

(tbid.. pp. t79-A0

I he l_le'gral Yoga ol nansformation nas lor hs objectrvenol merely lhe supreme realisation ol Sachchidananda, but Hls0lv ne seli-expression, the l lawless manifestation of the acl iveBrahman, in our divinely tansiigured embodied earthly existence.

Bul the question is: how lo realise this goal ol our Yoga andwhal i t is ihai my possibly bethe medium of these realising as-censions and world-possessing descents? For, in the acluallyelaborated evolul lonary status ol human consciousness, rnindrepresenls the highest cosmic principle and power ol consc ousness so l a r o rgan ised i n amn the men ta l be ing . Bu1 th srn ndconsciousness, evn in i ts highest l l ights, is no more than a

Chapter-6

movemenl in the lgnorance: i l is nol inherentlyTruth-Conscious-And hence it is al logeiher incapable of possessing or even al_taining to the Divine; at best i l can immobil ise i tself and restsatisf ied with Retlections of the sun ln waterc sl l

But i i is far kom our goal to be contented wlh "bright orshadowy pholog raphs or f i lms of a disla0l Reali ty" lhat the mrndcan at most achieve for us: we want to ascend to the supremeReali iy in iul l awaireness and bring down i ls dynamic glor es andsplendours in the play oi our waking siate.

Bul we cannot but take note of the lact ot sp r i tual experr-ence ce if ied by mosi seekers oi the Truth ihal an immensehialus seems to exisl belween lhe supramentalTrulh_Conscious_ness and the l\r ind-consciousness we norma y know ol, Andunless this seemingly unbridgeable gulf iniervening belween thetwo is satisfactori ly bridged, we have io torego our dream

... to plant on earth ihe l iving TruthOr make ol lvlatter's world the home of God.

In that case, we shall have no other choice than to take asuper-consclent leap lrom the station ol Mind into the Unknowab ebeyond and lo agree wil ly-ni l ly to the lol lowrng lrenclrant conclu-s on oi the incredulous Darkness persuading Savitr l io abandonher lask oi world-translormationl

He "vho would turn.lo God must leave the wor d;

He who would l ive in lhe Spir i t , musi give up l i fe;He who has met the Sell , renounces selt.The voyagers of the m;l l ion routes of mindWho have lravelled lhrough Exislence to is end.Sages exploring the world'ocean s vasts,Have found extinction the sole harbour safe.

lndeed, m nd fai ls as an inslrument and mediLrm both for ourconsc ous ascension into the Ini inite as weLl as for the dynamicdescent and manileslation of the supreme powersof the Spir i t-As has been so well sald, mind cannol arrive al idenii ly wilh the

The Inwardizal ion and the Ascension 7 5

Absolule, i t can only disappear into i l in a swoon or ext incl ion-rnlo St.John o{ the Cross's 'div ine Dafknessof lhe mysl ic Night- 'Also, as a medium of div ine expression and acl ion, the mrndplane cannot in i ts very nature al low ot the supreme worklngsnatlve to th e d ivine Consciousness- Force. 'The m ind s p iritualised,puri l ied, l iberated, perfected within i ts own l imits may come asnear as possible to a fai thful mental i ranslai ion, but- . . this isatter al l a relatve l idel i ty and an imperfect perJect ion.. .Themind.. .can take i is l lhe Inl in i te 's] suggestrons and act ihern outin its own way, a way always fragmentary, derivative and sub-iect lo a greater or less deformal ion, but i t cannot be i lsel l thedirect and perlecl instrumenl of lhe inf ini te Spir i t act ing in i tsown knowledge."

I t becomes imperai ive then lor the ful l i l lment ot our divinedest nv uoon earth thal man should be able to raise hrmsell muchabove the plane oi mind and normal ly and permanent{y, even inhis wakrng state, l ive in the supernal heights of the Sprr i l , a lsoto manifesl and organise in his embodied existence new plancesand powers of consciousness other lhan and superior io mind,so that these may offer lhemseives as ihe proper media andinsirLrmentalron through which the divine Wil l and Wisdom canlreelv act and self-exoress,

But between the l\,,lind and the Spirit, arethere other superiorp aces of spir i tual consciousness-not merely slal ic and ntro-specl ive, bul creat ive and dynamic- which man can possiblyhope to ascend? And is i l a l al l possible for man lo develop ando-o ,r icp hese supernalplanes In his wakrng conscioLs-ess somuch so lhat he may outgrow and lranscend his preseni menlastatus and become something more than human?

The anwei and hope l ie in the process of evolui ionary elabo-.at on ol manifesied exislence here upon the face of the earlh.The resul ls so lar achieved by Evolut ion are indeed truly slr ik-ng: r l is surely along march from the insent ient N,4alter io the

sel l conscious mlnd oJ man, But who can sav lhat the evolutton

Chapter6 The Inward zat ion and lho Ascension 7 77 6

ary nisus has exhausled i tsel l wi th lhe emergence of man themental being, so thal the only possible course lel t tor the em-bodied soul is how lo make an exi t l rom lhis not loo perlecl

w o r l d - e x i s l e n c e a n d t a k e t h e t r a n s c e n d e n t l e a p i n i o i h eUnknowable and Unmanitest?

As a mal ler o{ fact, the evolut ionary oestrus is e ' /en nowvery much at work and i l is nol l iable to annul i tsel f unt i l andunless the divine Sachchidananda is ful ly manifesled here In ourembodied exislence and'this earthly l i te become the l iJe divine. 'For such is the or iginal intended meaning ol creal ion, lhis is lhesecrel spir i tuai sense of the evolul ionary march. Thus Savitr ianswered to retule the conjecture oJ lhe sophisl Power ol do!btand denial :

How says lhou Truth can never l ight lhe human mindAnd bl iss can never invade lhe mortals heartOr God descend into lhe world he made?l l in the meaningless Void the creataon rose,l i f rorn a bodi less Force Mal ler was bron,l l L i fe cou d cl imb in lhe unconscious tree,l i green deLighl break into emerald leavesAnd i ts laughter of beauly blossom in the f lower,l l sense could wake in l rssue,nerve and cel l ,And Thought seize the greg matler of the brain.And soul peep {rom i ts secrecy lhrough lhe l lesh,How shal l the nameless l ight not leap on men,And unknown powers emerge from Nalure's Sleep?Even now hints ot a luminous Truth l ike statsAf ise in the mind-mooned splednour ol 'gnorance;Even now the dealhless Lover 's touch we leel :I t the chamber's door is even a l i l l le atar,What then can hinder God from steal ing inOr who lorbid his kiss on the sleeping soul?'

But the skepl ic may st i I rejoin that the pasl is no sure guideto the tuture and plausibi l ty s never equivalent lo cer lainly. So,

al ler establ ishing the plausibi l i ty ol our goal ol div ine translormal ion of the waking exislence, we musl now special ly poinl outthe sleps fol lowing which lhis goal can be real ised in pract ice.

And lor this we must rel t surely not on phi losophical specula_I on or logical surmisings, bul solely on the verdict ol ihe ever-ascending and ever 'deepening spir i iual exploral ion of our beingand becorning- For, this alone has any realval idi ty in lhjs t ie ld.

Now. lhere are two lypes ol movemenls oi our conscrous-ness lhrough which i l becomes possible for us lo have accessIo lhe deeper and sLrperior reaches of our being, a movemenltnward and an upward ascension.

By the f i rs i movement ol inward penetrat ion, we seek tobreak asunder the wal l separat ing ou. subl iminal sel t f rom ourDresent surface existence. leave the sur lace conscrousness andlLVe enl i rely in the realm ol our inner mind, inner l i le, innef subl le 'physrcal and f inal ly in the in most soul ot our being- This inmosl soulorthe psychic being is the Purusha in the secrethearl ,hrdye guheyem, a potton of lhe Divine Sell supporting the indi-v r d u a l n a t u r e ,

Now, an enlargemenl and complel ion ot our aclualevolulron-ary slatus becomes the very l i rs l consequence ot such annwardizal ion oi consciousness. For, our Inner berng is tound lopossess a dynamism and potenl ial i t ies much superior lo thoseol our sLrrface mind and l iJe and body. As a mal ler ot fact, " i l rscapable of a direct communication wilh lhe universal forces,movements, objecls of the cosmos, a dircct feeling and open-l9lalhefi. a direcl action on thern and even a wideningol lsell

beyond the l imits ol the personal mind, ihe personal fe, thebody. so lhat i l feels i isel f more and more a universal being noonger l imited by the exist ing wal ls oJ our loo narrow mental ,v i la l physical exislence. This widening can extend i lsel l to acomplele enlry inlo lhe consciousness of cosmrc Mind, inlo unrlyw lh the universal Li fe, even into a oneness wi lh unlversa Mal_

Chapter-6

But this f irst resuli is nol al l that can be deslred. For, howe-ver cosmic in scope and perfected in dynamism, our being re-mains sl i l l embedded in the l ield ol diminished cosmic lruth, i fnot in total cosmic lgnorance. l l we would lranscend lhe l imita-tions of our presert evolulionary status, we musl seek 10 be-come conscious in what is now superconsceint lo us and as-cendto the native heights ol lhe Spir i l not at presenl accesslbleto our waking consciousness, Thus, "the psychic movemenl in-ward io the inner being,...must be compleled by an openrng up-ward to a supreme spir i tualstatusl '

Now.lhis is lhe second-andlrom our point ol view,much moremomentous-consequence ot an accomplished inward living. For,i l is lound that once the entry inlo the inner sublimirlal realms lssuccessful ly underlaken, lhe inner being exerts a growin9 pres_sure on the "strong hard and bight l id of mind,-mind constricl ing,dividing and separative" that clouds the superconscienl 1(om ourwaking consciousness, This ptessure be comes in the end sogreat that the l id ol mind wears thin, opens and disappear. andour consciousness becomes privi leged to have a vision of thesupernal things. What we see by this is upward openrng 1s "an in-f inity above us, an eternal Presence or an inl ini le Existence, aninfinity o{ coflsciousness, an inf ini ly ol bl jss,-a boundless Sell ,a boundless Light, a bou|ldless Power, a boundless Ecslasy."

But even this'wide awareness trom below'is not sul i icient.We must make an actual ascension lo the height ol the spir i tabove, Fortunaiely, this too is an alternative or subsequent re-sult of lhe inward l iving. Our consciousness rises up towardsthe reaches of our being, much beyond the present mental level.

But here a very serious di l t iculty supervenes and unlessthis is successful ly remedied in t ime, one may be very well ledaway lrom lhe palh of divine lransformation ol Nature into thesilenl immobil i ty o1 the Transcendent and L,nmanilest

lndeed, since the heights 10 which our consciousness at-tains in i ts upward ascension are in general superconscient to

The Inwardizat ion and lhe Ascension 7 9

our mind, the lat ier la i ls to tema n awake there and hence con-

siders these ascents as only luminously blank Thus, our mind_

consciousness is lempied to ef lecluate a short_cul and lake a

stra ght jump to the Transcendent. On this l ine, " the f i rs l mosl

ord nary resu t is a discovery of a vast stat ic and si lenl Self

which we feel to be our real or our basic existence.. .There may

be even an exl inct ion, a Niruana both of our acl ive being and ot

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 e a n d

nexpressible.. . l t ls posslble to remain in a Nirvana oi al l ind -

v dual i ly, to stop at a siai ic real isat ion or, regarding al l ihe cos_

rn c movemenl as a superf ic ial play or i l lusion imposed on the

sient Se I , 10 pass inlo some supreme irnmobi le and lmmulab e

status beyond ihe universe,

Butfor lunate yth s is not ihe only possible l ine of supernormalspif l lua experience: the withdrawal from al l par i ic ipat on n lhewor d-ex stence and the immergence or exl inct lon inlo theLlnmanifest is not lhe only spir i tual dest jny decreed for lhe hu

man sou , A supreme divine return f rom the verge oJ Nirvana Lntothe world-play is eqLral ly possible and thrs with the und minishedsplendors and potencies of al l the spir i tual weal ih amassed a1the summits. The choice is indeed hard and dl i f cul t For, lheu t imate and def ini t ive withdrawal into the Inf ini te and Eterrr i ly stoo a ur ing a prospect to be easi ly rejecied by the ascendingsoul. To have nstead'the supernal bir th 'one musl have

.. trod along ext incl ion's narlow edgeNeaf the h gh verges oi eternl ly.

Th s double al ternat ive and the di lJ icul l ot choosing betweenthe two have been beaut i iu l ly depicled in lhe lo lowrng passageof Sri Aurobindo's Savlllrli

She had r isen up lrom body, mind and l i fe;She was no more a Person in aworldShe had escaped into inl in i ty.

Only same last annulmenl now rematned,

Chapt6r-6

Annihi lat ion's vague indef inable stepiA memory of being sti l lwas thereAnd kept her separate from nothingness:She was in That blt st i l l became not That.This shadow of hersolf so close to noughlcould be again sel i 's poinl d'appui lo l ive,Relurn out of the lnconceivableAnd be whal some mysierious vast might choose-Even as the Unknowable d€cr€ed,She might be nought ot new-becamethe All,Or i f the cmnipolenl Nihi l iook a shapeEmerge as someone and redeem lhe world.Even, she might learn what the mystic cipher held,This seeming exit or closed end ot al lCould be a bl ind tenebrous passage scre€ned from sight,Her stale the ecl ipsing shell ol darkened sunOn its secret way to the Inetlable.Even now hersplendid being mightf lame backOut ot the si lence and lhe null i ty,A gleaming port ion of lh€ alfwonderful,A power of some all-affirming Absolute,A shining mirror of the eternalTruthTo show to the One-in-all its rnanitest Jace,To the souls ol men their deep idenii ty.Or she mighl wake inlo God's quietudeBeyond the cosmic day and cosmic nightAnd resl appeased in his white eternity.

But once we set aside the exit-solution as noi conforming toour goaland lry instead to become aware !n those s!pernalreaimswhere we could not remain awake before, we f ind that our con-sc ousness rises to those ascending heighls of the Spir i t whererts immobile stalus is but the necessary foundation for a greatlypotenl and luminous dynamism. Once the power to remain awakedevelops in us, onc6 we rise out ol the sphere of mortal mindand ook deep and high and far, we discover the splendors ol a

The Inwardrzalron and the Ascension a180

graded series ol planes and powers of consciousness-an inler-venlng spir i tual mind-range-serving as l inks and bridges belweenlhe now no rma l wak ing m ind and ' the na t i ve he igh l s o lsupramental and pure spir i tual being.

It is in these'radiant alt i tudes'of the Spir i t that "we l ind thesecret we are seeking, the means of the lransii ion, the neededsteo lowards a supramental transJormaiion ; for we perceive agraduali ly ol ascent, a communication wlth a more and moredeep and lmmense l ight and power Jrom above, a scale otinlensit es which can be regarded as so many siair in the ascen-sion of Mind or in a descent into Mind fromThalwhrch is beyond

ln lhis incessanl ascending gradation through which our con_sciousness rises towards lhe supramental Truth-Consciousness,lour pr nc ple ascents may be dist inguished These gradationsmav be broadlv described as'a series of sublimaiions of theconsciousness' through whal Sri Aurobindo has lermed HigherMind. l l lumined lVIind, Intuit ion and Overmind; "there is a suc_cess on ol selt ' i ransmutations at the summil of lvhich l ies theSupermind or Divine-Gnosis... .Al l these degrees are 9nostlc Inthelr orinciDle and oower; for even at the f i lsl we begin to passlrom a consciousness based on an original In consclence andacting n a general lgnorance or in a mixed Knowledge-lgnoranceto a consciousness based on a secret self 'existent Knowledgeand.. ln lhemselves these grades are grades of energy'substanceoi lhe Spir i t . . . they are domains oJ being, grades of the substanceand energy of the spir i tual being, i ields ol existence whrch areeach a eve ol the universal Consciousness- Force const tut ingand organls ng itself nto a higher stat!s..Each stage ol ihis as_cent rs a general, i f not a tolal conversion oi the being nto a newlrght and power of a greater exisience.'

For the characlerisatlon ol this iourlo d asceni and the dy'nam c'sorrtualimolicatons thereof,the readeris relered Ia Chap'ter XXV\, Book lwo ("The Ascent lowards Supetmind") al Sti

8382 Chapter6

Aurobindo's The Li fe Divine.Fo(1he cont inui ty ot our discussionwe conlenl ourselves with only some broad hinls about the na-ture ol these fo!r higher grades of our being.

The lirsi ascent out of our normal menlality is inlo a HighelM/rd ot automatic and sponlaneous Knowledge, where knowl-edge assumes lhe nalure of Truth-Thoughi. l ts mosl characlersl ic movemenl is "a mass ideal ion, a system or total i ty of i ruth-seerng al a srngle View;. . . this lhought is a sel l -revelat lon olelernaiWisdom, nol an acquired Knowledge.

Beyond the Higher [4ind ol Truth-Thoughi is the IlluminedM/rdol Truth-Sight, a Mind where

there afe vasls ol v is ion and eternal suns,Oceans o' an im.rortal lumrnoLsness,Flame-hi l ls assaLrl l lng heaven with their peaks,There dwel l ing al l becomes a blaze oJ sight;A bufning head of v is ion leads the mind,Thought l rai ls behind i l i ts long cornet iai l ;The heart glows, an i l luminale and seer,And sense is kindled inlo ident i \ , .

Thus the character ist ic power of the i l lumined lv lnd is notThoughl bul Visioni i i is the f ie ld ol " the outpourings of massiveirghlning of f laming sun-stul l . " And on the dynamic side there ishere 'a golden drrve, a lumtnous'enthousiasms'ot inner forceand power,. . .almosl a violent lmf,elus ol rapid transformal ion. '

Next in the order oJ ascension in the lntuttive Mind whosecharacter is lrc pow€r is an int imaie and exact Truth,percept ionwhich is much more than sighl and concepl ion. Iniui t ion is in us' 'a projecl ing blade, edge or point of a tar-ol t superrnind l ightenter ng inlo and modit ied by some inlermediate truth-mind sub-stance above us,, , lntui i ion has a Jourlold powef. A oower olrevelalo ry truth-seeing, a powerof nspiral ion or l rulh-hearing, apower of t ruth- louch or jmmediate seizing oJ signi l icance,. . . apower of t rue and automal ic discr iminai ion ol the orderlv and

The Inwardizal ion and ihe Ascension

exacl relat ion ol t ruih to l ruth. 'Thus

Intul l ion's l ighining range in a br ighl pack' lu- l rng al l nrdden lrulhs out ol lheir la irs.I ts l iery edge of seeang absoluleCleaves inlo locked unknown retreats oJ sell,RJ.nmages the skv-recesses ol the brain.Lighls up the occul l chambers of lhe hearl ;l ls spearpoinl ictus ol discoveryPressed on lhe cover ol name, lhe screen ol torm,Slr ips bare the secret soul ol al l that isThoughl lhere has revelal ion's sun-br ighl eyes;The Word, a mighiy and inspir i l ing Voice,Enlers Truth's inmost cabin ol pr ivacyAnd lears away the vei l t rom God and l i le.

Beyond lhe plane ol the Intui t ive l \ r ind is a superconscrenlcosmic Mind, a pr inciple of global knowledge which carr ies in r l'a delegated l ighl t rom the supramenlalgnosis, 'The Overmind isin direci conlact with the SupramentalTrulh-Consciousness andrepresents the'highesl possible stal ls-dynamis'of ihe Spir i t nthe spir lual-mind range- 'The cosmic empire ol the Overmind'represenls the boundless l in i te s lasl expanse and

Trrne's butter s late bordering Elerni ty,Too vasl lor lhe experience of man s so! l :Al lhere gathers benealh one golden sky:The Powers lhal bui ld the cosmos slalron taken i ts house of in l inr le possibi l i ty;

Each god irom there bui lds his own nalure's worldildeas are phalanied l ike a group of sums;Thoughl crowds in masses seized by one regard;Al lT me is one body, Space a single book:There is lhe Godhead s universal gaze,And there the boundaries ol immonal I \ r ind:

The Overmind may be considered lo be lhe delegale oJSuperrnind to lhe lower hemisphere ot Knowledge-lgnorance; i l

84 ChapteF6

l inks the lal ler with that supramental Gnosis orTruth-Conscrous,ness, . . .whi leyetatthesametimewith i ls br i l l iant golden Lid i tvei ls lhe face ol the greatertuth from our sight. .This lhen is theoccult l ink we were looking for;This lhe Power that at once con,necls and divides the supreme Knowledge and the cosmic lgno,rance.

With the Overmind we thus reach the l ine lhat par is andjoins ihe lower and the upper hemispheres of exislence. Heretwo possibi l i l ies open up beJore the soul. Ei ther i l may seek loreach the supreme supracosmic Sachchidananda direct l rom thesprr i lualased mind-range and in that process depart out oJ i tsc o s m i c f o r m a l i o n i n l o l h e e t e r n a l l V s l a t i c o n e n e s s o fSachchidananda or ralher pure Sat (Existence), absolute andelernal or else a pure Non-existence, absolute and elernal."

But evident ly this is nol our l ine. Since we seek to possessdrvinelyourworld-being as wel la sourselt-being, we musl crossthe borderhne, pass inlothe upper hemisphere transcending eventhe highest reach ot spir i tual mind and seek to rea se Sachchi-dananda on the planeof Supermind. For, supermind is Sachchida,nanda's "..power of selt-awareness and wo.ld-awareness, lheworld being known as wi lhin i tsel f and not outside.. l l t is l theTrulh'Consciousness whelher above or in the universe by whichthe Divine knows not only his own essence and br ing bul hismanifestation also. lts fundamenlal character is knowledge byident i ty, by lhal lhe Sel l is known, lhe Divine Sachchidananda rsknown, bul also lhe truth of mani leslat ion is known. becauselhis loo is That."

Hence i l becomes imperat ive ior the soul to pass lhroughthe supramenlal ral isat ion j l , instead ol depart ing into the Tran,scendence, r t would simul laneouslV l ive in the l ranscendnce ollhe supreme Sachchidananda and Dossess t ts world-v ew too.

Bul even these supreme ascenis accomplLshed n tul l sprFrlual awareness do not prove suff ic ient for our purpose. Thesecannotcure ourwaking consciousness ol i ts apparent ly i rreme-

The Inwardizat ion and the Ascension

diably spir i tual penury. For ihat supreme movemenl ol descentshould lol low ihe supreme movemenl ol ascension and Heavenshould consent to come down CHAPTEB Xupon Earth. But isthat al al l possible?

THE DESCENT OFTHE SUPEBMIND

I know lhat I can lift man's soul to God,I know thal he can bting the immortal down

lSriAurobindo, Sav/ l f i Book Xl, Canlo l , p.687)

The integral perfection can come only by a mounlinq ascenlof the lowest into lhe highest and an incessant descent of thehighest into the lowest tillall becomes one at once solid blockand plastic sea-stuff of the Ttulh infinite and eternal

(Sri Aurobindo, The Synlhesis ot Yoga, p. 478)

There arc dilferenl staluses of the diwne consciousness-There arc also dllerent statuses ol trcnslormation. Fitst ts thepsychic trcnsfotnalian, in which all is in contact with the Divinelhraugh lhe individualpsychtc consciousness. Next is lhe spir-ilual transformationinwhich all is merged Divine in the cosmiccanscious ness. Third is the supramental transformation in whlchall becames supnmentalised in lhe divine gnostic conscious-ness. lt is only with the latter that thete can begin the compleletansformation of mind, life and body-in my sense of complele-

(Sr Aurobindo, On HlmseL p. I I8)

In our attempl to chalk out lhe sleps fol lowing which an em'bodied being here upon earth may hope to transl igure his wakingexistence so much so thal a divinely dynamic l i le can l lower outin lhe earthly garden, we have come to lhe l inding that an es-sent ial prel iminary condrt ion s for our soul to consciously as-cend lo the supernal grades o{ being and power ot the sel l -mani-{est ng spir i t , lhat intervene between our normal mind and theTruth Consciousness ol Supermind.

Chapler-6

Of course, i t is true that wilhout actually ascending lo thesehigher sp f i tual mental planes and permanently l iving there, i f wecan open ourselves from below to their knowledge and splr i tualinf luences, we can somewhal spir i lual ise our normal waking be-ing and consciousness. But lhe spir i tual change effected in thisway s never prolound or wide in i ls scope. l t louches only thefr nge of our dynarnic existence, In order io have an entrreconsciousness and power oi Being, i i s al logether indlspensa-ble that we gather up our consciousness and rise out ol thesphere ol gnorant mind into the radlant higher al l i tudes of theSpiri l .

And these ascents must be made in ful l awareness and notmerely in the immobile trance-siale of absorbed super con-science. For in ihe lat ler case, on lhe relurn to the waking con-sciousness lrom these temporary sojourns, only an rndetermi-nate spir i tual impression may abide but not much ol dynamicelfect. In orderto havethe dynamis otthe higher spir i tualgradesof being active and organised in our waking l i fe, we must f irstellecluale "a conscious heighlening and widening into immenseranges of new being, new consciousness, new potentral i t ies ofaction."

But this ascension oi our consciousness to ihese higher lu-m nous planes, even i{ permanently centred lhere, does nol suf-l ice for the spir i tual translormalion of our being and nature. thepermanent ascent from lhe lower to the hrgher consciousnessmusl be fol lowed by the complementary process of a permanentdescent ol the higher i ,r lo lhe lower. The iransmutalion of ourpresent modes ot being and activit ies into spir i tual values lead-ing lo the trans{iguration ol our waking existence necessitatesthen nol merely an ascension 1o the planes above nor even theexert or] irom there of an indirect pressure and inl luence uponoLrr lower be ng bul the brining down ol the Power and L ght of thesupernal reaches in the very i ield of our normal being, conscious'ness and action. For"lhere is adynamism proper lo ihe spir i lualconsc ousness whose na tu re i s L igh t , Power , Ananda ,

The Inwardizaiion and the Ascensaon

Peace, Knowledge, inf inite Wideness, and that musl be pos-se'sed and descend into the whole being. Otherwise one canget muktibut not peiection ottnnsformation (except a relativepsyc ho-spirilu al ch ange)."

The descent ofthe spirilual potencies andforc€sofths higherplaces (hom the Higher Mind to the Overmind) is thus lhe thirdnecessary motion tollowing the othertwo ol ascension and perma-nenl stai ioning above. In this process of pe.colation, downpouror inf lux. occur "an rncreasing inf low from above, an experienceol reception and retentlon of the descending spirit or its powersand elemenls of consciousness." When this phase is more orless completed, we saylhatlhe being and nalure has undergonespiritual transfotmation, a lransformation lhat links the mani-fested existence with what lies beyond and above it.

Bui even this is not;nough for ou. goal. For, the process ofspirtual isation brings about mostly a subjective transformation,the instrLrmental Nature remaining as beforeful lof many disabil-i t ies and deficiencies. Even the Overmind, the summil-reach ofour spir i tual mind-range, fai ls lo eflecluale a compl€te changeof Nature, ior this too is "subject to limilaijons in the working ofthe eflective Knowledge, limitations in the working ol the Powersubiect to a Dartial and limited Truth."

Forthe ful land radical transformation whal is indispensableis the direct intervention and the unveiled action of the supramen-tal Gnosis in our earth-existence and earlh-nature. But lhat cancome about only when a prior ascent lo lhe plane of Supermindrs lolowed by the supramental descent in the l ield ol teffeslr ialmanifeslation.

But whal precisely are the difticulties offered by our pres€ntberng and naturs, lhal cannot be salisfactorily mel even by thenlgnest spiritual-mental powers? Whal are the lac unae ir+velvedin the process of spiritual transtormation? Th6 esseniial dilfi-culty comes from the lact that we are evolutionarv creatures.OLr evolLtion has slarted lrom the apparently blank bosom of ln

87

898 8 Chaple.6

con scrence and this dark herrtage ol orrginal Nescience is stwe ghl ng very heavi ly upon our nalure. Our normal be ng is al-most whol ly rnoLrlded oul of the Inconsceince and " i t s lh is substance ol nescience lhat has 10 be_transformed nto a substaceol sLrperconscience, a subslance n whrch conscrousness and aspir tual awareness are always lhere even when lhey are nolacl ive, nol expressed.. .Ti l l lhal is done, lhe nesc ence rnvadesor encompasses or even cei ls up and absorbs into ts obl ivrousdarkness a thal enlers inlo i t ; i l compels the desc€nding thtto compromise wi lh ihe iesser lght i l enlers: there is a mrxlure,a diminut on and i i lut ion oi i tsel l , a drminut ion, a rnodi l cai lon.an nconrp cte authent lcr iy ol i ts l rulh and power. '

l l s because ol this bl ind opposing Necessrty, th s darkaltach,nenl lo Ihe a ready establshed an seeming y nexorab eLavr 's o1 lhe ignorance that lhe h gher sp r i lua Lghls and powers.even lhose ol lhe overmind, com ng down nto the obscunly olour physrcalconseiousness Iose much ot lheir translormrng po'tency and become instead mul iated, c ircumscf ibed and nol al-iogether dynamical ly ef iect ive.

Thus a peffeci l ransl gural on oi our lower nature is a far cryf we u/ould rely on the sp r i tua menlal powers alone. We mayl€€l rndeed our inner consciousness luminous and berated ande c s l a l i c b ! 1 o u r o u t e r b e i n g a n d n a l u r e w i l l s l l l g o o n n t h e i r o l du n f e g e n e r a l e w a y , b r i n g n g n p e r i o d s o l d u l l o b s c u r a t o n s a n d!n\ lanled reacl ions due to lhe play ol the guras The power ofd v ne y r l lumirred mind may be rmmense compareo w th ordi-nary powers. bul t wi l l st b€ sublecl lo incapaci ly and lherecan be no perlecl correspondence belween the force ol the el-fect ve w and lhe ght oi the dea which nsp rcs L The tnftnt tePresence may be lhere tn slalus, but dynamis af the operatiansof nal)rc st i l l belangs ta the lower Pruk l t . r i rusl folow i1s 1r plemodes oJ working and cannol grve any aclequale lorm 1o lhegreatness $i lhin i l Ths is ihe l ragedy ol rn ei lect v ty. ol iheh , a l ! s b e l u / e e n d e a l a n d e i f e c i v e w r l . .

The Inwardrzal ion and the Ascensron

Th s is the reason why i t has been always Jound thal a sub,lect ve spir tual ty concentrated on lh6 change of the inner beinga one, leav ng the outer nalure to go i ts old way, is much easterto accomplish lhan to object iv ies this spir i tual i ty in lhe dynamicI | le cl a l ree wor d,act ion. In the course ol our Spir i tuat Sadhana.our lola| ly of existence very soon and very easi ly dissociatesnto iwo I elds, an inner one and an ouler one, The jnner being

and nalure has always a much less let tered gait : i t awakens€as y enough, receives l reely the higher spir i tual in i luences andgels more or less translormed, Bul ihe external surface sel j andnature are mostty moulded by the iorces of the establ ished lgno_rance and the or iginal Nescience. And hence they are tardy inawakenrng, sluggish in receiving and impervious to uninhibl tedass mrlal ion. l t is, for this reason, "always easier to spir i tual isethe inner sel t sul l ic ient parts than to transform lhe ouler acl ion;a periecl ion ot introspect ive, indwel l ing_..spir i tual i ly atoot t romthe world or sel t protected against i t is easier than a perlect ionol lhe whole nature in a dynamic, k inet ic spir i tual i ty objecl iv isedn the ie, embracing the world, master ol j ls environment, sov_e.e qn In ts comrnerce wath world-naiure., '

Bul whether easy of ful f i l lment or nol , this is what we havep ace0 bel0re us as our goal: an inlegral t ranslormation ol ourculer betng and nalure as wel l as that of the inner one, entai l ingthe drv nrsalton oi our waking physical existence and ot the dv_.amic l l le ol acl ion. And as lve have menl ioned before, i t is onlvlrre overl intervent ion of lhe divine supermind in our earlh-naturelhal .an negat ive the dark Necessity ol downward pul l ol ourpresenl evolul ionary existence and usher an the eslabl ishmenloi the L fe Divine

And for thal an ascenl out ot the lower hemisphere toppedby lhe Overmind onto the plane ol suprarnenlal Gnasis becomesIne I rs1 necessi ly. For, the dynamic as wel l as the stal ic reah-sa1 on oi Sachchidananda cannolbe inseparcbly and simultane-. !s/v fad except through lhe Supermind, the T.,Jth-Conscious-f-as5 .) l the drvine Real i ty_ "The universe is uynamrsm. move-

Lr

90 Chapler-6 The Inwardizat lon and th€ Ascension

much more has to be achieved belore our goal of div ine anddynamic l i le upon earlh becomes a real ised fact ot existenceThe involved Supermind as to emerge to meet the descendtng

As a malter ot iact, even now, the supramental pr inciple ishere secrel ly lodged in a I existence, even behind lhe grossestmaler al i ty. l t is lhe S!perrnind that rs sustajning and governingihis mani iested lower worlds by i ts sel f-concealed power andlaw ELrt al present lhe Supermind is tnvolved and hidden behlndth s ower t f lp l ic i ly ol mind, l i fe and matter: i t cannot acl overl tyor in i ls won nlr insic power, because oi lhe absence of properInstrumentat on n lhe earth-nature. l ls "power vei ls 1tsel l andItsl law works unseen through the shackled l tm tat ions and t imp-ng deforrnat ons ol lhe lesser rule of our phystcal , v i la l , menlaNalr i rel

Now i l the supramental change ot the who e substance olour being and ol al l i ts modes and movements has al al to bemade perlecl and integral , thls involved Supermind in Nalurem!sl [ re I berated upon earth, jo in with the descending Superm nd,prepare ihe ground lor lhe divine dynamic play oi Supernalure\.para prakrti) and acI as "an overlly operattve power n lh€ ler-restr a vr 'orkings.. . , - n the same way in which lh nking i \ ,4ind has0een eslabi ished through the human evolut on as an overl ly operat ve power rn Li le and Mal ler. This wou d mean lhe appear-ance n the evolul ion ol a gnosl c being or Purusha and a gnos-1 c P f a k r I a g n o s l i c - N a t u r e . T h e r e m u s t b e a n e m e r g e n lsLrpramenlal Consc ousness-Force lberated and act ve withrnthe lerrestr ia whole and an organised s!pramenla Instrumenla-t .n cf lhe Sprr i i n the l i le and the body.. .

I t is n th s way that lhe sp r i lual penury ot our waking ex st-ence ca4 be radrcal ly remed ed and one can enjoy a dlvrne Ienere upon earlh tsei f , even n the phys cal embodied ex stence,w thout any need to shun exislence or plunge inio lhe ann httaI on oj lhe spir tua Person in some sel l extrngu shing Nirvana,

9 1

menl-the essenl ialexperience of Sachchidananda apart l rom thedynamrsm and movemenl is s lal ic. The ful l dynamic l ruth olSachchidananda and the universe and i ts consequence cannolbe grasped by any olher consciousness than the supermind,because lhe inslrumentat ion in ai l o lher l lowerl planes rs inlef orand there is thereJore a dispari ty between the fui lness of thestal c experience and the ncompleteness ol the dynam c power,knowledge, result ot the inter ior Ight and power ol other planes.this is lhe reason why the consciousness of lhe other spir lualp anes, even i f i i descends, can make no radical change in theearlh-consc ousness, I can only modi ly or enf ich t ."

So we see lhal th s subl i rne ascenl f rom be ow. l rom out olthe sp r i tual mrnd's sphere, in lo lhe supramenlal p ane oi beingand consciousness, is lhe l i rs l radical s lep on the way to lheiul l i l lment we have been seeking in ourYoga. Bul h s ascensionrs nol enough: i t has lo be completed by a supreme descenli rom above, ihe descent ot lhe Supermind in earth natufe For,r l is only in the divine Trulh'Consciousness or Superm nd lhatlhe power of dynamic l ransformal ion can be integraland absa-

As a rnalter ol fact, on y lhe supermind can lhus descendwnhaut lasing i ls lu l l power oi acl ioni for i ls act ion s a ways intr insic and automatic, i ts wi l l and knowledge idenl ical al- ld lheresul l cornmensuratei i ls nature is a sel f achieving Truth-con-scrousness.. . on y lhe supramenlal Force can enl i rc lyovetcame[the] d f t icu I ol the fundarnenlal Nescience; for with t enters anopposi ie and luminous imperat ve Necess ly which underl ies al llh ings and is lhe or ginaland l inal sel tdeterminrng trulh lorce ollhe se l -ex slenl Inl in i le. This greater lumtnous sp r l !a neces,s ly and rts sove.ergn imperat ive a/one can dtsplace of enl i relypenelrale. t ransform inlo i lse i and so iaprace the bl fd Anankeof lhe lnconscience "

So. this is lhe second cap tal movemenl: ihe descent ol lheSupermind in earlh-exrsience and earlh nalure B! l somelhrng

oo)ctr\Ct-o9

o*or

:-O

F

Chapter-7

The Spirit's tops and nature's base shalldrawNeat to the secret of their 'eparate truthAnd know each othet as one deity.the spirit shall look out thtough Matter's gazeAnd Mafter shall reveal the Spitit's laceThen man and superman shall be at oneAnd alllhe ea h become a sngle lile.

(SriAurobindo, Saylt i l Book Xl, Canto l , p.7092)

A manrtestation of the Supermind and its truth-conscjous-ness is.,,inevhable:it must haDDen in thjs wo d sooner or later.But it has two aspecls, a descent from above, an ascent lrombelow, a self-revelation ol the Spirit, an evolution in Nature

(Sri Au robindo. The Supamental Manifestation, p.80)

As the psychic change has to call in lhe spiritual to com-plete it, so the fist spiitualchange has to callin the supramentaltranslarmatian to complete it...This then must be the nature ofthe third and final tnnslotmation which finishes the passage afthe soul thraugh the lgnorance and bases its consciousness,its life, its power and form of manifestation on a comptete andcompletely effective self-knowledge..So must be created thesupramental and spiitual being as the first unveiled manifesta-tton al the truth ol the Self and Spirit in the material univerce.

(Srj Aurobindo, The Life Divine, pp.917 -18)I t ,YY e have almos( come to the end ol our long o.sse,tal,o-

on how to remedy the spir i tual penury ot our waking physicalexistence. Not an escape orat the leasta quientisttc withdrawaltrom lhe world-consciousness, but ralherthe integraland vlctori-ous embracing of the life of action and creation a and the divlneIransfigLrration of the whole of our existence. is whal we have

Chapler-7

place belore us as our goal.

But a furtherpoint remains lo be elucidate here.A wel lestab-l ished l ine ol spir i tual exoerience shows that whenever our soulgels involved in act ion, i t loses hold and becomes nescient of i lsrmmobi le, passive and so-cal led t tue slatus, whereas a with-drawal lrom dynamism and an involul ion into passivi ly makes i ttotal ly obl iv ious of i t is act ive status which thus appears 10 bejust a false supenmposit ion upon lhe l reedom and bIss ol thesoul. Now, i f th is experience is the only or the ul l imate expef i ,ence possible, lhen we have pertorce lo admit ihat an acirve l i fecannot be compal ible with the conscious experience and enjoy-meni oi ihe soul-status. Bui fo unatelythis is noi so.This al lerna,l ion in the nescience of the act ive and lhe passtve stalusesoccurs because i i ls only apart of our being na dot lhe total i ty otr t lhal shi i ts i t cenlre and makes the al ternattve movements.But in real i ty there are not two dist inci and separate slatuses:there is instead only a unique dual s latus, a stalus embraces allhe same t ime boih the aspects, the stai ic one and the dynamic

We have akeady spoken ofthe act ive Brahman and the pas-sive Brahman, bul there are nol lwo independent real i l ies, oneimrnobi le, the other mobi le. "The Fleal i ty is nei ther an eternalpassivi ly of immobi le Being nor an eternal acl iv i ly of Beir lg inmovemenl, nor is i l an al ternal ion in Tirne between ihese lwoihrngs. Neither in fact is the sole absolute truth ol Brahman'srea i ly. . .There is not a passive Erahman and an act ive Bahman,but one Brahman, an Existence which reserves lts Taoes in whalwe cal passivily and gives itself in what we call its acttvily. Forthe purposes oJ aclion, there arc two poles of ane being or adouble power necessary for creation,__Brahman does nol passal iernately l rom passrvt ly to acl iv i ty and back to passivi ty bycessat ion of i ts dynamic force o{ being.. . . lntegral Brahman pos,sess Lolh the passivity and the activity slmultareouslyand doesnot pass al ternately fromone 1o lhe other as from a s eep 1o awakino."

The analogy of sleepandwaking is averyaptone here For,whatwe normallyi ind is that in ourwaking state we forget aboulour sleep status and while in lhe sleep-stale we become oblivi_ous oi our waking exislence, But ihis is so only because a smallpart o{ our being makes the transit ion and osci l lales belweenthe lwo slales oJ awareness. And since this part cannot em'brace the total i ty o{ our existence, i l becomes nescient ol one orthe other ol the lwo statuses, depending on ;ts part icular stationai lhe l ime. But lhrough a proper sel l-discipl ine on can so wrdenthe scope ol one's conscious discernment thal one has no morelo make this abrupt and al l-torgeit ing change'over, bul can In_slead ho d both the stales in a single uninterrupted gaze

It is the same thrng with the experience ol Brahman Aclionand creation need not and should not externalise lhe conscious_ness and make one lose the si lent treedom of the passive Brahman nor shouid the experience of the immobile Brahman be in-compatible with the tree possession of i ls mobile status Theapparent incapabil i ly arises lrom lhe{actthat ordinari ly we iden'tify ourse ves with only apart ol the totality of our conscious-ness- ihe mental or at its highest the spirituaLmental parl ol it -

and seek to realise the Divine through this l imited parl alone

And since this iust aparl and not lhe integral conscious-ness, i t cannot simullaneously embrace both the aspecls.Thusdynamis obli terates the sell of status from i ls awareness andpass vitv loosens i is hold on lhe sell ot acl ion. When lhis pas-sivi ly becomes enlire, our mind-consciousness fal ls asleep, soto say, enters lnto the trance-state o{ Samadhi or else is l iber-ated inlo a spir i lual si lence. Bul evidently this is not the l inewhich we would l ike to lol low. For "though it is a l iberation fromthe ignorance oi the pariral being in i ls f lux of action, i l is earnedby plt l ing on a luminoLls nescience o{ the dynamic Realityora uminous separationlrom it: the spiritual mental being remainsseli-absorbed in a si lenl essenlial slalus ol exislence an be_comes is lhe incapable of active consciousness or repugnanl loall activitvl'

98 ChapteFT

8ul our goal is the integral lult j l lmenl of our inteorat exist-ence, lhe Inlegral and simullaneous possesston ot both tne staticand dynamic aspecls ol the Divine, as rs rne case wrthSachchidananda Himself. But this is possible onty i f we pos-sess lhe Inlegral consciousness. And this integral conscious_ness comes only with lhe attainment ol the supramenlal Gno_sis- For, as we have menlioned belore, this cnosis is twololdTruth-Consciotisness, an inherent and integral self -knowtedge andal lhe same time an int imate and integral consciousness ot themanilestation. As a malter ol lact, Sulermind is none other ihanSachchidananda's powerof sel, awareness and world-awareness.and ihus the dynamically inlegral l iberation and futf i ment thatwe are seektng afler can be achieved only in and thfough thissuptamenlal vijnanna,

We have seen how to retain the consciousness of the oas_srve Brahman while al the same l ime parlropation gtn lheconsciousness ol the active aspect of it. Bui that does nol auto_matrcally signi ly that our nature-part as dist inct lrom our innersoul-exislence wil l also get transrormed and be moulded in theirnage of the Divine. But this is whal we precisety need lor thelul l l lment of our goal. For i t isn,t merely the l iberation of oursoul, bLrl the l iberation and the divine transiiguration ot ihe wholeot our Nature, p,?kftirnuktj, pakit-rupantan, enabjing the es-tabljshment of a Life Divine upon earth, that is the tolat contentot our aim. Let us now proceed to show how this prakri l i tvluktiand Prakri l i -Rupantara can be integral ly achieved throuqh theSupermind.

8ul whal is meant by soul or by Nature, by purusha and hisPrakri l i? Any relatively prolound psycho-spir i iuat inquiry makesus aware ol lwo elemenls of ouf being, a soul and a Nalure.Purusha or soul, individual or universal, is lhe observino anderperiencing conscous exislence seentrgry Inactive bLt;n re-ation with i ts becoming, while prakrit ior Nature, again individualor universal, s the principle and the powers { the becomrng, ap_peaflng as an executive Force or an energy of process which is

The Conq!est

seen lo constitute, drlve and g!ide al l concelvable activit ies andiocreate a mVflad formsvisiblelo us and invisible and uselhemas slable suooorts tor lo incessanl f lux ot acl ion and crealion."

Apparently, Purusha and Prakri l i seem to be lwo differenland drstrnct Principles. Nol only thal: in the ordinary slalus olconscious exislence, lhe action and inl luence ot Prakrit i seemto be deleterious to the progress ot the soul. As a maller of lacl,as Sr Aurobindo has so beautiful ly put i t , lhe whole problem oll i fe reso ves itsel l inlo this one question:

"What are we to do wilh lhis soul and nature sei lace to facew th each other, lhis Nature, this personal and cosmic activi ly,wh ch lr ies 1o irnpress i iself upon lhe soul, io possess, conlrol,determine it , and this oul which feels that in some mysleriousway i l has {reedom, a control over i lself, a responsibi l i ty tot whatt rs and does, and tr ies therefore to turn upon Nalure, i ls ownand the world s and to conlrol, possess, en,oy, or even, rt maybe, reiecl and escaoe from her?

l l is because ol lhis apparenl tendency ol the Purusha lo elnvolved and sell lost in th6 obscuring action ol Prakri l i lhat thes6li ' recovering soulleels a sod oJ alool delachmenl i f nol totalrepugnance for the play ot NaiLrre and se€ks to stand back komil and destroy al l earthward tendencies so that i l may securelypossess i ls slal ic nfinity.

Bul this antagonism between Souland Naiure is more apparenl lhan real. lor in realily, lhey are not distinct and ditlerentPrinciples; t ;he lrenchanl duali ty is t ict i t ious, they represent in{acl, lhe Two-in-One or rather lhe One-in-Two. thus,

' 'There are two show are Once and play in many worlds:In Knowledge and lgnorance lhey have spoken and metAnd l ighl and darkness are their eye's interchange.

Thus have they made lheir play wilh us Jor roles:Author and actor wilh hrmsell as scene,

1 0 0

He moves ther€ as the Soul, a Nature she.This whole wide world is only he and she."Thus,lhe Purusha-Prakrit i duali ly, although separate in ap.

pearance, is in fact ins€parabl6. Wherever lhere is prakrit i , thereis Pu rusha; wherever ih6r€ is Purusha, th€re is prakrit i . Even inhis inactivity he holds in himself al lherforce and eneroies readvlor projection: even in lh€ drjveol heracl ion shecarrr; with herall his obseNing and mandatory consciousness as TO wholesupport and sense ol het creative ouroose."

Bul why is this so? Because, in lheir 6ssenlial nalure andonginalaspecl, Purusha and Prakrit iarise trom ihe beincrol di,vrne Sachchidananda. As a matter aflecr, Se .conscro;s ex-istence is lhe essential natur€ ol the Being; that is Sai or pLrrusha:lhe Power of self-aware oxislence, whether drawn into itsetf oracting in the works ol ils consciousness and force, its knowt-edge and its wiil, Chil and Tapas, Chal and its Shaklj,-that isPrakrit i . Delight of boing, Ananda, is the el€rnal truth of the un-ion of lhis conscious being and its conscious lorce wnether ab_sorbed in i tsel l or €ls€ deployed in the inseparable duali ty ot i islwo aspects, unrol l ing the worlds and vi6wing them, acting inthem and upholding the action, execuljon works and giving thesanctron without which ihe force of Nature cannot act, executingand conlrolling the knowledge and the will and knowing andconlrol l ing the del€rminations of th€ knowledge-lorce andwelfares, ministering 1o th6 €njoyment and enjoying,,the Soulpossessor, observer, knower, lord ol Nature, Nature expressingthe being, executing tho wil l , satislying the setf,knowtedge, min_istering to the delight ol being of lhe soul.There we have, foundedon lhe very nalure ol being,lhe supteme and the unive5al rela-tion ol Prck ti with Purusha.The absolute joy of the sout in itsetfand based upon that, lhe absolute joy of the soul in Nature arcdivine lulf i l lmeni of the relal ion. '

Thus lhe apparenl duali ty vanishes and the Two-in-One re.

veais Himselt or Hersell in the divine Sachchidananda, the Sat

Chilananda, lor Sat is the Being, the Purusha' Chit is the con'

scious executive lorce or Prakriti and Ananda is the halo and

aroma ot iheir indissaluble union,

B!tthis essentialunityand union ot Purusha andPrakri l l are-ot overly real 'sed on lhe lower planes ol existence' the lowerplanes ol manifestation of the Spirit. The tru€ inkinsic relalionha been perverted th€16 and a pramatic division and separalronwith all their undesirable consequences have developed along_srde.

Alter al l , whal is a plane of consciousness, a plane ot exisl 'ence? A plane is nothing else than'a g€neral sett led poise orworld ot relations' between Purusha and Prakrit i , belween theSoul and Nalure. Now with the progressive involution or sglf 'concealment of Sachchidananda, has ensued the progressivesell-hiding ol Souland Nature, one trom he olher, the resl l l be-ing that lhe self-possession and the world-possession, svaraiyaand sAmdjya,havebecom€ difficult lo achieve at the same time.Now, depending on the nalure of the dominanl cosmic PrincipJeand power oi being around which the Souland the Nature decideto weave their game of hide and seek, we have difterent planesot consciousness and existence. Thus we have, in ascendingorder, a malerialplane, al i fe-plane and the planes of mind.

But even on the highest rang of spiritual-mind planes, theabsolute harmony of lhe union of Purusha-Prakrit i is not ful lyrecovered. Thus even lhough the separate l ib6ration and staticrelease of the soulbecome feasible there, the latter cannotlreelypossess Nature, become its conscious Lord and lransform i lInto an etfective and flawless inskum€nl ot divine manifesta-l ion.

Forlhat we have lo reach the plane ol supermind,,Ihe vij+andorgnosis ot Sachchidananda, which is not on ly lh e concentraledconsciousnessoflhe rnfinite Essence, [but]also and atthe samet me and ini inrle knowledg€ of the myriad play ol the Infini le.

142

In the gnos s lhe dual ism oi purusha and prakr i t i , Sout andNature d sappears in their biune unity, the dynamic mysiery oilhe occul l Suprerne. The Truth-being is the Hara-Gauri oi lhe In-d an rconologrcal symbol ( the biune body ol the Lord and hisSpouse, lshwara and Shaki, the rght hal f male, the ett hal iiemae); i i s the double Power mascultne born Jrom and sup"pof led by the supreme Shakl i of the Supreme., ,

Bul evenihen a lasl po nl rema ns. FoT, we do nol wanl low t i rdraw lrom the mater a plane of exislence inio ihe Supermrnd'ssei-exisienl ream: we want instead the supramenla un on oiSou and Nature in the very bosom oi the phys caly embodiedexrslence here upon earth. Thus, what js essent ia ior theiul i lmenl ol our object ive is not rnefely the asceni nlo thesupramental Gnosis but the evenlual l ranslorming descenl of tsConscrousness Force into our enl i re being ano naiure ano a con-com lant or subsequenl emergence ol the concealed Supermrndal presenl nvolved here be ow, This tni lux i rom above and lheunvei l ng Irom below wi l l between ihem remove whal s lei t oi lhenature ol the Ignorance. The rule ot ihe inconscienl wt l l d isap-pear: lor lhe e the In conscience wi l l be changed by the ouibursiol the grealer secret Consciousness within l t , the hidden L ght,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

Superconscience".

The supramental be ng, the gnosl ic sout, lhe Vi j f ianamayaPurusa, lhrs appearing in earlh-existence wr be lhe l ist un-ve ed manl ieslat ion ol Sachchidananda in the maler ial universe.Noi a sel f obl iv ion in the lnf ini te, but an integrat seI possessionand world plssession rn the Inf ini te wi l l be i ts character st ic rnove,menl l t wi l l be the I rs i to part ic ipate in world aci on not only nthe Ireedom but in the power and sovereignty ol the Terna . Fort rec ves the iul lness, i t has the sense of pleni tude oi the Godhead n ts act on t shares the lorce, sp endid and roya march o1the n|ni le, is a vesse oi the orrgina knowledge, the mmacu-ate power lhe tnviolab e bl tss, i ransmutes al l ie inlo the eter-

1 0 3

nalLrghl and ihe eternalFire and the eternalWinde of the nectare.l l possesses th€ inf ini te of lhe Self and j l possesses the inf ini leol Nalure.. . The gnost ic soul is the chi ld, but ihe King-chi ld; hererslhe royaland eiernalchi ldhoodwhosetoysarklheworldsanda un versal Nature is the miraculous garden ot the play thatt res never. . . .This biune being of Purusha,pfakr i t i is as i f a f lam,rng Sun anybody oi Divine L ghts sel lcarr ied in i ts orbi t by i isown nner consctousness and power al one with lhe universe,atone wi lh a supremeTranscendent, l ts madness consciousnessand power vibrat ng with an inf ini te sense of f reedom and inten-sl ty ln i is div ine l i ie-movement. . . . -a dance this also, a whir l olm ghly energ es, but the Master ol the dance hoids the hands otHrs energ es and keeps them to the rhythmic order, the sel f-t raced harmonic circ es of His Rasa-Li la, , '

Thus, wrth lhe supramenlattransforrnat ion ot our being andnalure, lhrs earthly l ie wi i l f lower into the Lr ie divine and ourwak ng phystcal ex stence wi l l be adivinised existence ol tnie,grar consctousness and dynamis, Neither wi l l one then have lop unge Inlo t l re superconscient t rance-state in order to experi-ence the Absolute Exislence or non -Exislence, nor to conlentonesel l with the J vanmukti-status wait ing al l the whi le ior thel inal release in Videha-lVuktt . Because, then

Nalure shal ve to rnanifest secret God,The Sp r i t shal l take up the human play,This earthly l i fe become the t i fe divine.

ln the words ol lhe lv lotheri' ln the supramental crealron there wi l l be no more__.whal men

n o w c a l g o d s .' 'These great dlvtne belngs themselves wt l l be able lo par-

Ircrpate n lhe new creat ion, bul lor ihat they us pul on what wemay cal/ the supramenial substance on earlh. And I there aresorne ! ! i ro choose to remain in lheir world, as lhey are, i f lhey dodec de not to rnanilesi themselves physically,Iheir relatton wihlhe oiher beings of lhe supramenlatworld an earthwi l lbe tela

The Conq!est

104 Chaptdr-7

tion of lriends, of collaboralors, ol equal to equal, because thehighest Jivine essence willhave manilested in the beings ol thenew sup@mentalworld on earth.

"When th6 physical substance willbe supramentalised, to beborn on earth in a body will not be a cause of inleriority, ratherthe contrary, there will be gained a plenitude which could not beobtained otheNis6".

But lhe question is: When is this divine Supermind going todescend into the earlh-exislence orthe involved Supermind go-ing to emerge? Th€ answer is thal it is no longer a question ofwhen in lhe future, it is akeady an established fact. The divineSupermnd has descended n the year 1956 and a new world salready born, although noi yel manifest to the gross physicalconsciousness ol man.The lrotherwho alone wilh SriAurobindohas 'luminously laboured' Ior d6cades for the descent of theSupermind her Hersell vouchasafted us this assurance:

"The greatest thing that can ev6r be, the most marvelousthing since the being of creation, the mifacle has happened".

"The manifestation ol the Supramentalupon earlh is no morea promise but a living tact, a .eality. lt is at work here, and oneday will come whgn the mosl blind, the most unconscious, eventhe most unwilling shall be oblig€d lo recognize il."

Only, the involved Supermind has nol yet ernerged. "Theemergence is lot the future, but, ol course, now i l is merely aauestion of lime: the orocess is nalural and inevitable."

Chapter-B

Sure5vara

Chapter-8

The Works ol the Author ol the V6rtika

We now begin the examinalron ot theVeft ika school. Al lcnt icsa g r e e t h a t t h e V a r t i k a s o n S r i S a f r k a r a ' s T a l l i r i y a a n dBrhaderanyaka Cornmentaries were composed by Sri Suresvara,as wel as ihe Narskarmya Siddhi. Our sludy here w l l thereiorebe conf ined lo ihese works. The corn me ntary on lhe Daksinamurt lSlolra ca ed the [ /anasol lasa and the Balakar]da Commenlarycn Yejnavalkya Smri i , which are said to have been composed bya person cal led v svafr jpa Acarya, cannol be accepted as beonging lo the Vadika school, nol only because scholars ared vrded aboul lheir authenlrci ty, but also because they advancevews n contradicl ion with lhe teaching ot the Varl ikas ThePairc karana VArl ika is also eft oul of account tor the samefeasons Theretore we shal l l ry to delermine the nature o1 theVarlrka t€aching with the help ot lhe earl iest menl ioned lhree

The close connect ion between the Brahma Siddhiand theSambandha Vir t ika

We have already menl ioned al lhe beginning oJ the chapleron [4andana (M.V.91) how, in lhe matter of the retutal ion ojoppLrnenls 'v iews, there is much simi la ly in !he l ine ol lhoughlof the Brahma Srddhi and Suresvara's Varl ika. This is especia lylrrre n lho case oi the Brahma Siddh and the nkoduclory por-t lon of SLresvara s Brhadaranyaka Vartrka, cal led the SarnbandhaVerrka. Thls iheme wi l l be developed a l i l i le lur lher here to helpthose who would l ike to make comparison of the two schools.

Tfe co!rse . i t ry ng lo explain how lhe Absolute can only beanouN lhrou gh lhe Veda, sketches in vanous lheories ol the re,

108 Chaptef-8 SL]l€svata 1 0 9

(7) Two Views according to which Ritualg arc eithet for Pu-rificalion or else Patts of the Discipline ol Knowledge: Ac-cepled at B.Sid. pp.27-8,36. Doclr ine that r i tuals are lorawakening the desire lor knowledg€, but lhat they musi begiven up torthe actual al iainmenl lorthe Absolute:S.V14,322. Acceptance of th€ doctrane that riluals are lo. purilica-t i on : S .V 87 .192 .301 .(8\ Relutation of Differencei B.,Did. The whole ot SectionTwo (Tarka Kanda) : S.V 917-86.

in these. and in olher places where rival schools are exam-ined, the lwo works show a str iking similari ly, not only of mean-ing bul even ol words.

The Rival Doctrines Examined in lhe Sambandha Vattika

The lol lowing is a l ist ol some otherviews described lor pur-poses oJ refutation an the Sambandha Vartika which are nol noticedin lhe Brahma Siddhi.

(1)The doctrine that symbolic medilal ions are enjoined forihe sake of l iberal ion. S.V20. (2)The doctrine that l ibera-tion, unde6lood as abiding in one's nature as individual soirl,arises trom fi tual ist ic action. S.V32. (3) Various forms ollhe doctrine that knowledge and action are lo be combinedin lhree ways for liberation. S.V 357. (4) Doctrine thal therei s an i n junc t i on i o pe r to rm repea ted med i ta t i on(prasankhyana). S.V761. (5) The doctrine that knowledgeis tor the sake ol meditation which wil lurn lead to l ibera"l ion. S.V.438. {6) Doctrine lhal knowledge lhat al l is lheone Self is only a piece of symboiic meditation. S.V439. (7)Doctrine of uppression of the impressions of the wakingand olher slates. S.V441-2. (8) Doclr ine of ihe suppres_sron of the mind. S.V443.

And there are olher doctrines ol the same king.Why lrandanaooes not reler to lhem while Suresvata does is nol clear.

lalion between the ritual-section and the knoveledge-section olthe Veda and .efutes them. Those same lheories are also sum-marrzed tor relutation in the same way in the Vertika, moslly onlhe same words. For examole:

\1j The Doctine of the Eliminalion ofl the Univerce of Des-lirationsr Everywhere in the Veda lh6re is taught lhe elimr-nation ol some dist inction somewhere. Thus the ri tual isl icin iunctions are held lo be auxiliaries towards aplitude lorknowledge ol the Sell throuqh the visible resull ot eliminat-ing differences. B-Sid. p.27;S.V (vers€s) 378-a3. The refu-lal ion: B. Sid. pp.28-30; S.V 384,389,424-6.

12) The Doct ne that Pleasure-desie is eliminaled through/Ddulgercer ll is held that lhe ritualistic seclion ol the Vedapromotes aptitude tor knowledge ot the Sell by making everypleasure'desire available. B.Sid. p.27; S.V 343-4.The relu-lal ion: B.Sid. p.30; S.V 345-54.

\3) The Doctine of the Discharye ol the Three Debts: ll ishe d that r i tual ist ic injunclions prepare one tor knowledge olthe Self lhrough securing discharge ol the lhree debis,beginning wilh lhat to lhe gods. Statemenl and relulal ion:B. Sid. p. 36i S.V.436.

\4) VEw tha! knowledge of the. Self enters the Spherc olRitual thtough purilying the pedo ner ol Bitual:8. Sed- p.28.The reiutal ion: B. Sid. p.31 ; S.V. 427-35.

\5) The Dactine that the Whole Veda is concerned withActs to be Done:B.Sld. p.23 and the whole ot Section Three(Niyoga Kanda); S.V477-541. The relutation: B.Sid. pp. 25-6: S.V 540-760.

(6) Doctrine that Ritualmay help the Rise ol Knowledge be-cause its Results differ according to Motive with which it isperforned: B.Sid. p.27. Accepled S.V. 322. Accepted witha oua t icatron. B.Sid. o.36.

1 1 0 Chapter.8

Relutation of Mandana's Positions in the Vartika

The quesiion ol whether Mandana and Suresvara were thesame person is much disputed that they were both Advaitins andlhal they each quoted for their own work than same argumentsagainst the dualists that are lo b9lound in the work o1 the other.It is also noticeable that in lrandana's book one occasionallylinds the argumonts and even lhe words of the revered Com-mentator Sankara. From this one may conjecture that theAdvait ins had been using these same argumenis with sl ightchanges for a long t im6. Then came Suresvara [s3.ya. who ac-cepled and borrowed the arguments used by N4andana and otherlorerunners against olherschools whete such arguments did notcontradict his own system. But he reluted the contractions evenof members o, his own school if they did contradict his ownsystem. And it appears likely that he did so at lhe comrnand oihis Guru.This can be substantiated by a glance at his Narskarmyasiddhi.

(1) l t is an ob€dience to lhe comrnand ol my curu that Iexpound the secret doctrine hidden in lhe heart oi theUpanishads, which ends lransmigration and takes one lojmmortality. I am aware that il has also been explajned byothers. {N.Sid. l .3)

This book is writ ien neither 1o gain fame, nor wealth, nordelerential treatment, but in order to test lhe metal ot my ownknowledge al the touch-stone ol the God-realized sages. (N.Sid.t . 6 )

From a consid€ration of lhese lwo verses one might conjec-ture lhal when Acarya Mandana's fame had spread wideSuresvara Ac6rya composed an independent lreatrse called theNaiskarmaya Siddhi. lts name was a faithlul rellection ol ilscontents, since it was writlen to help people to establish them,selves in lhe actionless Sell though knowledge alone. l t wascomposed also with a view lo relute Mandana, who counselled

Suresvara

the one desirous oi l iberation to practise a combination ol know _

edge and actlon ( in ihe torm of repeated aff irmalion of knowl-edge ihrough meditai ion, [r.V 38,4, ad tn.). The refutal ion wasaccomplished by showing lhat knowledge and aclion were in iotalconlradict ion.

Tvpical ol the teachings that Suresvara combaled in this con_text were ihe tollowing two poinis. Knowledge derived lrorn wordsis inevi iablv indireci, and only he al lains l iberation who has risento immedlate awareness ot lhe Sell through meditalion and otheract ve measures (lV.V. 101, 5, nole);the lalse appearances thatpersisl even alter knowledge off ihe Selfcanonly be broughl ioan end by repeated meditation on one's vision of the reality allied10 pedormance ol sacrl l ices and other caste duties (B Sid p.35,M.V. 100,1) This had already been contradicled by Sri Sankara,as the Jo lbwing lexi shows.

(2) The knowledge thal one is (in truth) ever liberated comeslrom the holy iexls and lrom no olhor source. And knowl_edge o1 the meaning of a text is not possible wlihoul f irstcal l ing io mind the meaning ol i ts component words l l rscertarn that lhe meaning oi a word is cal led to mind on thebasis of agreements and di l lerences (in the way one hasheard the word used and in the meanings for which it ismade lo sland). In this waY one comes lo know onesel aslhe pure transcendent Seli , boyond pain and actlon Theclearest from ol authoritat ive knowledge of lhe inmosl Seli( i .e. immediate awareness based on identity-leel ing) arlseslrom such texts as'That lhou art ' , just as i t did lrom'Thouart the tenth'(cp. Nl.V 59, 14). (U.S (verse) XVll l .190-2

It was by quoting these words of his Guru as his authoritythal Suresvare reiLrtdd lhe docir ine of repealed medital ion(Prasankhavana Vada; N.Sid. lV 31-3; S. V 206-8) and also thalol l iberation lhrough a combinaiion of action and knowledge inhis Vart ika and Naiskarmva Siddhi.To re{ule this doctrine ol com-bination he wrote some verses in his Brhadaranyaka VAdika,

1 1 1

S!resvaTa 1 1 3

beginning wilh on€ saying that only he who was without attach-ment for lhe en,oymenl of anything in this world or the next wasa fil candidate for liberation.

(3)'Children run alter ext€rnal pleasures. . . ' (Kalha l l . i .2)and again?He who desires pleasures and dwells on them isreborn'(Mund. l l l . i i .2) and again'He who has no desires.. . (being nothing but th6 Absolute, he dissolv€s in the Ab:solute' , Brhad. lV iv. 6). (Having thus doclared lhal only hewho is indillerent to the enjoyment ol objects in this worldand lhe next qualifi€s for metaphysical lgnorance, nothingis required but metaphyscial knowledge, SriSuresvara con-tinues : ) To remove metaphysical knowledge. And lo giverise to such knowledg€, nothing else is required except ihevir lues beginning with inner and ouler control. In order loacquire these virtues, nothing is required but purification olthe mind, and for purificalion of the mind nolhing is requiredbut the pedormance ol the obligatory daily ritual as a duty.Since thoughl, word and bodily deed ariso solely from igno-rance of the Sell (read atma-ajnana), when thal has b€encanc€lled by knowledge ol lhe S9lf, how could lher€ b€ d6-pendence on action afteMards? (8.8.V l. i i i . 97-100)

One may nole lwo turther doctrines of the Brahma Siddhithat were reluted by Suresvara- lvlandana argues asfollows. Everymeaningful sentence communicalos a part icular nol previouslyknown to the hearer In the Vedic terts proclaiming lhs Absolute,we find ihe universal notion 'catlse' and the universal nolion 'being'

conveyed by phrases such as'Thatfrom which (these creaturesare born)' (Taitt . l l l . .1) and 'Nol gross. . . ' . The6e ideas (in them-selves unrversal) acquire a particular meaning not known througholher means of knowledg€ wh€n thoir univ6rsal meaning is nar-rowed down by the meaning ol olherwords in the sentence, eith€rby way of association or of exclusion;and this palt icular mean-ing is the burden ol the texl (B.Sid. p. 157, cp. M. V 99, 1). Oragain the elirnination of plurality may be elfected through revela-tron-The meaninb of the term 'plurality' (read prapafrca-pdartha)

is already known. And the meaning of 'non-existence' is alsoknown. The non'existence of plural i ty is the new lruth commu-nicaled as a sentence-meaning by the association lhesejwoword'meaning (B.Sid. p. 157, cp. M.V 99,1).

These lwo lheories are tefuted by Suresvara. He remarksagain and again that there is no associalion or exclusion ol word'meanings in texts teaching th€ idenlity of the true Seli with theAbsoluie. because lhe inmosl non-dualSelf cannol bethe mean-ing expressed by any sentence (N.Sid.l l l .25, 26;76. S.V 902,909-10; B.B.V L iv. 1406-8, 1431; l l l . iv. 29,33,46; l l l .v. 100, 184,190).In explaining the text 'The Infinite, veri ly, remains (Brhad.Vi.1)he expresses himself thus:

(4) Reallity, which does not admil of any distinction betweenGod and the individualsoul, appears through lgnorance toincl!de this distinclion. When lgnorance is abolished lhroughthe knowledgo that says "neitherthis nor that ' , only the Selfremains. There is seen to be no association or exclusion otword-meanings to lorm a senlence-meaning, no even anegation - when lgnorance, the root of al l these false no-tions, is abulished through authoritalive knowledge derivedfrom the Veda in the manner explained. (B.B.V Vi.21-2)

The Treatment ol the Doctrine ot Bhartrpraanca in the TheVartika

We have spoken so lar as i l the principle doctrine lo be re-futed ln the Naiskarmva Siddhi and the two Verl ikas was lhat ollVandana [,4isra. Bui il should be rememb€red that what has beendescribed above could equally well have been intended 10 refuleBharlfprapafrca. And there are some strong reasons Jor suppos'ing this to have actually been the case. Because Bhartrprapafrcawas an exponeni of the doctrine of Duali ly in Non duali ty, heaccepled the doclr ine that lhe meaning evon ol the supremetexts oi the Veda was based on the mulual associalion andexclusion o{ the word-meanings to form a senlence-mearrng.

I 1 4 Chapter'8 SLrresvara I t 5

When, in lhe passage jusl quoled above, lhe Varl ika sard 'There

s seen to be no associal ion or exc usion ol word meanrngs loiorrn a sentence meaning, nol even a negat ion' (B.B.V V 22) -

lhal a occurred in the course ot a relulat ion ihat tol lowed asummary ol Bhartrprapai ica's interpretal ion oi the lexl Thal isn l i n t e . . .

Like l \ / landana, Bharlrprapaica advocaled a combinal on olknow edge and acl ion for l iberal ion ( l \ ,1. v 87). Also l ike Mandana,he accepled lhal lor l iberat ion there had lo be a new lorm olmmediate know edge, di l fereni l rom lhat conveyed ofal y by the

lexts ( lv l .v. 84). Again, i t s l rue lhal Suresvara relers (as Ispeakrng oi f t /andana) lo lhe doclrne ol those who say Theknow edge I am the Abso ule ar s ng l rom the upan shadrc lexlsdepend son the assoc ai ion oi lhe meanings of ts d t terenlcomponent words and hence does nol penetrate to the real {nondua ) nature ol lhe Self (N.Sid. l .67, prose inlro.) . Neverlhe-less. he at l r ibutes lh s leachlng to lhose who sel store on lheinjunct on Once the w se man has acqurred know edge of lheSel i alone. he shou d pracl ise repealed af i rrmatron (Brhad Vrv. 2l ) . And he does to anywhere take nol ice ol the al lernat veto obed ence to ihis lexl advocaled by l \ ,4andana rn lhe words'Or al lernatrvely i t cou d be mainla ned l l ral an iniunct on wouldbe useless here, as lhe desirable end which i t promlsed wouldalready be at la ned. Prolonged brood ng on somelhing in one'sm nd may grve r ise to rmmediate apprehension of r l and thal isa fesul l already at la nab e in this very l i fe ' (B.Sid. p 154, M.V98.4).

And lhere s anolher point. The whole lenor of Sr i Sankara scornmenlary on the Brhadaranyaka t jpanishad is ior h m toeslab ish h s own method ol interpreial ion whi le rel ! l ing lhal oiBhartrpranca.There is every reason lo suspecl lhal accornplsh-Lng this was lhe main reason tor lhe compos l ion bolh ol thecommenlary and of Suresvara s Vart ika explaining i l . And wehave descrlbed at ength in Chapter V above on Bhartrprapaicahow both the commentary and lhe Verl ka estab|sh the r own

vrew oi lhe meaning ol lhe lexl ot the Brhadaaranyaka ai terrelut ing that of thartrprapaaca al every slep. But we t nd noelaborate relulal ion ol IVandana ot this kind ei ther in the cornmenlary or lhe Varl ika. And we f ind lhe lol lowing remark rnlhecommentary, relerring 10 B ha rtrprapanca: 'th e refo re, allthose whoare c ever al thinkrng up dillerenl interpretatons oi lheVeda exp a lthe meaning ol lhe upan shadic lext di i ierenl ly. Even so, I wou daccepl anylhrng that relexl di l lerenl ly, Even so, lwould acceplanything lhal represented the true meaning of lhe Veda haven o t h r n g a g a i n s l t h e m p e r s o n a l y ( B r h a d . B h . l l . r i r . 6 , c p . M v .1 0 , l l l , n o l , p . 2 6 )

( l ) They say ( lhat is, Bharlrprapaica says,) One shou dalways med lale ntensely on the Absolute the rea . n tssupreme form as the whole, both as a col lectrve whole andas a syslem oi nler-relaled parls ' . somel imes he speaksol the Abso ute s const lut ing a whole as implying a ser iesol stales, along wrlh a cer lain being assuming those states,sometrmes he describes the Absoluie in lerms oi a causeassocraled wi lh i ls ef iects. Sometimes the great lh nkerdescr bes i l as a whole divided into dl l ierent par ls. as awheel s drvrded nto hub, fe y and spokes. Dd he learnIhal, I wonder, t .om the true tradi l ion? (B.B.V l . iv. 948-s0) . .There s a (so-cal led) great expert in the tradi l ion who ho ds,ior sooth, thal p ural i ly and |rni ly are one and the same. Hesa d lhal name, lorm and acl ion are both di t lerenl and non,di l lerenl i rom lhe Absolute (8.8.V. L v. 46) . . .

And there are rnore passages in this vetn, such as: Thereis another ol lhese great luminaries (Bhartrprapanca ) whoe x p l a i n e d h e f e l a l i o n a s t o l l o w s . . . ' ( B . B . V l l . r 2 1 ) . S l udenls musl examine these two views (those of Sankara andBhartrprapaica ) and accept wh chever seems to them best 'iB.B V. . .255). A certain person who regarded h msel l asa greal -oxpeft in lhe upan shads invenled an inlerprelat on

,'

ChapreFS Suresvara 1 1 7

ol own, with great ingenui ly, and spoke as iol lows, qu le

wi lhout any underslanding of whal the Upanishads actual ly

mean' (B.B.V l l . i i .90). 'There is another Absolul ist (brahma-

vadin) who explains the example (of the spokes hub and

fel ly of a wel l given at Brhadaranyaka l l . v.15) di f fefent ly n

order to sui t his own dogmas about the Self const i tut ing a

whole and so forth ' (B.B.V. 11.v.67, cp. N,r1.V.86,4) Here, a

certaln greal genious taught, as a spec al piece ol wrsdom

supp ed lree by Vaisvanara, lhai a person is not I nal ly l ib_

erated even when he has been liberated from his lwo bodies(B.B.v. l l l . i i .41). "Theretore the whole doctr ine that lhe Absolute s both one as a col lect ive unity and many as the

d fferentiated parts is a rnere superstllron ll may De a spec alprece ol wisdom suppl ied l ree by Vaisvanara, but i l does

n01 obey the rules ol reason (8.8.V lV. i i .1 187) Dependlng(not on reason but) on a free donat ion of wisdom lrorf

Vaisvanara.. . (B.B.VlV iv- 391). This was lhe explanat ongiven by that august sage, lhe greal Bharlrprapaaca, supporled neither by the Veda nor by reason (B.B V lV v 4l2)He explained i t olherwise with marvel lous ingenurty( B . B . V . V . . 2 8 ) .

In lhese and other passages, the doctr ine ol Absolut ism as

nfected with plural i ty, and ihe doclr ine of l iberat ion thfough a

cornbinat ion ot knowledge and act iv i ly were t reless y rnocked

and cr i t ic ized in hundreds of ways. When Suresvara repeatedly

specif ied the i rue naiure ol the Self or Absolute as ne lher

lranscendenl nor immanent he probably had Bharlrprapahca n

mind-Bhartrprapaica who heid thal the Absolule was a un 1y

as a col lecl ive who e and a plura l ty as a system ol nterre ate adp a r l s ( B . B . V . l . i v . 5 2 9 , 6 5 6 , 1 4 4 5 ; 1 i . i . 8 8 , 3 6 1 ; l i i i i l 2 ; l l v l 8 ;

i v . 4 1 1 , 4 7 3 i l l l . i x . 1 5 6 ; l V . 1 . 3 6 8 ; 1 V i v 5 6 9 , 8 4 6 - 7 , 1 2 9 8 1 V 1 0 )

Putt ing a this together, i t seerns mofe reasonab e to suppose lhat Bhartrprapanca was s ngled out as lhe chiel opponent

to be refuted. And lhere is another related point lhal requ res

invest igat lon. l { Bharirprapa6ca's vrt t i on the Brhadafanyaka was

so we I known n lviandana's day, why is il that rneticulous philoso'pher drd nol so much as vouchsale i l a glance? As I am nolmysel able lo sett le this doubtJul quesi ion, l just raise i l andol ler t lo phi lo ogists and histor ians, whi le we ourselves wrl lcarryon wi lh the malter in hand.

Secause the unity and sole realily ol the sell expresses itselfby nalure as awareness, il is self-evident

The revered Commentalor pornted out thal the Self was sel it revident. He sad, The Sel l is not a thing lhal a supersedesanylh ng e se; tor i l s sel f-eslabl ished and sel l -manitesl . Themeans o{ knowledge be ong lo i t . l l does nol depend on lhem toeslablsh 1s exislence (B.S.Bh. l l . i i i .7, M.V.28,3). 'We do not baseour doctr ine ol the uni ly and sole real i tv of the Sel l on lhe aulhori lat ive means oi knowledge, since ihe Self is bare i rnmedialeawareness by very nature. so we shal l show later thal no meansol knowledge app y to t . The means ot knowledge lhemselvesresl in and depend on awareness'1hrs text of Suresvara (N.SLd..8S) shows thal h s teachrng iul ly agreed wi lh sr i sankara on

lh s po nt ln rnany p aces in the Vart lka i t is poinled oul lhat lhepresence and a so the absence oi means of knowledge can on ybe eslablshed by the sel i as awareness, and lhat the sel sselt-ev d€nt For instance ihere is the verse Krrowef, knowledge,known and cerl i l !d€ a depend ior their establshment on thepresence cl the Self On whal, lhen, cou d lhe Sel{ depend lor r tso!^rn eslab shmeni? {B.B.V, Liv.870), and there are many olhers r n a r t e x t s ( e q . B . B . V 1 1 . i . 5 5 2 , l l l . i v . 9 1 , l V i i . l 9 l 6 ,rv .891 . . ) .

l l letaphysical lgnorance in Suresvara

The revered Comrnentalor, i t is wei l known, said: Superim'pos t on lhus del in€d lhe wrse cal lgnorarrce' (B.S Bh. l . . l . ntro..c p l , / 1 . V . p . 1 9 ) . M 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{beg nnrngless) melaphysical lgnorance n lhe ind vidual souls

| 8 Chapter-8 Su.esvara 1 1 9

{B Srd. p.12). But he posed the al lernal ive, erther non-apprehen-sion or false apprehension (B.Sid. p.9), and then expressed ap r e f e r e n c e b y s a y i n g l g n o r a n c e s p o s i t v e e r r o r ( B . S i d . p . 1 1 , c p .

[ ,4.V.92). He aso said, Because both lgnorance and the nd] 'v dua soul are beginning less, l ike lhe cycle ol seed and sprout,i l fo ows lhat the quest ion of c ircular argument does not aase(B.S d. p.10, cp. M.V94,1). Bhartrprapaica said, ' lgnorance isia ure to real ize " l am al l" ' ( l \ ,1.V820. l t ar ses ol l ts own accord,l ike desert p aces on parls ol the sur lace oi the eart (1v1.V.. 79,l n o r e J .

The senlences rcferred ta in StiSankara's Cammentarywhenhe was cansidering Bhatttpnpahca's daclrtne have been givenin very summary form here, But they are clearly reporled tnSuresvara's Vartika and quated in the sub commentaty there.' lgnorance is a pawer of the Lard, even thaugh natural

luncaused)". Thercfore, when it is manifest, it affects anly a partof the Lord and has its seat in this individualsoul' qfiandagirion

B B.V. ll. iii.122).'As deserls and the like occupy same placesan the earth only, and are nat u nive rsal attributes chanclerizingthe whole surt'ace of the earth everywhere, sa Ignorance ts nata. at ! . tbutc at ha <upteme Pr 'n 'pte t4nd'd"g' , a" B.B.V

Suresvara, however, says that metaphysical lgnorance rsabsence ol knowledge and the ef iects oi thal . l t is establ ishedthrough one s own direct experience, nol through rneans of knowl-edge or prooi. S nce i t js establ ished throLrgh immed ate experi-ence aLone, t escapes ihe gr ip of the var ious means ol knowl '-"dge For I is 'establ ished only through lack ol rel eclron .Suresvara says th s repeatedly. Fai lure to real ise thal one's ownSel i rs the sole real i ly is cal led lgnorance. l ts seal s the Self , asimmed aie experlence. l l is the seed of t ransmigrat on. l ts de-struct ion consttuies lhe rberatron oi the soul ' (N.Sd. .7). 'Theei lects of lgnorance are "establ ished only through uck ol rel lec'ton'even l ike lgnorance tsel f .Thefefore, when lgnoranceisde-slroyed, the whole world is deslroyed and rs turned inlo p!re

Consc ousr1ess' (B.B.V 1. iv.1329). .As metaphysical lgnoranceis establ ished through tmmediate expenence only, jusl l ike lheimrnediate experience " l am the Absolute, ' , so, when deslroyedthrough the 11se ol an authontal ive cogntt ion, i t d issolves andturns into the Sei i ' (S.V 1 17). These texis show that lgnorance isoccas onal ly declared by Suresvara to be subject to cancel lat ionthrough the authori tat ive means of knowledge. We shal lhere quotesome lur lher verses from the Vart ikas to throw l ight on this.

(1)The sole cause here is impermanenl lgnorance, whichmeans l do not know'. l t is establ ished {nol by any authorital ive means oi knowledge but) only through one,s own ex_pef ience ol i t , I ke the owl 's experience of night of day. ( f B.V

1 7 6 )

The phrase'cause here'means the cause or appare oe-limitations superimposed on the Self.

(2) He who would wish to see lgnorance wit the sight pro,duced by the authori tat ive means ol knowledge is keonehoprng lo see the darkness in the depths oi a cave w th alamp. Whatever appears here in the world as ,not_selt , is aresult of lgnorance. Hence i t is also cal led lgnorance. Butknowledge has only one lorm, lhat of ihe SeJl. lgnorancehas no other nature but fai lure lo apprehend the Sel l . lgno_rance s non-knowtedge' in the sense oi . the opposite olk n o w l e d g e ' , a s a ' n o n J r i e n d ' j s t h e o p p o s i i e o f a f r j e n d . T h econcept ion wi always be intel l ig lble in this sense. (T.B.V.u.177-9)

The nature of lgnorance as not-self js simpty nan_percep-tian af the Self. Non-perception ol the Self is catted lgna_rance (avtdya, Iiterally non-knowledge) because it is the contradictory of knowledge (as'non-cat', in logjc, js the cantradictory af'cat').,3 \or ca. lhe theorV rhal lgno.alce af ises sponlanaoLs yfrom the supreme Sel l , l jke deserl places appearing here

124 chapter.S

and lhere on the sur lace ol the earth, be correct. l l lgno_rance arose lrom lhe supreme Sel l , l t would mean that l ib_erat ion would be impossible. Or i t lgnorance were deslroyed,lhen on this lheory i t would i rnply the destruct ion ol lhe Selt . ,the erroneous doclr ine of lhe Buddhisis. (B.B.V. l l . i i i .130_1)

Thesetwo verses werc compased to rclule Bhartrprapaica.

Objections and answers on lhe subjeclof Metaphysical lgno'rance

In lhe course ol rei lect ing on the lopic ol lhe cessal ion oi lgno_rance, the iol lowing hypothel ical objeci ion was raised I theB r a h m a S i d d h .

r 1) Srnce the Absolute is elernal, i ls essence ts ndeslrucl_ible. lgnorance, lheretore, (which requires lo be deslroyed)canncl be of lhe nalure ol the Absolute. lgnorance mustei lher be or nol be di f fefent l rom the Absolule. l l i t is notdi i tereni, whai could there be in i t that could be deslroyed?So lel us say that lgnorance is mere non'apprehenslon. l lcould nol lhen be anything di f ierent {rom ihe Abso ule. . . .Bul knowledge which puts an end to lgnorance rs elernal lypreseni in the Absolute. And nothing else aparl i rom lheAbsolule exisls. . l t , on the olher hand, metaphysical lgno-rance were posi l ive wrong apprehension. lhen how could i lbe broughl io an end? For we have now pointed out howsuch a theory has defecls, whelher lgnorance be laken asbe ng ol the nalure oftheAbso uleornolol i ts nalure (B.Sid.pp. 8-9, summar zed)

The answer given to ihis objecl ion was as Iol lows

(2) gnorance s nol part ot the nalure oi the Absolute, nor rsI a second thing over aga nst i l , nor rs I a togelher unrea .n o r s i t r e a l . T h a l s w h y t h i s l g n o r a n c e 1 s c a L e d M a y a a n da Ialse appearance. l f i l were lhe nalure ol anylhlng. lhen.

whelher di l lerent l rom thal thing or nol, i t would be periect ly

Suresvara 121

rea and so would not be lgnorance_ But i l i t were tolal lyLtnreat, t rke a l lower supposed to be grow ng in the sky, i lwould noi enter into experience. So i t is indelerminabte (ei-lher as reat or unreal, LSid. p.9). . . l f the matter is con-cerved thus, lgnorance may be taken as belonging 10 theindiv dual souts, regarded as dir t€rent l rom the Absolute,wrthoul the deiecis complained ot by the opponent, (B.S d.p . 1 0 , s u m m a r i z e d )

On the same lopic, an object ion is quoted lrom lhe SlokaVart lka oi Kumari ta.

(3) l l rgnorance were lhe true nature oi anylhing, i l could notbe exlrrpated ever. For what exists natural ly can only bedeslroyed by the advenl ol some di l ferent externai tactor.Bu1 lhose who claim lhat al l is the one Sel i cannol adm tt h e a d v e n l o i a n y d i l l e r e n t e x t e r n a t f a c t o r ( S . V .Sarnbandhaksepa PariharaSS,6;cp.tV.V95, inlro.)

The relulal ion of the objecl lon by l \ randana is through appearo lhe rn delerminabi l i ly ol lgnorance. But lgnorance is neverlound reierred to as indeterminable anywhere in Suresvara,sVarl ka. I rs lhere accepled as betng of the narure or non appre-nens on, expfessed as the feel lng, l do nol know,. So we musli f nk how lh s object ion would have been met by Suresvara. Inr ' r s aonneclon Ihe loi lowtng verses are worthy ol considera,

l . l rThough th/s melaphys/cal ignorance is nalurat, i t is manifest only on accounl of the Self as immedtate exper ence. l trs ousled and destroyed by knowledge, as darkness is deslroyed by lhe r ise ol the s!n. Begrnningiess lgnorance rsseen lo be destroyed in an instanl by metaphysicat knowt-edge u.hich has begrnning in t ime. We do nol accept thalsLJcn (nowtedge requires realf i rmat on. Though his our in_nrosl Sel{ is thus sel f- uminous and is the Witness of at llnorance and i ls el tects, yet i t is not proper y known be-

f o r e n r e t a p h y s c a l k n o w e d g e h a s a r s e n t h r o u g h t h e

122 Chapler 8

upanishadic disc pl ine, as our won rmmed ate exper ence(ot ldo not know') ndicates. (S.V 1088-90)

Here rs what the passage means. lgnorance is nalura, torwe have the immed ate experience' l do not know. And we seeeverywhere in experience how pr ior absence ol know edge s removed once and lor al l lhrough advent i t ious know edge, withoutthere being any quest ion ol the need for re-aff rrnaton oi suchknowledge, Nor should one ra se the oblect on 'How cou d therebe lgnorance in the Absolute, which is knowledge by nature?'For beiore lhe r ise ol metaphysical knowledge lhrough the!panrshadic texts as adm nrsiered by a Teacher, the Se I canappear ( lhrough lgnorance)both as the ignoranl one and as unk r o w n . l h o u g h r l s e l i t h e W i n e s s o f a 1 l k n o w e d g e a n d l g n o -rance And so in lhis wayour metaphysica lgnorance. even thoughnalural (and so beginningless), is brought lo an end buy lhe ad-venl i t rous melaphys cal knowledge ar sing from lhe Vedic texts.Nor shoLr d one .aise lhe object ion, How ca. lh is be so. f nolh-n! apart l rom lhe Absolute exisis?'For we accept al l experi-ence as lcomes beiore lhe r ise of metaphysical knowledge

Very wel . Bul how do we exp ain how lgnorance could beeslablshed by rmmed ate experience? And i l t can be showntiral t s so eslab shed, how coud i l be lhat def€cls are nolf t rodLrced into Ihe Absolute through contact w th gnorance andts el lecls? And how could t , i estab shed by immedrale expe'r ence, be brought to an end? On thrs sublect we have lhe Io ow-ng vefses,

(5) Everyone, even chi ldren, w I express therr natural lgno'rance based one experience when asked aboul somethingoi whrch they have no knowledge.They wiLL say. Ido nolknow anylhrng aboul r l . . ln regard lo th ngs lhat are ent re y beyond the range of experience. l ike thrngs on the roolol lhe Hrmalayas, waking experiences lhLrs no d f lerenl f rorn. l raamess sleep There s no break here n experlence i l -

sa i as $ie ha' /e lhe experieace io nol i i . \ ' r Arrd l i rhen

123

we see sornething lhal tormerly we drd not see, ( there muslhave been experience of nol seeing since) we know al ler,wards Former y I did not know i t ' . (S.V.993, 995,6).

ln lhings thataretolally beyondthe rangeof expeience, aneknaws from ane s own experience of'lda not know'lhat they arenot known.This is established litst, and lhen suresvard gaes onta shaw how a persan may say of samething he naw eyes, 'Up tanow, I did not knaw il . The idea ts the show that all ignorance Ee stabrs h es by e xpe rie nce.

t6 gnoranc. s e- ldbl isqed by one r own e\oerienca .ven

though the Se I is f ree trom lgnorance. Belore the r ise otlhe know edge lhal al l is the one Self . we have the expere n c e l d o n o t k n o w ' . ( B . B . V l . l V . 2 l 6 ) .

ln lhat tyhtch. because l6 of the very nalure cf immediale2t',/ateness. lhere can be no lgnorance, there is nevertheless,ielore lhe rise of metaphysical knowledge of lhe Self the nationestabhshed thraugh immediale awareness l do rot knaw my

l7) That pr nc ple ( the Sel i ) s sel l -revealed. Therefore t iseverfree i rom lgnorance,Thatwh ch s everiree from lgnorance s i ree aso from the impurtes thal spf ing from lhea t l s r ( B B . V . l i v . 2 1 3 )

The neaning is lhat the Absolute is nol lauched by lgnarance at its effects because it is ever sell"evtdent ta lself.

(8) He who has known lhe Sel i n i ts l rue nalure knows thati1s connect on with lgnorance impossible in past, presenl orluture l l rs then seen lhat the nol ion lhai the pre Sel l wasconnectecj with anylhing else was only establ ished throughack of ret lecl ion. (B.B.V Liv.217)

The enlighlened one whoknows theSell in immed@ie expe-leFce hes the convictian lgnarance is tmpassible in me in pasl,p 'Esenl or fulurc -The nal ion of connec onwi!h lanatance \ /as

Suresvara

124 Chapler-8

eslablish only through lack ol rcllection - that is the meaning.Thefacttha! lgno?nce and its ellects arc estabtished onty lhroughlack ol rcllection i6 often mentioned in the Varika, lor examptein such places as: B.B.V. l . iu1170, 1529, t341: . i i i . t92, 224:lll.iv.131 ; lll.vi.42: lll.viii.31 ; lViv.3O7.

(9) Merely hom the r ise ol the correct idea kom the iexl'Thal thou a 'one f ind that lgnorance, together with i ls ef-lects, never existed in the past, does not exist now, and wtl lnever exist in the luture. And so i l is not poss ble lo showby aulhori la l ive means ol knowledgelhat lgnorance betongslo the Self , or to explajn i ts natu.e or indicale i ts source.For i ts sole exislence is our experience oi i t . He who isaff l ic led with lgnorance cannot determine the l ruth aboutthat lgnorance, l t is only one who has experienced lhe f inalreal i iy who can make the discovery, by relerence to that,' lgnorance does not exi ls ' . (S.V 1e3-4, 179).

The cessation of lgnorance is onty intelligible it lgnatance isseen to be established only thraugh lack af reftectjan. is anty(htough the vision of ane wha has knawn the Setf that ane cansay, ll cloes to exist', because only after such visian will onehave seen tha!, unlike the Self, tgnorance is not se| estabtished.And so, from he standpoint of vtsion of the fjnattruth, questionssuch as'What is the nature of lgnorance ?, ar ,Where djd it comefram?'are simply not raised (as it is known that Ignatance had

ln the view ol Suresvara, lack of metaphysicat knowtedge isthe cause oi lransmigfatory expe rience. Th erefo re he lays il down:'Fai lure to real ize thai one s olvn Sel l is the sole real i ty s cal ledmelaphys cai lgnorance. l ts seat is the Self as immediale expe,rence. l t s the seed ol l ransmigrat ion. l ts deslruct ion consl i -tules lhe l iberai ion ol the soul ' (N.Sid. 1.7)_

On th s proinl , lhe M mamsakas and others raise an objecl lon. Absence of authori la l ive knowLedge may assume one ol

125

three Iorms - wrong knowledge, absence ol knowledae or doubl.[ ro ol lFes6. {w,ong knowledge and osubt j , b.rrg p;srtrve rea Il ies, are explrcatr ie as due to some delect in the tactors of knowl,edge (Kumari la, S.V Codana Sutra 54). Basing ths.. .1r. . . |1th s texl f rom an acknowledged authorj iy, lhey hotd that errone-ous knowledge, being a posit ive real i ty, can functtons a cause.bul thal mere ack ol knowledge cannot be regarded as the causeoi t ranmigralory experience, because i l is nol a post l lve real i ly.Th s was probably lhe reason why Acarya Mandana laid the ma;emphas s on postt ive erroneous knowledge as lhe nature ol lq,' r o r o _ L e r e m a r k n g . N o n - a p p . e h e n s r o n . b e i n g a n o n - e n r . i y(abhava). cannol be the cause ol anythjng' ( |Vj .V.92. intro. i .Agd _sr lhrs SsLresvara argJeo as Iol lows.

( l0) Afe you saying that, in the case of error, what is ne_gated by an authori tal ive means of know edge is rcal i ty?l lreal i iy were negated thus, what woutd be tef i tor an authori-la lrve means of knowledge lo knou/?.. . How could fa set o w e d g e t o b e ' e d l t t y ? T l e l a t s e s " o r t n p r a , t t ^ q n a - Lo, hnowlpdoe being lalse and ' l o" '"g ,"at, t ; - lh;

-JJ;

on y come irom a great genius l ike Kurnari la. Even r i theerfoneo!s notton ot a snake or lhe lk€were raken as a rearity '" n""n, n *",ioll,inflt"l,:.li"jr:pearance when ident i f ied with the rope, and, as such, wouldbe contradjcled and cancel led by knowledge o, the lat ter. l ferroneous know edge had a cause, as i t does tn Kumanla,st freory, then he oughl to be able to stale that cause. L hewere lo say il was a real etlect but had no cause. thal wouldbe laughed oul of courl even by chi ldren.. . The iact is lhaln the tnad absence ol knowtedge,, ,wrong

knowtedoe,and'doLol . absence (B.B V. t . tv.423. 425.7, 1368)

Wl at s arqued herc is that etrons7us 4nsr1.^.a;.2n t t^rc-.,t | ,L,st h^c t that non.ent y) ot knowtedge n", ,r"*nii

"", i"

canttadicted and cancel absenceed by authoriAtive knowledge.ntnce erroneous knowledge can anly a se as a resul! of ab-

S!resvara

126 ChapleFS

sence of knowledge, the Mimemsakas' obiection was incoffect.

The treatmenl ol lgnorance by Sri Sankara and SuresvaraCompared

In the inlroduct ion to his Brahma Sitra Comrnentarv. Sr iSankara declares lhal erroneous cognit ion is superirnposi l on.He says: ; 'And yet, though lhese two pr inciples (Self and non-self . pure s!bject and object) are utter ly dis l incl in nature, theres a fai lure io disl inguish one lrom the other, and each, logetherwi lh i ts at l r ibules. is suDerimoosed on and ident i f ied wi lh iheother. And lrom lhat there resul is ih is natural worldly experience,based on erroneous knowledge and involving a synthesis of therea wlh the ialse, whlch expresses i tsel l as " l am this" and"This is mine" (N4.V 22,4). He also says'Superimposit ion is oithe nature oJ a lalse idea' (8.S. Bh.1. i .1 , in lro. ad t in.) . And hedeciares metaphysical lgnorance 10 be thal very erroneous cog-ni t ion, synonymous with superimposit ion.

ln Suresvara's Vanika, however, metaphysical lgnorance issaid 10 be non-discr iminal ion, ol the nalure ol lack ot or absenceoi knowledge, For example, we havei 'The relat ion belween theSelf and lgnorance ol the Self is held to be that between theSel l afd 'being consl i luted by the Self without being aware oflhe facl ' . This lundamental la i lure of discr iminal ion, cal led lOno-rance ot one's t fue Self , is said to be lhe cause of ( the apparenlexistence of al l ) lhe creatures of the world '(B.V Liv.381). Alur iher verse was added to indicale ihal absence ol knowledgewas ihe one core ol erroneous knowledge. 'Absence of knowl-edge, constant ly presenl as i l is, is ident ical with erroneousknowledge; as cause and erfecl , they are constant conemilanis '(B.B.V. Liv.386). An he makes his view clear wi ih the verse,'From doubtwe deduce absenceol knowledge. From wrong knowi-edge we deduce the same. l f we are asked, 'What is the essenceol doubl and wrong knowledge?'we reply 'Their essence is ab-sence ot knowledge' (B.B.V l . iv. 440).

Suresvara

The revered Commentalor Sankara had declared open y thalthe sole purpose of the Upanishads was to pu1 an end to super 'imposit ion, saying, 'And ihe ent ire upanishadic leaching is be-gun lo communicate knowledge ol the sole real i ty ot ihe oneSel l , and lhus lo put an end to this superimposit ion, the cause olal l evi l ' (B.S.Bh. l . . '1, in lro. ad f in.) But Suresvara reversed thisview and slaled his own view very clear ly as fol lows: 'When r ighlknowledge ar ises i t cancels and conlradicls absence oi knowledge.When that has been cancel led, there is no need iorfurtherei forts 1o cancel posl tve erroneous cognit ion. The facl lhat afa se cogni i lon can be cancel led is only so because i l lmp esabsence of knowledge. How can ia se cognl l ton harm us whenis rool has been deslroyed?' (8. B-V Liv.437'8) So the quest onar ses which view is between, and I shal l expla n whal appearsto rne to be the truth in this mal ler,

The revered Commentator said that la i lure to discr minalei h e S e l f a n d t h e n o t - s e l f w a s t h e c a u s e o f t h e i r m u t u a lsuperimposit ion. But in saying this he was only concerned wi lhthe m nd funcl ion ng as the basis ot empir icai experience. For hesays, ' through the fa lure lo disl inguish one from the other (Sel land nol sel f) . . . there resul is this worldly experience based onwrong know edge' (B.S.Bh. l . l .1, intro.) . In his Gi la commentarytoo, we i nd lhe words, 'a "coniunct ion" which is iniact (not a lealconjunct on but) a mere mutual superimposi l ion of ihe Fleld andthe Knower oi the Fie d (M.V p. 35) togelher wlth their al l r ibules,a superimpos t on that is condi l ioned by a ial iure lo discr im natelwo ul ler ly dist nct ent i t ies one i fom the othef (Bh.G.Bh.Xl l -26,cp. Ml.V.251,6). In ordinary worldly experience, superlmpos t ionol s i lver onio a piece oi shel l occurs when there is lai lure tod scr iminale belween the lwo phenomena, shel land si lver.Whenthe revered Commenlalor said lhat our mulual super,mpos ironof Sel l and noi 'se J was condi l ioned by a iai lure to distrnguishbelween the lwo, he was assuming for p!rposes ol exposi l ionthat lhe same lhing thal happens in the case oi the shel ls i lvererror happens also in ihe case ol that superimposit ion of Self

124 Chapler 8

and nol sel l lhal condit ions al l empir ical experience- Bul lhe twocases are noi lhe same. In lhe case ol the worldly exarnple, theone who saw lhe si lver was already establ ished as indrvldualempir cal expef ience belore he saw i l . In the case of lhe mutualsuperimposit ion oi the Sei l and not-sel f , however, the Sel l is nolalready eslabl ished as an individual exper ence belore lhat su-per mposrtron rs nrade. The sel l , ai thal s lage is not (yel anndivdua experiencer and so nto) yet in a posi l ion to ' la i l to

d scrrminate Sel l and not se l ' . So we cannot speak ol any such{ai l ! rre lo discr imrnale as the cause ot the mulua super mposi-t on ot Sel l and not sel t . For lhe teaching is that becoming annd vrdu?l exper encer can on y occur through the sa d supenm-

posrl on. l t lo ows lhal (rn lhe case of lh is in I al superimposi l ionthat makes al l olhers possible) i t was not in lended to assert realIemporal sequence belween non-discr iminal ion and superimposit ion, but only logical sequence according to the concept ions oilhe human rnindlhe COncepl ion of superimposit lon impl ies theconcepl on ol non-discr iminal ion as r ls ogical ly pr ior condi l ion.

As lor the objectron lhal lhere are no excepl ions to lhe rulethal absence oi knowledge is lhe cause of al l emp ical phenome-na, because wrong knowledge s ts ei lect-1h s oblecl ion maybe answered on srm aT nes as lol lows. The whoe nol ion olcause and el lecl , we may say, la l ls within superimpos t on. Forunir lsuper mposi l ion had lsel f already come nto being, i l cou dn o t s e i u p l e m p o r a l o r c a u s a l s e q u e n c e , w h i c h d e p e n d o n

Hence our own view is that, n relal ion to lhe Sef, al l ap,pearancg of non apprehension, doubt and Wrong-apprehenstonrise I superimposlt on, and thal in this conlexl there s no occa-sion to enquire into the nature of i ts mater ial or ef f crent cause.as lhere mighl be in lhe case of lhe rncidental superimposi l ionsthatoccur in lhe course Ol empir icalexperience. Forthe reversedComrnenlalor says. Thus lhis natural ( i .e. uncaused) beginnrngless and endless super mposrt on, whjch s of the nalure ol la se

Suresvara

s u p p o s i t r o n . . . ( B . S B h . l . i . 1 , i n l r o . a d J i n . )

And Suresvara accepts this sarne view, but expresses t n adilierent way by sayrng Absence ol knowledge, constantly presenlas I s, s dentcal wi lh erroneous knowledge'(8.8.V,1. iv.386,cp. N.f .V. p.31 1). So one should not suppose lhat there is anytundamenlaldi f ference belween lhe lwo systems on lhrs head.W h e n t h e m a l l e r s e x a r n n e d i n l h i s l g h t , i l s I a r t o s e eSuresvara's trealmenl ot non-apprehension and lalse apprehen-sion as d rected only lo reiut ing a pari icular form of the lheorythat metaphysica lgnorance was erroneous cogn t lon- lhe Iormn wh ch that doctr ine was advanced by anolher school ( ihat olMandana). Bul wrong apprehension, non-apprehension and cloublcan on y occur n lhe case of an ndividual experiencer (r .e. w ihinlhe realm oi superimposit ion). Such is our own view o{ the mal 'ler.

Enquiry into the seat ol ignorance and the obiect wilh it con-ceals

The Brahma s ddhi raises lhe quest ion'To who does nrelaphys cal Lgnorance belong?'and answer'We say " i t be ongs tothe indrvidual souls" ' (B.Sid. p.10). We have already examinedth s v ew (M.V.94;95). Bhartrprapaica held thal rneiaphysc agnorance sprngs sponlaneoLrs y from the Abso ute, and, modi-fy ng a pori on oi the lat ler, has ts seat in the indlvidual sou . l ts, however, a character is l c oi the nofsef- Lis len now to lhewords ol Suresvara.

(1) Now, lgnorance cannol exisl rn the void. l l musl alwaysbe lgnorance ol somecne aboutsomething. Further we havealready eslabl ished that iwo calegories exist , and on y lwo.the Self and lhe not 'sel t . From lhis i t fo l lows that the seat ollgnorance ( lhe conscious being which lgnorance ai lecls)cannol be the nol-sel i For the very nalure ol the not 'se f rslgnorance, and lgnorance cannol af{ect lgnorance. Even ii t coLrld, whal di l lerence would the t ise ot lgnorance n lgno

129

i

1 3 0 Chapler 8 1 3 1

rafce br ing aboul ( that we could say thal i l was an event ata l ? l

Nor s the at la nment oi know edge possible n the nol 'se i ,that on-a could argue lhat there must have been some contrad c-tory lgnorance in the nol-sel l ( for i t to negate). Furlher, lhe not_sei i is born oi lgnorance. l l is absurd to suppose thal wh ch isogrcaly and causa ly pr or can only ex st supporled by and dependent on is own ef iect. Nor, again, has lhe not se I any formndependeni of and d I fereni l rom lgnorance. whereby i l could

serve as ls seat and supporl .

These arguments (wh ch retule ihe possibi l i ly ol lhe nol sel lserv ng as the seat oi lgnorar ce) alsc, show ihal t cannot be theobject concea ed by lgnorance e lher. Therefore the nol-sel f lsne ther the seat o{ lgnorance nor the oblecl concealed by lg no

Hence we conclude, as the only fema ning al lernat ve lhat i1s the Sel i a one wh ch is both lhe seat of and the oblecl con_c e a e d b y l g n o r a n c e . A l l o i u s h a v e t h e e x p e r i e n c e I d o n o lkfow . and in the V€da we hear ' l am on y a knowel ol l f re man1 r a s , m y c r d ; I d o n o l k n o w t h e S e l f ' ( C h a n d V l l l . 3 ) .

l \ o r o o - . r ' g L r e n l . ! t s r h l e ? g a i n - l r F o q . r d s s a c l

01 lgnofance app y to the Sel i . )The Sel{ , ndeed. s not rdenl ca1!,r ' th gnoranc€, s nce i ts nature is pure Consc ousness. [ /oTeover, ( lhe f lse ol) gnorance n the Se f produces a d f ierence nthe form ol an obstruct ion ol knowledge. And at ialnrnenl oi knowl-edge s poss ble because the Se i s lhe source oj know edgeNor has the Se I the characler ls l ic oi being an el iecl oi lgno-rance, (which, as we have seen, prevented lhe not-se f i rom iunct oning as i ls seat): for t is rock i l rm and raised h gh above achange by nalure. And I na ly, the consc oLs Se i has a form andexistence lndependent o{ lhose oi lgnorance, whereby i i can serveas a seat ior the lal ler. Hence we conc ude that t s ihe Sela one that s ai iected by gnorance.

What. then. s the oblect concealed by this lgnorance perlarning io the Sei/The Self is thal objecl . Bl l is r t nol a lacl lhalgnofance rs ncompat ble wi lh the Sel i , srnce the lat ter is ot lhe

very nature o1 know edge, and is withoul di f ferent lat ion (so thal tcannot serve as a seat lor lgnorance, which would imp y a dls-t inct on belween the seat and the thing seated)? And is i t nol lhecase lhai the Sel l gives r se to knowledge, and s contradicloryto lgnorance in olher way too?

To this oblect on we rep y that lgnorance is compal ible withthe Sel i . For in real l ty the Self remalns und I lerent ialed. t appears to become d l fereni ialed inio knower, knowledge and knownthrough mere gnorance alone, jusl as i l is throLrgh mere ignorance that the rope appears to become a snake-the Sel i andthe rope remainrng in real ly qui te unai iected. Hence when gfo-rance is shaken ol l lhere s complete absence ol al l lhe evi ls ofd L i a l i l y . l N S d l l 1 n t f o . )

Anci Suresvara's view is lhat f rom lhe standpoint of thehighest truth there is no lgnorance lor anyone.

(21 No.The not ion ihal lgnorance has i ls seat in the Abso-ute anc! belongs to r t is i tsel f only mag ned in gnorance.Fronr the standpo n1 oi lhe Absolute, lgnorance can into waye x s t ( s . v r 7 6 j .

Whal s here said is ihal lhere s no olher m€iaphysica gno-rance, wi lh ls seat in the noi-sel f over and above lhe lgnorances,.eled in the Se I thal obscures the Self Bul lh is does not meanl l ral one can r l terprel Suresvara lo be saying lhal there s noot lref gnorance at the empif ical evel, such as lgnorance ol shern lhe shel l s ver error. That would drsagree with h s argumentsmenl ofed several t mes jn the prev ous sect on (M.V 1 12) andsupporled wi lh the usual examples l ike the rope-snake, aboulabsen.e ol knowledge being a iacior (and the iundanrental iac-tcr) n error, over and above lhe erroneous cogni l ton tsef ButI ior i the stafdpo nt of the highest l ruth lhere is on y one lgno

t 3 2 Chapter 8 Suresvara 1 3 3

rance, which has the Self lor i ts seat and aiso lor the objectwhrch i l concea s. There are not real ly iwo di l ferent kinds oi lg_norance. And that Ls al lhewished tosay.Th s w be made clearat lv l .V 1 T 5 (where he denies a real i ly lo lhe s ver ereor). Wehave already referred at [1.V. 69,9 to his refutat on ol the doc_lf ine o{ two klnds of lgnorance. Thai was said in the course otinlroduc ng a refutat ion ol lhe Prasankhyana Vadins (exponents

ol the doctr ine that I beral on cornes through repeated meditat ionon lhe lexts), whose docir ine was as iol lows:

(3)They (the Prasankhyana Vadins) hold that th€re are atwo k nds of lgnorance, nat!ral and advent i t lous. The advenri t ious kind appl ies to world y obiecls, the natural k ndlo the Self . Advent i t ious lgnorance disappears lhrough therise oi knowledge occurr ing once, as in lhe case ol the pr ince

brought up as a ioresl-dwe ler and th nking himse i to besuch. and who remembered he was a pnnce wften a mLnrs-ter came lo 1e him, 'You are to a toresler, you are a pr nce .Nalura lgnorance, lhough t may be removed through theseoi knowledge occurr ing once, nevertheless relurns, as wesee irom examp es of at tachment and olher delecls ar is inglrom gnorance once more, even in the cas€ ol those whohave known lhe metaphysical t ruth. (B.B.V. lV. v.881-3)

This coni rms our thesis, as i t shows lhat Suresvara wasaware of the dcctr lne oi two kinds of lgnorance and rejecled i i .

In lhe same way in the system ol the revered Commentatorhimsel i , by whom ignorance ls dent l t ied with supenrnposit ion,the Se f is the seat oi lgnorance jusl as l t s le I to b€ n pract calexper ence ( n lhe Iorm' l do not know ). Bul there is no occastonfor subt e lheor es about t , Fof the who e noi on ol knowledgeand gnorance i lsel i belongs to the sphere ol ignorance. On thls\ i /e might quote the Iol lowing.

(4) l i you ask'To whom does this lgnorance beong?'wefeply 'To you who ask this quesl ion' . l f you lhen ask, But

does nol lhe Veda say that I arn the Lord?'we rep y, ' ] i youare awake to this (you wi l l see that) there is no lgnoranceiof anybody (B S.Bh. lV. i .3.)

(5) l l may be asked, 'Whose is th s lgnorance"/The reply rs,' I t belongs to him to whom i t appears io belong' . (Bh.G Bhx| 2)(6) The Teacher says:You take that which rs the supremeSe I and which s not subject lo transmtgrat ion wrongly andhave the convicl on ' l am subject lo l ransmigrat ion' . Youtake lhat wh ch does not per 'orm act ion as a perlormer olacl ion, you take one who does not enioy emp r ica exper.-ance as lhe emp r ca experiencer, you take that wh ch alon-orea y exisis as f I were non existent.That s melaphysicalgnorance (U S. (prose) secl ion 5t l )

Hef€ aso we see lhat the leachrngs ol Sr Sankara andS!resvara are esseni ial ly the same Bolh take absence oi knor( '1,edge and erroneous super mposrt ion as lundamenta ly o ne.

The Operat ion of the Means ol Knowledge

The facl ol oblecls being unknown s not estab shed by !hemeans ol kno!| / edge (percepl ion, in lerence. reve at ion, elc. lbecause i t is the invariab e pre-cond t ion belore a means ol know ,edge can be appled. l i t could be eslabl ished by a val id meansol know edge that an objecl was unknown, this wou C irnp y theabsurd resu t lhal the state of a thing as unknov/n woLr d persislior ever lwhereas we know that lh ngs prevtoLls y unknown somet r f e s c o n r e 1 0 5 e k n o w n c p . M . V 1 1 4 , 2 a n d 3 ) F o r t h e s a m ereason t cannol be eslab shed by lhe val id means ol knovrl-edge thal t l ngs ar,o In doubt o. erroneously represenled (s fcrva d kro\r edge rernoves Ihe doubl and m srepresental cr lS V.688). Indeed. the means ol know edge only apJ:r y 1o vrhai si o l a l l y ! f k n o w n 1 B . B . V , L v . 2 5 8 l P e r c e p l i o r a n d t h e r e s t a r .means of knovr ' ledge precise y because they pLri an end to r ! t Io

134 Chapter'8

rance of pots and other objecls, wh ch lal ter are themselves te

vealed as unknown oniy in and through (the Se I as) immediale

exper ence Therefore the means ol knowledge never l rear on lne

nol sel f without also bearing on the supreme Sel l (S V 1002)

Pots and other wor dly objects are known on y througn an au

thori tat ive means oi knowledge, and do not ose lhe r condit ion

of being unknown without one.The Self , however, be ng lhe sel i

establ ished rea l ty, may be understood to lose l ts condi l on of

be ng unknown direct ly through the nreans ol val id knowledge(the Ved c texl) and without an act of cogni l ion produc ng as

resu tant cognit ion. (S.V.1004).

Anandagiri explains this verse af Surcsvara diffetently He

says: The Self cannot be knoatn wiihaut the help of a cagnilian

thrcugh the means af valid knawledge (i.e. theVeda) an account

af its vety nature as inmost Self and realny. Far I E anly

consclorsness in the farm of a cagnitton lhraugh a means olvahd kno^tledge (as oppased to the Self as pure Conscloustess/that contradrcls lgnorance. Consciousness in its pure larm does

ta cla sa (since it co exists with il as its Witness)

This is nat in contradrction with the true teaching af the sys

lem. Nevertheiess, I submit that what Surcsvara ts rcally sayingh the present verse is as t'ollows. Pals and ather waldly objectsestablished by the empiricalmeans of knawledge depend onthe

self-luminous cognitian rcsulljng fram the meaus af valtcl knorr'll-

-"(lge ta lase thetr state of being unknawn. The Selt', hawever'].)ses il direclly thraugh lhe Vedic text (M.V.l16). lt does notdepend on a self luminous resultant cognitian'fram lhe applrcatian al ane af the means of knowledge ta lase its slate cl being

unknawn. For it is non dift'erent from right'knowledge by nature

ln 1rulh, hon'ever, what was real ly nol_self cou d not evenreach the stage of be ng !nknown.The greal phi losophers oi alschoo s hold thal in pract ical exper ence obiects l ike pots are

-rfknown before the r se ol the cogn t ion lhrough wh ch t i rey come1o be known (B.B V lV. l i i 158) However there are nc d st nctrons

Su.esvara

in rea ty. Hence lhe word be ng' on refer to only one ent ty anclt 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 n . T h e i n d i v d u a lexpere ncer and the means ol knowledge at h1s d sposal are bolhexper enced as appearances of a selJ- uminous ent i ly. And n tsthat ent ty wh ch ts Be ng and (because i i is lhe on y realty) I st h a t a n d l h a t a o n e w h c h i s u n k n o w n ( N . S d . l l l . 7 - 8 ) .

Aga n, a means oi knowledge establ ishes an obiecl , ke apiece of she lhat is already existent belore thal means ot knowiedge is app ed. l t does nol estabt ish the existence oj anythinglolal ly non ex sienl . But i t would have been wrong lo have sa dt l rat the usory s vef for wh ch the she I was mislak€n wasex slent but unknown, rke the she was. And t would have beer' , ' / rong to have said that the si iver was elernaly ex stent blr t un-knov/n i rke lhe Selt Therefore i t is wrong, tn the case oi lusorysr lver, to say that a means of knowledge is app ed io remove as p e c a l n c r e m e n l o i g n o r a n c e c o n c e a t n g l h e s i l v e r . o v e r a n dabove lhe ignorance that conceats lhe Self (B.B.V. lV.r | . j 66-7).I t is the !nknown she ihat is wfongly nierpreted as sIver. ln thesame way the Self is wrong y interpreted as the not-sel i by lhosewho have not gained metaphys cal knowtedge. In the examp eknow edge ol the i l lusory si lver is not knowledge lhrough a va dmeans oi knowledge, as here the ex slence of s i lver independ_eft of the i l lusory cogni lon s never eslabt ished. Nof is lhesi ver ' I usion based on lhe app icatton ol a vaId means of knowl-edge to the she I as lgnorance ol lhe shel l s not removed (B.B.Vv v.904).

In the case ot erroneous know edge of the Sel l , lhe phenomenon that the sr lver- lusion exampie was intended to i l lustrate.no cogn t on bearing on the nofsel l are examples ot the appl cat on oi va d cogn t on. The nol sel l can nerther be known ncrunkncwn any more than the i l lusory sr ver can lbecaLtse t doesnot-a exlsi) . Nor can lhe Sel i be known through a va d cogn I onbeaf ng on the not,se f ; ior a cogn t ion bearing on the nol-sel l \ / |n. t deslroy ihe gnorance felat ng to the Sett . Ffom the emprf cal

1 3 6 chapler-8

slandpoint, however, the var ious means ol knowledge give r ise

to val id knowledg€ in their respect ive spheres The app cat ion oi

a val id means ol knowledge results in cognit ion (pramd)' which,

because i t is ot the naturo ot immediate experience, is i lsel l

ident icalwith the Selt . Hence (from the empir ical s landpoint In

which they have th€ir play) al l the means ol val id cognit lon (ap

pear to) communicale knowledge ol lhal Self which is revealed

in the Upanishads. But that,being sel t-establ ished neithercomes

nor goes. l t does not stand in deed ol a val id means ol knowl_

edgeto reveal i t ( lB.V 11.526).We arelamil iar ' however, in prac

t ical experlence wi lh the leel ing ' l do nol know' in relal ion lo r l ' ln

ihis sense we are ignorant of i l , and the val id means oi cogn l ion

cal led the Veda l iberates us Jrom this lgnorance. Thus when lhe

lgnorance that causes pracl ical experience ol an Lndivdua

experlencerand his means of knowledge has been deslroyed by

lhe knowledge ar is ing l rom the Veda' al l lhe means ol vahd cog

ni l ion cease lo be such any longer ' And lhis means rLe realrza

t ion oi man's l rue end (S.V 162, 10007)

Here we subioin a lew verses l rom the Vaft lkas I uslral lng

Suresvara's way of examining lhe val id rneans of know edge

( 1 ) T h e m e a n s o t v a l i d k n o w l e d g e d o n o t p r o d u c e' u n k n o w n e s s ' 1 o r t h e v e r y r e a s o n t h a i t h e y p r o d u c e'knownness i l lhey produced 'unknonness . ! !ha1 lunct on

woLrld va ld know edge ful l l l? 1B B.V rv 295)

(2)Our rgnorance oi anl ,4hing samatlerol mmedlateaware'

ness, and invariably precedes \ ta d cogni l ion and ceases

with t . l l cannol, thereiore, be eslabl ished by lhe rneans oi

val ld cognlt lon. (S.V.686).

(3) l i ignorance of a thing were accessible to the ineans of

knowledge, l ike obiects such as a pol i t wou d be real, and

whal was al any t ime u4known would be unknown ior ever

(s.v.687).(4) We have already stated lhe rule whi 'h shows thal erro

I

Sur€svara

neous cogntt ton and doubt can no more be known throughvaId cognit ion than ignorance can. (The rule, name y, thatwhat is braughf ioan erdbya val id cogni l ton cannot be a,abtect revealed by lhal vat id cognit ion). (A.B.VLiv.2S7).(5)Pats and otherobjecls inthewo darc known onlythrcughthe valtd means ol empitcal knowledge such as perceplion.elc Until they are so known, they remain unknown. But theSelf because il is a self-evident realily, musr Decome knownwtthaut the hetp at an act ol cognitian. (S.V1A0O4)(6)Thal ( the Selt) withoLrt taking cognrsance oi which eventhe emptr ical means ol knowlsdge could not r ighl ty deleFmine lhe not-sel f-how can the r i lual tsts deny lhal theUpan shads can cornmunicate knowledge ol i t? (S.V 551).(7) S nce every obiect is unknown beiore the idea 01 i t I rs lar ses in oLlr minds, and since (even as unknown), i l exlstsby the power of lhe one reat i ty (sat) , i l is thal reatr ty whichrs {ul l rmalely) the lhing that is unknown. The Sett , wh ch rslne rea rty mani lest ing i tsel trnbolhthe knoweranorne meansol know edge when an ernpir cal cogni l ion ts be ng soLlghl,and wh ch s revealed by ts own power - that is (atways) theent ty concealed by lgnorance (N.S. .7,8)

{8) In the case of the t t tusory cognit ion oi s|ver rn whal isrea y a pece ol shett , the vald means oi knowtedge ex,presses i ls val idr iy by reveaIng the she and showrng thatlhe atter ex sted belore the means of cognit ton was ap-p ed. BLlt no val id means ot knowledge bears on rne s verwn cTr rs nol st ' town lo have existed at al . when i l lusorysl |ver rs erroneousty perce ved jn a piece ot she , there sno s ver be ng revealed by val td cogntt ion to exisl n lhesame 'r" /ay thal the shel ldoes. There is no si lver as a rea tyal a er lher previo!sly unknown, l ike the shel l . or prevroos y kno\!n ( though mperfect ly) l ike the Setf . lhe rea.i B B V t v . 1 6 6 - 7 )

(9) The i l lusory si lver is only known when ihe she ls nol

known, In the same way, lhe not-se I can only 0e Known

when ihe Sel i , as immediate experience' ls nol known ( ln

i ls kue nature). l l lusory si lver cannot be the object oi a val ld

cogni i ion, as i is exislence, unl ike lhat ol lhe shel l , cannot

be esiabl ished apart f rom the cognit ion by wh ch i l is known'

since i t is never eslabl ished as known in other circurn-

stances, Since the i l lusory si lver-cognl l ion does nol reveal

lhe shel l as an object oi val id cogn i ion' i t cannol be a means

of val id cognit lon al al l , for lack of an object The l lusofy

sl lver cogni i ion cannot be a means ot val id cognit ion lor lhe

shel l any more than i t can for s l lver ' as i t does not cancel

lgnorance of the shel l or assurne i ts iorm And i t should be

understood that, as in the case oi the i l lusory sl lvercogn -

t ion, al l apparent means ol val id cognit ion that bear on the

nol sel i are notval id means of cogni l ion al al l f rom the stand_

poinl ol the highest truth) The only except ion is thal ( i -e

the supreme metaphysical iexls oi the Veda) wh ch bears

o_ rae innost Sel l . A porson s inmost Consc ou\ness is

experienced herein the world as LJnknown unt l l he is enl ght-

ened by the (appropriate) means o{ knowledge (lhe supreme

vedic texrs). (B.B.V. lV. iv.901-6)

( '10) But where ihe cognit ion is (nol of the not-sel i but) ot

the {orm and nature of the Sel i , being pure Consclousness

excluding al l else, there is no dependence on any tur lher

means oi cogni l ion. Onceihis knowledge r ises, t neversels

(r8. .526).

(11) l t is noi the case (that i f the Upanishads iaught 1r le

sole real i ty of the transcendent Sel l the Vedic texls enjorng

in r i tuals would be contradicted). Al lval id means ol knowl '

edge relain ihek val idi ty t i l l knowledge oi lhe Se i ' For al l

culml lrate in, but end with ' that. (S V162)

(12)The lgnorance that gives r ise io lhe whole play ot knower'

I

Suresvara

knowtedge and known is cancel led by enl ighlenment, which is ofthe nature oi ident i ty with the one inl jn i te Self , ar is ing l rom upa,nrshadrc lexls t ike.Thal thou art , . (s.v 1006)

( l3)Therelore the Veda is a val id means of knowledge in thatr l destroys lgnorance of the Selt . And this is man,s high;st goal.Such is the view of the wise_ (S.V10OO7)

CANCELLATION OF ILLUSION

In 1ne course ol refut ing the (Mimamsaka) theory thai perceptual,effors arise from failure to perceive a dislinction (akhyati-vada) Acarya [ ,4andana goes onto state his own doctr ine as fol-

(1) There could not be the correct ing_cogni i ion , this is notsi vel t f error had been mefe non_apprenenston, srnce nolh_ing.posit ive can result f rom a non,apprenenston; a non_ap,prehens on cannot give r ise lo any idea, as tr ts a non-extsl_ence. On lhe other hand a posit ive erroneous cogni i ror i , re_veal ing'si tver, that did not in iact exisl , In a nearby percep_t ble object, or a cognit ion.fevealtng,(cl tstance) si lver as t lr r were ctose, woutd give a posit ive resui i ( in ihe form of andea subiect to cancei lat ion). . . We do not hotd that lhe cor,rectrng cognit ion.this js not s i lver,merely negates the ex_slence ol s i lver or of an object In coniact with the sense o,srght. We hold that t i e i iher dentes thai the thing in contacl!1/ th the sense oj s ight is s i lver, or else denjes that i l tss ver thal ts rn contact with the sense ol s ight. A non ap-prehenston cannot siand as the object oi ei iher o, thesenegal ons, : rom the mefe fact oi being no more tnan a tat t_ure 1o apprehend. one must thereJore necessari ly fesort tothe theory ol posi t ive erroneous cognit ion (vjrpr i ta-khyat i) i for e rs io account for the facl thai there ls anything posit iver o n e g a r e . ( B . S i d . p . j 4 3 )

- , - d r r y ' n 6 3 1 4 r e 3 n i , s a y s r n a l l r e s h e . , t ) . r e o D l e L r o t l h e, r ' t s o u . r l v e r c o q n i t r o n .

139

Suresvara 1 4 1

(2) In erroneous cognit ion, i l is not in i ts true lorm as shell

lndl lhe shell stands as obiect ol lhe srlver_cognrtron lor

the shell would prompt no activity in its lrue Jorm lt standsin the form ol si lver, as there is an activity ol picking up

founded on lhat. (8. Sid. P. 147)

In Suresvara's Varikla lgnorance is laken as a non_enllly(aDhava). Neverlheless, the cloclnneol erroneous percepl'on posi_

lrve erroneous cognition is clearlyapproved under a dilJerent lorm,

as is shown at lhe beginning ot lhe verse quoled above 'The

rl lusorv si lver is onlv known when the shell is nol known ' (B B V

1V.1v.901, t!4.V251,6).

No clear staiemenl is forthcominglrom Mandana on the ques'

l ion whether or nol lhe i l lusory si lver aclually exisis. But there

are verses in the Vart ika clearly showing thatlhe si lver is a mete

aooarit ion which has no realexistence anywhere-

r3r The nolion this si lver'does not refer to any real enti lyanywhere. l t lurns lhere was genuine knowledge ol si lver

exrstrng In lhe shell and thal the si lver was lo a genuine'this' (not a genuine object exist ing in tront ol us) Somesay ihat, in the si lveri l lusion, because neither'si lver' nor' ln,s (as assocrated wrlh si lver) can be sHown lo anywher€else thev musi exisl in the Witness or in the mind But hisalso we denv There is no knowledge oi any object at allhere.There is a mere apparition caused by talse knowleclge'(B.B.V. 1.iv.275-6).

rne exrslence anywhere ol a lalse nolion o'obiec' cannotbe proved byvalidcognilron.The i l lusoryobjecl ' lhe i l lusory cog-

ni lron, lgnorance itself, the lndividual experiencer and so on-alr

tnese a e eslablished not by val id means oi cognrt ion oLl by lhe'r rediale e'(pe'|enca o{ chanoeless consciousne5)

(4) Therefore an appearance l ike a memory arises in the

m nd lhai bears lhe lmpresslons oI previous experiences ol

si lver. But i t manilesls only lhrough the elernal, changeless

and unitary l ight ol the supreme Self. In lgnorance lh€re isonly the individual experi€ncor and his expenonce_there isno reat object of valid cognition beyond them. Hence lono-rance and its indivrdual experi€ncer are obiects ol fh; im_med'ale appreh€nsion ol the Witness.There could not evenbe an individual experiencer and his empirical experiencewilhout the support ol pure consciousness (samvit). For. jntheir true natur€, lhe individual knower and his knowledoeand its objects, which togelher constitule the not-sef, a;enothing but pure Consciousn6ss. (B.B.V 1iv.279,02).

Thus lor Suresvara ihe point of introducing the example olperceptual r l lusions t ike r l lusory si lver was to show that the whotevision of lhe world was a mere i l lusion.The i l lusory appearanceoi the world rises up in the Selfwhen lhe laher ramatns unKnown.Even lgnorance cannot manitest except through the support ofself-evidenl pure Consciousness. Such maniteslation occurs inthe absence ol deep motaphysical reflection. On lhis point thereare the following verses in the Vartika.

(5) Theretore all our familiarity with vajid empirical know!edge. with apparen?ly valid empirical knowledge ancl withinvalid koowledge (error) - as alsowjth metaphysicat lgno_rance-ts made possible by that special means oJ knowfedge (the Self) which requires nothing else to i f iumin€ itsobjecl_ This whole universe ol objecls that come inlo beinodnd pass away can only be known through this specrat inite rnal verifjable principle, which is self_svjdent and ind€pend_ent oi any other means o knowledge. (B.B.V 1.iv.272_3)

, - The intenal veiliabte principte is the 'Self-oot-yetknown,.

Ananyamam' means ,selt-established and independent ol anyather means ol knowledge'.(6)This erroneous cognil ion cannot be correct knowledoe, onesponding to any objecl, as i l does nol retate today o;.iec' ol vatid cognttron. Because i l is known, i t cannot said

142 ChaplerS

not lo exist al al l . Because it is directly perceived as some-thing actually present, il is nol admittgd to be a memory.(B.B.v. 1. iv.274)

The erraneous cognition is not an iclea coftesponding to areal object, nor is it absence ol knowledge, hot is il a memory.The leaching ol this verse is hke Sri Sankara's phrase'lhe falseappearance at one place of what had previously been seen alanolher place, al lhe nature of (but not identicalwith) memory'lB.S.Bh. l l . i . 1. intrc..).

Authoriry ot theVeda: Role ot NegativoToxts

ln this wav. because lhe Sell has thus been shown lo be theonly enti ly that is unknown, i t must undeniably be accepted asbeing lhe one lhing lhat has 10 be known. Thus the Vedanta phi-losophy has a seltled and well-demonstrated object of enquiry,while other ohilosoohies do nol. The facl thal the Sell as imme-d ale experience is a verifiable reality is demonstraled by all lhemeans oi cognit ion.Thal very Consciousness which is acceptedas the resullanl-cognilion following upon perception and iheothervalid means ol knowledge being applied to exiernal objects-that very Consciousnoss is accepled as the subject-mafler otthe Upanishads, which they communicate to the hearer with iheaulhorily of a valid means of knowledge.

l l is for this reason that we do nol accept the vedic texts lobe aulhoritarive jusi because they are Vedic texts. They areaccepted as authoritative because doubt and wrong knowledgeand so forlh are impossible;n the Self as immediale experience,knowledge oi which they effectively communicate. Srnce meta-physical lgnorance and i ls effects are only eslablished throughlack ol deep melaphysical rerlection', it can be removed solelyby knowledge arrsrng lrom lhe lexts.

Nor should one rarse the oblection, Because lhe Se'i ts ollhe nature ot knowledge i l can el iminate lgnorance on i ls own

What is lhe need ot any fLrrther tactor such as Vedic lexls?, For::-"t..1:1:*.

tgnorance? tr is atways a vatid rneans ot cognr-r,on. whrch provides a resullant.cognit ion whtch rn turn ,emo;esrne uh(nowns ot i ls object. But the Sell rs not contradiclory tometaphysicallgnorance, toras conslant ano eternal awa renes srl remains impermanent co_existence with lgnorance. So whatdestroys metaphysical tgnorance-and it is t tre onty thtng tn;tdestroys it.ls the Self when it has been immecliately experi;ncedin i ts true form thfough the Veda as means o, cognit ion.

Nor should one think, ,The lrue nature of the Seil has to besell ted lhrough iogical argumenlai ion, employing lhe method o,agreemenl and driterence. Why appeat to the Veda?.For r l rsonry In retalton lo lgnorance thal the Self app€ars to rnanilesl ascause and sffect. l t l ru€ nalure cannol b€ otscovered in i ls mani-lestation ei lher as effecl or cause. So logjcal enquiry by themethod ot agreement and djfference, which keats otefiects andcauses, wil l not awaken us to a knowledge ol the true nalure ofthe Self

. Agarn, the Se[ is the Absolute anct the Absolute is the Selt,l"er ' idenlr ly is t,re special thern6 ol the upanrshad,c te\ts, T.at'" _0r a subjecl that can be approached by any other means olKnowreoge aparl trom those texls. Nor should one raise lhe ob-

leclon I the meani^gs of ihe words "Absotute,.and .,Sett., arew-t n .o'rnal

hL r an comorehenston,l means lnal they musr oea own rnrough sorle olhe, means ot knowledge aparl lrom ver.od .evetalon and lhen verbal revelatton could nol be an aulhonla.rve rreans ot knowledge-or etse the meanings o, lhe words nLsr!e oevond -ormar human comprenension, rn which case thewo.Os 'absoiute ano "56l, woutd be ine,lecttve tor tacK ot any:::: : :11:::_ 1',1

,n"lr meanins. In elher case their meaninsLd lo co_st lL le t tse theme ol the upanishadjc leacF,1g.. SJcno ooleclro. .s not r ighr Fo. infact lhe meanrng ot the word .seJt.

, - ,drrrar,as reternng to lhe essence or l rue nature ol anylhtng.

;::] i"^1"':.?.i^""" {rhe Absoture) rs ramir,ar as exp.g5s,ng' | icgr ' , rroe A Ved,c lexl can therefore very we emp,ov lhose

Sutssvarar43

words to communicale a meaning thatlranscends nolmalhumancomprehension, namelylhe identity oJ the Absolute and lhe SeltWe have knowledg€ of the deil i6s and heaven anoth€r supor-nalural matters lhrough th€ texls ol the Veda in just ihe same

ln lhis connection we f ind texls l ike'That thou arl ' and' l amthe Absol! ie'having pairs ofwords in subiect-predicat€ relation.From lhis we conclude that the meanings o{ the words in eachsuch oair sland as quali l ied and quali l ier. By the process ol quali-

f ical ion lhe element'th€ sullerer'(the individual expenencer) lsel iminated hom the meaning ol lhe word ' thou', and the element'not directly known'is el iminated lrom the meaning ol lhe word'that'. H€nce the properly prepared siud€nl acqukes lhrough thesetexts knowledge ol the identi ly of ihe Selt, indireci ly indicatedas the meaning of the word ' thous' throlgh knowership andegohood (which point to lhe Consciousness o, the hearer), withlhe Absolule, ihe indirectly indicat€d meaning ol the word'1hat"This knowledge is immediate exporience ol that (transcendenlprinciple) which is not the meaning ol ( i .e which cannot be dr'rectly denoted by) any sentence; i t is not communicated ealherbv lhe exclusion or association of word-meanings to lorm a sen'tence-meaning. Hero lhere is no need of the applical ion oi any'Jrrher reans ot knowledge {once lhe lext has been ptoperly

understccd), sincethe reterence is to Consciousness as the Real,and consciousness in i ts tnle nature is super_lerrestrral (alau-kika), and Realily is of the nature ol absolule awareness Therecan only be dependence on knowledge lrom some other quarter

or on sornething other than the Vedic lert in a case where lhething lo be known is within ihe scope ol some oiher means otknowledge. In this connection, lhe following verses from the Blhad-aranyaka Vartika are relevant.

(1 )Thai which has ul l irnately to be known, which is init ial lyunknown and which transcends the individual knower andhis knowledge and its objects - that can be known in thls

Suresvara

world lrom lhe Veda and from no other source. (B.B.V.t i v .339 ) .

(2)Thal which has lo be known here, and known lhrough theUpanishads as th6 means ot val id cognii ion, is pure Con'sciousness, which manilests also as the resullanl-cogni-l ion when the empkical means of cognit ion are applied loexternal obiects. (s.v1 59).(3) Nor do we maintain that the reason lor taith in the Vedais its own statement that it is of suporhuman origin (at Brhad.l l . iv.10); the reason is the impossibi l i ty of the usual causesof invalidity ol slal€ments (human origin, which implies fal-l ibi l i ly, being accessible to other means ot knowledge, elc.)in the statements ol V6da. (B.B.V l l . iv.325).

(4) N4etaphysicallgnorance and iis elfecls cannot be provedto exist, either il take as idenlical wil the Absolute or asdiflerent. Hene we say that it is only established ai all 'for

lack ol ref lection'. Th€ oplion lhat the ether of lhe sky isblue l ike a lotus-petal by day and then changes lo becomeblack l ike the belly of a bumbl6-b€e al nighl is only accepiedlor lack of rel lection. One should see thal lhe whole notionot the existence ol metaphysical lgnorance and ils elteclsls an i l lusion ol lhe sams kind. (B.B.V 1.iv.332-3).

So we see that nelaphysical lgnorance and its affects areindeleminable either as the rcal ot as anything dilferent, andthey arc established (accepted) only for lack of deep citicalreflec-

(5)Though enlghtened by nalura, lhe Self accepls and iol-erates not being known, being th6 only entity able to do so,since it is ihe only entity that is real. l t does not desiroylgnorance wilhout the aid ol a val id cognit ion. The SelJ de'stroys i ts own lgnorance onlywhen mo!nted onlhe pedes-ta ol a means of val id knowledge, and not olherwise. Themeans of val id knowledge destroys lgnorance, In al ance

1 4 5

146 Suresvafa '147Chap]er-8

wrth the Se 1, when i t bears o nreal i ty. (B.B.V. lV. .181-2)

The Self as immediate experience is not of itself in cantra,dictian with melaphysical lgnorance. Nor is a mere means alvalid cognitian an ils own able ta conlradict lgnorance, unless ttts applied ta ls object and issues in a rcsultantcognitian (cp.M.U 29,5). That is the meaning.

(6) Because cause and el fect owe their or igin to meTe Tela-I ve cognit ion, one cannot f ind real l ty in ei lher ol them. Hencereasoning by agreement and di i lerence, which operates inihe realm of cause and effecl , cannot lhrow t ighl on lherea ty laught in lhe Upanishads. The l inal rea ty can beknown only through the upanishad c texts, ihe sole means{of knowing t . (B.B.v. lV. l l i . 400-1)

The Self is non-dual, so cause and et't'ect are nol real. Hencethere cannal be knowledge afthe Self thtcugh reasantng by themethod of agreemenl and differcnce,

(7) The iact thal the a l rue Se 1 is idenl ical with the Abso uteand the Absolule idenl ical w th lhe t fue Se { s the spec atopic oi lhe metaphysical texts n the [Jpan shads l ike'Thatthou art ' ; and i t cannot be known ihrough any other meansot know edge.. . The use ol lhe work 'se f ' ts current in theword and nol restr ic led to that ol the metaphysica lermSel i ' . Equal ly, iheideaol 'magnrtude' ,conveyed bythetermused lor the Abso ute (Brahman, l rom rool brh. lo swe l) , islam ar l rom cuf ient use, Thus the meanings oi lhe nd -vidual words of lhe texl ' l am the Absolute'are known lromwor d y experience. What, then is the obstac e to lhe iorma-lron ol a senlence'Tneaning thal l ranscends sense experi-ence lrom lhese words as j lx laposed in a sentence in theVeda? Even the meanings ol such lechnica terms used bythe r tua is is as Lrnprecedenled' ( .e. the occLrl t power ol ther i iual) , dei ly and'heaven'are known irom wortdly exper -ence. Bui in their case, loo, a special meanlng lhe kan,

scends sense'experience is learn tromlheVedic text. (B.B.VlVi i i .115, iol lowed by S.V 861-3)

(8) On our view, thal which is nol lhe di fecl meaning of anysentence (ytz. the Selt or Absolule, which cannol be direct ly denoted by any sentence), is known through immedi-ate apprehens on as lhe meaning of ' thal 'and' ihou' throughthe exc us on (ofthe mutually coniradrclory parts ol lhe word-meanings) ihat ar ises through the words being placed insublect-predicate relal ion. l t is ihe same process as thatwf|ch occurs in the sentence 'Veri ly, lhe e lher in the pot sthe same as the ether into sky' . (N. sid. l l l .9)'The lhere in lhe pot is the same as the ethet in the sky . ln

lhts senlence the words'pot elher' and 's ky-ethe t' are placed insubject predrcale relatian, so that lhei meanings qua fy aneanather and the mutually contndictary elements are eliminated.The sentence-meaning that results is a reference by indirect in-dtcatonta bare ether (not limited eithetas patotheror sky-ethe4.the text'That thou art'should be underctoad in the same way.'Not the direcl meaning of any sentence' means that what thesentence indirectly indicates is (something infinite and) nol asentence-meaning that arises frcm exclusion or assactalian andsa an (amonglhe ward-meanings inthe manneral nonalspeechdearng with finite defects).

(9) the lact that the meaning oi the word' thou' is not theindividual soul ( l i t - ' the suf lerel) is conveyed by i ls beingqual i f ied as lhe Absoluie, which is the meaning of the word' thaf; and the fact that the ( l ranscendeni) Absolute, themeaning of the word' lhal ' , is int imately known as one's inmosl Selt is conveyed by the presence of lhe word' lhou'n e x t t o i t . ( N . S d . l l l . 1 0 ) .

Because al the mutual qualification of the meanings, theconlradicla ry elemen!s are elimi nated.

(10) The Consc ousness and infer ior i ty of the Sel l , raised

1 4 8 Chapl€r.8

hrgh above al l change l ike a l ixed mounlain peak, are notaccidenlai characterislics introduced lrom without They arew h a t e n a b l e s i h e s o u l l o l e e l i l s e l l a s a n i n d i v d u a lexperiencerand an ego. There{ore the Self is ind[ect]y indi-caled by appeal ( through the use of the word thou') to thesoul 's sense of being an individual expenencer and an ego.( N . S i d . l l . 1 1 )

Explanal ion of lhe IVechanism of lhe Negat ive Texl Given in theVarelrka

Here we may take up the explanat ion given in the Va ika otlhe meaning ol lhe words in the negat ive rnetaphysical texts oithe Veda. lni t ia l ly we have an account of a theme lound in SriSankara s commenlar ies, lhe theme, namely, thal al l lh is realmol name, lorm and acl ion wi l l have to be negated. And lhts islol lowed by i ts actual negat ion through the word ' inot ln lhiscontexl , we should nol suppose that once form, elc. , have beennegaled ol the Self they might persist elsewhere, as 'existence' ,

ior instance, when negaled of 'pot 'may persist in relal ion to 'c lolh ' .This agrees with worldly experience, loo, where no lorm is ioundlo subsrst rn separat ion from that oi which i t rs a torm. And whenmetaphysica lgnorance ol the supreme Sel l has been negated,none of i ls ef fecls and lound to persist anywhere Again, thethings thal have lo be negated are not lnvariably present togelherwith one anolher, whereas the presence ot the inmost Self neverlai ls. Hence i t is t i rst taught that al l th is world ol name,tofm andaclron rs erroneoLlsly superposed on the Sel l , and then i ts exist-ence in th€ Absolute is denied, lhe Absolute i tsel i being (unenvi,ab e because) selleslablrshed as immediate experience.The word'nol can on y negate whal has to be negaled on the basis ofacceplrng lhe existence ot ihe Sel l . For the Self as pure Consciousness is inseparable l rom any negat ion. Al l that has to benegated is dependent lor i ts (apparent) exisience on the SelJ,whrch cannol be negated. Negal ion, therefore, does nol implvtotal non-ex slence ol anylhing, as non,existence i tsel f la l ls wtthin

S!resvara

lhe realm ot lhat whrch has lo be negated. The upanishadic ne-gat ion'nei lher lhrs nor lhal ' , however, exlends universal ly, r l ne,qates whalever is found, excepl lhe Absolute or Selt , the Wiiness ol al l , which lat ler persists unlouched (B.B.V l l . i i i /183-207)

Butthe text 'nei therthis norlhat ' is also exolained bv Sures-vara in another way. On lhe second view, al lhough lhis lexl hasthe lorm ol a negat ion, I is not aclual ly a negat lon. For beforethe occurrence ol lhe texl 'And so there is lhe teaching "nei lherthrs nor that" ' (Brhad. l l - r i i .6), the Absolule had already been es-tabl ished as transcending the gross and subl le elemenls ( theent ire realm ol the empir ical ly knowable, cp. T.N. al M.V 79,1).A n d i n l h e t e x l ' T h e r e a r e l w o l o r m s o f t h e A b s o l u l e(Brahad. l l . i i i .1 l . the word'ol ' imDlies that lhe Absolute is di l ferenl l rom (transcends) lhe two lornrs. From the mere iact lhai thenot-sel i is noi regular ly present togelher wi lh ihe Self (e.9. ndreamless sleep), i l on-exislence in the Sel l has already beenproved (so that the purpose oi the lexl 'nei ther this nor lhalcannot be a reDeal lhal Droof. which would amount lo a merelaulology). And there are olher reconsideral ion wh ch show lhallhe lext nei ther lh s nor thal 'need noi and should not be lakenas a negal ion. There rs a sense in which the nol-sel l , s ince i l iseslab ished by percepiron another means oi va ld cogn t ion, can-nol be negaled. Even r i we accepl lhat in some sense rt cou d benegaled. a mere negat ion is lhe i tsel f l rui l less. l l lhe ter l(Brhad. l . .6)were laken thus, r t would nol iu l i i l l l ts promise olposit ive leaching (adesa), a formal ion of lhe Abso ute. So thecorrect was to analyses the meaning ol 'nel i (= na + r t i ) rs lolake na (not) as an rndirect reference lo sel f-eslabl ished Selt (aslhat n whLch lhe empir ical knowei, knowledge and known are notpresent, B B.V, l1 i i i .229), and lo lake' l t 'as hav ng lhe force ofdent ly 11g lhe inmosl Selt wi lh lhe Absolule ( lhereby br ingrnglhe Absolute within lhe scope Jor lhe possrble expenence ol theh e a r e r l n t h e s a m e w a v a s ' T h a t t h o u a r l , B . B . V l . . 2 3 3 ) . T h srs Suresvara s teach no al Brhadaranvaka Vart ika | .214-34

1 4 9

1 5 0 ChapleFB Suresvara

Absolute a void? The mere facl that it is bevond the scooe ot allother f ieans ot knowl€dge would nol render i t a void, since i lsel l-revealed. Even though it is self-revealed, might we nol won-der i l lhe Vedic texts would not be needed to cancel metaphys-ical lgnorance? 8ul the Vedic texl 'netther this nor lhat ' , whichnegates al l that is superimposed, exists precisely lor this pur-oose.

But has not lgnorance been prov€d to be a dist inct principle,lhe cause of what has been superirhposed, so that i t cannot b€thus negated? No, we do not accept lhis. Th6 method lor ex-pound ng the Absolute is that of negating everything that hasbeen imag ned in regard lo i t . h is l ike communicaling the iruenature ot the rope by negating the snake and al l else that hasimagined in i l . Knowledge otlhelrue nature ofthe Absolute arisessimu taneously with lhe underslanding the negations, so we can-nol admil lhat anylhing furlher requires tobe done {or knowledgeol the Absolute once the negalions any understood.To us, there.Iore, i t seems lo be mere obslinacy to claim that there requireslo be specral further negation of lgnorance over and above nega,l ion of wrong knowledge.

O'aga n. we could happrly concur wilh Anandagiris g oss onBrhadaranyaka Varl ika l l . i i i .233, when he says, ' the expression' 'net " s the proolto show thal theWiiness, indicated by lhe word' 'nol" ( .e. not lhe individual knower or any faclor in lhe empiricalpersonali ty), s the Absolut€'. But enough ol al l these subtlet ies;All lhe vafious ways heredtscussed toraccounting lorthe valid-i ty ol lhe suprerne negative texts lol low the method ol lalse a r ibul ion fol lowed by subsequent retracl ion, and hence area ac-cepia0le.

Percepiion, etc., Cannot Cont.6dict theVeda

We have already menl ioned above (M.V 105) that, l ikeN' landana, Suresara retuted the not ion oi di l ierence in order ioanswer lhe objecl ion lhat the melaphysical texts of the Veda

1 5 1

Here we quote a few more verses r l luslratron go their pointsmade in lhe Vart ika.

(10)That the Absolute is di t ferent kom the gross an subt leaspecis oi theworld (lhe'lwo lorms') has a ready been eslab'l ished belore the promiseof posi t ive teaching (adesa, Brhad.l l . i i i .6).Therefore lhis teaching is given to enable lhe hearerto have direcl apprehension lhat he is the Absolule (B.B.V.|.iii.214).

The negat ve text 'nei thef this nor lhat ' is not pr mar y con-cerned with negal ing whal has to be negated (such as the grossand subt le aspects of lhe universe) bul wi ih an rndrrect methodol communical ing the true nalure ol lhe hearer. l i the lext merelynegaled the universe in i ls gross and subt le aspects, and theAbsolule were nol eslabl ished by some other posi l ive cognit ion.the resul l would be a vold.. . iB.B.V l l . i i i .2 l5)

The element 'na' (not) in 'na + i t i = net i ' indicates indirecl lythal pr inciple ol Conscrousness which is sel i establ lshed withoutneed oi a separale means ol cogni l ion, rn wh ch the ind vidlalknower, his knowledge and i ts objecls do nol exist , and which isk n o w n t h r o u g h a w a k e n i n g t o o n e s o w n l r u e n a l u r e . .(B.B.V. . i t i .22S).

The word na (not) indicates that which has ul trmalely to beknown (the Se f) is sel f-establ ished by i ts own power. ( t is thalwhich is /rol known through the empir ical processes). The word'na (nol) is augrnenled by' i l i ' ( this) to lorm net i to show that theSelf s the Absolute. The Absolute is here ndicaled by lhe lerm' i t (because lhe lerm ' lh is ' al l ied 10 not 'negates lhe gross andsubl le aspects of the world which appear to characler ize lheabsolule, leavrng the Absolute in r ls p!re torm dent icalwi lh lheWiiness ' so Anandagir i ) . (B.B.V l l . i r i .233).

Here i t might appear that an objeci on could be ralsed. l f lhelwo lorms of lhe Absolute, lhe subt e and the gross aspects olthe un verse, are denied, why sould I lhat be lhoughl to leave the

$

152 Chapl€r.8

could inlo be an aulhorital ive means ol knowledge since iheystood n contradict ion with other val id means of cognil ion thatconveyed a knowledge ol duali ty. Our own view is lhat Suresvaraonly raised lhis objection when arguing his posit ion on the basisol del iberaie concossions to lhe view oJ oih€rs, For elsewherehe reiules in clear terms lhe doclr in6 thal lhe dit lerent means olknowledge could contradicl one anolher (S.V. 1076'81r N.S d.l l l .86). He also reluies the doctrine lhal the various means olknowledge could conlradict one anolher on the lop c ot lhe unityand sole realrty of the Self in the course ol explaining SriSankara'sErhadaranyaka Commentary (B.B.V l l . i .588-94;cp N.S d. 11.96)'Such an author could nol seriously admii lhal lhe melaphysrcatexts oJ the Upanishads could stand in conlradicl ion with thedeliverances ol olher means o{ knowledge. He also held thateven the Veda was an authorital ive means of knowledge ol theSelf only thfough negating lgnorance, nol that i t could communr'cate i t directly- For, as reexplained al Sambandha Varl ika 999.his view was thatthe exislence of lhe individual exoeriencer andhis know edge and its objecls, along with t ime and olher cond't ons, depended entirely on ihe imrnediate experience suppliedby the Sell . How could any of them aff€ct lhe Se I in any way?

' (Cp. NSID. lll.96, intrc.:'We speak thus (of lhe passibilityof a canflicl belween Vedic tevelation and perceptton) an lhebasis al a delibente concession. Otherwise, we have marethanonce remarked that one means of cagnilian cannot be conlrc-dicted bv anolher'. TN.)

Treatmenl of theTopic of Cause and Elfect

As in Sanka€'s Brahma SLrtra Commenlarv, so jn SuresvarasBrhadaranyakaVartika, the subjecl cause and ei iect is intraduceonly in orderlo reJute the whoLe notion ol causeand ettect.Thereare places in the Varl ika where Suresvara appears lo lake lgno-rance as lhe mater al cause oJ the world, bul lhis is only a super-i cial view lhal mighl occur ai l i rsl sight to one unable to grvedue consrderai ion 1o whal the Vart ikas and Naiskarmya S ddhl

real ly in lended to say. No real existence of cause and ei lect is tnlacl admil ted, as a sl !dy of cer lain parts ot Suresvara's workswould show. lndeed, he stales i t openly, and also relutes lhewhole concepl io,r of cause and effect.

( l ) And lhe whole uncri t ical ly accepted world of dua i ty isper se erdless, in lhat i t rests on bare lgnorance ol lhe nondua Sel l , as the lancied Si lver resls on lgnorance ol lheshel l Hence i t is lgnorance 01 the Se J which rs ul trmaletyl h e c a u s e o f a e v i l . ( N . S d . l . 1 , i n t r o . )

Hete t mtghl appeat at firsl glance as thaugh lgnorance at'the Self were bejng taken as the malerial cause of duality. lnrealily, hawever, il is clear from an examinatian of such lexls asl1narance, whrch means ' l nal know"' (TB.UIL176, cp. M.U 1 1O,1 ) 222.1 nale thal lgnaratrce is a nonentity (abhava) and cauldnat posstbly be a mater ialcause.

( 2 ) F u r l h e r . t h e n o t - s e l t 1 s b o r n o l l g n o r a n c e . ( N . S r d l l l . 1 ,r n r f o . . c p . l ! . 4 . v 1 1 3 , 1 ) .

Here agatn, ane might make lhe mistake of suppostng that ilwas beitg said that lgnorance was the maleflal cause of the nal-sel{. 8u! infact the preceding senlence has clearly denied the:txtsl-ance ot any lgnarance contradtcling knawledge tn lhe wards,Nar 's the attainmenl of knawledge iasstble in the not-se]l thal

a.e could atgue thatthere musl have been some contradrctotylgnctance ttn the not-self lat such knowledge ta negate, cp.1 M 1 3 1 )

(3) For 9norance s nolh ng but absence of knowiedge, and,srnce the lal ler s a non-ent i ly by nature, t cannol stand asl l re cause o1 lransmrgratofy experience. The existenl can-nol spr ng i rom lhe non'exislenl . (N.Sid. 11.7, in lro.)

Hete an oblectar su99ests that gnorance cannot be lhe cause

L:1) Srnce every object is unknou/n belore the idea ot i ls ansesn our mrnds, and since (even as unknown) i l ex sts by lhe

Suresvara

power ot ihe one real i ty (sat) , i t is thal real i ty which is ul t l -

mately the lhing lhal is Lrnknown. (N Sid l l l .7, cp [ l V

114.7, ad ini t . )

This verse is composed lo explain against the previous

abpction, in which sense lgnorance is a cause althaugh ls a

non-entity. The essence of lhe rcply is that the obectton ts be-

stde the poinl, because the actual cause is reality lhe Absalute

as unknown, One should tgnorethe altetnattve explanalrcn say'

tng The Self i; concealed by lgnorance as a pos ive t'orce di'

ferenl lram mere absence af knowledge' offered by the cammen'

tator jfre naltam because in contradicls Suresvaras meantn9

(5) lgnorance of the Sel l s the precondi l ion ior the appear_

ance of lhis magic showoidualty, and theAbsolule is ca led

lhe cause irnmed alely lhrough that. (B.B V 1 rv 371)

Duahty is here taken as a magjc show tn the sense al bein9

an erraneous supeimposition. lgnorance is its cause only in Ihe

mannet above explained The Absalute alone ts Ihe cause

thloughthe medium of tgnotance; that ts lhe meanng Oneshould

rccall here what has been said earlier about the sense in whrch

lgnotance is lhe cause of etroneaus knowledge (M V. 111' 10:

1 12; 113, 2, note; 113,3). l l is c lear that lhe explanatrcn ol lhts

verce gtven by Anandagtti in his sub'cammentary an thts verse

gaes agajnst the originalmeaning when hesays"Duality which'

hke a mass hymnodisls magtc shaw ts accepted as teal only

far tack ol ret'lection, musl have lor its cause samething whtch ts

nat a non entity (as a nan-enlily cannol lunctian as a cause) ll

tequtres a materialcause correspanding ta ilseif (in realtty'gtade

t e. tndetermnable reality'grade) and has one is metaphysrcal

lgnorance. The Absatute slands as a cause (anly) thtough te'

sort)nE to that .

i6) Th!s cause and oiher such nol ions are set ou1 only lor

the sake ol proving the exislence ol ihe transcendenl Sel i

They are a device to make the SelJ ava lable as one wno

knew ttre trulh proclatmed (G.K. l l l .15, cp. tV.V.33,3;75, j0).The negat ion of al l not ions such as cause does not suff celo establrsh non-d!al i ty. The negat ion i tsel f requires to.benegaled by the awakening to the homogeneous un(y andsole realr ty ot the Set i . Firs l there js a thorough demonstraIron lhat al lh is appearance ol pturat i ly has Being for i tsl rue nalure. Then i t is taught how Being (setf metts inlornJrni ly as pre Consciousness. (B.B.V 1i .27 9)

Cause and effect and so forth are onty estabtished provjstanally wlh a view to establish the unbon nan-duat self, whichis netlhet cause nor effec! nor absence ol cause and ellect lt isnat tnlended to establish cause and effect as realfrom the high-esl potnt of view No is it intended lo say that non duatity issitlplylhe absence of cause and effect, For one becomes awaketa the sell-revealed principle which is dit't'erent t'rcm any non-enttty lhrough negating negation tsetl, by awakening to the setlestabhshed realily that is its opposite. Fnst it is shown, by re-sorttng la the hypathesis of causation, that the real (sat) is thecause al all.Then even the notion af reality (sa va)is eljmnatedrn the nan-dual homogeneous pinctple. So the teaching aboutcause and effecl is not forthe purpase ol atlirming the existenceof cause and ellecl,

(7) lgnorance, meri t and demeri t End the impressions of pastacl tons ty lng unevolved in the elements f i re, waler, ear lhand wind. and dtssolved in ether, remaining as exislenl bulnol manrlesl - these, together with the Se , iorm The Undeveloped Principle ' . . . . l t is tgnorance that rnanifests in thelorm ol the object ive universe of maler iat objects (visva).a s r l s l h e n a l u r e o t l g n o r a n c e t o d o s o . H e n c e l h eUpanrshad says, 'This universe as lhen (belore the prolec-t l o n o l t h e w o r l d ) u n d j f f e r e n t i a t e d ( B r h a d . t i v . 7 ) l B . B . V|. ' , ! 2a5'7)

Frsl the natute of'the Undevetoped'is explained. Then it rcdeclared lhat it is lgnorance only thal appears as the manit'est

Suresvara

1 5 6

and the unmanifesl. Hence it is thal lhe Undeveloped Pinctple

in samelimes called lgnorcnce in the ancienl texls and when

lhe word lgnorance is used in this special sense' matetial cau'

saltty can be faund attributed ta lgnorance'.The natself, loa E

analher lorm assumed by lgnoance. But herc lhe clue is given

by the phrase'Hence it (nolself) is also ca ed lgnoance (T B V

l l 178. M.V251,6).This alsa is only a metaphot ical use al the

(8) l f vewed lrom the standpoinl of the l inal 1r l l i r , lgno_

rance and i ls ef lects cannol be establ ished as ex st lng el_

lherthrough i ls sown powerorlhroughlhat ol anolher ' From

the slandpoinl ol lgnorance i t is somel imes relerred 10 l jy

lhe lerm lhe Undeveloped'.When we rel lected on our expe'

nence on waking trom dreamless sleep we say' l knew nolh

ng. wh ch shows lhat Consciousness is rel lected 1n lgno-

rance The or gin, marnlenance and dissolul ion ol the world

lake p ace In lhe Sel l as reJlected in lgnorance The Sel{ as

assoc aled w lh lgnorance, is the cause ol bodres where

gnorance predorninales and ol conscious being where Con-

sciousness predominates Al l such dist inct ions are cond'

troned by pasl thought, medi lat ion and act iv ly (B B V

1 v . 3 4 0 - 2 ) .

' l gnurar( e rs aon -: lor and Lnco^s( ioLq'e5r df pe3 r '0

In lhe real i ly, the se i , which s in truth ever enlLghtened As

conlusron and unconscloLlsness are tound Ln the not sel l

lh s whole world s cal led'dealh' (B B V IV '157)

fhe !exl (al Brhad.lV.iii.T) as spoken ol llrc forms al deatll'

whete ctea!h means 'lgnorance' Earlier it had satd Darkness

t lEnonnc-") E death (Brhad. l . i t t .28). SuresvaB s pf- 'se/ l l verse

1l)ii,rw,s o/r from lhat. Cont'usian and uncansctausttess ate lhe

t: : l r t e cl lgnatance. And the fact thal both al these appeat even

1t) t t )e t)a! .sel f s an e^pressian al death the verse explaths haw

tl ' t ' l r t rr ' ignaBnce come ta be appl ied ta the nat s ' i i

I 1 1l j The term lgnorance' does not rnean anvt l i r ig D! l ncn-

Chapr€r 8

c o n s c i o u s n e s s ' . T h r s i s c o n f i r m s d b y l h e V e d a ( a tBrhad lV. v.3 and 4) where lhe text runs,havrng sent lhisbody to 'Avidya' (= unconsciousness) ' . iB.B.V. 1. iv.256).

ln this verse Suresvarc declares that on-consciousness isthe essental nature of lgnorance inorderto bring ou! how entight-enment and lgnorance are contradiclors as consciausness andnon consctousness. His idea is that the Veda intended ta teachthal lgnorance was non-consciousness when it said, ,Having

struck dawn fts ptevious body and sent it to unconsciousness,the saul praceeds (after death) to a net/ body'. Here again, lgno-rance ts cleatly tdentified with the notse[.

(1 1) Texis l ike 'Darkness ( lgnorance) is death ( t ight is im,monal) (Brhad.. l . i i i_28) and' tn the beginning, this unrversewas watel Brhad.vv. l ) show that metaphysical lgnorancers contrnual ly at work, ei lher in manifest or uDmani lesl form.( B 8 . V r . i i . 1 3 6 ) .

The text'Da*ness is dealh, ltght is immortat' (Brhad.l.tii 2g)relers ta lgnarance, evolved and manilest as natural knawledgean.l action.ln the text'ln the beglnning, this univerce was watet'(Brhad.V.v.1), the wotd'watet' atso rclers to tgnorance. but thjsttme the reference is to lgnorance in its unmanifest form.fhat islhe meaning of the verce.

One,annot hee accep! Ihe stalement ot Anandagnt. h tsRoot lgnaHnce only that is referred lo by lhe wad "dakness'.used lo explatn the tem "death','. Fot it is saitl that lgnorancedisplays itself eithet tn manilest at in unmanifesst fatm. Thistmpltes thal Root lgnorance, identified with the Unmanifes! prin-crple is tlself a cteation of lgnorance. And the doctrine of Rootlgna,ance as accepted by olher schoots ol Advala is nowhetefound in the Verikta.

The word Boot in the phrase'Roo! lgnotance djsplays itsetf'must have entered the rcceived text lhrough a misheanng an thepan al sameane in erroL who was evidenlly inlroducing his ownpeculiar lheary, paying no a enlion to the toud and clear state-

i ltl

menls etsewhere lhat noot lgnonnce was bul a particular farm

assumed by lgnorance, namely the Unmanilest Principle Nei'

thetwas anv atlention paid Io the description af lgnarance given

in lhe words'lgnorance is lhe leeling "l do not know"' (cp TB.V

. 1 7 6 ) .

We may pass lhis by as incidonlal. qut the follawing should

herc be noled. Whercvet in lhe Vertika lhere is a telercnce la

lgnarance as a material cause, this is predicated af lgnoranceco4sdered as having assumed ls lorm as lhe non-consciousIJnmanifest Principle. lt is not a refetenceto it in its awn characletistic nalure as conlusion. For the whole conceplbn ol cause

and effect is only mentioned in the Verikta at all lo show thal ls

is crealed by lgnoance. Frcmthe slandpoint ol practical experi'

ence, on lhe otherhand, causalitycan be acceptecl where evet tl

(12) Ths i l lusion (maya) which, lhough utter ly real , manl

tesls as name. lorm and act ion - i ts subt lest iorm is cal led'Death' . (B.B.V l . iv.1 35).

' tgnorance displays itsell here in the world as name, a lorm

and action. lts subtlest form, which may alsa be called Meya' is

called Death'. lt had been said earlier in the Vedic passage un'

der commenL'This was covercd over by Death'(Brhad 'l ii 1)

Here again, it is only lgnorance in its form as seed-state ol the

nol-self consisting ol name, form and action that is telerred to

by the wotd'MAye'- And lhis agtees with numerous texts in Sn

Sankara's commentaries, such as'Name and farm imagtnecJ

thtough lgnorance as iflhey were the very naturc of the omnis'cient Lord, indeteminable eilhet as the real principle or as any-

lhng chlletentlrcm iL ihe seed ol lrcnsmigrctory expctence and

the diflercnliated $/orld, are spoken of in the Veda and Smtti as

"The Power ol Meya belonging to the Omniscient Lord"'(B.S.Bh.lt.i.14, cp. M.U45, 1). Anandagiri's rematk in hts sub'

commentarv here,'The wotd Meey is introduced to refute thase

who distnguish between lgnorance and Meye" was nacle wtth'

Suresvara 1 5 9

oul a proper underclanding of the meantng of lhe verce an whichne was commenllng.

(13) ln th s conlexl (of leaching thal the world-appearancearises l rom absence of knowledge ol the Absolule) we i indthe clear verse ol Gaudapada, which begins, wel l supporledby analog es, 'As a rope irnperlect ly perceived.. . ( in the darkis var iously inagined as a snake or a slream oi waler or inolher ways, so s the Selt wrongy imagined as this andlhal (G.K 11.17, cp. l \ r .V23)- That whch as no name orlorm manifesled (al lhe beginning ol the world-perlod) throughbare gnorance. (8.8.V Liv.389-90).

Whal lhe aulhor ts saying is:'One the toptc of manlestatianproceedtng hom lhe Undevelaped Pinciple, ane should see t'romthe explanalion of creatian given by Gaudapada. with examples,thatthe notion of the world andthe Absolute as effect and causemust be intetpteted as agreeing in every way with the anatogy olthe illusory snake misperceived in lhe rcpe'. In lhe same way,the authot laler (B.B.U Liv.443) quo!es Bhagava9eda Sankara'sUpadesa Sehasi XVlll.46:'Just as the rope-snake, (thaugh unre-a4, possesses being by vittue ol lhe rope unltl dtscriminatedlram it, sa alsa does the complex ol the Self, the ret'lecting me'dium and lhe teflection passess being by vittue al the change-less Self, (unlil it is discriminated lrcm it', cp. M.v. 144, 10).

(14)Transmigratory experience is taughl to be an erroneoussuperimposi l ion on the Sel l . And, according to lhe generawor dly view , lhere cannol be erroneous superimposit tonwi lhoul a cause.Therefore, lo explain whal is the cause. SriSankarasays in his brhadaranyaka Commenlary That(Se1)wh ch rs lhe cause ol the whole universe.. Eut has not thecause already been declared to have been the superimposr-t ion on the Self , lhrough natural lgnorance, ol the not ions oJbeing one who acls, along wi lh act ion and i ts resul ls? Yes.Bui the leaching ls repeated in a specialJorm intended lorelule the Sankhya doctr ine that Nature (non-conscious and

rl

1 6 0

independent ol Spir i t ) is the maler ial cause ol lhe world.The cause ol the world s lhe Se t , unknown lhrough lgnorance l t ls not the three const i tuents' (guna) mak ng upNalure spoken oi by the Sankhyas (B.B.V 1 v.478-80)

This is an explanalrcn of the passage in StiSankara's Com'menlary an the Brhaderanyaka (l.tv.7 ad init.) whtch begtns,'This Self, for the sake of which all the tradtlional texts cametnta being, an which the notion af being one who acts, along wtththat of actian and its results, are supeimposed through natutallgnannce, that which is lhe cause af the whaleworld, that v/htchis the true nature of name any fatm..,', There is menlton here ofIransmigratian, cansisting of thefeeling that ane ts acttng, a andassaciated with aclion and its resDlts, as being supettmpasiion.The watd 'superimpositian' is used here lo mean lhe result atsuperimpasltian, not lhe act, according to the intetpretatian Asuperimpositrcn is what is superimpased'. The reference (tnSuresvara's verses) to (the worldly viev/ that thete must be) aceuse af supenmposition refers tothe tealsubslratum an whtchan tmagtned enttty must re9t.

Suresvara takes lhe phrase' through lgnorance'ham SriSankare s Cammenlary, interprels ll according to hts own system as meaning absence of knawledge, and lhen refers to theobjection that might be rajsed, Therc cannat be superimpositianwithaut a (positive) cause'. On his awn view, lhe statemenl Ab'sence of knowledge is lhe cause al allthe world'does nol refelto absence of knowledge alane as the independent cause. Thecause is the Se/f as urknawn. This, at least, is my awn under'standing af the verses. And lhen the reply cones, saying thattherc was na accasian fot the objectian that was nised.

On the system of the revercd Commenlatat himself,lhere isna ptoblem abaut the falsity al lrcnsmigrattan, consEttng in thefeeltng that one is acting, associated wlh action and its resultsFar he says, Transmigralian is sel up lhtough nalural 19norancein the form af erroneous knowledge'. Where he said,'That Selt

Chapter-8 S u r e s v a r a 1 6 1

which is the cause of allthe universe', that was only ta showthat because the whole universe ts merely imagined, the Abso,lute can anly be the cause in the sense ol being lhe realsubstra,tum an which the imaginations are made. There is lo this extenta difference belween lhe explanations of lgnorance alfered bySriSankan and Suresvarc.The two explanations agree basically, hawever, as we have aheady explained at M.V.112.

(15) l i lhe etfecl were taken as di f lerenl l rom the cause,how could they because and effecl? They would be knownas separate, unconnected enl i l ies, lke lhe Himalayas andihe V ndhya mountains. But i f the effect were laken as non-di f ierent, lhen, since there would be ident ty, there couldnol becaLrse and ef lect. Whal is actronless cannot funcl ionas a cause.Thatwhrch s not ihe oblecl oi acl ion should notbe cal led an ef iect. And lhal whlch s void oi acl ion cannotbe a factor of act ion. Time and acl ion could not be causes,as ihey lhemselves only exst through thal ( the Self) nwhich they are due lo d ssolve. l t is evident that what cannol even br ng tsel f nio berng could nol br ng anything elsenlo be ng, whatever ts efforts. (B.B.V 11. i .399 402).

Here the whale concepttan af causally ts rejected as atian-ally indefensibie. A few verses later Suesvara sums up.'And solhe creations and withdrawals ofthe universe dawn the ages arcimagtned, just as the disltncttons of time and space are. Whenyou have seen realtty, yau know that lhe creatian, maintenanceand wtthdtat al of the universe ate lnpossible (B.B.U. 11.i.411,14.v. 129,8). And so Sresvara keeps lo thal lndttton of the ttue-.xperts in Vedanta, which says that the causality suppased tapraduce lhe watld ts tllusory,

The Treatment of Universal and Part icular

Thus lhe treatrnent oi cause and ei iecl in Suresvafa's worksrs not ntroduced lo show lhal lhe Absolute rs lhe cause ol lhe\\ror d. ts purpose s aclua y to refute lhe who e concept ion ol

ChaplerS Suresvara

causal i ty by f i rst superimposing lhe not ion ol causal i ly onlo lheSelt in order lo leach and existence ol lhe lal ler ( lhe Sel l , readalmano sl i lvam), and lhen rel l l ing caLrsal i ty n the l ighl o{ theSel In ts l rue nature.The case wi lh lhe teaching ol universaland oarl cular is s iml lar. The f i rst steo is to teach the ex stenceol lhe Sel l by superimposing onlo r i lhe nol ion lhal i l is a univer 'sa . n order, in the end, lo be able to deny lhal i l is characler izabieerlher as a universal or as a part icular, Here loo. Suresvara lol-lows lhe method of lhe revered Commentalor. Indeed, n the pre-I m nary ialse attr ibul ion of lhe not ions ol universa and parl icu-ar, he Io lows lhe method of the Upan shad i lse t , as we can nowsee,

As the parl icular beals in a drum-rol l cannot be heard sepa-ralely l rorn the drum'rol l tsel{ , even so lhe things whose exrst 'ence depends on lhe Sel l cannot be perceived separately l romhe Se f (B.B.V. l l . iv.267-8, condensed). Fisl one has the generalpercepl ion, Those are the sounds oi a drum , or one rnay heafthem in a more specif ic, but st i l l general , lorm as Those soundsarrse trom the slr ik ing ol a drum in a specra way' Bul any rela-l ive y speci |c sounds, or part icr i iar sounds, are only heard aspa( ol their universal, the generaldrum-rol l (cp. B.B.V. l l . iv.275-80) Aga n. l i rst one has the genera indeterminate percepl ionpot. al ler ihat lhe specit icat ion' is ' , y ielding exrslenl pcf. Andso lhe ongina general percepl ion is lurther spectred inexper 'ence by sub general percepl ion is turther speci l ied in experienceby subseqLrenl par ircular zat ion (having a long spoul, exist ing atsuch and such a place and t ime, etc. : B.B.V. l l . v.281). Again,each iurther specit icat on in our knowledge of a !niversal and tothe accornpan menl ol i l . And, in the same way, every genus orparl cular rs i tsel f known as accompanied by Consciousness (ci l )rrnperlecl ly known. l l is superimposed on lhe Sel{ lhfough ab-sence of knowledge ol lhe lal ler. Bl l lhe inmosl Sel l does nolrequire any exlernal supporl lo eslab sh ts own ex stence. TheSel l beholds the nol-sel l only when rts puts on ihe I very of belnganindvdual experience. B! i i l experiences i tsel l as ndepend

ent Consciousness in i ls l rue state only. Examples such as lhesounds ol lhe conch and lute are also given to t l lustrate lhedrsso utron 01 al l par l iculars everywhere into the one greal uni-v e r s a , ' B e r n g "

And yet one musl rememberthat in realily na distinctian tntountvetsal and patticular exisls, For though the universal is in-variably found tn lhe patticula€, the particulars are not invan-ably found tnthe untversal. Butlhe unive6alcannol be perceivedseparately and without beng in some way rclaled ta lhe pattrcu-larc. Even if ane admitted that universal somehow existed ntsolalian from patticulars, lhey would then become parlicularclhemselves, like thal parlicular short'homed cow'wi!hin the 9en-eral species caw. And il ane cannot establish lhe existence aluniversals one cannal establish the existence of particulars ei-thet When one cannat establish lhe existence ol either universals or particulars, tl ts vain to talk about a particular falltngwtthin a universal. Far the relation ol canlatnet and containedtmpltes lwa terms. And na telatian ol distinctian or af any olherkrn.l can be established as holding between universal and par-ticular. This is the ltne taken by Suresvan in his retrcction. lnthrc connectian the follawing ve6es are warlhy at' note.

(1 )The sou nd ol lhe drum in general is mentioned to exem-p|| ly the broad unrversal as such. The drum,rol l ' reiers tolhe partrculars conce ved as the universai in i ts other (r e.parl icu ar ized)lorm. And lhe reference lo 'exlernalsounds'

(Brhad. l l . v.7) reiers lo the ( mposs bi l ty oi hear ng the) parI cu aTs alone (conceived as somehow separcte from theunlversal). These are the three examples that lhe Upanishadgives (ta show lhal sound in a patticular form is dependentan saund tn a more genetallotm both ta exist and la beknatyn. sathat partic ular Being, also, depends on mare gen-eralBetng bath la exisl and to be knawn). (B.B.v.ll.tv.288-9)

(2) Noth ng wha, 'ever can be establ ished by the means ot

Chapter-8

va ld cognrt ion independent ly oi lhe not ion oi Be ng, whetherregarded as lhe same as Being through nvanable concomltance, or as di t lerent i rom t through Independence. or as ofthe nalure of non being, BecaLlse there cannot be anylh ng

separaie Jrom Being, lhere cannoi be anything n re alronwrlh dolng. And one should undersland thal, whatever s lhe

case with Being, exact ly lhe same is the case w th the rn

most Self , the real i ty ol which is sel l ' revealed, and doesnot have lo be establ ished by any separate means ol cognr_t ion. (B.B.V l l . rv.290-1 )

No reality separate from Being conceive.J as a untversalcanbe establlshed elher as tn canstant concamitance with Being al

as independent cf Being, ar as non-being.This is whal the example af Being conceived as the highesl univercal shows Sa thepoinl ts praved by the example ol Belng concetved as the high-

est univercal thal there cannot be any rclation al Being with any

lhing else taken as separale.The meaning is lhat lhe same non'

..luality obtains inter case of lhe self revealed Self (whlch rc natfrarn the highest standpoint, a universal).

(3) The pot is perceived as ex stenl, as having a long spoutas si tuated at a certarn place, as exist ing al a certaln l lmeNo new obiecl is pefceived each t me there is a fur lher del e r m n a l i o n . ( B . B . V l l . i v . 2 8 1 ) .

This is an example to show haw allthe latet delermtnattanarc cantained implicitly in the firsl indeterminate percepttan

14) In the same way, everylh ng lhat is perceived is supermposed on pure Consciousness, as i t is nvariably perceived

accompanied by that. Everything in lhe world whether a

universal or a part icular, has lgnorance ol p!re Consclousness as i ls cause- (B.B.V. l l . iv.282).

(5) There is no other source lor the eslabl ishmenl ol thenmost Se i aparl l rom the (sel t ' revealed) inmosl Se f tsel fln the case ot the not sel f , means of val id cogn lron are

Suresvara r65

reqlr red. Even lhen, the noi-sel f is only known lhrough thendividLra knower, who depends lor his own existence on

the Self . iB.B.v. 11.1v.283, with gloss).

The inmost Self is its own means of valid cognitian. The notself is only established at allthrcugh the Sellas means of cogni

(6)The Sel l can only behold the not-sel f when i t does thevery ol an ndrvidual able act and experience. As pure V,

sion rased above change, i l does not behold i tsel i n lhesame way. The not sel l , being complex, is known lhroughpercept ion. The Self , being simple, s known through l tse iin ihe iorm of knowledge bearing inwards. (B B.V l l . iv 284-5 ) .

The Self as an individual capable of action knaws the notsell through applying one of the means of valid cognjtion. TheSelf in ils true transcendence knows itself tn immedtate expeence Attthout recourse lo any exletnalmeans. Moreaver,lhe nolself as known by the jndividual knower through his means ofknowledge is a camplex entity. But the Self does nat enler tntocompastton wtth any ather being. It is known through its awnSelf n the forn of knawledge bearing tnwards.

(7) (The whole concept ion ol universai and part iculars isun ntel l ig ible ) The universal can no rnore be idenl cal , ,v ihthe part culars than they can w lh L But i f lhe un versa; betaken as d sl inct f rom ihe parl iculars there can be nc un!versal (and hence no parl iculars ei ther). l t a un versalvrer€laken per impasstble as not being n constanl a concorl ilance u/ i lh i ls part culars (and so as nol be ng denl:ca \ r i ththem), lhe unlversal and i ts part culars would be disl inct,l ike an elephant and a ral . Bul then whal we ca I a universalwould b-o a pari cu ararnong parl iculais, ike asho:t hornedc o w n a h e r d o i o t h e r s ( B . B V l l . v . 2 6 9 7 0 . c p . N , l . V 1 3 0 . 3 1'Among pa iculars - lhat is, it wauld eith-.r be a parltcul.ir

1 6 6 Chapler-8

sub-species amang species, ot a partlcular among parttculars

Thetreatmenl ot the Oiscr iminat ion ol the Five Sheaths

The view ol Suresvara expressed in his Varl ika is lhal theleaching about the Five Sheaths (cp. N/.v.39),10o, rs ntroducedin lhe Upanishads in order to br ing out the nature ot the Sel l as

lhe Absolute by f i rst at tr ibut ing to i l possession of the FiveSheaths, blr t only wi lh a view to denying thenr afterwards. Thismethod ot teaching may be brref ly summarized as {ol lows.

The nol ion that we are in dei l icalwi lh lhe sheals is implanledin us by an impresslons ar is ing l rom beginn ngless lgnorance. lnVedanta, lhe sheaihs are ni t ia l ly accepled as a device throughwhLch to introduce lhe idea ot the inmosl Sel l ex st ng wi lhlnthem (TB.V. 11.232'3). The inmosl Sel l , tholgh only one, ap-pears through lgnorance as i f l imited by lhe Five sheaths in twoways, lhl is, on the individual plans and on lhe cosmic plane(T.B.V.11.234-5).The sheaths, beginning with the sheath madeup oi lood (the physical body) are eJlects. They each have to bef rs l dissolved inlo their maler ial causes, food and so on. Then

each earl ier one in turn has to be dissolved inlo the next in theseries, unt i l the Self is lef t as lhe supreme ca!se, and lhen evenlhe nol ion lhal i i is a cause is cancel led by the knowledge ans_ing lrom the upanishadic lexls, and i l f inal ly remains over as lheA6solute n i ts l rue lorm (T.B.V 236_7).

(Firsl ane must meditale one ane's own individual body as

being nalhing avet and above'food , the matler ol lhe casmos,Ltntil il ts finally felt to be so (T.B.V 11.253). The none must medttate ane s own vilal eneryy lill it is felt la be ane with the cosmicvi talenergy (T.B.V 11.254), on one's mind (manas, M.v.25,8)asta casmrc mind (exprcssed as lhe Veda, T.B V IL3A6), on one slntellect (buddhi, M.U25,8) as the cosmic intellect (hiranyagarbha

the one wha'has'and rcai izes the ideas tn lhe casmic mind'1'.8 V. 11.306 f.), and an lhe ioy arising lram the merit af ane s

riluals and prescribed meditations (TB.V. 11.320'22:342'5) as

constttuting a sheath of lhe Absolute (ihe anandamaya-kasa)whtch is a false appearance ol the Absolute (TB.U ll.340-2),thaugh its tue nalute ts nothing other than the Absotute (T.B.V.u.341). T.N.)

l i (no accounl were taken of the cosmic plane and) onty thesheaths oi lhe ndiv dual p ane were dissolved, the resul l woutdbe the knowledge of a 'sel i ' ndividual ized by ts own body andm nd. rn lhe manner ol the Sankhya teaching (T B.V 268). Eachlaler sheath thal s menl ioned in the ser ies is spoken oi as some,th ng separale trom lhe earl ier ones, l t is regarded as .anolher

rnlerna sel i accord ng to the formula' i t ( lhe preced ng set i ) sj i l led by that ( lhe later one) ' . As the ser ies progresses, eachsheath is said lo be i l led by ihe next one fol lowing t , whrchconslr lutes i ts true'se l ' . So we se6lhal the sheath made up ofiood s accompanies by the remaining four, beginning wth thesheath made !p ot the vi tal energy. The shealh made up ot thevrtal energy is accompanied by the remaining lhree, beginningw th the sheath made up ol mind ( i .e. the sheaths made up ofrn nd intelect and bl iss). On this basis, ai l e l fects have to bed sso ved in the supreme cause by not not ing that the talersheaths are rn conslanl concomitance with the earl ier ones ofthe ser ies, whi le the earl ier ones are not inconstanl concom,lance w lh lhe later ones (T.B.V l l .263).

The real i ly lhal has to be communicated by this device slhe Abso ute. l t ls laught in the second Sect ion ol ihe Tait | r iyaUpanishad (the Ananda or Brahmananda Val l l ) . And the third Sec-lron (Bhrgu Va i) explains how the exislence and natLrre of lheAbso ule has ear|er been laught by poinl ing to the mutLratcon,comrlance and non-concomtlance amongsl the var ioLls sheaths.sc lhal the two Sect ions agree. There is onty this sma I dr i fer-- .nce thal In lhe lhird Sect ion the Absolute s taughl as beingpure El iss n i ls l rue nalure through the negai ion ol the FveSheaths wh ch are effecls of lgnorance, as is rmp ci t in the lextf ie had the knowledge "The Absolute is bl jss" ' lTai t t . l l l .6). (See

Suresvara 167

1 6 SChapteFS

T.B.V |L332-s).

And, in the same way, lhe meaning of the lext 'A personbecoFes non-€xislenc€ (af he thinks the Absolute to be non-existence)' (Taitt.ll.6) is lound to be th€ same. For il says that ila man thinks ol lhe Absolule, which is in fact real as his ownSell, as being one ol the sheaths and therelore unreal, he be-comes himsel{ unreal.The knowers ol the Absolute hold that healone is r6alwho knows himsoll as the real Absolule..bevond lhes heaths. The refore one should n€gate allthe shealhs, which havebeen imagined through lgno€nce and realize lhal one is the su-preme Sell, nol subj€ct to change (lB.V 11.353-6).

'n thrs conlext, these are lhe verses of lhe Taittlriya Varlikamost worlhy ol Consideralion.

(1) The mind has become deeply impregnated with impressions in this beginning less realm oJ lransmigral ion. l t can,however, be lurned towards lhe inmost Self bV a device,and so this device is now sel forlh. In kulh, the one inmostSelf has no contact with duality. lt only undergoes bifurca-t ion Inlo inner and ouler, subjecl and objecl, by way of i l lu-sron lhrough lgnorance. On the subjective side, ihere arelhe t ive sheaths beginning wilh lhe sheath made up ot food(the physical body), along with the inmosi Seil i on the ob'jecl ive side, there arefood and the remaining malera causesof ihe I ive sheaths ( i .e. earth, water, f ire, aif and elher).

Having d;ssolved ihe r ive individual sheaths inio their cos-mic counterparts by meditation, one should medllale on lhe l ivecosmic counterparts ol the f ive sheaths, laking each sLlcceed-ing one as the inner'self 'ol i ts predecessor. Having thls dis'soived lhe whole notion lhat one is in any sense an elfecl, oneshould rest in the nolion that one is the cause. And then l inal lyone should dissolve that nolion lhrough the supreme Vedic lexls,and attain to ihe Absolute as one's feal Selt. (T.B.V 11.233-7).

(2)Thoughlhe Selicannot be identical with the Five Shealhs,

r l appears lo be so through lgnorance. as the rope,snake ap,pears to be ident ical with the rope. And i t appears to suffer tntune wi lh the sheaths. (T.B.V .250).

(3) As each ettect in lurn is ol lhe nature of i ts mater ialcause, ihe Absolule is jnJjni te, and lhe sankhya duai ismbelween Nature and Spir i t is avoided. Each mater ialcausern lhe ser ies exists independen y of i ts ef lect, which pre-cedes l t in lhe ser ies (as the cosmtc vi la l energy existsindependentty of food and is lhe source Jrom which foodproceeds). And yei i t invariably accompanies j ls el lecl .Hence our lhesis thal lhe el tect ls nothjng over and abovethe maler ialcause can be supporled by argutng trom inde-pen0ent extslence and invarjable concomilance (vyal i rekaand anvaya) . . . ai l lour ol the other (and highe, sheaths arepresenl In the shealh made up oi lood.The three other h gherones are presenl in the vrtalenergy, two rn lhe mrnd (tntel-recr and bt iss), one (bt iss) in ihe inte ect. (T.B.V i1.268,9,271).

(4) The Absolute was taught in the second Sectron ot theTait l i f iya Upanishad_To explain the method how i t has to berearned, the third Sect ion of the Upanishad recounls (Tarl l .l l . l . ,o lc.) how Bhrgu said to Varuna, ,Hoty onel Teach me

Brahmanl When the goal has { i rst been exptained, t t Ihenremarns lo explain the means. The means are the FiveSheaths, tor one reaches the Absolute ihrough (meditat ngon) them {as taught). l t is ctear lhat they are the rneans,l lecause the Set i is seen through lhem when Ihey areanalyzed and meditaled on according to the taws ot univer-salconcomitance (anvaya) and Independent exrstence (vya1 i- .kal . (T.3.V. t1.333-5).

After explaining StiSankarc's interprctation of the ,\|ord'tapasiaustenty) given in hB commentary onTaittirjya 1.1. Suresvataadds hts o\vn. which runs:'Tapas is pondering accordtng to thelaws ol .onslant cancamtlance and independent exislence:,

SLrresvafa

d

S!resvara 1 7 1

(T.B.V. lll.1g).The prcsenl passage should be underslaod in lhe

light af lhat.

(5) lJ a pe|son idenl i ly ing himselJ wi lh lhe shealhs' thinks

that lhe Absolute is ' inreal al lhough in facl ' t rs rearas l_ s

own Sel l , he himselt becomes lnreal in this world This

being so. one should r lse above the shealhs lnal _ave bee_

imagined through lgnorance One should lake reluge in the

supreme Sel l , beginningless, endless and nol subiect to

modi l ical ion. (T.B V l l 353' 356)

121 The Oist inct ion Belween Subiect and Objecl

The Self in i is l rue nalu€ as seen lrom lhe standpoinl ol lhe

highesl t ruih is also laught by the melhod ol l i rst talsely at_

tr ib! l ing to i t the character ol an individual experiencrng sul l iect

and then felract ing the teaching For example, we f ind the pure

Consciousness thal const i lutes the l rue nalure oi the Sel l f rgu-

rat ivelv relerred to al var ious places in the Upanishadsas the

oerce;t ion ol the individual and as the individual perceiver ' This

ionsciousness, which in i ts l rue nature is one, appears as many

through lgnorance, And then Consciousness in i ts t rue lorm as

one is contrasted with lhe empir ical consclousness anging ' lhe

course ot ihe act iv i ty of the individual experiencer: ;and in this

lorrr I rs telerred lo as ConscroJsness ln i ts l rLle nalu'e lo

ensute l r le conlrasl .

Empir ical consciousness comes into being and suffers the

srx cnanges ol s late lcomlng or lo belng exlslence qrowlh

develop'renl. declne, deslruct lon) undergone by everylh 'g In

lne remporal real /n. Bul i t is pervaded at every stage by J_

changing pure Consciousness in i ts t rue lorm We have l fe

upanishadic lexl , too, 'The Absolute which is direct ly and rmme

dralely evident is lhe Self , present wi lhin al l (Brhad l l l iv2)

The word direct ly ' (evident) might suggesl lhal r l was tne Indr '

vrdua sublect which was belng relerted lo So tqF word\ 'ard

irnmedlalely are added 1o sel at resl any suspicion thal lhe rel

erence was to perceptual knowiedge arising from the divisionInlo knower, knowledge and known. The detai ls are given alBrhadaranyaka Vart ika l l l . iv.1 5-18 (see M.V121,5 below).

Consciousness in i ts true nature only exists where the divi-sron into knower, knowledg€ and known has been transcended.The sequel to the passage'You cannot see the se6r of sseing'(Brhad.l l l . iv.2) shows that lhe Sell is the Witness of the complexlormed by the Individual knower wiih his knowledge and its ob-jecis. l i rs nol i lsel l an object ot cognii ion, and we know Jrom thevery lact ol rts being lhe real in i ts hue nature (which transcendsall disi nctions, including ihat into subjsct and objecl). Thus it issaid that the SelJ cannot be an object oJ empirical perception.There exisls a Witness in the l ighl ol which alone the experience' l see' and ' l do nol see' is possibl€. That Witness musl bendeti l ied wlth pure Consciousness. l l can only be known throughts own lght. l l cannot become th€ ob,ecl ol empirical percep'tron.The individual knowerand his knowledge and i is obiects arenon'consciorJs by nalure. Being a complex, they exisl for lhesake of anolher a {cp. u.S. (prose) secl ion 56). They cannotprovrde knowledge oJ the vision of the inmosl Witness.They can-noi even know each other unaided. They depend on lhe con-sciousness ol the Witness to establish themselves at al l . Howcould lhey possibly see the seer ot al l?

On lh s sublecl,one should consider the tol lowing verses.(1) Thal Seer (the Witness) is i iselt lhe sight. l l is not one ota complex ol aclors in an actron, For srght is here claimedas a characlerisl ic oi the Seer. (B.B.V lVi i i .1435)

On accouni of the alt bulian al seeing lo the Seet as anessenttal prapetly (nol as a mare temporaty activfiy) in theupanishadic phrase'(There is na brcak in) lhe seeing ol the Seer'v/e undersland lhal seetng is to be laken asthe essentialnatureal the Seer. So the Sell is not an agent catrying oul an act olseeing.

il

(2) Consciousness is one only every where. t s di f ferenlfrorn al l the not-sel l . This one Consciousness undergoesillusory manitestation in many dillerent lorms through causesaris ing l rom lgnorance of i t . (B.B.V. l l l .v i i .60).

(3) Consciousness, which is act ion less, assumes this la 'mi l iar form ot empir jcal knowledge, divided inlo individuasubject, act of knowing and objecl . But consciousness i l '

sel f ls wi lhout this divis ion. Eecause i l is one and the solereal i ty, lhe famil iar empir ical lorm only ar ises as an appearance, ever pervaded by consciousness in i ls t rue lorm. i isonly when pervader and pervaded are exhausted In that re-lat ian lhal we have peruasion In the i rue sense, as ln lhecase ol the pervasion ol the rope-snake by the rope.Therecannol be pervasion in the ful l sense between lhings lhatare di l terent iated by space or l ime, l ike the Himalayan andVindhya ranges. (B.B-V l l l . iv.96-8)

Becauge vision, as an action explicable through the faclarsol aclion, is invariably accompanied by Cansciausness in thelrue sense, which is not a t'actor in any action, we say that em'prtcalvision arises'pervaded by pure Consciousness, and lhtsimphes tha! it is pervaded by it in the same sense lhal a rope'snake is pervaded by the rcpe. This alane is pervaston in lheslricl sense. When we say, far instance, that the pol ts per

vaded (encompassed) by the light ol a Lamp, lhal ts loose us'age.

(4)Th s empir ical v is iorr on the part ol the S€lf depends onlhe rndividual expereincer and other i l lusory iactors But know

lhal lhe Consciousness ofthe inmost Self is real n lhe high'

est sense l t is only lhrough the presence ol real Corlscious-ness, and peruaded by i t , that the empif ica vrs on en joyed

by the Sel l comes and goes and solfers lhe s x stages oi

developnent lypical ol al l iempcral being (coming rnto be'

Ing. etc. , cp. above, Iv l .V p.344) The mitatons therebylmposed on lhe universal Consciot sness :r 'o bul apparenl

Sutesvala

imitat ions, i ike the appar€nt l imitations in spac6 introducedby the production ol apot (cp. M.V 27,1) (B-B-V l l l . iv.gg-100).

(5) And in case lhe characlerization'directly evidenl 'sug-gesls an active seer, the phrase 'ihm€diately evident' isadded io prevent this supposit ion (Brah.l l l . iv.1)... The phrase'rmmedialely evid enl ' (aparoksad) is used to negatelhe dis-linclion inlo individual subjecl, known object, and knowl-edge, and lo convey a realaly that is wilhout dist inctions.When lhe disiincllon itno subject, obj€cl and knowledge isnegdled, the self-revealed Witness alone remarns over asestablished, revealed by lhe characterizal ion' immediatelyevidenl ' . (B.B.V l l l . lV.15,17-8).

(6) l l is sald (by the revered Commentator) that, since thernd v dual subject and his knowledge and its object only exislrelalrvelV to one another, i t is the true and eternal nalure olthe Selt to be the Wilness... l t , with that vision whereby youare able io say' l know'and'l donot know'you are able tolurn round and see lhal very vision itsell (as i, it were anoblect) ' then please speak out (and luck to you!).. . Thosewho say lhal, when the Witness ol al l the modil ications olthe mind is esiablished as sell-revsaled experience, theresl i l l remains something to be brought about by acl ion, wil lhave ihe diJl iculty ol explaining with what instruments theWilness could perlorm in acl ion- B.B.v. l l l . iv.82; 80; 1.iv.320.

The operalian ol the valid means ol cognition depends onthe priat establishment of the Con ciousness lhat is Witness ofall This, being self-revealed, does not depend on anything else.No contribution to lhat which is the Witness by nature can begiven fat aclivities apprcptialeto thatwhich is merely lhe known.As the pawer af a lamp to shed llght cannot be increasedbyanvolh Lamp, so the lamp of mmedale e^penence $ inca-pable ol being increased by any olhet immediate expeience.This being lhe case, lhose who say thata immediate expeience

1731 7 2 Chapter€

'i:

f$dsfj

Chapter-8

is samething thal has to be brcugh! about by actian will have thedifficult task of explaining haw, with what instruments, and lorwhat end, immediate experience could be praduced.That is lhemeantng.

Whai has been said so lar has been said i rorn lhe standpo ntso ol talse al l r ibut on, Now we begrn the corresponding retrac-t gn- The Sel l 's uncondit ioned Visron stands pr ior lo al l act iv i tyei lher oi seelng or of any other kind. l t is not subiect lo increaseor diminut ion. l l is not a lactor in any act ion. l t is lhe Sel i in l tstrue {orm. l t becomes a Witness only lhrough associal ion wi ihmetaphysrcal lgnorance. Andthe very notron ol assoc at on withlgnofance is i tsel i a creat ion oi lgnorance. In ls true nature, theuncondit ioned Vision raised above al l change can no rnoTe be aW t_eqs lhan Ihe non-conscioLs can, PLre conscroLsness can-not be a Witness lor lack of a connect ion wrth any objecl capableof being wrtnessed, whrle the non-conscious cannol be a Wit-ness even when a connectron with such objecls exisls. The su-premeSef asConsciousness sthereforeonlyaWitnessthroughlhe rnedi!rn ot i ts ref lecl ion in lgnorance. On this view, a d l f i 'cu t ies can be solved.

(7)The nmosl Consciousness has stood eiernal ly withoutever r is ing or sel t ing, the pr ior condi l ion lor the possibi l i tyol the act lv i ty of an individ!al expereincer, i tsel l not a factor_ dny act on. l ransce-dent (relat ionles./ . T'rq ,c r .e l 'ue

iorm of the SelJ, not of the nature erther of a cause or of anei lecl , eternal ly manifest, homogeneous, void of a darkness and al l dist incl ions. l t assumes lhe lorm of a lV tnessonly through connect ion with metaphys cal gnorance. Andlhe nol iongl connecl ion with lgnorance is i tsel l due only tolgnorance. (B,B.V. l l l . iv.83-5).

(8) The uncondit ioned vision raised above a I change can nornore be a Wltness lhan what s non-conscious can. TheLrncondi l ioned Vis on has no connecl ion with any object ca-pable of being witnessed: the non-consc ous is not capab e

oi be ng wtiness even when such an object is at hand Theretore the s!preme becomes a Wilness of i ls own ref lectton nlgnorance ( in the iorm of the tndivid!al knower, knowiedgeand known). For the rel tect ion of Consciousness in lgno-rance (rs an objecl capable oJ being wttnessed, s nce i t ) is acompound implytng retai ionship between ei iect and cause.( B . B . V 1 l l . v . 8 9 - 9 0 ) .

'Effecl'here means the intellect and so on/.'Cause meanscansctousness a5 unknown.

(Whatevet is campounded (samhata) has been brought tntaoetn9 by another and exists for the sake ol another and is lheretore an oblect capable ol being witnessed. An 'compaunded' inlhls sense, cp. U.S. (prose) section 56. TN.)

(9) The Self has no second thing over agarnst i t , as t israised above al lchange and has only lgnorance for ts ap-pareni condit ioning adjunct. Neverthetess, the talse tdea thali l is a W tness is superimposed upon i l by dense souls whosemrnds have been bl inded by tgnorance. (B.B.V Liv.372).

The nottan that it is a Wjtness is a fatse supenmpasn@n,candnDned by the limiting adjunct al barc lgnarance.

{10)The individual knower, stat ioned in lhe inte lecl and ic len,t i i ied with t , convjnces himself ol the presence oj tgnorance and [s effects in the Se1, though in truth i i s nolpresent, lhrough hts own exlroverled gaze - as simple soulsai tr ibule blue coiour to lhe co ourless ether ol the sky. (B.B.V.rv 298)

The only saurce of our conviction as lo lgnorance is our ownitrrnedtate experience'l do not know . Even that experience occuts anly through an extroverted gaze. gut if we took wnh apurely introverted gaze, lgnarance does nat exst. tt is tikekthecase ot the blue calour expeienced when tooking at the ether ofthe sky. Even at ttme it is being experienced it daes not actualyextst h ts the same wtth lgnorance.

1 7 6 ChapterS

Teaching by Examinatlon otThoThree Stelos ofwaking, Dramand Oreamless Sleep

The exposit ion of the lhree slates ol waking, dream anddreamless sleep is nol aimed al teaching lhal those three statesreal ly exrsl . The purpose ot the aulhor ot the Vart ika is only tocommunite the vLre nalure of th€ Sel l by t i rst leaching I lhroughsuper mposing on i t lhe three states, and then, by a cr l ical ex-aminat ion ol the lat ter, lo reveal in immediate experience theelernal Self I ree from al l changing states.

Brielly, the praclical rnethod Jollowed lorrealizing the Fourlh'( [ / .V. 23, intro.) or l jnal real i ty is this. Whj le sl i l l in the stalewhere he rs subject lo talse superimposit ion, lhe studenl muslIndidty, he nust then real ize the ident i ly of lhe body of lhe uni-verse w th lhe cosmic mldn (Hiranyagrabha). He must lhen dis-solve thal In the Sel l as cause, cal led Prajna. And l inal ly, hem!st ernerge in his own lrue nature, beyond cause and effecl ,as'nei ther this nor that ' .

The detai ls of this orocess are exolained in lhe Vart ika onlhe sect lon ol lhe Brhadaranyaka Upanishad deal ing with l ight( lyol h,Brhad. lV. i i i . l f t . ) . The individual soul as the Spir I v iewedunder adluncts wi ih intel lect predominal ing (M.V 44, 5, note) isol the naiure of Ight. fhrough lgnorance he enjoys waking expe-r ience when lhe intel lect is awake, and when i l is asleep he seesd r € a m s ( B . B . V . l V i i . 4 4 8 ) . T h i s i n d i v i d u a l s o u l , a f a s e a p p e a r 'ance composed of impressions and consist ing of an individualsubjecl and his means ofcognit ion, is said lo pass into the dream-slate when lhe m nd becomes i ts won object as l ighl , and in thatdream-state also ihe soul is sel t- luminous l iqhl only. Bui in dream-less sleep the only condit ioning adjunct is metaphysical lgno'rance.The Sel i here is lhe causewhich wi l l la ler produce wakingand dram as rts effecls (8.8.V lV i i i .979). In the waking statelhe soul per lorms act ions through i ts body and organs and expe-r ences pleasure and parn, ln lhe dream-stale, with the intel lectlor condi l ioning adjunct, i t sees dreams under the impulse oi

desire In dreamless sleep i ts adiunct is Ingornace atone, and i tlhere stands as lhe cause ol the nind and other laclors oJ lhendividual organism; ; thal is the di f lerence between ihe slates oldream and dreamless sleep (B.B.V lVi i i .1528).

ln this connect ion, Suresvara fol lows the method of thelJpansiahd and lhe reversed Comrnentator in using lhe exampleol a greal l ish. The f ish slands, in his exposit ion, tor lhe Se J,di i lerenl bolh from the body and the organs ot the waking state,known as'deaih' , and trom the desire and act iv i ty that promptlhe Jurther exrstence ol lhe physical body. And so i t can be shownlhal lhe not ion that lhe Sel l undergoes transmigralorf experi-ence is due to melaphysical lgnorance (B_B.VlV i i i .1 148-51).

In dreamless sleepthe soulstands as' lheSel i unknown' lhecause ot waking and dream experience, and, being void oJ namea 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 tBrhadaranyaka Varl ika l l . i .451,2. we have the upanrshadic lexls'Al l ihese creatures go da ly lot he realm ol lhe Absolule bul arecaff ed away by de usion and do nol know i t ' (Chand.Vl l l . i i i .2)and Thus al l th ings here return lo lhe supreme Self ' (PrasnalV 7). The upanishadic texl giv ing the example of ihe hawk, too.( B r h a d . j V . 1 9 , c p . M . V . 8 3 , 1 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 elrue nature ol the Sel l as eternal ly pure, conscious and l iberaled(B.B.V lV. i r i .1158). The phrase folds i ts wings' refers lo i ts re-marnrng in lgnorance. The phrase'( is borne down) to lhe nesl 'relers io l l le tacl thal n dreamless sleep even the rel lecl ion olConsc ousness resis in lhe lorm ot pure Spir I (B.B.V lVi i i . l 172,3) Thal. lheretore, which, in lhe lwo states ol waking and dreamwas assooaled wi lh lgnorance in the sense ol having apparentcondi lon ng adjuncts that were eJlects ot lgnorance, now lndream ess sleep stands separaled lrom lgnorance (B-8.V.V. i i i .J174'5). This is the kue torm of lhe soul, I ree l rom lgno,

rance, desire and act ion. But in waking and dream lhere is anextraneous condrl ioning adjuncl, caused by lgnorance (B.B.V.V ir 1205-6). One musl, however, rember the other point thal

a though as explained, desires cease when waking and dream

Sufesvara 1 7 7

t

i

:

l

Suresvara

is begrnningless, ( in the sense ol l imeless), no doubt. But i l isaccepted thal ts relat ion wi lh such el fecls of lgnorance as posr-l ive acls ol eroneous cognit ion, destres and so iorth has a beginning (B.B.V. i i i .1408-9).

BLrl what is lhe connect ion ol one who is lhe vict im of ab-sence of knowledge and erroneous knowledge wi ih the meta-physical teaching (B.B.V lVi i i . l4 lO)? To answer this quesl iondreamless sleep is expounded as a state l ree l rom ignorance,desire and act iorr . Even in the dteam-state thesense-organs dts-solve inlo the vehicle of the impressions, as we know from thelext, 'Himsel i not s leeping, he looks down on ihe sleeprng sense-o r g a n s ' ( B r h a d . l v . i i i . 1 1 ) . H o w c o u l d i h e o r g a n s b e p r e s e n l i ndreamless sleep when not even their impressions are presenl(B.B.V. lVi i i .1416)? So, since the act ion of seeing and i ls Jac,lors and resul ls are al ike impossible, a person does nol see indreamless sleep. And ( in another sense) he does see, since heis Consciousness by nalure (B.B.V. lVi i i1417).

From ihe l6e rng' l did not see (anylhing) 'on the part ol onewho has woken up, we know thal, in dreamless sleep, the ab-sence ol the lndividual subject and his knolwege and i l oblectshas been direct ly experienced In thal s late by Consciousness ini ls t rue nalure (8.8.V lV. i i i .1420). I t there had been any break inthe vis ion of consciousness one would not be aware of dream,ess sleep, as i t would nol have been experienced (B.B.V.lv. i i .1a38). The present par l ic iple 'seeing in the phrase, . .although seeing, He does not see. For there is no break in lheseeing of the seer. . . ' (brhad. lVi i i .23) does not mean lhal there san ind vidualsubjecl enjoying experience. Forthat is impossib/ein dreamless sleep, You have lo be conienl with the explanatronlhal the l -not ion ot dreamless slaep ( ' remembered'retrospecl ive y in subsequent waking experience) represents the Sel i inr ls l rue natufe. l t is ihe subjecl ol lhe part ic iple 'seeing' in lhesame sort ot (meiaphorical) sense (noi implying act ion) that wespeak af space as'givtng'rooms lB.B.V. lV.iii.l1442).

r79174 ChapterS

cease. neverlheless lhev do remain in dreamless sleep In lheIorm o1 a lalenl impression, and they mani lest again in the caseoi one who has awoken lrom sleep. They are never completelyel lminated t i l l meta physical knowledge ol the Sel l dawns (B.B.V.V i v . 3 7 8 ) .

In dream, the Self is del i led by desire and meri t and demeri t .Yet i t is oar l lv luminous. because unrelaled lo the exlernalworld,and rt conforms to and i l lumines the objecls created by menlalrmoressicns under ihe imoulse ol desire. On lhe other hand, indreamless sleep the Sel l s lands alone, condit ioned only as lhecause, and assumes pedect iranqui l l i ty, Hence dreamless s eeprs called pertect peace (sampraseda, B.B.V lViii.976-8). We admitabsence of knowledge in dreamless sleep in a certain sense.There is absence of internal knowledge of the form'This am l ,and also absence of external knowledge of lhe lorm these crea-tures' . But lhis absence ol knowledge comes Jrom being in iden_trty wrlh the supreme Sel l as the'conscious One'(prajna). l t squlte di l ierenl i romlheabsenceoJ knowled ge I hat occu rs Ln dramand waking, which is due to apparent condit ioning adjuncts. Andthis is iaught in the Upanishad with the help of the example ollhe man embracing his wite {B.B.V. lVi l i .1309'10).

But how dowe knowthatthis absence ol knowledge indream'less sleep rs due to al laining ident i ty, and not to a nalural ab_sence ot consciousness? Absence oJ knowlege is, al ter al l , lhetypical character istrc ol non-conscious beings (B.B.V. lV. i i i .1 384)I t is to answer lhls object ion that the Upanishad says, 'Veri ly,when there ( in the state ot dreamless sleep) he does not see, hes, ver i ly, seeing, though he does not see. For lhere is no breakn the seeking ol lhe seer ' (Brhad. lV i i i .23).

Desire, acl ion, ignorance and the l ike the nol lhe nature ollhe Sei l , as Consciousness is. And the Upanishad tel ls us lhatlhe soul is unattached and is nol tol lowed in waking by the et-iects ol r ts experiences when dreaming (Brhad. lV. i .15-6, cp.l \ , ,1.V40,3). The relal ion ol the Sel l with melaphysical lgnorance

iI

180 ChapteF8

One should not raise lhe objoction, 'How can the SelJ see alall if it has no faclors ol action at ils disposal?' For even in worldwe do nol s€e the factors ot action al work before an aclion.Whether there rs action 1o be done or not, belore an actionWhether lhere is action to be done or nol, laciors ol action as apre-condit ion can be ruled oul in €i lher case (M.V 122' 15).l\roreover, in lhe case where seeing is constant, ii is impossiblelo eslablish a relation ot tomporal sequence belween an aclionand its resull. so thal it is imDossible toestablish the existenceol an €nd and moans (and honce impo6sible lo think ol the see-ing ot the Wilness as an acl ion, B.B.V lVi i i .1449). The disl inc't ions lhal sei up the appearance of an individual seer, his see-ing and i ls resulls are shown to arise lhrough lgnorance (B.B.VlVii i .1450). Th€re is depend€nce on lgnoranc€ tor relation withknowledge oJ the not-selt; but there is no such dependence orlgnorance, orlhe lactors ol action which are a mere appearancederiving trom it, when it is known thatonly the Sell exists (B B Vlv i i i . 1451 -2 ) .

Thus in dr€am and waking the Selt appears ihrough lgno"rancelo undergo dislinction according lo ihe dislinclions ot nameand lorm, But this is lo the case in dreamless sleep, so lhal inthai slate one does to see duali ly, as one does in waking. Indreamless sleep, eveMhing has assumed lhelorm of the chang€-less Sell . There is then neither lgnorance, no i ls efiecis, no.absence of lgnorance, for ther€ is then nothing apart from theSelf tor th€ Sell to '6/itness as its objecl (B.B.V lViii.1518-23)Theretore, in dreamless sleep lhe S€ll knows nolhing, withoutthereby giving up its nature as Conscious ness. Thu s alldifiicul-lres can be explained.

The Upanishad sums ofthelinal lruth about dreamless sleepin the passag€ b€ginning'( ln dr€amless sleep) the see is one'transparent l ike water'(Brhad. lV.i i i .32), cp M.V.44, iniro.) Her€is lhe moaning. Waler is pure. In th€ stat€ of dreamless sleepthere is no awareness ol cause and oflect because lgnorance

Sur€svara

and its effects cannotp enetEte that which is eternalty consciausby nature. lt is one, without inlemal distinctions, and not itselfstanding as an individual within a clas6. That i6, it is one only,without a second. It is not a seer (in the empidcal sanse ol onapeioming the act ol seeing), Fot it is by nature void of thefactots ol action, and there b nothing tot it to see. lt is atso non-clual because it tanscends ln lgnotunce and its effects (8.8.Viii. 1798-1806). h is ever immediately evident.The rcatm ol theAb'olute is no, prcpe y speaking, either ltanscendent ot tmma-nent. It is that [6latel (oka) which is the Absolute. The imptica-tion is that the trus nature of th6 Sell is the Absotute. This isknownfrcm lhe highest texts ol the Upanishads, wherc the sub-ject-ptedicate rclation ol the wotds, and lhe mutual qLlalilicationol lhe word-meanings gives rise to a sdntence which can onlyexpress an indjcation (and notdenole a definite meaning, B.B.Vlv. i i i . l8' l9-21). this is the highest stat6 ol th€ sout, which putsan end to all other states (B.B.V. lviii,1828). lt is his supremepossessaon, has unsurpassable slalo ol glory. lt is the highestrealm to which he can attain, lor it is indestructible. ll is hissupreme bliss. For i t exceEds al l oth6r bl iss, and'al l other crea-tures subsist on a fraction of tho bl iss'(B.VV tViai. iB2B,-32, -36, -40).

Thls troln an examination of the states o, wakrng, dreamand dreamless sleep we can eslablish that th€ sell is real, lhat itkanscends aillhe not-self, thal it is unalloyed, that its nature isunsure passable bliss, lhat it is a pure unily, that it is Conscious-ness and nothing else and thal it is without a second.

The mosl important verses lo consid6r in lhis regard are theiol lowing.

(1) The 6eeker of l iberation (having identif ied himsell wilhVaisvanara, the Sell as associated with the cosmos in i tsobjective lorm, cp. M.V43,6), proceeds on lrom Vaisvanaraand identi l ies himsell in his h6an with i ts inner self, Taijasaor Hiranyagarbha {M.V23; 43,6).Then he dissolves this inro

1 8 1

i ls inner sel f , the Cosmic Vital Energy The term Vltal En_

ergy as used in ih s contexl means ihe Self as cause (viz '

lhe Self qua unknown). l t is ihe seed oi every ei iect and rs

also ;known as lhe Conscious One' (praj ia, l \ '4 v 23 and

43). E{ iects cannoi dissolve anywhere except into lhelr

rnaler ial cause.Therefore,when the seeker oi iberai on has

reached the cause oi al l , he should proceed on lo the Abso_

lule in i ls l rue naiure, which ls nol a cause, by thrnkrng'ne ther ihis nor that ' . (B.B V lV l i 82-4)

(2) Just as, when the mind is awake' one dent i ies onesel l

wi lh i t la lse y and feels ' l am awake" so, when lhe mlnd rs

dreamlng and one is wl inessing the dream, there is the lalse

idea whereby one ident i l ies oneself with lhe dream (B B V

lV. i i r .448).

(3) The Self as cause is indeed the inmost pr inc p e, bul

viewed under lhe adjunct of bare lgnorance The ei lects

wh ch, as such, i l produces are cal led waking and 0ream

(B.B.V. lV. r i .979).

(4) lgnorance is the cause ol ihe mind The mlnd is the

cond l lon of the individual experiencer. l t is only in lhe realm

ol the body thai one experiences pleasure and pain. AII rs

caused by lgnorance of the inmost sel f . (B B V l \ / . i i i 1528)

(5)The true lorm of lhe Self as pure and consc ous and so

on s sel lorth an example (al Erhad lV i i 19) by lhe lse oi

the words 'as a hawk'. (B.B.V lV i i l l 158)

(6) By the image ol the lolding ol the wings the upanishadic

lext leaches thal , even here ln thrs world, the crealure lhal

has sprung from lgnorance of the Self rests in ts ( i e ln the

Sel i in dreamless sleep). By the words' is borne down to lhe

nesl t reiers to ihe pLlre form ol the inmost Sel l assumed

by the ret lecl ion of ihe inmost Consc ousness rn lgnorance

w h e n t h e s o u l c o m e s i o t h e i n m o s t S e f ( n d r e a m e s s s e e p )

( B B . V l v . i i i . 1 1 7 2 - 3 ) .

i

Suresvarar83

(7) When a I the effects ol lgnorance, rnctud ng the rnrnd,are wt lhdrawn, the rel lecl ion of Consctousness is also w/ ih-drawn, as the rei lecl ion ot lhe sun in warer Otsappears wifhrne orsappearance ol the rei lect ing medi!m. Be,ofe drearn-less sleep, lhe Consciousness associaied with lgnorancewas ident i f ied with ihe ef iects of the tal ter ( in wa-king andclream) The disl inct ion beiween Consciousness and i ls sup-posed ref lect ion ar ises from tgnorance. (B.B.V lVi i i . j jT4s).

The true nature of the reflection of Cansciousness in themtnd is the inmost Consciousness itsetf. tn lhe states other thanoreamtess sleep, it appears to be djstinct rram lhe tnmost con-sc/ousress, Dut anly through lgnorance. ln dreamtess sleep,hawever, lhe case is olhen^/ise. Here it rests n its own true na_ture as pue Consciousness, as lhe reflection af the sun in watelretutns to its ongtnal, the sun, when the rellecting medjum js

(8) This s the true torm of the soul thar rs here described,Iree Irom lgnorance, desire and act ion In oreamless steep.One should knowtha he otherlormoithe so!1, undergoingwaKtng an0 dream, is due lo an exlraneous cause, thal solecause being tgnorance ol the SeJl. (B.B.V tVi i i . j2OS-6).(9) lndreamlesssleep, whenwaking ano oream have disap-peared. a rnen,s desires disappear wi ih them. They juslremain rn the form ol taient impressiors. The upanishadtctexl (Brhad. lViv.7) specit ies al l desires, ro snow that, torimmorlal i ly, even the latent i rnpressions oi desire have lobe neutral lzed. When lgnorance, the cause ot des re, hasb.en F dot.dreo. 1o ate-, ' rnpressro, rerra.,s over, o. d-y-th ng else etther, as Ignorance ls the roor or every phenomenon in lhe emprl ical world. (B.B.V. lV iv 378 S).

It ts only fram the standpaint of empirrcal experience. aco d 'o lo Su ectaG. tha! tgnorance and $ el ta. ts alp. io toF F 1 | t a \ < n n . t e d d n g s o m c k a t a - s e < a r v a )

(10) The nature ol the Sell is puro Consciousness: i t is nol

desire, aclion, (psychological) ignorance and lhe rest For

we know trom lhelexts'unattached'and'not l lowed (in wak

ing by i ts exporienc€s that i t had when dreaming)' iBrhad'lV. iii. i 5) lhat desiro and the rest are illusory Pu re conscious-

ness. rais€d above atlchange, is the true naiure ol the Self

Its association with motaphysical lgnorance is begrningless'

while iis association wilh desire and olher e{lecls ol lgno-

rance is regarded as having a beginning'

When the soul is alJlicl€d by lgnorance ol the Sell and conse_quent posil ive misconceplion, what is the leaching lo which I

has lo turn lor knowledg€ ol the truth? This the Upanishad ex-

p,ains when rt says, Veri ly, when there t ln the slale ol oreamless

sleeo he does not see, h€ is, veri ly ' seeing' lhough he does not

se6 i lor there is no break in lhe seeing of lhe seer' (Brhad lVi i i /

.23). (B.b.vlv. i i i .1 408-10).

{1'1) The text (Brhad lvi i i230 syas"He does ol see' 0e-

cause lhere cannot be le tacolrs ol acloa ' dreamless

sleep. l l says'although seeing' in relal ion to the lrue stale

ol al jairs (namely the presence oJ the universal Conscious-ness). (B.B.V lVi i i 1417).

(12) (The Selt can be known wrlhoul deoe'dence on one s

individual subiecl-objsct cognil ion yielding empirical knowl'

edg3.) For i l is at ler f irst beholding reali ly ( in dreamless

sleep), unattained by the tr iad of knower, knowledge and

known. lhat one alterwards 0s aware ol t_at aDsence ol lhe

lf iao and) savs tdrd nol (then) see rin o'earlpss s'eep)

This absence o{ seeinE is wilnessed by the Sell in i ts pure

lorm as Consciousness' just as whai is seen ls also so

witnessed isothalthe Seltas Consciousness is established

as constant and elernal) (B.B V lVi i i 1420)

(131 lt lnete were any brea^ in lhe s'eing ol thP seer in

dreamless sleep one would not have the leel ing ol knowl-

edoe one had been to sleep Therelore ihe v sron ol tne su

Suresvara

preme Setf is vord erther ol or igin or dissolut ion. {B.B Vl V . | 1 4 3 8 )

(14) As one may use the part ic iple ot a verb and fefermelaphorical ly to the act ionless ether ol space as ,grvingspace, so may one reier metaphorical ly to the act ionlessS e l i a s s e e i n g . ( B . B . V l V i i i . 1 4 4 2 )(15) BecaLrse no iaclof of act ion is found al work belore anac1 rs begun. faclors ot act ions musl be deerned universal lyinoperat ve at lh s siage.. . l j there is no aclon lo be done.there can be no lactors oi acl ton. And even , there s anaclron to be done, lhe not ion ot faclors o, acl ion leads tonr n te regress (as one would have to assume new faclors

oi actron lo sei lhe orgtnalones in moiton and so lo nJrnt v ) .

t l rs thus hard lo show how lactors of aci ion operale at al l .Moreover n a case (t ike that ot the constant,seerng. of theSe 1) where r t s i rnposs ble to establsh a lemporal sequencebelween an act and i ts result , i l ts impossible lo eslabt ish theexistence of an end and means ei lher Bul i t lgnorance rs acceptedis the cause. al t these di i l ic! [ ies become explcabie. Every-lhrng s a mere appearance result ing tronr tgnorance. There rsnothrng ncorrecl . (8.8.V tVt i i .1444, j448_50)

. The assertion that, even acceptjng lacorc ol act@ns fram

ire emptncal standpoint, there is nothing wrang. appears ta bet1c mare lhan an artjrcjal augment based on an unnecessa.y.dncessrcr lo the apponent's case (because Surcsvan hasslia\rn al lenglh thal lhere cannot be t'actats ot actlan at wotk tnl.e case af the'seeing al the Seer). Hence one need to examneitrs atgument taa ctosety But sludenls may rno a passage at!he end af the jntraductory part of Srj Sankara,s Commentiry toBhagavad Gna XVttl.67 al interest. lt begins No, tor that wauld' I take what dtd nat act into a perlotmer af acl ian . (Seet in G Bh xvl l t .67. t rans. A l \ ,4ahedeva sestt i p.515)

T

1471 8 6 ChapterS

(16)where aconnect ion oJthe Selfwi lhthe not-sel l is taught,

there lhe relerence is to be a connect ion based on lgno_

rance, lorming lhe not ion, based equal ly on lgnorance, ol

an individual able to acl , and ol factors ol act ion al his dis-posal, etc. But when for the man oi wisdom lhen not ion "Al l

is the (act ionless) SelJ 'ar ises. lhis idea is based on realr ly

i l does nol. l ike the not ion ot a not-selJ, depend on lgno'

rance and i ts el t€cls. (B.B.V lVi i i .1451-2)

(17) Where there are dist inci ions (as in waking and dream)

lhere is the appearance o{ lgnorance ( in lhe lorm oi ' l do not

known'. Butthere are nodisi incl ions whatever In dreamless

sleep (and consequenl ly no ieei lng' l do noi know'and no

lgnorance. cp. l \ r .V122,19). lgnorance belongs lo ihe mrnd'

as that s where i t is consislent ly found. l l does not belong

lo Consciousness in the state ol dreamless sleep (prana)

ln lhe one undivided Consciousness raised above all change

an (apparent) dist inct ion ar ises lhrough vlsion based on lg '

norance, a dist inct ion which comprises lhousands ol lur_

ther d st inct lons through name, form and aol ion Bul n

dreamless sleep that dual i ly is not lound lgnorance' lhe

cause ot evi l , is not present.There is than no dual i ty for lhe

soul to pefceive lhroL. lgh dist incl ion inlo lndividual sublecl ,

emoir ical knowledge and obiecls, as there is in the wak ng

and ream states.To speakofthe absence of lgnorance and

i ls ef lects is lo al t i rm the sole exister lce ol ihe Sel i . eternal

and raised above al l change, as lhe only real i ly To al f i rm

lhe sole existence of the Sel l , lhe cause, in dreamless sleep

s lo the exislence of the el fect as a real i ty. (B B Vl\ / . i i i

1517-20). We now show the method ol the negal on of the

lh ree states.

ignorance oi lhe Sel i is nolhing real Our cer l tude as to r ls

ex slence rests onlyon lhe{eel ing' ldo nol knovv lhal ar ises ln the

course ol emplr icalexperience (T B V 11 176) The sou ' cenlred In

lhe rrind and looking not inwards bul ouiw3rds conv nces itsell ol

i ts gnorance oi ihe Selt , as one convlnces onasel ol lhe blue

co olf oi lhe (colourless) elher ot the sky. But if it turns its gazenwards, it tinds neilher ignorance nordoubt norwrong knowledgen waking, dream or dreamless sleep (B.B.V 1. iv298,9). And oneshould nol raisethe objeclion that one has to acceptthat lgnorancewas presenl in dreamless sleep one accountot lhe memory' lknewnoth ng lhal is supposed lo occurto no who has awoken irom it,For in dreamless sleep one does noi in lact have the experience' ldo nol know'. And il is not right to say thai the Jeeling'l did noiknow (that comes to one after he has woken !p reDresents anremory. When Devadatta remembeF'l knew that then', he re-members what he had previously experienced according to itsproper details ol lime and place. But one cannct say that this settLooks back over what il had previously experienced in this way.For. s ince the Sel l is the Wilness o{ t ime. space and causat ion, i tcannol undergo delermination byiime, spaceand causation (sinceil wllnesses these as objects and the.efore as distinct lrom ilselt).

lgnorance, again, does nol exist for its own sake. (That whichexists for the sake of another is non-consc;ous, cp.U.S.(prose)seclian 71. That far whtch it exists must be conscious and self-exstent, tn short the one Self taught in the Upanishads. Whatexists for the Self has no exstence independent af the Setl and isrcducible to a temparary illusion arising on the substratum ol theSet, cp. (A)nandagirion B.B.V. Liu 301, lVii.25.TN.) lgnorance isan i l lusron ar is ing in the Sel l and appearing belore i t , l ike the i l lu,5ron of a rope-snake and so on. lt is lhus correcl to dismiss ii asnrere fa se imaginalion. As lhe rope,snake is talsely imagrned inthe rope and rs nothing otherthan the rope, so lgnorance is imag,ned in Consciousness, and, being in i ts t r l le nature Conscious-ness. rnanllesls there. And when the eternal Consciou s n ess rarsed:bo'/e a lch3nge is known, lgno.ance afld its elfects are canceled3.ts V l . ,v 300 6)

l i is t f t re lhat ai Naiskarmya S ddhi l l l .58 (prcse introd!ct ion)SLrresvara rrakes a case forthe existence of lgnorance in dream-lcss s eep, sayrng, ' ln dreamless sieep there s preseni thal , rei /

Sutesvara

ChapleFS

lgnorance ol lhe Sell lhat is the cause of all evil'- But there isnolhing wrong here. Forthis was saici on the assumption thal eve-ryone accepts lgnorance at ils facevalue uniilil is finally cancell6dthrough metaphysical knowledge derjved from the holy iexls. Norshould one think thatlhis imp,ies thalthere is no experience oJ lheSelf in dreamless sleep, which might imply, in lLlrn, that i t did nolthen exist. For we have io accept that the Conscio!sness whichwa6 iniallibly present to enable us to say'l knew nothtng (in dream-less sleep)' is in taci the Sell, of the nature ol immediate experi-ence (B.B.V l l l . iv.103). In i ts true nalure the Sell is lolal ly devoidol lgnorance, nol only in dreamless sleep but inwaking and dreamas well. lt is noi active. lt is inlerior lo all. lt constitules all. lt isthe true nature both ot iiselt and ol anything else. Sothe Upanishadwas correcl to say that when il does not see, in dreamless sleep,yet il is seeing when it does nol see, Brhad.lviii.23. ll no moresees (in the sense ol an activity) in waking and dream than it doesin dreamless sleep. And there is no more any break in ils realConsciousness in dreamless sleepthanthere is in waking and dream(B.B.V tV i i i .1493-5,1 907-8).

ll can be proved by reason that the states of the SelJ are talseappearances. The slate of waking is a false appearance simplybecause oi its lorrn as waking experience, and because il has abeginning and an end,l ikelhe (admittedly i l lusory)appearance (tothe dreamer) ol being awake in dream. The eflects oi lgnorancethal lie betore us are apprehended as non-conscious, and they haveno independent existonce ot their own, l ike the water seen in amirage (B.B.VlVii i .1072-3). Again, waking and dream do not peFtain to lhe lrue Sell . Forlheyareonly{ound belonging to the indi-vidual soul, as apparently delimiled by the mind, itsell associated\,/ th psychological ignorance and desire. They do nol in any waybelong lo lhe innerWitness oi lhe individualsoul. FortheWitness,kom the very facl ol being lheWitness, cannol be organicallycon;nected wilh what it witnesses (since the subjecl can never be theoblecl nor lhe objecl subject, B.B.VlVii i .905). And agarn, al l the

Suresvara

not-selves are lalse appeahnces, as they exclude one anothermulually, like the snake, stick, trickle of water, elc., lalsely imag-ined in the rope (B.B.V 1.iv.1496-7), And in dreamless sleep andcoma lhey {not merely exclude themsolvos mutually but) all com-pletely disappear lrom view (B.B.Vll.iii.222). But the Sell as Con-sciousness is never losl (B.B.V ll.iv.126), as it is theWitness bolho1 the feeling ' l know'and'l do not know (B.B.V l l . iv.129). Thuslrom the slandpoint of the tinaltruih, neitherwaking nor dreari nordreamless sleep belong to the relalion les6 Sell. These states areonly illusory expedences arising from m€laphysical lgnorance, likethe experience ol the ropo-snako and the rest (B.B.V 11.i.264-6)-Thus in all circumstances the S6lf is plre Consciousness. lt isnon-dual, and does nol undergo ditferent stales.

The whole doctrine that lhe self passss lhrough diflerenl slalesis taught (and then later deni6d) only to bring out how the supremereality is free from such stales. lt is only lrom the te{s ol theU panishads that one can know that the supreme reality is free fromsuch states. lt is only lrom the texts of the Upanishads that onecan knowthatlhe supreme r€ality is lheAbsolute, not from logicalinvestigation ol the implications ol the three states and kom thatalone (B.B.V lViii.1112-S).That is the teaching ofthe Vartika. Hereare the chief verses worthy ol consid€ration on these topics.

(18)lgnoranceofong's own Self isafals€ app€arance, al ike inwakrng, dream and dreamless sleep, lhat com€s into the Ueld ofpractical experience, wiln6ss6dbytheSelt lhatisself-revealed....It is only when the Conscious One, seated in the mind and identi-lied with lgnorance, turns ils gaz€ outwards lhat it lails to appre-hend its own true Self and acc€pts lgnoranco and its eftecls asreal, like a child accepting as r€al the blu€ colour of the sky. ltdoes not do so through its own lru€ naturc. But when its gaze islurned inwards. it linds n€ithor igno€nce, nor doubt nor wrong knowl-edge in waking, dream ordreamloss slsep. (B.B.Viii.1293, I.iv.298-9).

(19)One who awakens lrom dreamless sleep has the memory

1891 8 8

190 Chapler 8

' drd not know anything' . But thal is not a genuine cognt l ion bear-ing on the slale ol dreamless sleep. For nothing thal betongs lo lheSell can periain to the past, since the Self is unditierentiated byr in e. spa, a or ol-er .aclors. {B B V t .rv 300)

(Farlhewhale notion 'lgnorance residing nthe Self was expenenced tn the pasl'makes na sense (since neither lhe Self narmetaphysical lgnotance lals within tine.)

(20) The innermosl Sel l is not accepted as be ng louched ei ,ther by past lime or by luture time. Whatever exisls lor an-other exists as an t l lusion appearing on the subslratum ol ihaiWhrch is set-exislent. Hence i t is t radi l ional iy laughl io beialse rmaginatron. The faci that a thing belongs to the paslcannot be known through percepl ion, and ihe iact that a thingl ies in lhe fuiure cannot be known through any means oi vatdknow eclge. Hence al l not ions oi pasl and luture are falseknowledge.. . lgnorance man fests in the Sett , bul i I t ruih r t isonly p!re Consciousness. Since i1 is dependent on ihe nmcstSel l ra sed above al l change, ihts tmagined cause can be can-celed, togetherwi lh i ts el lects, ( lhrough a real izat ion oJone,str !e nature as lhe inmosi Sel i ) . (8. B.V L iv.30l -3,6)

(21) I Consciousness as i ramediate experience was not n-var af i ly pfesenl tn drearnless sleep, how do you explain howthe one who awakens from i l can havethe idea l knew nolh ngin dreamless s eep ? (B.B.V l l l . i "103)

(22) The Self in dreamless sleep' is seeing though t does nolsee because t has none ol lhe taciors ol act ion, because i t isinier or lo al l , because i t is a I , and because r ts rne rTue na-lure ol al l e lse. 11 does nol see in dreamless sleep for lhereas0n mentroned (namely thai i t has none ol the jactors otaction, so that it is present shining bul does not perlorm anyact of seeing); but one should understand that i t does nol seen r, ,ak ng and dream ei lher, lorthe same reason. Andiust asConsciousness s unbroken lhroughoul dream and wak ng, sos I a l s o n d r e a m e s s s l e e p , l o r l h e r e a s o n s g i v e

( B . B V . i i . 1 4 9 3 s )

(23) This Se f has unbroken vision. This has a ready beendec ared lo be the case in dream and waking. But t is t rue inlhe case of dreamless sleep also, as the iexi 'When there inihe slate oi rJreamless sleep.. . . '8rhad. lVi i i .23 shows. Andi!s l as the Sel l l ranscends the lactors of act on in dreamlesss eepas bare eternal conscio! s ness raised above al lchange,so does il also transcend the laciors of aclion in dream andwak ng. (B B.V. lVi i .1907-8).

(24) This state ol waking is unreal, s imply on account oi thefacl thal i l is a stale ol waking. For t has a beg nn ng andcomes to an end, Ike lhe slale ol waking thal appears ( lo lh€dreamer) to occur in dream. The waking slale s a mere ap-pearance ar is ing l rom lgnorance. l ls objects (s nce they appear beiore the Witness) are nvariably non-consc ous, andhave no ndependent existence ol their own, lke the waterseen n a rnirage. (B.B.V. Vi i .1072-3)

(25) I is the mind thal acls, al i i icted by ignorance and desireS eep ng and wakingbelongtothemind;theydo not be ong lotheWrtnessof themind,pureConscousness. (B.B.VlVi i .9C5)

(26) When a garland s rnisperc6 ved as a snake, i t cannol bern sperceived as a st ick or in olher ways at t f ie sarne I me.Simi ar ly. when the nrnosl Sel l s m sperceived as undergorng0_6 ol l ' . lh pF r ldles o' wa(.ng d ea r and d .a 'r e: . sreep.rt cannol be m sperce ved as undergo ng one ol lhe others atthe sarne 1 me. Even !nder metaphysrcaL lgnorance. the var ious not-se ves (are seen lo be unreal because they) excludeeach other mulualy. How much more clear ly wrl their Lrnrea -

1y be revea ed when al lgnorance is d ssolved wi lhout re-rnainder n the nrnosl Self '1. (B.B.V. L v. l496-7)

127) The various man festaiions of the not-self (are known tolreunrealbecauselhey)excludeoneanothermutualy. And ndream ess sleep, svroon trance and other such stales lhe

Suresvara 1 9 1

1 9 2 Chapie.S S u r e s v a r a 1 9 3

Sel l as Witness reveats the comp ele disappearance ol thenotself ' . (B.B.V l i . tv.222)

(28) ln dreamless sleep the rndividual subject and h s knowfedge and tls objecls d sappear, but pure Consc ousness doesnolCrsappear. However, a lotherthings in the world apart i romConsciousness exclude one another mulual ly and disappearal logether in dreamless sleep.. . Whenever there ar ises thenotron I do not know', this s witnessed by the Seli. Howmuch more evident ly is ih is the case with the feel ing, l know,?P u r e C o n s c i o u s n e s s , t h e r e i o r e , n e v e r d i s a p p e a r s .( B . B . V l l . l v . l 2 6 , 1 2 9 )

(29) The relatronless Sel l does nol undergo et lher dreamlesssteeporwaktng. How could i t then undergolheslareof drearn?Waking, dream and dreamless sleeparebul narurat (uncaused,beg in n in gless) lgnorance of the Self. The rmag inationary id eal l ral the Self is asleep orawake or is dreamtng belongs onlytocrealures asteep in the njght oi lgnorance. Th s whole universe constsl ing of the moving and the f ixed is a mere i l lu_sion. The Supreme is i ls t rue nature, as lhe rope is the t fuenalure ol lhe t l lusory snake. (A.B.V 11..264,6)(30) The not ion thai lhe Sel l passes througn rnetnree statesoJwakrng, dream and dreamless sleep a rises irorn other (secu-ia, means ol knowledge. The vedc teaching appearing toconnrm the existence of the three states (does nol constilutevalrd authortai /veteaching b!t) is only given to contorm with(fa se)knowledge derivedirom othersources (secu ar expen_ence). But the fact that the one who appears to be passingthro!gh (repeated cycies ol)waktng, dreaming and dreamlesssleep rs real ly the Absolute can only be known from theupan sftadtc iexts. Hence i l ls lhatwh ch they are concernedro communicate as val id knowledge. The purport of ,Thatthouart'and oiher rnelaphystcal texts of the Veda ts to leach thatl fe true nature of one's own Self is the Absolute, and the l ruenarure ot the Absolute one's own Self . (B.B.V lV i i . l i 13,5)

CanThere be an Injunction for Knowledge

There is atext in ihe sect ion oi the Brhadaranyaka Upanishadconta ning the teaching given to N,4ai i rey which runsi 'The Self ,ndeed, shou d be seen, heard aboul, pondered overand subjectedto sustained meditation, Maitreyr Verily, through seeing the Seli,through hear ng aboul i t , throughlhinking of i t and lhrough knowingrt , al l th is (wor d) becomes known' Brhad. l l . iv5.

In this connect ion, the quest ion whether or notthe seetng andso on were enjo ned has been a s u bject lor dispule among phioso-phers. For example, Acarya IVlandana wrole: 'The phrase "shouldbe subjected lo sustained rned tation"ls paftofone long connectedpassagethai begins"Forthe sake ol ihe Sel{"and ends "Al l this isbut ihe Se f ' Brhad. l l . v5-6. The purpose ofthis passage is ioexpound the t fue nature ol the Slef.The phrases occurr ng within i i ,"should be seen", "should be heard about" and "shou d besublectedto sustained meditalion", though expressed (in mpefalrve iorm) asgerund ves, are not separate injunct ions, bul (belong lo the malnpassage expound ng the Absolute and) are rntended for eulogy.Forthe gerundiveterminat ion is said to have olher meanings apartIrom command, such as ascr ibing worth or value (cp. Panin l l l . i i i . l69,quoled above, lvl.V p. 1 9). The iexl thereiore only rneans "The Se fis worthy of berng seen, eicl ' ) . We have such examples of th s as'V si i ! is worthyol be ng ol ferer ( i t . "should be offered", gerundive)the Upamsu Sacr i ce" ( lS. l l .v i .6), which occurs arnongst lhe textsaboul of fer ing lhe Uapassu B.Sid. p.155; see also sabara, PM.B h a s y a l l . i i . 1 0 ) .

Suresvara, however, makes three d sl nclions n treating th sprobem. He says thai 'should be seen'cannot bean njunclon,asI relefs to know edge co.dilioned by realily.'Should be heard about'and shou d be pondered over 'are inlunct ions, s ince lhey refer 10act ions dependent on the human wi l . "Should be subjected to susta ned medi lat ion is not an nlunct ion. For sustained medi lal onnididhyesana is nal an actton bul lhal mmediaie experience of

1 9 4 Chapter 8

ones own true Sel l that const iuies ihe goal oi lhe Vedant ic spir ,r lual discrp ine.

' l l shou d be seen', then, is nol an injunct ion. Why not? In lhephrase'The Sel i should be seen'the work'Sel i refers to one'snmosi Se i, and knowledge of one's Sell rs already one's own bynature Again, the knowledge expressed here by the verb'seen'cannot be enjo ned, as t is conditioned by reality. When the word'( 'owedge s Jseo to reler lo synboic med alo-s \sJah as'Woman, O Gaularn, is the sacr l f ic ia l f i re ' , Chand, Vvi 1.1) i t standslor something that can be enjoined, bui symbo ic meditat ion is notlhe lopic ot lhe present passage. Again, there ts no other seeraparl f rornlhe nrnoslSel l . Andwhereiheseerandthatwhchhasto be seen are lhe same there can be no nluncl ion oi the lorm' l tshou d be seen'. For there cannot be an injunct ion to an acl ofsee ng where the seer, act ing on himsel l , is performerand objecl ofthe same act. Thereiore lhe teaching Al thls (world) is bLrt lheSel l ' (Brhad. l l . iv.6) is given by the Veda after i t had f rs l used theIormula nether this nor ihat ' (Brhad. l l . i i .6) to negate the not iont h a t t h e S e l f h a d a s s u m e d t h e t o r m o f t h e n o f s e i . A n d s o t h e r e a llorce oi the apparenl in juncl ionlhe Self should be seen' s to givesome nlormal ion about somelhing the hearer dld not previouslyknow Th s s the gisi of Suresvara's refutal on 01 the possibilily ottnefe be ng an injunct ion for seeing.

Oblections ra sed by opponenls are disposecl of as fo lows.

One shou d not object that the Vedic texts mak ng rnetaphysical stalements are no rnore aulhoriat ive lhan casual worldly re-marks lke'There are f ive i rui ls on the r iver bank' . Nor shoutd oneoblect lhal the words cannot be properly interconnected io iorrn asentence ior ack of a verb. For the Veda wi l l be an authori tat vemeansol know edge i i i l can awaken anyoneto lhe truth oi the solerea r ly of lhe one Sel i , a truth naccess b e lo any olher means ofknow edge. And theVedictext can pedorm this funct ion even whenthe connect ons of the words with lherr rneanrngs are nol appre-hended, as in the case oi sentences thal awaken sleepers. Nor do

Suresvara 1 9 5

lhe melaphys caiiexts ever lack verbs, as forms of the verb'to be'can always be understood and suppl ied, The remark about therebeing lruils on the iver bank concerns a matterwhich can be knownIrom sources olher lhan the spoken word. l t does nol concern amaiter lhal can only be known lhrough verbal revelat ion, so i l wasan fie evanl exarnpte.

Here are lhe chief verses to consider.

(1) In the phrase'The Self that should be seen'(Brhad. l l . v.5)lhe word Sel l ' fefers to lhe inmost Self , as lhe Sel l is invari 'ably experienced as lhal which is inmosl. The words'shouldbe seen'relerto a correct know edge ofthatthrough the Veda.It s trLe thal everyone s naturally aware of lher own SeliBu1 whal they do not know is thal i t is the Self ol al l . l l is thatdeathal s al i l rmed by theVeda as something newthat has lobe known. This text, however, could only be an injuncl ion toacl f lhe knower and the thing to be known were di f ierenl Inlhe present contexl lhere can be no injuncl ion to acl , tor ackol any ditference between whai was enjo ned and the one onwhom lhe injuncl on v, /as laid. (B.B.V l l . iv.95-7)

(The idea is that, because one does nat know that allthis isone's own Self, il is carrect lo suppase that this is whet the textaffirms. But there js na cammand to perlorm any acl here since,allhaugh lhe lexl assumes lhe grcmmaticalform ol an lnpnctrcn,there is no distinclianbetv/eenwhat is enjoined and lhe one on whomlhe niunctpn is laid. What we have, rather, is the communicatianaf a piece af hilherto unknown information.)

(2) The idea 'Al l lh is is the Self is val id knowledge conditronedby the objecl known Only i f i t had been the idea ol somelhingakeadylamilar i.oin wor d y experience, l ke f re, could ri have ar senrn dependence on lhe arbi trary wi l l of the individualknow ng subjecl( a n d o n l y n 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 c l o l a n n l u n ct ion, for nstance an injuncl ion to rneditate, as s mp ic i l y lhe casen the lext Woman, O Gautama, is the sacr i i ic ial f i re ' , (Chand.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 a n i n i u n c t o n i o r m e l a -

r96 ChapteFSSuresvara

see oneb own Self, whethet such vision be ol the very nature ol theseer or whethet it be associated with an individual knowing subjec!.

(6) Here. loo, in the Brhadaranyaka as welt as in iheChandogya, thelext accepts on the basis of common experi-ence all lhal il has negated as not being of the nalure ot theinmost Self in lh6 words'n6ithsr lhis nor lhat '(Brhad. . i i i .6)and atf irms'All lhis (world) is the S€lf '(Brhad. l l . iv.6)... . .Theinjunclion her6'The Selt should be seen'(Brhad.l l . iv.5.6) islherefore no more than th€ communication ol hitherto unknowninlormation (i.e.'The Sell should be seen'='See that, narnelv.lam telling you that, the Setf is as here taught', cp.M.V.12s,2).The texf lhe Sell should bs s€en' could not be intended asan injunction to act addressed to one not yet acting, asaction is impossibie in the case ol the Setf. (B.B.Vll.iv.104and 115)

(7) lt is nol corect to say thal all the texts of the Upanishadshave to be,nlerp.eled as injunclions, on the ground that state,menls ol lacl are never authorilalive, since they depend tortheir validily on knowlodge gained irom other sources. Forthemeiaphysical slatements of lh€ lJpanishads are an authoritalive means of knowl€dge, since they awaken one to thesole reality ot lhe Selt, not knowable from any other source,as words are used to awaken a sleeper. (B.B.Vll.iv.148)(8) There is no rule that a verb mLlst appear overtly in a sen-lence beiore the words can b6 connected. ln the metaphysi-caltexts, verbs l ike'art 'and'am'canverywell be understoodand supplied even when not overtly expressed. ll is true thatthere is dependence on olher sources of knowledge in thecase ol the casual remark'There ate fruils on the riverbank'.because lhere the things denoted by the words 'fruits' and'river bank' are accessible lo another means oI knowledoe.namely perceplion. (B.B.VlVii.161 -2)

197physical knowl€dge ot lhe Self, as il is not idea that arises in de-pendence on the will ol man. But actions like reasoning over th€meaning ol lhe words ol lh€ texls by ihe method ol agreement andilterence are enjoined, since ihey are dependent on the will olman. (B.B.V l l . iv.120-1)

(3) When subjecl and objecl are difierent, there is pervasionol lhe object by the subjecl in orderlo know il, as in the caseoi perception of a pot. Bul the Self cannot actively pervadeitsell to have knowledge of ilsell in this way. There cannol bepervasion wh6r€ lhere is non-diflerence, for the very reasonlhal peruader and peruaded would already be identical. (B.B.Vll . iv.135)

Unlike a mateial obj1ct like a pot, the Self is not capabte olbeing peNaded lhrough the activily of the individual knowing 6ub-ject in the lotm ot seeing. Not can the Sells own vision (act onand) peryade ilself.

(4) Nor is there any other subject who could see the Sell asan objecl,Iorlhis is specitically denied in thetext'There is noother seer...brlt He' (8rad.lll.vii.23). And, indeed, we do nottind in the world two subjects playjng between them the role ofsubject and object. (B.B.V.ll.iv.1 36)When the Vedb text says'There is no other seer...but He'it

means thal,Ircm th6 stdndpoint of the highestttuth, the Self is notan object that can be seen, Even frch the standpoint ol wo dlyexpe ence, one subject is nevet the object ol the vision of anolher

(5) lf the seef were able to see itsell. that would be a conlra-diction ol the laws of ac,tion. And if (by some strange chance)it could do so, it would always bedoing so, so that the injunc-tion to do so would be rendered useless. lB.B.Vll.iv.137)

The contadblion ol th6laws ol action would consist in the lactoI the one doing an action being himsef the object of lhat action.The implication ol th6 verce is thal therc cannot be an iniunctbn to

Suresvara1 9 8 ChapleF8

CanThree be iniunclion lor hearlng, ponder ng and Sustarned mecr-

talion?

It rs correcl lo hold lhal hearing, ponoenng' Inner ano ouler

contro and olher such parls ol the spir i lual discipl ine can be en_

loined , as they lal l wi thln lhe scope of human wi l l , and are ndis_

pensable auxiliarles to that rational examinailon ol the mean ng ol

th€ words of the metaphysical lexts ol lhe Upanishads which Ls

necessary tor a cornprehension oi thelr meaning. As sr i ) Saakara

sa d in h s l jpadesa Snhasi) :

11) The knowledge thal one is ( in truth) ever berated comes

irom ihe Vedic texts and lrom no other source And knowledge oi

the mean ng oi a text !s not possible wi ihout l i rst ca Ing to mind the

mean ng of its component words, lt is certain thal the meanrng ol

a word is called to mind on the basis ol agreemenis and dllferences

{rn lhe way one has heard the word used and the meanlngs lor

which l t is made to sland). In this way one comes to know onese I

as lhe pure transcendent Self , beyond paln or act lon. (U S verse

XVll l . l 90 1, cp.N,4.V107,2)

Let us exarn nethisiurther nlhe coniext ln the Brhadaranyaka,

the words'r t should be head aboul 'are added to show that lhe

earherwods (The Sel i )should beseen'do not implythat one shou d

resorl to al l ihe valrd means of cognit ion, bul only to lhe texts o!

the Upanishads. As lor the further phrase i t should be pondefed

ovef, this inc udes resort lo the varrous melhods ior determin ng

lhe meaning ot the Vedic iexts, such as test ing by lhe Six Forms oi

Evidence (M.Vp.23), as wel las reasoning n consonance whh lhe

On the other hand the phrase' i t should be subjected lo sus

laineci medltaiion' is declared lc reler to ihe irnnrediate exper ence

ln wh ch hear ng and pcndering oughl io culn" inate When there

airses that mmediate intui l on of one's o\qn true nalur€ s/hrch de_pencls on no externa iactor, lhen lhere is noth:ng el ! that one has

to { jo. When tho non_dual Se f has been perceived as a resu I ol

hearlnq and pondenng ohe has the conv c! of 'There s no iurt fer

1 9 9

know edge lel l lo ar ise, lhere is no lgnorance lef t lhat has not beenburnt up. One should not ralse lhe object ion that the work'n d dhyesana musl mean medital ton. Forthe meaning of the term'nididhyasana has been expressed by the term,immediate iniuit on,(vl j iana) in the passage, 'ver i ly, through seejng ihe Sel i , throughheann9 about i t , through thinking of i t and through knowing i l ( inrmmedrate inlui l ion, v i inana), al l th is (world) becomes known,(Brhad. l l . iv.5). That medi iat ion (dhyina) is a prerequist ie of imme_drale ntui t ion is not den ed. Bui i t is immediate intui t ion, and notmedrlat on and the resl of the discipl ine, ihat is ul l imatety requiredto real izeihe goal of l iberat ion. Norshould oneobjectthai t iberat ionmust be mpefmanenl li it is ihe resuli of immediate inluition. Forrberation n lhe sense of being the one !niversal Self is always,and lof everyone, a lact. Al l that has to be el iected by tmmediateintui l ion is the pract ical negat ion ol our lgnorance that we are theone universalSel i . Liberat iof is jn no way dist inct i rom irnmedialeintui t ion of the Sel l . One should understand that, i { iberaton isspoken ol as the result of lmmediale intui t ion, this is only a t igure

On lhis top c, the tol lowing verses should be noteci .(2) So there cannoi be an injunclion ior metaphysical knowt_edge of the Selt, as il is not an ideathat arises in dependenceon the wl l lot man. But acl ions l ike reasoning overlhe mean_ng ol the words ol the texis by the rnethod oJ agreement anddri lerence are enjoined, since theyare dependent on the wioi man. In the same way, a person can decide whether tocarry oul hear ng and pondering as wei l as lnner and outercontfo and ihe other pads of lhe spir i iual discipl ine - so a Ithesepract ices are enjoined. (B.B.Vl l . iv.121-2)

(3) One mlght suppose thai al l lhe means o{ va|d cognrt ionfevea ed the Self in that the cognition resultrng Iiom them de-pendedon t int imately fortheir l ight. Bui ihe BrhadaranyakaUpanrshad says' l l must be heard about, , point ing thereby tolhe upanishadlc texts. (8.B.V|| . iv.21 2)

t

Chapter8

One mighl supposethat the Sell should be seen thrcugh alllhe valid means of cognilion, because the Sell as Conscious-ness conslitutes the resultant-cognition of each. But lhe lorce olthe words' l t must be heard about ' ts to show that i t is lheupanghadtc texls that arethe authorilative saurce of knowledgeo{ the Self , since i! i€ only thraugh them tha! metaphysical lgna-rance of lhe Self (reading etma-ajfrana)can be brcughl to an end.

(4) l t is the appl icat ion oi the Srx Forms ot Evidence (Nl.V.p.23) lhat br ings oul lhe true lorce of the words. Then thetexl says ' l t ( lhe Selt) must be pondered over ' lo delermLnelhe lrue meaning of lhe tradi t ionai texls communical ing i t . l tis c lear i rom lhe command' l t must be pondered over ' thatwhal s being taught here is real i ly in i ls l rue nature.InWomans the sacr i t icral f i re '(Brhad.Vl. i i . l3), we do nol l ind anyrnjuncl ion lo ponder over the meaning. (B.B.V l l . iv.214-5).

He jusl tema*s in passing that the injunction saying lhatlhere has to be pondering shows that thetext here is cancernedwith final vision, not with pleliminary medttalton.

(5)Feasoning in coniormity with the words ol the Ved c lexlss also enjoined, for this is whal enables one to delermrneaccuralely what lhe words mean. (B-B.V l l . iv.2l6).

Reasoning is of help, for inslance, ta ftnd aul how lhe mean-ing of the word 'Thou'in'That lhou att' must be lhe Witness andcannat be anything else.

(6) Awaken ng to imrnediale knowledge ol lhe supreme Se Idepend ng on no externaltactor is cal led Nidrdhyasna. l t ismenl oned al ler seeing and hearing to show that a lhey cul-rn nate n lhat. . . . One s l i rst knowledge of lhe Sel l is throughhearing, and then one ponders over whal one has heard.When heaf ng and pondering are comp ete, one comes tohave immediate knowledge ot lhe Se f . . . Because the useol lhe word Niddidhyasana'( i l sustained med tal ion ) mightlead lhe hearer to suppose lhat medital ion was meant, lheUpan shad del iberaiely uses lhe term' immediale lntui t ion

(vrlnana) as a synonym for i l at Brhaderanyaka l l . iv.5, tosnow that meditations not here meant. lalready mentionedeartier how meditation and other practices are a means tormmedtale experjence. But immediate experj6nce does notexrst lor ihe sake of anylhing else. l l is taughl lo be just0e ra !on , a l t a inmen t o f t he l i na l goa l o f a l l . (B .B .v

|.iv.217 ,220 , 233-4J.(7) Hearing and lhe resl are lhe means lo that jmnediateinrurrion which depends on nothrng apart trof i t tselt. Whenrhrs has arisen. nothi4g,nore is required apart kom thalimmedtate 6xperience of th€ S€lt already aitain6d... Theres no olher result of knowledg€ lhat our Self is the sole reat_rry excepl the sradical jon ol our ignorance ol the fact. Forrnrs rs ever by nature our true stale,,. The one inmost selJis rhe reatity of which cause and etfect are mere latse ap_0earances. When thal 56lf is known, how could tgnorance'art to be desroy€o? Tell me, pray, how the,6 coutd €vef betgnorance ot the Sell again. (B.B.V l l . iv.22t, 205, 231).

t have 9tven the totm.ajiena ( tgno.ance.) at he eno ot theu\t ve'se ( tgnorance al the Set ) fottowlng Anandagitr. Bullds woutd atsobe tegtttmate) the wod werc rcad asnena.( knowt.edge ), then we would have.On account of knowtedge ol thetnmost Self, no othet knawt1dge neods ta baacqutled..The pas-::ge^:!ttd

|.hen aSrce wnh he end otthe prccedng verca IB.B.u', 'v.zrur. tyqtcn says lherc is (lhen) no knowtectge that has notoeen acqutred;there is no lgnorcncethat hasta been destrcyed,.

C.ompa son ol S sankara and Suresvah on the Topic olHeating and the Rests

. At i lrst s ghl there appears to be a cBrtain disagreemeni be_Iween Sri Sankara and Suresvara on th6 queslon ot whetherneaf ng and the resl can be the subjects ot an injunction. Srir€nxara makes an oppo nent ask ,what do these apparenl Inlunc-( ons mean. texts |ke "The self, veri ly, should be seen, heard

Suresvara201

t

about-.- 'and so lorth?'(B.S.Bh l. i .4, cp [4 V68 3) On accounl

o{ his use ol lhe phrase apparenl injunctions, i t mighl seem thal

he did not admit thal hearing and the resi could be subjects ol

iniunciions. Bul al anolhor a place he seems io admrl that hear_

ing and lherest can be enjoined. He says: 'Repeti l io n ol the alJir-mation must b€ carried oul Why? Because i l is taughl repeat-

edlv. the repeated teachings l ike "The Selt m!si be heard aboul 'pondered over ad subj€ct€d to susiained meditation" poinl to a

repetit ion ot the afl irmation' (B S.Bh lVi.1) For he wolrld lnto

say that anything had to be done unless lhee were an Iniunclron

on the subject in lh0 Veda.

ln SUresvara s Vadtka, on lhe olher hano. lhe'e is no .eler-

ence lo iniunctions lor hearing and lhe resl as apparenl Inlunc_

tions. On the conlrary, he says openly and emphatical ly lhat

these pracl ices are enjoined, in the words A person can oecroewhelher lo carry out hearing and pondering... so al l lhese prac_

lices are enioined' (B B.V l l . iv.122' M V 124'2)

And there is anolherapparent point ior diffe rence ln SriSan-kara's Brahma Sulra Commenlary, the text ' the Sell should be

subiected 1o suslained meditation' (Brhad l l . iv 5) is accepted asre'erring lo a duty lhal has lo be pertormed For i I s trealed as

an act.as is shown by the passage'And medital ion (upasana)

and sustained meditation (nididhyasana) are said lo constituteone acl that entai ls repeli t ion (B.S Bh- lVi.1, cp. [ '1 V56, 8,

note). There are grounds tor supposing that he regaroeo sus-

tained medilat ion (nididhyasana) as a species of medltation(upasanaJ because in lhe nexl passage he glves as exanpres ol

i t 'He assiduously meditates on (or altends on) his Guru'and She

whose husband is abroad dwells on him f ixedly' iB SAh lvi l)

On the other hand, in the Vdriika o{ S u resvara 'awake nrng lo

immediate knowledge of the supreme Sell oependrng on no ex-

lernal iaclof is clearly said to be the meaning oi the lerm'nididhyasana' (B.B.V. l l . iv 217, l \4 V 124,6). And havLng said thrs

Suresva ra goes on i n t he equa l l o deny tha t t he te rm

Suresvara

'n didhyasana refers toan ac hat has to b€ pedormed. He aimsto demonslrate lhat the term .njdidhyasana'did

not referlo medi,latron (dhyana) because the lext uses the term.immediate intui_t on (vi j iana) as a synonym tor j l (B.B.V . iv.2gS M.V.124,6).

Do the two systems, those ot Sr i Sankara and Suresvara.agree'ordotheycontradictoneanolheronthesepolnts? l f thevdo ,n facr contradict one another. which ts the be er? l t ,s a po,niworlh considering.

My own view is the lol lowing.sr i Sankara spoke of the ao_peardnco ot an Injuncl ton jn a part icular conlexl . His pr,roosewds to refute lhe Contenlton Ol the authOrs of the earl ie, com-mentar ies (vrt t i )on the Brhama Sutra thal the metaphvsical textso'rhe Upa- shads were authori tat ,ve only i t regarded is subordr-nate to an injunct ion to acquire metaphysical knowledge.He didr s i ry assertrng that metaphysical knowtedge is something

condit ioned by reat i ty, and di l lerent t rom meditat jon. Here is hi ;text as he himselt set i t out.

(1)The ldeal ol l i re, when one is in the presence ot that wet lknown objecl , rs not dependent on an injunct ion, nor is i t amere creatron ot the human mind. l t is in lact a piece ofk odedge, condilioned bylhe nalure ofthe obiect perceived.rt ts not an act. And i t is the same with al l objects ol thevaf lous means ol knowledge (such as percept ion inference,etc.) . Th s being so, knowledge of lhe Self in i ts t rue tormas the Absoluie cannot be dependent on an in iunct ion toacl . l1 peral ive and si .r t lar lorms apptted lo t t , even r,- Vedtclexls, lose lhere imperat ive lorce and become blunled, asrazors oecome btunted i f used agajnst hard objecls t ikeslones. For here the objec o which they are applied is some-rh!ng not subject to reject on or acquisi t ion. (B.S.Bh_1.1.4.cp. lM.v 68.21

. Thus a view is Ientatrvety advanced by an opponenl (and

r?juied by Sri Sankara). According 10 this vievv the Absolute can

Chapter-o

only be taught lhrough injunclions involving some duly lo bedone. But th6 whole theory is wrong. For there is also such athing as knowledg€ of the Absolute conditioned by its true na-ture-that is the gist of this passage in the commentary. And itgoes on to ask,'Bul what do these apparent injlnclions means(wherelhe releronco is to passages which say thal the Sell shouldbe'seen' or 'heard about'and so on). The very facl thal thisquestion is raised also implies that knowledg€ cannot be thesubject ol an injunction. Consider, loo, the refutalion ol the oppo-nent. l t runs: 'Bul when such a person comes to desire the su_preme human goal,lexts like"The Self, verily, is lo be seen" andso on lurn him away trom the nalural concern with the psycho-physical organism and its allairs, and engage him in conlinuousremembrance of lhe inmost Sell'(cp. M.V 68,3). lt does not sayanything about whether hear ing land the rcst are or are not ableto be enjoin€d, as that is nol the question a tissue (which is lherefutalion ot the viewthal knowledge can be enioined). No doubtthere is the implication that lhere is also a certain element olenioining a duly in places where gerundive expressions like'should be s€en'or'should be heard about'areused; tor only sowil l the gerundive ending in the suff ixes -ya, -tavya and -aniya,which denots a duly to act, having meaning. Bul this does nolmean that ono has the right to insisl lhat knowledge also can bethe subjecl ol an iniunction, as the passage is only tntended lostrengthan the argumeni in hand (namely lhe refLrtation of lheoppon€nt's view that knowledge can be enjoined). There is an'other passage in SriSankara's Commenlarythat expresses thesame idea.

(2)Texls in lhetorm ol a command such as'The selJ shouldbe seen', M/hich are lound in the sections dealing wilh ihehrghest knowledge. are lundamentally lor lhe purpose olturning the hearer in the direction ol knowledge ol lhe Self"and are not primarily to be regarded as injunclions to be'come aware ol lhe real. Even inlhe world, when people givea command and say'Look here'or 'Listen lo this' , the mean'

Suresvara

ing ol such phrases realy is'Pay attention', and not,Acquirea piece of dir€ct knowledge'. When anyone is in proximitywith a knowable object, knowledge ol it sometimes arisesand sometjmes does nol.Therefore, anyone who wishes toacquaint someone with an obiect should show it to him. Whenit has been shown to him, knowledge willarise according tothe nature ol the object and lhe means ol cognition applied.{8.S. Bh. l l l . i i .21, cp. M.V 68,4).

Thus the lorce ol the injunctions' apparently enjoining hear-ing and so on is not actually lo enjoin immediate knowledgelhrough these discipl ines. Th6ir force, as the revered Comften-talor concludes by saying, is to inculcale atlention to the Sell .There is no conkadiction wilh what is said al Brahma Sulra Com-meniary lVi.1, as i t is taught lhere that i t is just this altention tothe Selt that has to be repealedly practicod.

Suresvara also maintains in his Brhadaranyaka Varika thatonly that which is within the scope of hee human will can beenloined. He doesnot insiston denying that knowledge can aisefrom one act ol hearing and so on. His words are'the action ofhearing and so on musl be continued here diligently until thermmediate intuition we have spok€n ot arises in all its glory'(b.B.V l l . iv.218). So lhere is no di l ferencs between the two sys-tems in regard to the toaching thai hearing and pondering areopens lo iniunclion,

Suresvara does giv€ th6 appearance ol saying that no on6colld attain direct and immediate intuit ion ol lhe Sell mer€lylrom hearing. For one ol the verses ol the Vart ika beings'Ac-quaintance with the Self is first through hearing, ad then oneponders over whal one has h6ard'(B.B-V 11.jv.220, M.V124, 6).On the other hand Sri Sankara says in his Brahma Sutra Com-menlary, 'Repeaied resorl lo hearing, pondering and sustainedmeditation would inde€d be useless in lhe case of the personwho gained immediate experience ol lhe tact that his true Selfwas the Absolute merely from hearing the texl That thou art"

205204

Chapter-8

Spoken once' (B.S.Bh.lVi.2). How could lhere be such a conlra-dict ion? In this case, too, we reply, there is nolhing more lhan asuperlicial appearance of disagreement.For Sursvara wrote inlhe Naiskarmaya Siddhi:'Ot lhe (four ditferent kinds of hearersol lhe text 'That thous are"), there is one who knows "lhat wh'chis nol the meaning ot any sentence" in his inmosl Sell. For him,al l ihe not-selt has come to an and. As al l has impediments havebeen destroyed, there is an his case nothing more to be said. Noris there anything further to b€ said about lhe one who acquiredrealization merely from hearing the text (that is, wiihoui havinglo reason over it at all). He, also, is in possession ol some su-pe.nalural powe/ (N.Sid. l l l .64, prose intro.). Thus when it wassaid in lhe Brhadaranyaka Vart ika'One's l irsl knowledge of theSell is lhrough hearing'and so lorth, lhis was only said withrelerence lo lhose who are unabl€ to apprehend the meanding otlhe text and realize thal their own irue Sell is the Absolute merelylhrough hearing it once. Solhere is agreemenl belween the sys-lem ot Sri Sankara and Sursvara in maintaining that;mmediateknow'edge car arise lhrough mere hearing.

Lel us lheretore turn ourattention tothe aDoarent contradic-t ion on ihe subiect ol 'sustained meditation' (nididhyasana). lnSri Sankara's Brahma Sutra Commenlary'sustained medilalion'(nididhyesana) is seen to be a kind ot spirilual praclace and to beenjoined. Speaking of the term'suslained medilatio.n', lor instance,he says clearly that when we are using i l we areHking of an acllhal enlai ls repetit ion (B.S.Bh.lVi.1. cp. M.V56, 8, note). Andhe says also, 'Pondering ad sustained .meditation too, like hearing, are lorlhe sake ot direct experience'(8.S. th. l . i .4).Thus herefers to'sustained mediiaiion something difierent kom immedFate jniuilion, as something to which one has to apply oneselt forthe sake ol immediale inlui l ion. So we concludd thal lor himsusrarned meditation was a kind ol pracl ice thal could be en-joined. He also held lhat sustained medrtatibn (nididhyasana)was not differenl in kind from meditation in general (upasan)- For

Suresvara

al some places he uses the lerm'upasana'lo stand for i t , aswhen he say 'lvled itations (upasane)aim€d at right intuitive knowt-edge have to be pe{ormed unti l th6 f inal end is achieved, l ikepounding the paddy io extract the rice'(B.S.Bh.lVi.12, lvl.V56,8).

And yel lhere is a cerlain difterence belw€on 'susiained

medital ion' (nididhyasana) and meditation as described by SriSankara in th6 lol lowing passage:'Consid€r ih€ lexts, "Man, OGaulama, is the sacrif icialf ire" and "Woman, O Gautama, is thesacrit icial l i re" (Chand. Vvii .1, Vvi i i . l ) . Here lhe identi l ication olman or woman wath lhe sacriticiallire is a menial idea. lt is anact owing its origin solely lo the iniunction to medilate a thus. llis lherelore an action, and one thai is treely d€iermined by thehuman wil l ' (B.S.B.l. i .4). Sustained meditation (nididhyasana) asconceived by Sri Sankara dillers from medilalion as describedabove in that it does not owe it origin solely to lhe in,unction lomeditale. For hearing aboul the Sell, pondering over il and sub,jecting it lo sustained meditation are tor the sake ot sornethingwhich can experienced here in his world, and tor rsal izin one'sdentity with lhe Self. This is shown in such a passage as'TheSell comes lo be seen through lhe discipl ines of hearing, pon-dering and sustained meditalion r€solutely pursued. Flight knowl-edge of lhe Absolute as the sole reality only dawns when lheselhree disciplines of hearing, pondering and suslain6d medilalionare lunded inlo one, and not olherwise, torexample lhrough heafingalone'(Brhad.Bh.l l . iv.5). l t fol lows also from ihe passage:'Bui inany case pondering must be carriod out by reasoning in accord-ance with what is laid down in the Veda. And sustained medita-lron must be performed on what has been pondered reationally,on what has been ascerlained through revelalion and reason(Brhad.Bh.l l .v.1 , intro-) Even though this discipl in€ is referred toby the lerm '!pansana'i t is evidently difterent from such m€dila-l lons as those proscribed ln lhe i6xis speaking of woman as lhesacri l icial f ire, which are for the sake of a resull not to be perceived in ihe present life namely lhe accunulalion o{ spiriiualmeri l through meditation. For ihe notion thal woman is he sacri-

208

I ic ial f i re is not a not ion based on the true nature ol reat i tv. l l rs'o ned o_ y nroLgL obeytng t ' re injJnc on ro'redr lato o: t t stheme and i t br ings i ts results not here in lhis l ike t i le but nolher worlds. ( to be attalned after death). Bui al ler death). Bultrre case $7 ih sustained meditat ions di t ferent. Thal which ones!bjecls to suslain meditat ion one perceives here ln lhis veryle. l l is a case ol sustained attent ion and nothing e se Thal is

the d l furence belween meditat ion (upasana) and suslalns meditat on (n d dhyasana) in the system of Sr i Sankara.

I t swel l known thal words l ike 'v is on' , 'knowledge, and soon may be lound used by Sn Sankara qu ie appropriatetV ei lherto des gnate knowledge of the real or else to designale a certainl 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 o r t h e y m a V b e u s e dn dr l iereni senses accord ng to whether they are adclressed to

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 o r m o f k n o w l e d g e o flhe Absolute ( the lat ter being not so much knowledge ol ihe Ab-so ute as med tatton on i l under prescr ibed lorms,) And we shouldunderstand thal, in the same wav, phrases such as,one shouldnred tale or 'one should pract ice sustalned medi lat ion,may ei-t l rer reler to lhe mere cherishing oi a menial dea (bhavana) oreise to suslained attent ion to previously attarned rght knowl-edge - accord ng lo the conlext. That is how we expla n the useol the lerm susta ned medi lat on' in Sr Sankara,s system,

Now lel us consider Suesv.ara's Vart ika, He says, 'Awaken-Ing to rmmed ate knowledge ot the supreme Se f depending onn o e x t e r n a l l a c t o r i s c a l l e d n i d i d h y a s a n a ' ( B . B . V . l l . i v . 2 1 7 l ,M.V 124,6). From this cleaT statement one deduces that for hrmthe term nididhyasana cannot reler to any act iv i ty ol the forrn olcherishing a mental ldea (bhavana), al though he does not denVthat meditat ion is required as a prel imlnary discip ne for r ightmelaphysical knowledge. We learn this from ihe sequel, when hesays l already mentioned earl ier how meditat ion and other prac-l ices are a means lo i rnmediate expenence, Blt immediateexpenence does not exisl {or the sake oi anvthinq ese, l t is

249

tairght to be j lst l iberat ion, at tainment oi the i inat goal oi a ,

(B.B.V l . .234, M.V124,6).This shows that though Sri Sankaraand Suresvara underslood the tefrn'nididhvasana' in a di f ferentsense, their syslems agree in munching lhat medrtat on is anact v ty and a prel minary discipl ine for know edge. Howevef,suresvaia does nsist on lhe polnt lhat because the Upanishadu s e s t h e t e r m ' r m m e d i a t e i n t u i t i o n ' ( v i i R a n a ) i n t h e s e q u a(Brhad. l l . iv.5) as a synonym lor the'nididhyasana'referred tojusl before, one should not suppose thal t had meanl 'med ta-t ion by'nididhyasana' (B.B.v. 11. iv.233, l \ ,1.V124,6).

'Nidd dhyasana' is placed hefe n ihe Upanishad in apposr-t o n w i l h h e a r n g a n d p o n d e r i n g , s o i l s p r o p e r t o s u p p o s e l h a l r irepresents an acl v ty. And we t ind the equrva ent of 'v

l iana nlhe form oi a verb used e sewhere to denole acl on lor the sakeol immed ate intui t ion, as n'That one shouid nvesl igate, thal isw h a t o n e s h o u d d e s i r e t o k n o w i n i m m e d i a t e n t u i t i o n '(Chand.Vl l l . i . l ,v i i . l ; ; cp- [ ,4.V52,9 and note). In the present text( B r h a d . l l . i v . 5 ) t o o , w e c a n v e r y w e l l a c c e p t t h a t t h e l e r m'nididhyasana' means rnedtat ion ior the sake of direct v slon.For Suesvara himself accepts such meditat on as the cause oid 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 d b e s e e n '(Brhad. l l . iv.5) to reler lo immedrate exoerience conceived as theresult ol seeing, then lhere would be nothing wrong in takinghear ng pondef ing and sustained medi lal ion (nididhyasana) asbeing a lhreefo d acl iv i ly enjoined for the sake ol that resul l . tseems, therelore, lhal lhe revered Commenlator 's exolanat onof lhe term'n didhyasana' is the belter one. Oiherwise ( i .e. onSuresvara's view) i t appears ihat useless repet i i ion wou d beattr ibuted to ihe iJpansiahd when i t says'drastavya'(shou d beseen) fol lowed aier by'nididhyasitavya' ( interpreted by SLrres-vara as 'shou d be seen in immediate inlu t ion') , ln anv case.there is no disagreement between the two al lhors on the ques-t on of whal are lhe means io melaphysical know edge. so lhalno sef ous di i i icul ty ar ses.

Suresvara

214 Chapler-8

The Iniunction for Innerand Outer Conlroland the olherdis_ciDlines

The texl 'This is the eternal glory ol the one who has reallzedthe Abso ute'(8rhad.lv. iv.23, cp.l \ .4.V.53,7) means lhal the per'son who has gained enlightenment has lhe eiernal glory of rea -

z ng the undil lerentiated really expressed as'neilher this northal. A verse ouoted in the texl expresses lhe nature ol theg ory of ihe enlightened person by saying'He ls not lrained byaclion, whlch is evi l ' 'meaning thal the result of his exalledslate s to place him beyond lhe ' tainl 'of karmic mertt or de-

SL]lesvara l irst explains the lerm'one who know lhis stale{pada-v l) accord in lo Sri Sankara's Commentary, and lhen goeson to suggesl an alternalive meaning of the lerm as 'one whoknows the meaning ot the words'{padarlha-vi i , B.B.V l. , lV 1190).On this view,therewould be an injunciion todiscoverlhe mean-ing ol lhe ndividual words ol the metaphysical lexls, and lhereward Ior obeying it would be a knowledge ol the meaning ot thesentences which lhey composed.

The upanishadic lext conlinues,'Therelore, possessed olnne r and outer conlrol, abandoning al l action lor personal ends,strenglhen ng himsell by volunlary resistance to discomlort, andconcentratlng his mind, he sees the Self here in the midst ol thisl i le in lhe present body' (Brhad.lV.iv.23). Suresvara explains thatthis passage, as conn€cted with what went betore, implles thsidea'Because knowledge has this result, therefore he who knowsthus becomes Dossessed of lhe disciol ines ol inner and outercontroland lhe resl and comeslo knowlhe meanino oJihe word' 'glory"' (B.B.V lViv.1 192-3).

l t is said thal such an one, possessed of lhe lourtoid meanslo liberation (discrimination, dispassion, the sixfold spirilual equip-ment - (see the quali t ies mentioned at I \radhavananda, p. 766) -and desire lor l iberal ion), lhat is, having inner and ouler controla_o lhe olher sp,r i tual prereqursrles. havrng drslrngurshed the

Suresvara 2 1 1

SelfJrom ihe nol-sel f lhrough reasoning bythe method ol agree,ment and di i lerence, , inal ly coftes to see'Al l is ihe Self ' (B.B.V.1V.iv.1201 2).

In ihe modern pr inted edit ions of Sr i Sankara's Commenlaryat lh is point we read (Brhad. Bh. lViv.1201 '23). " 'Possessed olinner control" (sanla) means "desisl ing l rom lhe acl iv i t ies ot theexlernal sense-organs' and "possessed of outer conlrol" (danla)means " i ree l rom menlal thirs l" 'One musl presume thai theselerms (sanla and danta) have b6en wri l ien lhe wrong way rounddue 10 the carelessness ol sof ie copyisl , For elsewhere we l indan explanal ion runn n9 " ' lnnerconlrol" means "the coming to resiol the mind"and" 'outercontrol"means"thecoming to rest of theexierna senses" '(Bh-G. Bh.XVl.1). An in l ine with this we t indSuresvara saying in ihe presenl passage ol lhe Vart ika. 'Firs l hebecomes possessed ol outer control , then possessed ol innercontrol, and alte ards he wilhdraws trom all activitv for oersonal eds.For !n interprel ing the sequence lhe rat ional o.der inwhich the qual i l ies would have lo be d€veloped must take prec,edence over lhe l i teral order in which they happen to be men-t ioned in the lexl under conmenl ' {B.B.V lViv.1203 4).

Suresvara next addresses himsel l io the quest ion. 'Why

should lhere be an injunct ion lor inner and outer control and therest, when lhe desire t i ou pursue them arises natural ly? He saysthal human act ions are ol iour kinds, based respecl ively on trans-gression of lhe law. personaldesire, unthinking inst inct and duly(B-a.V iViv.1208). l l is c lear lhal lhe seeker ol l tberat lon cannotind! lge rn the t i rst lhree. Bul how could a man of undersiandingwant lo pursue even duly when he sees that i l leads lo the sameevi l (namely rebir th) as non'perlormance of i t? (B.B.V lViv.1213).Therelore, when a person is acl ing lorduty 's sake his mind natural ly becomes puri l ied, and he comes to leel thal he musl g veup even lhis torm of acl ion, so lhal the desire tor lnnerand outercontrol leading on to the capacily lor withdrawal from all aclionlor personalends ar ises natural ly.We l ind teaching lo the sameelfect in the Smrt i : 'The wise person should apply himself con'

Chapter€2 1 2

tinuously to the broad moral principle (yama, cp.Yoga Sutral l-29.1.), but h6 should not apply himself to the part icular dailyd!l ies'(niyama,l\4anu smrti 1V204).

lf you argue in this manner and ask why inner conkol andrest are enjoined, th€ reply is that, even lhough these practic€smighl be prompted naturally, the function otthe upanishadic texlis lo €njoin lhem specilically as m€ans to knowledge of r€ality.Or again, il mighi b€ ihat the here idea ol withdrawal trom acliv-ity for persona lend6 might arise naturally, without the idea otduty, expressed in lhe feeling'l musl actually carry that with-drawal o!t'. That duty ol carrying oul 10 ihe practices is whal isenjoined here (B.B.V lViv.l220). Norwould it be correct lo raisethe obieclion.'The mention of innerand outer conkol would havebeen quite €nough, since all action is given up through them.Whal was the need for specifying withdrawal as well?' For insound exegesis,lhe positive injunction to perlorm daily duty willprevailover a mere general negation, which is always open toexceptions, so lhal the upanishadiclext enjoining withdrawal haslo be supplied lo bring about the delinitive abandonment ol thedaily duties (B.B.V. lViv.1 233-6).

One should not raise the objection 'Hearing and cogilationand so on involve disturbance ot the mind just as much as per-formance of lhe daily duiies. Why is no effoft made to discour-age them?' For i t would be wrong to givethem up, since lhey arepredominantly helpful to the atlainment of withdrawal (B.B.VlViv.1238).

The discipl in€ of strengthening onesell through voluntaryresistance to discomlort implies acquir ing the power lo endurethe pairs oJ opposite (h6at and cold, pleasure and pain and soforth). The upanishadic lext adds 'concentraling his mind'. Thisis to enjoin the renunciation even ol lhose activaties, such ascasual fanlasies, in regard to which man is not naturally free.'Wilh faithful his (sole) w€alth'{Brhad.lViv.23, Ma dhyandinarecension) enjoins the total renunciation of all action (8.8.V

lViv.1269).

Thus wilh the help of these auxil iary discipl ines a personshould come io see lhe Self even while al ive in ihe presenl bodv,through reasoning by agreement and di l lerence.Then he comesto see al l as his own SelJ (8.8.V. lV iv.1278).Thal is lhe mean-in9 ol brhadaranyaka Upanishad lv. iv.23. One should observethe fol lowing verses oJ Sutesvara,

(1) Firstone should acquire oulerconlrol, then inner control,and t inal ly the capacity ror withdrawal lrom all activi ly forpersonal ends. For the logical order in which lhe quali l ieshave to be developed lakes precedence (in inlerprelation)over the order in which they happen to be mentioned in lhelext under comment. (B.B.V lViv.1203).

(2) Yes, i t is lrue that lhere can be no injunclion for innercontrol and the rest, since they are prompted in the naturalcourse. They are prompted naturally. it is kue. But what lheVedic lext does is to lay down aulhoritatively thal lhey arethe specif ic means leading lo correct knowledge ol the inmost Selt. (8.8.V 1V.iv.1218).

(3) Or else we may say that the idea oJ abandonment olacl ion comes natural ly, as explained, but lhal the noiionihal t is a duty that one has lo carry oul ( i f one wishes toaltain enIghtenment ) does to arise natural ly. Hence it isenjoined. (B.B.V. lViv.1220).

(4) The injunction lo perlorm the daily obligatory r i tual al lone's l iJe wil lcerlainly be a moro powerlul aulhori ly and pre-vail . over any gereral injunction lo give up action (as lheparl icular injunctions lo ki l l at a sacri i ice prevail over thegenela/prchibit ion'One should nol ha.m any l iving being').For lhe injunction lo do lhe daily obligatory r i tual al l one'sl i le is only concerned with keeping one's body al ive (and towith minislering to and encouraging the egorsl,c passions)-Since the gereral injunclion to inner and ouler conlrol and

213

214 ChapteF8 Suresvata 215

The purpose ol the text'With laith tot his (sote) wealth'is toenjointhe abandonment of leelings of possession eventowarclsobiecE like the begging bowl.

(8) Failh is his only possession. Because he has nothingelse, the one who has abandoned al lactions is cal led ,Onewho has taith tor his (sole) weatth'. (B.B.V tViv.1269).(9)He should se6lhe Self whit€ he is yet in the body, separafing it from lhe whol€ mass ol the not€ellthrough reasoningby agreem€nl and di i terenc€ supporled byihe spir j lualdis-ciplines mentioned above. Or the reading may be just .Hesee.... (B.B.V lV.iv.1 272-BJ.

To rcad'He should see...'would be to lollow the readina olthe Mad h yan d i na t rad itio n.

Howactlon and Meditatioh Relat.There is a passage ln the Varitka which explains the order in

which the various disciplines leading to the rise ol metaphysicalknowledge have to be pfaclised and describes the m€thod oithose praclices.

(1) Only metaphysical knowledge is requked for the erad!cataon of metaphysical lgnorance. Only inner control andlhe other spirilual disciplines areiequired tor metaphysicalknowledge. Only purification ol the mind is required tor theacql] isilion ol jn ner control and lhe oth6r spiritual disciDlines_Onlylhe performance of the dailyobligatory rjtualis requiredIor the purification ol the mind, Metaphysical lgnorance ofthe Self is the solecaus€ ofacl ion, menlal, vocalorphvsicaLWhen that (melaphysical lgnorance) has been cancelled byknowledg€ of th€ Selt, how could th€re b6 any further de-pendence on aci ion? (B.B.V l. i i i .98-100).

It is also said in lhe Naiskarmya Siddhi:From pe ormance ol the obligatory daily rituals comes

so on will not suffice to annul the injlnction lo do the dailvrilual all one's life, the texl takes lhe lurther sleo ol sr,ecifl-cal/yenjoining the abandonment ol al lactions lor personalends {uparari). (B.B.V tViv.1225-6).(5) It the performanceol the obligatory daily ritualis prohib!ted because it creates distulbance, wandering aboui to begtor one's food and other aclivities ol the mon( atso create agreat deatot disturbanc6. Why are they nol prohabiled too?Hearing and pondeting overlhe upanisnatc lexts, loo, causea good deal of disturbance. Why are not these aclivitiesalso prohibited by the Veda, as well as the rituals? But lhisobjection is w.ong. Forthese aclivities conlribuieto the chiefgoal. Wand€ring about to beg for alms and lhe resl are loprohibi led as ihey are engaged in for the sake ol thal ooal.(B.B.V lViv.1235-7).

(6 ) and now, by say ing ,concen t ra t i ng h i s m ind , , t hel]panashadac lext enjoins continual reduction to a minimumol lhose actions which one is not lree lo abandon entirelv.(B.B.V. lVrv.1246).

There must be the stictest control over :Ll,ose activities ollhe mind and the senses which we arc nol lree to abandon en-ttrely, such as seeing, hearing, mentat lantasy and so forth.Where concenthtion is eniojned, jt mean6 that one shoutd ab-sorb the senses in the mind and the mind in the Seff (through

{7)One shoutd nol suppose that the reading (ottheMadhyandin a recession) 'Wiih faith tor his (sole) weafth,is olisoe, onlhe ground that total renunciation has akeady been pre_scribed. For the enlightened person stillhas some action tope orm rn the realm ol perceptible objects (in the form o,maintaining lhe body and so on).The purpose ol the ghraseis to enjoin there trng qu,shment ol any teeting o,,mine,inregard to the instruments or maierjals ol ihese acts. (B.B.VlViv.1268).

merilihom merit comes destruction ot (tho karmic eff6cts ot)

sin: trom this comes purity ot mind;lrom this comes a correct

evaluation ol lransmigratory lile; lromthis comes indiffs16nce to

it; lrom this comes d€sire for liberation; trom this com€s the

search for the m€ans to t iberal lon:lrom this comes renunciatlon

oJ all ritualistic action and its accessorios (lhe sacrod thread'

etc.);kom this comes practice ofYoga;trom this lhe locusing ol

the mind withini fron this a knowledge ol the meaning ot the

metaphysicaltexts l ike'That lhou art ' ; trom this the eradical ionol metaphysical lgnorance: f lom this establishmenl in one's own

Sell alone, according to the t€xts''Verily, being nothing bul the

Absolute. he dissolves in th€ Absolute'(Brhad.lv. iv6) and'Though already released, he acqu ires final ro lease' (Kalha ll ii l)(N.Sid.l .s2, prose inlro., cp M V 60'2 and 3) tvledi lat ions' i t is

clear, each have th€ir stated reward like riluals. And just as theperformance of the obligatory daily r i tual is enjoined as prel imi-

naru contributinq to the rise of knowledge. or oven as al l r lUal is

lard down as a ;6ans to the awakening ol the oesire lor knowl_

edge, so in the section of the Veda devoled lo knowledge and

meditation, the meditations are laid down as a means to prepar-

ing one to become Jit lor knowledge For we have texts l ike''when you are reloased from here, where wil l you go?' (Brhad,

lV.i i .1) And we know that meditations are uselul on the path ol

oradual release, because they are laughl in conneclion with the

iath of the Flame and elsewh'te. (On the Path of the Flame, see

Deusssen, 1912, chapter xxx T.N )

{3) Whatever as laught on the subjeci of medilal ions in the

Knowledge-Section ol the Veda is only lor lhe sake ol pre-

parirg onesell lor the knowledge lhat all lis lhe one Self We

knowJrorn thetoxt 'Whenyou are released from here where

wil lyou go"/ (Brhad lVi i l) and trom reJeronc-'r lo the Path

o{ the Flame that meditations are not limited in theif results

lo the rewards promised for them (bui may also lsad lo

oradual releaso) This shows correctly ihe relation betweon

Sur€svara 217

th€ Rituals-Sectionandthe Knowledge-Sectionof theVeda,and th€re are no grounds tor asseding any ditferent rela-t ion. (S.V 329-31).

Meditations:; Ihe referorce is to those meditations taught inthe Knowl9dge-Section ol tha Veda dnd digsociated with the Pathof the Flame and other teachings about rclaase by stages. Therefercnce b not to all meditations thtoughout the V6da in gen-

Not limited in lh6ir rosults tol6 rewards promised forthem: /tmeans lhat they arc not mercly concemed with meditation andwotship, but ara also a means to knowladge. No aftention stouldbe paid to the claim ol Anandagiri that the puryo,e ol the medi-tations is liberation and that this putpose cannot be achievedexcept through a 9uccession ol stages.Therc arc no grcunds fol

(4) What S riYaifiavalkya asked King Janaka was (not abouteniry into lh6 world of a deily at dealh lhrough meditalion,aboul which lhe king knew, but)'Wh€n you leav6 the firstplane of exislence, what is th6 second lo which you willgo?'This was to show lhat moditalion on deiti€s and purili-cation oflhe mind through similar praclices ar6 also a meanslo the (gradual) attainment ot knowledgo. SriYajidvalkya'squestion,'Why you are roleaged from here, where will yougo?' really meant'Do you believe that, in the case of one fittor the highesl knowledge, alithe mediiations prescrib€d inthe Upanishads l6ad to l iberation by stages?'(B.B.V lVi i .12-13, cp, M.V 83,5).

A such meditations may rcsult in release by stages: theincidental implication herc i6 that they rctain thehlower putposefor those who arc to lit lor immediate liberation. Fot it is onlyhere.andtherc in the Upanishads thatthe teaching ol the Abso-lute in its highest lo n is exhibited, as indicated, lot instance, bycertatn phrases in the convercation between Garyya an

Suresvara 219

dAjebsattu, ot in that between Kng Janaka and SiYajiavalkya'such as: "'tt cannot be known if lherc is no mote khowledgethanthat' 6aid Ajek'sattu. "Then let mo come lo yau as a pupil", saidGergya' (Brhad.tl.i.l4) and ''Vety v/ell', said SriYejhavalkya' "l

will teltyou wh6rc you will go (i.e. nowhere, because lhe kinghad akeady reached the slate beyond lea)"' (Brhad lvii l; see

B.B.v. lV.ii.3l ft.).

There is no other Llbsratlon Excgpl Eladlcatlon of lgnoranc€

There is a l6xt in the Brhadaranyaka which runs: 'l am intouch with the subtl6, lar 'roaching ancienl path, having t inal lydiscovered it . By this palh lhe wise who have known the Abso-lule go to lhe shining realm afier leaving here, released'(Brhad.lV.iv.8). Hore lhe know€r is not dit lerent lrom the known'

the Absolute, so the phrase' l am in iouch wilh' is used (B B.VlViv.549). 'scovered it 'means'have lound it through the leach-ings ol the Veda and tho ACarya' (8 8.V lViv 550) Having lurnedtheir backs on lgnorance by following this path, and having at'

tained lo the Absolute, they go Those who have known the Ab'solute'dissolve in theAbsolute" this is the m6aning of 'go tolheshining realm aft6r leaving here' (B. V lViv 552) 'Afler leavinghere' doas not imply that they have to wait lor the dealh of thebody belore ihey attain th€ Absolute For lhe eradicalion ot meta'physical lgnorance, the cause of i l lusory empirical experience,lhey have to wail lor metaphysical knowl6dge only' and for noth_ing else (B.B.V lv. iv.554). The passage agrees wilh and con-

f irms the oth€r lext which runs'Veri ly, being nothing but the Ab'so lu te . he d i sso l ves i n t he Abso lu to ' (E rhad lV i v6 ) , saysRuresvara, comm€nting on a lator parl ol the text (B B V

lViv.560).

The lollowing verses should be noled

(1) Because it would be impossible tor the Absolule nol !o

rnclude me, therelore l I is saro lam in toucn wit lhe palh"

Thls oath, as d€scnbed, has corre lo me loscove'ed i l

myselt, lottowjng lhe teachings of the Veda and the Aca.va.In Knowtedge ol the inmost Sell , the subiecl rs not differ;nttrom the objecl. (8.8.V lViv.55o).(2)This'shining realm'(the Absolute, not 'heaven,) was whatwas rea y meant betore by the word.svarga,, even in thephrase'He who wanis svarga should offer sacrit ices,. Forthat whrch js established by the knowledge arising kom theupanlshadic texts cannot be reached through rjtuals. (B.B-Vtv.iv.555).

Even in the ea ier emark, 'He who wants svarya should of-ter sactifices', the rcal rcfetence was Io the,Absotule as a shin-tng reatm, not to'heaven'as a hapry aboda. tn any case, it isonlv lhe Absolute lappearing as heaven) under a conditioninoadiunct that can be rcachectthtough r uals.

i3)The word svarga' is used here only to mean.the highestbliss'. Because il occurs in the context oJ teachina labera_I'on. r l s something eternat. Hence itcannothere me;nwhatcomse as the result o, porforming ri tuals. (B.B.V lViv.556).(4)On the (false) lheory that tiberation depend€don the deathol the body, i t would depend on dissolul ion in the cause.8ut alterthe eradication of the cause ol al l , enl ightenmenlsuperseoes aulomatical ly, and nothing else is needed.(B.B.V lViv.5s8).

ll would depend on dissolution jn lhe cause: /tmears d/sso_luttan tn the Absolute as yet unknown, assumjng some suchatnet apparent form as the cosnic vital energy.

Aiter lhe eradicalion of the ca!se of all: fhls means alter theeradicalion of metaphysical tgnorance.

(5) No oiher obstacle to l iberation is admitied except lgno,rance. Accordingly, when lgnorance has been desttoved.then a person (nr) is l iberated already in this l i le even be_lore he is t inal ly l iberated irom rebi(h at the dealh ol thebody The Upanishad has already taught this earl ier in the

220 chapler-8

lext 'Being thing but the Absolute, he disolves in the Abso-lute' (8rhad.lViv.6) No later upanishadic passage, theretore,could make !s believed lhat l iberation depond on the deathoi the body. (B.B.v lv iv.559-60).

Liberates akeady...before one is...liberated from rebirih: thlsis a reminiscence ol Katha Upanishad Il.ii.1.

All Duality ia lmaglnedThrough lgnorance

In the system ol Suresvara, al l duali ly is an el ject oilgnorance. There is lherejore nolhing else to be denouncelgnorance has been eradicated.The disl incl ion between lheSelf and lhe nol-sel l , the dist incl ion between known and un'known, tho disl inction between real and unreal, lhe dist inc-t ion between being and not being individual knowing subject -

al l these disl incl ions arise through lgnorance. Five shealhs'encasing ths individualand t ive corrasponding cosm c sheathsstanding as lheir causes are disl inguished only through lgno_rance. Olher dist inctions l ike lhat between manilest andunmanifesl, el lect and cause whole and parls, aclron and l icomponenl tacloas and res!l is aae also sel up by lgnorancealone. The Witness. the Lord. crealion, mainlenance and wllh'drawal ol the universe, the three statss ol waking, dream anddreamiess sleep, and, in a word, the very relal lonship ol iheSeli wilh lgnorance itselJ, is al l the work of lgnornace aloneTherefore when vision ol the inmost principle is atlained andlgnorance brought to an end, al l bondage to transmigraloryexperienc6 ceases immedialely. The manileslal ion of lgno'rance and its later eradication have no ettect whatover on theSell, the principle of reali ty, any more than lhe imagrnation ola snake in a rope and tha later cessation ol thal imaginalion_ave any eflect on lne rooe. Here also, as In the syslen oltne revered Com.nutator, lhe rrclhod ol ial 'e al lrrbut on'ol-oweo by subsequenl retraci ion is consislenlly lol lowed eve-rywhere. This we have lo accePl.

Suresvara 221

(1) Clothed in lhe l ivery of b€ing an individual know ngsubject, lhe Sell beholds lhe not-selJ; but i t cannot be-hold the Setf as an objecl in lhis way, as the Sell is lhepure l ight of Consciousness and nothing else. (B.B.VL iv .734 ) .

(2) The disl inction between known and unknown, the dis-t incl ion between appearing as knowledge and as lgno-rance, and the dist inction between being and not beingan individual subject enjoying knowledge - none ol thesedist inctions being to lhe SelJ. For they are not self,es-rablished. They depend on lh€ Witness. {T.B.V. .666).(3)Texis l ike'Darkness (lgnorance) is death, ( l ight is im-mor ta l ) ' (B rhad . l . i i i . 28 ) and ' l n t he beg inn ing , t h i s ! n i -verse was water' {Brhad-vv.1 ) show lhal melaphysicallgnorance is continually al work, ei lher in manifesl orunman i fes t f o rm- 'Emerg ing f rom lhese e lemen ls(Brhad.l l- iv.12), the Lord, though raised above al l change.appears through lgnornace as the Knower ol ihe Field([,1.V. p.35), lhrough of a i l lusory appearance oJ Himselfas l he no t - se l l . (B .B .V , 1 . i i . 136 -7 , cp M.V .118 ,11 and

(4) That which is neither a cause nor an el lect assumesihe appearance of cause and dl lecl lhrough lgnorance.Hence the Veda works lor the eradical ion of the lat ler.. .lgnorance of lhe Self manilests everywhere as causeand eftect, though it has lor i ls lrue nature lhat (the Sell)which is not ei lh€r a caus6 or an eflect. l t is witnessedas an object by i ts own lrue Self. (B.B.V l. i i .130 .1.jv.309)-(5) The nolion which we have here in the world ol wholeand parts b€longs to the plane of lgnorance ot the in-mosl Sell . l l does not balong to the suprem€ Self. ihwhich al l lgnorance (l i t . bl indess) is negaled by'neitherlh i s no r l ha t . (8 .8 .V l . i i a .269 )

222 Chapler'8 Suresvara

(6) True Being does not undergo and is nol a cause. l tappears as a cause lhrough lgnorance, and also as ac-l ion and al l i ts componenl taclors and results. (B.B.V.t . i i . 1 2 8 ) .(7) That supreme pr inciple ol real i ty, which is rndicaiedb y l h e n e g a l r v e l e x l s s u c h a s N o l g r o s s . . .(Brhad. l l l .v i i i .S), which in i ts t rue nalure l ies divested oll g n o r a n c e a n d i t s e t t e c l s , a p p e a r s a s ' t h e W r t n e s s ' a n d' l h e I n n e r R u l e l w h e n a p p a r e n l l y l i m i t e d b y t h e a d j u n c to f l g n o r a n c e , r l s o w n i l l u s o r y m a n i t e s t a t i o n . ( 8 . 8 . V .L i v . 1 5 l ) .

(8) And so the creat ions and wi lhdrawals ol lhe universed o w n t h e a g e s a r e i m a g i n e d , j u s t a s l h e d i s l i n c t i o n s o tt ime and space are, When you have seen real i ly, youknow lhat the creat ion, mainlenance and wi lhdrawal olthe universe are impossjble. (B.B.V l l . i .41 I , cp l \4.V 1 18,15 and nole)

(9) The imaginary rdea thal the Self is asleep or awakeo r s d r e a m i n g b e l o n g s o n l y l o c r e a t u r e s a s l e e p i n l h en r g h l o l l g n o r a n c e . ( B . B . V . 1 1 . i . 2 6 5 , M . V . 1 2 2 . 2 9 )

(10)The indivjdual knower, stat ioned in the intel lecl andidenl i l ied with i t , convinces hi lnselt ol the presence ollgnorance and i ts el tects in the Sel l , lhough ln l ruth i l isnot present, through his own exlraverted gaze - as sim-p1e souls al tr ibule blue colour lo the colourless elher oll r e s h y . ( 8 . 8 . V . 1 . r v . 2 9 8 . M . V . 1 2 1 . 1 ( .

I t shauld be underctood that certain verses lha! have al-ready been quoted above in dift'etent contexts have been re-introduced in lhe prcsent section to show thal Suresvara ap-proved the method al teaching through false allribution fol-lowed by subsequent rctraction.

223

The lorm of Non-Duallty Approvod In the Vart ikaThe Varl ika ol Surssvara accepts lhal the true Self. as

lhe absolute, innon,dual. l l is accessible when meta ohvsrcall g -o 'a_ce . l he sou rce o l t he who te imag in a ry ne lwork ; f du -al i ly, has been eradtcaled through lhe texts of the Upanishads.Th rs i s wha t one l ea rns l rom lhe s tudy oJ the Var t i ka .Suresvaracarya relut€d al l lhe exisl ing systems of Advailaopposed lo his o',n. H€ did so on lhe authority oJ Vedic rev_elation, backed by r6ason and his own direcl intuit ion, as welrave had occasion to nole at the poinl where we examinedthe di l terent variel ies ol the early period of the teaching (cp.M.V .90 , i n t ro . )We have a l so exp la in€d he re and the re i n t hepresenl chapler some ol lhe di l ferences belween the syslemol Acarya Mandana and that ol ihe Varl ika. Various theoriesof Advaila accepted or lolerated by lrandana are reluted bySursvara: we might refer lo the theories of Non-Dualism ollhe Word (Sabdadvaita, cp. [ /4.V 102,3), Non,duatism of Be-Ing, where Being is conceived as a universal (sattadvaita,cp . l \ 1 .V . 102 , 4 ) and Non -Dua l i sm o l pos i l i ve Be rno'b l ^avddva r la . cp . M .V . t 02 . 5 ) . We sha l r c tose th . s chap le ;wilh a few verses on these topics.

(l ) That which has in trulh no name or lorm manilested asname and torm, dep6nd ing solely on lgnorance (i.e. manilestedatthe beginning ofthe world period). Statemenl, in general, iscalied 'name' (nama); the stated, in generai, is caled ,Jorm,(rupa).Through thesetwo categori€s lhe Lord is able to mani_lesl Hirnself lor all crealures born in the realm ot manilesta-I on; il He had stay€d in his unmanilest lorm th s would nolhave possible. (B.B.Vl. iv 390-2)

For the Non-Dualsm ol lhe Wod adopted by Mandana, oneshauld consult Behna Siddhipp.lT-19 (cp. potteL 19A1, pp.356-8).

i224 Chapt€r€

(2) Thereforo (i.€. b€causo monial repetitions traditionally ratedhigherthan oralrepetitions ol lhe texts) the hue nature ol lheYajur Veda (and of all vedic l6xt6) is to be divine knowledgeimplanted in lh€ mind. In thig way th6 eternalily ol the Vedascan be righlly oxphin€d (sinc€ etemal Consciousness pervadeslhe mind. Their Dower lo communicatae can be eslablished ilihey are nol laken as phy6ically spoken words (but as ideas);it cannot be established ittheir abg€nce is supoos€d to be the(assumed) etemalprincipl€ (sphota) iatent in the spoken word.GB.V. [.297-8).

For Mandanab views on'SDhota', one should consult his wo*the Sphota Siddhi (see BiAiogEW undet Biardeau).

(3) Here in th6 upanishadic t€xt theterm'lhe Absolute'is us€din its direct msaning as h€ r€alily that is neith€r transcendentnor immanonl, ngither a universal nor a pariicular. (B.B.Vtvi i i .1815).

The Absolute b descibed ih thege tefits thtoughout the vadikd,as at B.B.V l.iu 656,745, 1073, 1272,446; .i,371; ll,iii.l2, 240;ll.iv.l4: Liu38 and so torth (cp. also M.V. 119,6). But Mandanaunderslood the Ats<rute to be the univeBal called Being (saftit),see *ahnta Siddhi p, 37 (M.U 102,4).

(4)The inmost principle, €is€ above allchange, r€mains con-templating jtself as th€ light (lil. r€suh) in ev6ry cognition, wit-nessing all knowledge of being and non-being. lt is ilselt thatimmediate expodonce that is not experienced by another Andso when the individual krowing subjec{ and his knowledge andits obiects ceas€, lhen the inmost Sell establish€s itsell aslhe sole existgnt by its own inherent power.When the lacl thaithe individual subject and his knowledgeand ils objects do notexisl is established through awakening loon€'s t.ue Selt, thsnthe notion ol 'not' indicates that which is etehally luminousand not knowabl€ by arry extorior means ol knowledge. (B.B.V

.iii.227 -9]'.

Sur€svara 225

The implication ol thi6 b that the notbn of'not'does not aDDi,eone ol non-gxislence. And this rclutes the Non-Dualism ol posiliveBeing (bhgvedvaka). But Mandana accepld it, See Bahna Siddhi

'(At B. Sid. p4, cp. M.U 102. 5, Maldana /'iaka9 an opponsnt rcna* dplthe Absotute can b6 assetaled * h ,o€inw annbui!6 (e.9. btiss) an n,satiteainbubs (e.9. a$anca ol the wdd ot ot lqr,oa1ca). As Mah.hna .,Des nolcont adicl lhls, he \!as l*an by lalet autho$ as heing ac-cepted he view ka! keA$olute coulal haw the negallw atilbul€s ot ab€enco ol ttta hiwrfet at cassa.tion ot lgnorcnc.' (cp. B.Sid., ed. Kuwuswani, Englbh lnto. W xi-xv). ]t is non-duat h its posltNe aspect (bh'vtdvalla), but tdarE!$ 3 kk.t ot datity k tEt it hasnegation ot vaiotts ttitlds bt lE'negatl\E auwnes'. Bhtvedvatta, w dt rcslt ont\6 ffi ol .eilykg nagatiot s aN! setfng hen W a3 a stange kind ol rcdity,rcappearc in such latat Advalte aulho.s as VlnunAldan (.p. M.U 2U) andA@dabodha (cp. M.u 275). No st{;h rcltlcaddr ls lanf, k Suestnn. Fat hintha wotd 'not'merely ldlcatad th6 Absotuta in iE tua brn. TN.)

o.c.9zosooo

ro.'€g

EFO

OF

Chapter-9

Sddhana can go on in the drcam or sleep state as well as inthe wa4ing.

(Sri Aurobindo;Le erc on Yoga, p.1 481 )To make use ot the nights is an excellent thing, it has a

double effect: a negative effect, it Nevents you trom la ing back-ward,losing whatever you have gained - that indeed, is painlul- and a positive effect, you nake 6oma prcgress, you continueyourptogress.

(The NlotheL Bul/oLh, Vol. Xll, No.4,p.91)

I he InlegralYoga of SriAurobindo has for i ts goallhe lolaliranstormation of ournalu16aswellasth€complete liberation olour being. But in our normalwaking slale weare conscious onlyol a very restricled lield and action of our nature, lhe resi ol ilremainingandfunclioningbehindtheopaqueveilof oursu acepersonali ly. But, since al l that we'become and do and bear' inourouter lite is prepar€d and govemed bylheso concealed zonesol activity subconscient and subliminalto ourwaking awareness,al assumes an "jmmense imporlance for a yoga which aims alth€ translormalion ot lite to grow conscious of what goes onwithin lhese domains, to be masler ther6 and be able to leel,know and deal with ihe secret torc€s that determine our destinyand our inteinaland exlernalgroMh or decline."

Now, as we have noled belore, sledp lik€ yogic trance openslhe gate to these subliminal worlds and allows us an enlry intolhe more signifjcanl realms ofourexistence. And although il is alacl that in the ordinary undeveloped siale ot ou r conscious nessmost of our sleep-experience remains unknownto our cognit ionand oven the lillle that manages to reach our recording surJacedoes so in the torm ol dreams and dream l igures and "not in lhat

230 Chapler-9 Thq Maslery of lhe Nighls 231

condi l ion which mighl becal led an innerwaking and which isthernost accessib e form of the l rance state," through a proper and. lelhodica sel f-discipl in ing we nay g'ow n conscioLsness insleep i tsei i so much so thal in the end we may iol low in uninter-rupted awardness our passage lhrough var ous realms ol our in-ner be ng and the return journey thereirom. " At a certain pi lch oithis inner wakefulness this kind of s leep, a sleep of expeiencecan replace the ordinary subconscrous slumber,"

I t is then that we have veridical dreams, dream-experiencesoi greal valLre, conveying lruths thal are nol so easy lo gei in ourordinary wak ng staie. Thus problems are solved in our dreamconsciousness, which ourwaking consciousness could not pos-srbly cope with;we are provide wi ih warnings and premonit ionsand indical ions of the fulure and wi ih "records of happeningsseen or experienced by us on other planes ol our own berng or oiuniversa being inio which we enler."

Our sleep-exisience, i i we are conscious in i l , renders usanother valuable service in the explorat ion ol our subconscientnalure that conlains much that is obscure in us bul not dist in-guishably act ive in ihe waking siate. A conscious pursuit of thesLrbconscient wanderings of our sleep-consciousness br ings toour notrce a class oi dreams lhal "ar ise l rom the revenge of ourinner being lreed tor a moment from the constraint that we impose on i t . These dreams oj ten al low us lo perceive sorne of thetendencies, tastes, impulses and desires ol which we would nolotherwise be conscious so long as our wi l l to rea rse our idealheld lhern down, hidden in some obscure recess of our being."For i i is one ol the most disconcert ing discoveries made nSadhana ihat whai we have thoughi lo have sett led and doneaway wi lh in lhe upper layers of our consciousness are obst i -fate y relained by our glut inous subconscienl. And just lor thatreason, as SriAurobindo has poinled out, these dreams provideu s w i t h a u s e l u i n d r c a t i o n , l o r " l h e y e n a b l e u s t o p u r s u e t h i n g sio thelr obscure roots in this unde|world and excise them."

Hence we see thai lhe i ields of our sleep i i proper y cult l ,valed can y e d us a great and effective aid on our road towardsse l-knowledge and seltmastery, also ln the pursuit oi our na-lure' lranslormatlon. B!t how to acq!ire a cognii on of the activi-t ies ol our nighis? How to transform the nature oi ouf sleep?

The procedure to dealw ih s eep and the dreamland may besard to have lhree ma n l imbs: ( ) how best to enter the stale oisleep? ( ) how 10 remain conscious in sleep itself? and (i i i ) howto retain the memory oi our dream-experiences even when wecome back to the wakrng awareness?

In our quesl lor the answers to this tr ple query, to whomelse would we lurn lhan io Sri Aurobindo and the lvloiher. thesupreme rnasters of the fourlold worlds of our being, jagrat,svapna, susuptia^d l lrya? so we make no apology for quotingn exlenso from lhe r luminous writ ings in an atlempi to offer

How Bestto Enterthe State ot Sleep?

"You rrusl l ie f la l on your back afd relax al l the muscles andnerves. . . lo be ike whal lcal ls piece oi c loth on the bed, noih'ing else remains. l f you can do that with the mind also, you getr d of al l stupid dreams that make you more t i red when you getup than when you went lo bed. l t is the cel lu ar act iv i ly of thebrain lhal cont nLes wi lhout control , and lhat I res much. There-late a lotal rclaxatian,a k nd ol camplete calm, withaut tension nwhich everylh ng s slopped. But lhis ls only the beglnning.

"Ai lef tards, a sel f-giv ing as total as possible, of al l , l romlop io bottom, l rom the oulside to the inmosi, and an erad cat ionaso as tota as possibe oi ai l resisiance o{ the ego, and youbeg n repeat ng your mantra - your mantra, i f you have one orany other word which has power over you, a word leaping Iromlhe hearl , spontaneously, ke a prayer and lhal surns up your

asp rat on. Ai ter hav ng repealed a few t rnes, i t you ale accls-lonred lo i t , yau get inta l rance.And lrom that t rance yoLr pass

nto sleep. The kance lasts as long as i t should end quite nalu-

ral ly, spontaneously you pass inlo sleep. 8ul when you come

back trom lhis sleep, you remember everything' lhe sleep was

but a cantinuation of the tance.

"Fundamenlal ly lhe sole purpose ol sleep is to enable lhe

body to assimilate the sftect o{ the lrance so thal the effect may

be accepted everywhere, to enable the body lo do its nalural

tunction ol lhe nighl and el iminate the toxins And when i l wakes

Lrp, there is no lrace of heaviness which come from sleep' lheeftect oJ lhe lrance conlinues.

"Even for those who have never been in lrance, i t Ls good torepeal a mantra. a word, a prayer before going into sleep But

there musl be a l i le in lhe words, I do not mean an intel lectualsignilication, nothing of thalkind,bul a vib@lion And on the bodyils eltect is extraordinary: itbeginslo vibrale, vibrate' vibrale andquietly you let yourself go asthough you wanied io get Inlo sleepThe bodv vibrales more and more and sl i l l more ano away yougol

Howlo Retain theAwareness of Dreams?

The i i€i part ot ihis discipl ine should naiural ly deal wrth thequesllon nowlo recognise ou r dreams and, above alL to dlst ingu_sh belween them; tor as we have noted beiore' they vary greally

in lherr nalure and quali ty. Otlen in the same nlghl we may nave

several dreams which belong to di l terent categorles and tfrushave dillerent inlrinsic value. Now, as regards the procedure whrchwe should adopt to retain the memory ol o!r nights Lel us l islen

to the words ot the Mother:

".. . .There is almost always a considerabLe divergence be'

lween what our menlal activity acl lal ly is and the way n wh cn

we perceive i l , and especial ly the way rn which v/e remarf con-scious oi i t . In i ts own sphere, this acl lvi ly determlnes whal vibra_lions are lo be lransmitted by repercussion up lo the cellLrlar

syslem ol our cerebralorgan, but in o!r sleepy brain,lhe subt e

vrbrations lfom the supersensible domain can only al iect a very

rnt ted nurnber ol cel ls; the inertra ot rnost of ihe organic sLtp-ports ol cerebral phenomena reduces lhe number ol lheir acl tvee ernenls, rmpover shes the mental synthesis and makes i l unl i lro repfoduce lhe act v i ty ol lhe inlernal staies olhet lhan by mages, ottenesi very vague and inappropriare_.. ,

'The cerebra rende ng ot ihe act iv i t ies ot the night s alr mes so mucn d stor led that a lorm js given lo phenomena whtchts the exact oppasite of the rcalily,..

' [8u1] i t one knows how to transtale in inte] iectual tanguagelhe rfofe of less inadequaie tmages by whrch lhe brarn repro-duces ihese {acts. one may learn many things whtch lhe toorrmrled physlcal iacul l ies do nol perrni t us to perceive.

_Some even succeed, by a special cul lure and lrarning, rnacq!rnng and retatning ihe consciousness ot the deeper actrvitles ol lhelr lnner being ndependenUy ot' their cerebrat transcrip-to, and are able lo recal l and know ihem in lhe waktng state rnal l the plen t !de ol lhelr tacult ies.. .

'How [ lhenj to cut l ivale lhrs i ie ld of acl ion? how lo acq!rre a

cagntttcn o out activjties ol the night?...'fhe same disctpline af concentralian wh ch enables a ntaf

no onger to remain a slranger to his Inner actrvi l ies in the wakng state. a so furnrshes him with lh; rneans or remov ng lrre

rgnorance ol lhose, sl i l l r icher, ol the diverse slates of S eep'Usua ty these ac|vi t ies leave only rare ano conrused merno,

.One I nds however lhal at t imes a fortui lous c rcumstance.an mpresslon recelved, a word pronoLlnced is enonghla reawakensuddenly ta cansciousness the whale al a long dream al whtchlhe monrenl beiore there was no recol/ecl io[

"From this simple tact we may tnler lhal our consctous act vty parl ic pates very ieebte in lhe phenomena oi lhe steep ngsiale as n the normal staie oi lh ings they wou d rcrnain tost t 'arever tn subconsctenl memoty..

234 Chapl6r-9

"One who wishes to recoverthe memory ol a forgotten dreamshould in lhe f irst place f ix his attenl ion on such vague impres-sions as the dream mighl have lel l trai l ing behind it and io lowthe indist inct trac€s as tar as possible.

"This fegular exercise would let him go tarther every daytowardsthe obscure rclrcat ol the suconscient where lhe lorgot-ten phenomena ot sleep take reluge and lhus ark oul a rouleeasy lo lol low between lhe two domains ol consciousness.

"One practical remark to be made lrorn this point of view isthal the absence ol m€mory is very otlen due lo abruptnesswtlhwhich lhe return lo consciousness takes place At this moment'n fact. new activit ies break into ihe l ield ol consciousness, 0nveoul iorcible al l that is foreign to them and atlelwards make moredil f icult lhe work ol concentration necessary to recall lhe thingsthus expelled- This is taci l i tated, on the conirary, whenever cer_lain mental and even physical precautions are observed lor apeaceful transil ion from one state to anolner."

Thus,lhe sl ipping away of the memory of our nights can begreatly remedied and a powerdeveloped ol going back in memoryfrom dream io dream, from state io state, t i l l a suff iciently coherenl knowledge oi our sleep l i le is buil t up.

But this lraining ol lh€ racull ies o, memory, as we shall pre'

sently see, does not prove su{l icient to l ink the lotal i ty ot oursleep-exislence with our waking awareness. For lhal we have togrow conscious in the state of sleep i lselt.

l low to Grow Conscious In Sleep

The training of our physical memory lo lol low back the threadof our dream-activi l ies lai ls to give i ls ful l dividend ior the sinplereasoa lhal n this way we are "able to l tanslorT nlo consciolJsphenompna oi lhe waking stale those alone which were alreadyso, be il mosl fleelingly, during sleep. For whele lhere was no

consciolsness, lhera can f'e no nemoty.

We should lherelore seek, in the second ptace, lo extendlhe part icrpalion ot consciousness lo a greater number ol activi_tres In the sleeping stale. Now,.,the daily habil ol going wilhinlerest over lhe various dreams of the njghl, this transforminqthe r vestiges ttt t te by trt e inlo precise memories as well as thaioi nol ing them down on waking are very helpful lrom this point of

"By virtue ol these habits, the mental lacult jes wil l be in_duced to adapt their mechanism to the phenomena ot this orderand lo direct upon lhem their a ention, curiositv and oowef ofanalvsrs.

" l l wi i l then produce a sotl ol inteltectuatisation ofdream,achieving lhe double result ot interspersing the consciousaclrvt l tes more and more inl imately in the play, hitheno disor-dered, ol the activities ol the sleeping state and of augmenlingpfogressrvely the scope otlhese activitjes by making lhem moreand more rationaland instructive.

"Dreams would then take on the charactsr ol orecise visionsand, at l i rnes. of dream revelations,"

But along with this part icipation oJ mental consciousness,tnrs revetatory Intei lectualisation ot dreams, we musl try to cui l i_vate a st i l l higher and deeper mode oI consciousn€ss in sleep.In lact, our sleep,l i fe should be as much a part ol Sadhana asthe waking one, and ihe developing consciousness that we at_tarn in our waking state through spiritual endeavor and aspirationshould extend itself tul lyand continuously alsoto the sleep state.l l is true that at the beginning and ior a long t ime it becomesdiff icul l to maintain lhe consciousness al the same pitch al night,lor "the lrue consciousness comes at f irst in the wak ng slale orrn medilat ion. i t takes possession ot the mental, the vital, theconscious physical, but the subconscious vitaland ohvsicai re,marn obscrrra and this obscunty comes up when lhere is sleepor an rnerl relaxalion_"Bul with the grow,th ol an intense SadhanaIn our wakrng stale, when we develop our inner beil |g, I ive lrom in

wrthoui and our subconscient is enl ightened and penetrated by

the l \ ,4otheis l ight, this disparl ty and ihis dislocal ion oi conscious

ness disappears, and our "sadhana goes on in the dream or sleep

stale as wel l as in the waking "

The Lure ol the Drcam'Consciousness

Al lhis poinl ol our djscussion we would l ike lo address a

note ol warn ng lo ihe seekers ai ter lhe mastery of lhe i r n ghls

Through a proper cul t ivat ion ot the f ie lds oi s leep_exrstence

when the rnner sleep consciousness begins lo deve op and along

w th t appeardream experlences as dist incl f rom ordinary dreams,

lhere is ol ten an irresist ible pul l on the consclousness lo w tn_

draw iror i r l ts waklng sialus, go within and lol low the develop_

menl ihere even when there is no ial igue or need ol s leep so

al lur ing are ihe experiences oi dream-consciousness, so over-

whelrning is the charm thereoTl

But thls attract ion of the sleep_world must nol be a lowed to

encroach on lhe wak ng hours and ihe 'wanl ng to get back to

somethrng nteresl ing and enthral ng which accompanles the

desre to Ial l in lo sleep" shou d be et lect ively curbed Olhelwise

there may be an Lrndesirab e unba ancing and 'a decfease ol lhe

ho d on ouler rea t es. '

Chapter-10

The Vision of the Divine Body

Chapter-10

The Light now distant shallgrcw native herc,The Strenght thalvtsits us out comrade power;The lneflable sha find a secret voice,The lnperishable burn through Matter's screenMaking lhis morlalbody godhead's robe

(Sri Aurobindo, Savlt l i ,Book l l , Canto l l ,p. 1 1 0)

Past and gone are three mortal genercIions: the lourtlt andlast inta lhe Sun willenlel

(Rig'Veda,V l.102.14)

ll the transformalion ol the body is complete, that means nosubjeclion to death - il does not mean that onewillbe boundlokeep lhe same body lor all time. One crcates a new body foloneself when one wants to change...

(Sri Aurobindo, leltels on Yaga,p.1 1 )

I he l- reg'alYoga o' SellTransformal on as 'evedled lo nanby Sri Aurob ndo and the N,4other has for i ls aim, in contradist inc-t ion to the al lempts mentioned in th€ foregolng chapler, the crea-t ion oi a d v ne body, here in the coadit ions of earth and matler.It does noi want to be conlenled with a clnmayadeha,or lran-scendenla body, as in lhe case of the Vaishnavas, nor wilh lhepossession of a post 'mortem 'pneumatic' body ol Pauljne con-ceplion.

For, lhis YoSa aims not 3l a release from embodied exisl_ence {as even lhe Tanira and Vaishnavism do at the end), al adeparture out ol the world inlo some supElerrestrial world olbl iss and spir i tual enjoyment, but at a change of earthly l i le andexlsience, ar a divine lulf i lment oJ l i fe here upon eadh, and that,

i

A

241240 Chapter-10

and thal too "not as something subordinate ol incidenla, but as ad st incl and cenlral object". Also, " lhe obiect soughl af ter [ in lhisYogal is not an individual achievemenl ol div ine real isal ion lorlhe sake oi the individual, bul somelhing to be gained tor lheearth-consciousness here."

Now, in this i ramework ol the goal of a divine iul i lment olterrestr ial l i fe, the importance of lhe body is indeed obvious. For,as Sr Aurobindo himself has decared:

"A total perfection is the ultimale aim which we sel beJoreus, for our ideal is lhe Divine Li ie which we wish to creale here,the l r te of the Spir i i fu l f i l led on earth, l i fe accomplishing i ts ownspir i tual l ransformation even here on earth in lhe condit ions olthe mater ial universe.That cannot be unless the bodv too under-goes a transtormation, unless i ls aci ion and luncl ioning attain loa supreme capacity''and the physical consc iousness, and physical being. the i isel l . . .be suf lused with a l ight and beauty andbl iss i rom lhe Beyond and lhe l i te divine assume a body divinel

Elsewhere SriAurobindo sounds anoleofwarning: ' l t is be-cause he has developed ot been given a body and brain capableof receiving and serving a progressive menlal i l lumuinalron lhalman has r isen above the animal. Equal ly, i t can oniy be by de-veloping a body or at_least a iunct ioning of lhe physical inslru.menl capable of receiving and serving a st i l l h igher i l luminal ionthat he wi l l r ise abovqhimself and real ise, not merely in thoughtand in his internalbeing but in l i fe, a perlecl ly div ine manhood.Otherwrse ei ther the promise of Li le is cancel led, i ts meaningannul led and earthly being can only realse Sachchidananda byabol ishing i tsel f , by shedding from i t mind, l i fe and body andreturning to the pure Inl in i ie, o{ else man rs not the divlne instru-ment, lhere is a dest ined l imit lo the consciously progressivepower which disl inguishes him lrom al l other terreslr ial ex st-ences and as he has replaced them in the i ronl ol things, soanother musl evenlual ly replace him and assume his heri tage."

But for lunaiely for earth- l i f€ and for man neither of these

altenatrves need be envisaged, For man has convjnclngly shownby hrs pasl achievement ihat he is capable jn a parts of h sbeing of exceeding adlr l l r l lumthe bounds ol his actual i ty.Thusthere s no inevi tabi l i ly oi logic why he himself should not at theglonous prospect ol div ine manhood, by operjng al his mem-bers, - h s menla i ty, his l i fe, and, ihe last but not the leasl , h sbody i ise l , - to the unvei led acl ion ofthe Supermind and al tow,Ing them io be integra ly moulded and transi igured by that 'grealerterm ol the Spif i i manriesl ing in Nalure. '

For. r t should be ciear ly borne in mind that the divrne bodvlhus envrsaged can come into existence and i ls physical immor-tal i ty be achieved and assured, not through the pal l ry ei tortsmade by scrence, northrough the occul l -spir i lural inl luences lhatseek lo act upon Mtlerthrough the sole agencyofthe powers olconscrousness so lar organised in earth-nature, bui through lheactron ol lhe Supramental Power, lhe power of " the lal l Truth-Consciousness ol the Divine Nature". This Trulh -Consc ioLls ness,r la-cl t . the Supermln as SriAurobindo terms i t , is a dynamic andnol only a slal ic Power, not only a Knowledge. but a Wil l accord-ing lo Knowledge, ' lhat can "mani lest direct i ls world of Ltghl andTrulh in which al l is luminously based on the harmony and uni lyoi the One, not dlsturbed by a vei l of lgnorance".

Also, whenthis Supramenial Power overt ly intervenes rn thel ield of body and Matter, i ts wofking wi l l be 'not an int luence onlhe physica giving i l abnormal lacult ies, but an enlrance andpenetrat on changing i l whol ly into a supramenlal ised phys cal .

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 r o t i h i ssupramenta|sed phys cal making possible the appearance, hereupon earth i tsel l , ot a who ly i ransf igured divlne body, Sr iAurobindo has wrt ten in great delai l in lhe penultrmale chaplerol The Llfe Diviae and, more exhaustivelv. in hrs last work IhcS u pramenlal Ma n ifestation u po n Earth.

The mited span ol the present work does nol perrni t us todiscuss n lul i lhe nature ol this apotheosrs ol the maler ial bodyoi man, as env saged in ihe Yoga'Phl losophy ol Sr i Aurobindoand ihe Mother, nor can we ind caie how for and. jn whai way the

The V s on ol the D v ne Eody

242 Chapler-10

insistent problems of lood and sleep, fai ig!e and inerl ia, dis-ease and decay, unregenerated impulses anci appeti les are go-ing to be solved in the iransformed divine body io appear in t ime.We conlent ourselves with picking up here one theme, thetheme,we might as well say, ol the Sphinx-l ike problem of death sndissolution oJ lhe individual 's physical body.

For, we have been assured by SriAufobindo and lhe IVolherthat as a crowning achievement of the Supramental Manileslotionupon Earih, there wil l come wil l come aboul ' lhe physical con'quest of death, an earthly jmmoftal, ly ' , - ' in the sense not oJaltachmenl or ot restr icl ion to our presenl corporeallrame but anexceeding ol the law o{ the physical body." For, "from the divineBhss, the original Delight o{ existence,the Lord ol lmmorlal i lycomes por]r ing the wine ol that Bliss, the mystic soma, inlothere jars of mental ised l iving matter; eiernal and beauli ful, heenters inlo these sheaths ot substance for the inleqral lranslor-malion of the being and nature".

And thus wil l be realised lor man his age-old yearning, "theconsummation ol a lr iple immortal i ty, - immortal i ty of lhe na-ture completing the essenlial immodali ly ot lhe Spir i t and thepsvchic sufvival ol dealh," - which wil l be "the crown ol rebirthand a momentous indication ol the conquest ol the nalerialInconscience and lgnorance even in lhe very loundalion ot there gnof N,4aller,. . .atemporarsignollhespir i t 'svicloryhereoverDealh ahd Maltel.

But beJore this vision of the conquest ot Death, can be real-sed in the l iJe ot man, lhe melaphysical necessiiy lor i ls exisl-ence and away so far has to be adequately met and abrogated.

So our task now is lo proceed to the study oi lhe melaphys-cs oi death and indicale the condit ion necessarv ior lhe attain-menl ot a phys cal immortal i ty.

Chapter-11

The Conquest of Sleep

Chapter-11

Thtne ts the shade in whtchvtsions are made:sped bylhy hands lram celestiallandscome lhe souls thal reloice fat evet.lnlo thy dream wa ds we pass ar laak tn lhy tnagrc glass,titen beyan(l thee we climb out af Space and Timelc th-. peak of dtvine endeavour.

(Sri Aurobindo. Cal lected Paems and P/ays. Vol l l .p 122r

He has see, Gods slu/nber shape these magic vvorldsHe has v.'aiched lhe dumb God lashiontng Maltet s lra )-..Dreenng the dreans al ns unknowing sieep.And vatched the unconsctoris Fotce lt)at bLrlt lhe starc.He has iearni lhe lncotisctenl s wotkings and ns lawl!s satnnolence fotnded the univerceIts abscure tuaktng makes the world seem vatnHe mus! cal i lqht tnla t ls dsrk abysms.Else never can Ttuth conqLter lL'latte. s sleepAntt all eatlh laok inlo lhe eyes of God

lSr Aurobindo. -Saydr/ , Book Vl Canlo l l , pp 4?19.50)

W" t lou" .""n n the course ol our slud y at tangue h.: t ten1-Eof the occLri t nalufe and lunct on of s cep lhal lh-" penol c spcl soJ dormancy of our body need nol pta'Je \a be an !navoi l lab e.v | .or.r han. i cap 1o our spirr lLral growlh. n any cas-o. our physca sle-op dces nol / , .e;essaf/ /y mean an abeyancc ol consc o!sn e s s o 1 t h - . r i h o l e o J o u r d y n a m i c b e r n g . n o r a n ( r h l y I n f r )d o ' n . n o r e v e n a n f i e r r u p t o n n t h e p u r s u r l o l o u r S a d h a r a O nthe other l rand. th s may be trafsJorrned, t l we krtow hov, tc. io lnto : s/eep a{ expe ences g v ng us an access 1o lne nner

dona ns ot oi . rr be ng

246 Chapter '11

But whalever may be the value of the sleep-ex stence, tol ive in the dream-v/orld at lhe price of the suspension ol ourwaking awareness cannol be considered a laudable achievementin the Yoga oi Transformation ol Lile. We have to br ng out andca l l down the reaches t rom ou r sub l im ina l dep ths andsuperconscienl height and make lhese an acquisit ion of ourwaking l i le. Our physical consciousness has to be "spir i tural lyawake" and "as open in the waking conscrousness as in sleep."We have some how to "arrave at a poinl when one remains oul-wardly conscious and yet l ives in lhe inner being and has al wil llhe indrawn orlhe cutpoured condil ion."

It is thus evident that the irresist ible bouts ol unconscious-ness oi sleep lo which our body's waking status occasronallysuccumbs cannot but be viewed as a sign of imperfection in theprevail ing organisation of our physical being. What rs then nec-essary is lhat - and this must consli lute an essenlral elemenlin the tolal lrans{iguration of our bodily existence - sleep m6lbe Gised ftom the level of necessily to that of a free accept'arce, as and when so wil led, as an indrawn absorpl ion ol our

Thus the mastery over our nights should be lol lowed by theatlempl ai an absolute conquest ol sleep. Bul is lhis lotal vic-tory over physical sleep at al l feasible in lhe present humanbodv? And. i f not. what are lhe essenlial condil ions lhal have tobe met before lhis prospecl lor bodily l i te enlers the f ield ofrealisable possibi l i t ies?

By way oi answering lhese crucial queslions we propose toDut forward lwo related Droblems and venlute some lentatrvesolutions thereol.

How to Reduce the Hours of Sleep?

On the purely physical-vital plane, sleep has Ior i ls essen-l ia luncl ion the restoraticn oI the nervous physical energies olour lat igued bodily system. But Ior an eJiecl ive fulf i lmeni ol lhisiunction, i t is absolutely necessary thal our sleep-l i te should bo

calm and reposeful, relaxed and luminous. Bul very rarely do ournights measure up to this cri lerion: these are, more ol len thannot, more fatiguing than even our days lor reasons which ol lenescape us.

But the l\,4oih€r has warned us that iJ we get up nol so wellrefreshed in the mornjng, i t is because of a lormidable mass ofTamas."lt isTamas whichcauses bad sleep.There are two kindsoJ bad sleep: lhe sieep thal makes you heave, dull , as lhoughyo! lose all lhe eflect oi lhe efforl you put in during the preced-ing day; and the sleep that exhausls you as i f you were passingyour t ime in i iqht.

".. .Two lhings you musl el iminate: Jal l ing into lhe torpor oithe inconscience, wilh al l these lhings of lhe subconscienl andot the inconscienl lhal r ise !p, invade you, enter inlo you; and avital and mental superactivity where you pass your time in lighl-ing literally terrible baitles. People come oul ofthat stale bruised,as il they had received blows - and lhey did receive them, it isnol 'as i f ' !"

(A) Relaxation:Now, since the totaltime jnterval needed torlhe recuperation of our energies is in inverse rai io lo the quali lyot repose that we al lain in our sleep, the very l irst procedure wemust adopt to cut down the duration of our nightly sleep is topractise lhe art of conplele relaxation of body and mind, a shortperiod of which proving to be more refreshing than hours of rest-less sleep, In the recommendation of a Buddhisl author: "Relaxeach porl ion oi the body deliberately and co nsciously; lhen closethe eyes and lry lo visualise utter darkness. Fe€l yoursell f loal.ing in a srlent void, and deliberalely emply lhe mind ol everythough t and fee l i ng by imag in ing such a cond i t i on asSwinburnes's "Only a sleep et€rnal in an eternal nightl 'And theauihor concludes thal, once lhB proper knack is abundance oltresh energy and a clean-swept invigorated mind.

Be that as i t may, lhis negative method ol felaxation cannollake us very tar on our road to lhe conquest ot sleep, l t should

The Conquest of Sleep 247

f rom rather the essenl ial prel iminary step lo a lor more el teci ve

and spir i lual ly benef ic ial one: to become consclous In our sleep

and del iberately ut i l ise our nights lor progress

(B) Conscious utilisatian of nights: Al this porni we would

l ike to dispei a possible misunderstanding lhal may ar ise ln

connect ion with this suggesl ion lor a conscious ul lsal ion ol our

nights. There may be a lurking lear in some minds lhal lhrs at '

ternpt at lhe cul l ivat ion of the vast f ie lds ot our n ghts, Inslead

of br inging in a more reposelul and lheretore a more invrgoral ing

sLeep wouid on the olher hand al lecl i ts deplh and delracl l rom

the eff icaci ly ol our night ly resl wh ch is so salulary and indis-

pensable ior our physical health

Bul this fear and doubt have got no basis in iacl For. as lhe

Molher has assured us, i t is only the useless and uncontrol lable

and mosl ly subconscious act iv i t ies ln our sieep that make our

nights more ial iguing lhan the day. On the conlrary ' i l our nLghl

qranted us lhe acquisi t ion oJ new knowledge, the solulron oi an

absorb ng problem, the eslabl ishmentoi conlact In our rnnerbeing

with some centre ol l i le or of l ighl , or even the accomplishrnenl

ol some usefulwork, we should always get up wi lh a ieel ing ol

vigorrr and wel l 'being. l t is lhe hours wasted in doing nalhtng

useful at' good that are lhe mosl latiguing

Th s conscious cul t ivat ion o{ our sleep-exlslence lor reaprng

frui is ior our inner growth is then the second esssnlra elemenl

of our endeavour lo rnake the state 01 physical s leep a real re '

s lorer of our energies.

Bui the gain acquired even in this way seems to be l im ted in

ls scope so lar as our main problem ol drast cal ly reduc ng the

hours ol s leep is concerned, For that we have 1o become con_

scrous maslers oi another signi f icant phenomenon ol our s eep-

l ie: ihe poss b l i ty oi enlrance inlo lhe "susupl i 01 Brahrnan ol

Brahmaloka.

lC) Attainnent of Sachchidananda tmmobilttyj Once beiore

we have already made a passing reference to thls slale ol luml_

nous rest In steep. As a ma er of fact, for sleep to be at allworth the name lullilling its role of the restorer of energies, ilmusl be ei lher one "in which there is a luminous si lence,,or elseone 1n which lhere is Ananda in the cells."The rest ol our sleep-lile is an attempt at sleep, not sleep itself. fo quote lrom theMolher a passage to which we have aheady referred:

"There is the possibililyot a sleep jn which you enter inlo anabsolute si lence, immobil i ty and peace in al l parts of your beingand your consciousness merges into Sachchidananda. you canhardly call it sleep for it is extremely conscious. In thal condi_lion you may remain lor a few ninutes, bul these lew minutesqive you morc rest and refreshment than houts of ordinarysteep."

Sri Aurobindo too has trealed this topic on numerous occa-sions. Thus, to quote lrom him only one passage:

"ln sleep one...passes from consciousness ro oeeoer con_sciousness In a long successton unlr lone reaches the osvchicand rests rhereofelsefrom higherlo higher consc iousnes s unti lone reaches rest in some silence and peace. The few minutesone passes in this rcst ate the rcal sleep which restores, _ i,one does not gel it, there is only a hall rest."

But, as a matter of fact, this brief Sachchidananda period of''luminous and peacetill dreamless resl"thal .gives sleep all itsreslorative value" cannot be had 'by chance; it requires a lonolraini.g. tndeed, our ordrnary sleep, even when rt is of the besivanety, s rnoslly taken up with our actual Irayel/ing towards thisstale ol Sachchtdananda immobil i ty and our return Journev loItse wakJng av/areness. without very often evei reaching the siarea ta l .

And even t l we reach this state on sorne rare occasions,,. i trs oone unconsciously as i t is, l f one wants to do it consciouslvand regulale L one has l irst lo become conscious in sleep.,. An;lhen a one can the prospect possibly open up betore us ol reduc_Ing the hours ol sieep to a bare minimum.

Chapler-11

But even this cannot al logelher el iminale the necessily olsleep. The reason is twofold, physiological and occuit-spir i lual,lo whose consideral ion we nowlurn.

Howto Eliminate the Nacessity of Sleep?

Physicat prccondition: On the pi-rrely physico-physiologicalptane, srnce sleep is the body's unavoidable response lo i lsoverstrain and exhaustion lhrough an ill-balanced expenditure ofenergy, whal is needed is the totalannulment o, al l possibi l i ty ofour body's iat igue. And ihis brings us lo lhe general problem ofincapacily and inert ia of our present physical organisation For'altho!gh it is a facl lhal "either the yogic or the vital energy canlong keep at work an overstrained or declining physicalsystem'a t ime comes when this drav/ing is no longer so easy nol per'

haps possible"and lhe bad resulls long held back lrom mani'lestrng explode al lat once ancl a breakdown ;nsues.'

So the problem of incapacity has to betackled and soved onlhe ptane of the body ilsell. For'the body is the key, the bodythe secret bolh of bondage and ot r€lease' ol animal weaknessand ot divine power, of th€ obscuration ol the mind and soul andol their i l lumination, of subiection to pain and l imllal ion and otsellmastery, ot dealh and of immorlal i ly"

Bul what is the inherent reason tor lhis lal igue ol our body?Why does our physical system get periodically tired? Why can itnol work in a continuous wav?

In lhe words ot the Mother:"The lat igue of the body comeslrom an inner disharmony. There may be many olhet apparen!r;abons, bul allamounl to that lundamenlal circumstance."

What is this want of harmony due to? The answer l ies in ihefact of a l imited l i fe-force, lodged in the confines oi a l imited andegobound individualised existence, conlending in vain wilh theuniversal AllLile and All-Force ihal seeks consianily to govern

and master i t . In lhe evolul ionary emergence and developmenl

251

of l i ie in malel lal forms, i t is lrue that as consciousness devel_ops more and more, "as the l ight of i ls own being emerges tromlhe enerl darkness ol lhe involutionary sleep,lhe indivjduatex-istence becomes dimly aware ol the powsr in it and seeks ferstnervously and ltren mentally lo master, use and enjoy the play.".Bul, even at our best, we mental beings are bound are bound bya poor and l imited l i le power which is al l that our body can bearorto which it can give scope. And" in the consequent interchangeand balancing between the movement and interactlon ol the vitalenergies normally al work in the body and their int6rchange withthose wh ch acl upon it from oulside, whether lhe energies otolhers or the general Pranic force variouslv acl ive in the envi-ronment, there rs a constant precarious balancing and adj!st-menl which may at any moment gowrong"5

Thus, In lhe very nalure ol things, our individualised l i fe andlorce in lhe body cannol master the AlfForce working in theworld. On the contrary lhe resistance which it otters throughblind ignorance lo lhe movement ol the inf inite universal Life''wilh whose lolal will and kend its own will and trend may nolrmmedialely agree",r subjects it to the law oJ incapacily and ta-t lgue, one o{ lhe basic characterist ics ol individualised and di-vided Life in lhe body.

Hence to cure ou. physical system ot al l l iabi l i ty lo fat igue,the lirrilation of ego has to be totally abrogated not only in theinner parls ol our being, but in the very physical consciousnessand the malerial organisation ol the body. Our body has to bebroughl inlo complete harmony with the demands ot our owninner conscrousoess and with lhe inf ini le cosmic |hvthm.

Bul 'lhat means', ln lhe words of the [,4other, " a work ineach cell of the body, in each smallacl ivity, in each movementof the organs... You have to enter into the disposit ion of thecells, your inner physical organisation if the body js lo answer toihe Force lhat descend.. You must be conscious ol your physical ce s, you musi know their dif terent lunctions, the degrees AI

The Conquesl ol Sleep

Chapler-11

receptivity in each, which ofthem are in good condition and which

But this cannot be altempled with lhe help ol ihe lnsuil lclentand inetf icient l ighl ol mind'consciousness. l t rs only thro!ghthe descend and concomilanl emetgence of the divine Gnosis,Supermind, here in the midsl o{ the evolutionary Becomrng, thalMatter and material body can be rid ol their ineri ia andinconscience and a properequation established between he life-energy playing in an individual formation and the surges of lheembarking All-Force. For in lhe Supermind "alone is ihe con'scious unily of al l diversi l ies; there alone wil land knowledge areequaland in pedect harmony; there alone Consclousness andForce arrive at lheir divine equation."

It is through the supramentaltranslormation ol our physicabody,-thal "is slill a llower of the material Inconscience."4-down io i ts very cel ls and Junclioning thal the law oJ incapacityand consequenl fat igue wil l be l inal ly abrogated and wllh i t thephysiological compulsion f or sleep.

But lhere rernains a f inal hurdle, the occull-spir lual neces'sity of sleep, but that too wil l be completely annulled wilh thegnostic transformalion 01 our waking exislence.

Occult-sDirilual Drccondition: we have seen ihal n iis es-sential nature our body's sleep is the aesponse lo the demand olthe individual consciousness to go inward and awake in planesof existence not at present accessible to the waking awarenesswhlch is st i l l in the grip ol an involutionary hall-sleep. So, unlessand unti l his spir i tual slumber is total ly el iminated Jrom ail partsof the being including our very physical consciousness, molherNature wil l constrainour body to ial l occasionally into the swoonof s umber so thal the podals of the inner and higher l i te canopen.

Now, when Supermind or Gnosis, lhe Truth'Consciousnessol Sachchidananda, overt ly emerges in ihe f ield of evolution to

The Conq!rest ol Sleep 253

become the governing pr inciple ol our embodied maler ial sxisfe..e. r_c nanrfesled being wiL be in secure possess on ot dnnlegral Consciousness and an integra S ght, so that there wi l lbe no more a slale of s leep in oppositron to the state of pefma-nenl waking, norforthat mattera l ineol demarcat ion separat ingthe inner and outer domains of existence. The evolving beingwil lhen be fuly aroused from the sel f-obl iv ion of an Involulronarysleep and, a ong with i t , lhe spir i lual compulsion behind the sleepol our body wl l l a l togelher lose i ts occult supporl .

ln ihal loresble Golden Dawn, the body wi l l thr i l l w th lhefu I menl of i ts dest iny, i t wi l l par l ic ipate in tul l awareness in theglor ies of a d vrnised l i fe upon earth.and the law of the inexora-ble necessi iy ol s leep wi l l be 10r ever l i l led from i ts head.

But ln the meantrme let us not lorgel even lor a moment lhegreal role thai s leep can play in the present organisat ion of ourl i ie and being; 10r, does i t nol open lo us ihe doors of the dream-land, the Yogic dream-world, i f we oniy know how to put i t lo

And who can be l i t l le lhe inl int le charm and beauly and bl issihat ihe [ /other oi Dreams may beslow upon us, i f we only knowhow lo courl Her favour?

ChapteFl l

APPENDIX

THE MOTHER OF DREAMS'

SRIAUROBINDOGoddess supreme, Mother of Dream, by lhe ivory doors when

lhou standesl,Who are they then that come down unto men in thy visions

tha lt roop, group upon group, down the path ol the shadows

slant ing?Dream al ler dream, they f lash and lhey gleam with the f lame

olthe stars st i l l around ihemi

Shadows at the side in a darkness r ide where ihe wi ld t i resdance,

stars glow and glance and the radom meleor gl istens;there are voies hat cry lo their kin who reply; voices sweel,

at head they beat and ravish the soul as i l l is lens.What then are these lands and these golden sands and lhese

more radiant rhan earrn ""n

i."gii3iWho are those that pace by the purple waves that race to lhe

cl i f i-bound f loor o, thy jasper shore under skies in whichmyslery muses,

Lapped in moonlight not ol our night or plrnged in sun shinethat

is not d urnal?Who are they coming they Oceans roaming wiih sai ls whose

slrandsafe nol made by hands, an unearthly wind advances?

Why do they loin in a mystic l in6 with those on the sandslinklng

hands in s{range and stately dances?Thou in the air, with a f lame in lhy hair, the wh rl ol thy

wonderswatching,

Th€ Conquesl ol Sleep

Holdest the night in thy ancient r ight, Mother divine,hyacinthine,

with a girdle of beauty detended.Sworded with t ire, al lracting desire, thy l ine bours kingdom

thou keepesl,Starry-sweet, with the moon at thy feet, now hidden now

seenthe clouds between lhe gloom and the drjt l ol lhy kesses.

On y to lhose whom lhy tancy chose, O thou heartJree is i lgiven to see thy wetch craft and fell they caresses.

Open the gate where lhy chi ldren wait jn their world ol abeauty

undarkened,High-throned on a cloud, victorious, proud lhave espiedMaghavan ride when the armies ol wind are behind him;

Food has been given for my tasting from heaven and fruit o{rmmorlal sweelness;

I have drunk wine of the kingdoms divine and have heard thechange ol music strange Jrom a lyre which our hands cannol

master;Doors have swung wide in the chambers ol p.ide where lhe

Gods reside and the Apsaras dance in their ckcles fasler and

For rhou art she whom we tirsl can """

*n"n *" o"lTliibounds of the mortal,

There al the gates of the heavenly states thou hasl plantedlhy wand enchanted over the head ol the Yogin waving.

From thee are lhe dream and the shadows that seem andthe lugit ive l ights lhat delude us;

Thine is lhe shade in which visions are made; sped bythy hands lrom celestial lands come the souls lhal rejoice for

ever.Inlo thy dream-worlds we pass or look in thy magic

glass, then beyond the6 we cl imb oul of Space and Tirne tothe peak ol divine endeavour.

255

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Chapter-12

Then man was bom among lhe monstrous starcDowercd with a mind and heart to conquer thee.

(Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, Eook lX, Canlo ll, p. 594)

The Ars magna, that royal and sacetdotal science of thealchemtsts, is veily a science ol rcgeneation... Many aseeker on the ways of the Divine has und'ryone spiitualtegenenlion. But very few arc they who have known themystery ol corporcl rcnewal.

(D.Eckhanshausen, La Nu€e sure Le Sanctuaire)

Senescence and nalural dealh,'la mott naturcl/d, are thusseen to be nol al allnecessary and intrinsic attribules oraccom-paniments of incarnate life. Hence hav€ arisen on the part ofman various deliberately planned attempts at the physical andpractised in the modern West, - this battl€ for the viclory oversenile decay and the body's death is no longer considered to betarcical and tutile, but rather as a veritable scienlitic problemand proposit ion. Already in the year 1924, S. l4elalnikov of lheInstitute Pasteur (Paris) wrote: 'All elforts of ihe biologisl andmedical men lo wage a successtul battle againsl the onsel ofsenescence and restore youth to the aged and d€cadent oughtto be considered as practically possible and 6cientitically motivaled (prcjudgement possibles et scientiliquement motiveesf

Here we may briefly state them a in attempts, bolh scientificand occull-spiritual, that have been so lar made lorthe physicalconquest ol dealh.

\A) Rejuvenation Prccedures. lndeed, in recenl years, sc!ence has proc€edod in right earnest lo lackle lhe problem ofaging and dealh, starting from lhe low€r end ol lhe range ot ourbeing.

264 Chaple ' -12 Atlemprs al 'Kayas ddhi 261

t has soughl 1o tormulate lheories, and act ef iect ively, onthe underlying physico-chemical iaclors and processes that governthe phenomenon of progressive senescence oJ the bodylockedsoma-cells and have tortheir ullimale and inexo rable conseque ncethe sornat ic dealh of the individual organism. ln oLrr t ime rnuchva uabLe work has been ne in this special ized i ie d of biology andthe nterested reader may consult appropriate publ ical ions iorrelevant rnlormal ion-

In br ief , we may state that many are the theories that havebeen put forward to explain lhe onsel ol the phenomenon of se'nescence (e.9., those of l ,4aupas, Hertwg, Mainol, Koltzoi f ,IVetchnikot, Weissmann and olhers), and numerous have beenthe al tempts to achieve rejuvenat ion of the aging body andlengthen the span oi l i le i by var ious surgical aleral ions ofcertarned endocrinal organs, part icular ly the essent ia organs of

ndeed, i t has of len been thought that aging is brought aboutby the tarlure of or1e or other of the endocrine g ans and atlemptshave been made to rejuvenale an aging body by graft ing io i lappropriate glands or injecl ing inio i t glandular extracts.

But, l rom the fundamental polnt of v ew, lhese have by nomeans solved ihe problem al i ls base. For, on the one hand, notheory of s inei decl ine so faf put lof f iard can be regarded asent re y sat isfaclory oras general ly eslabl ished bylhe evidence.Also, "most of them suffer f rom the logoc al defecl oi sett ing upsome part icular observed att f ibute or elemeni of the phenom-enon oi seaescence i tsel l , such as prolop asmic hysteresis,slowing rale of melabol ism (meanrng essent ial ly only reducedacl iv i ty), etc as lhe cause of the whole".

One the other hand, whalever may have been the immedialep h y s i c a a n d p s y c h o l o g i c a l e f f e c t s o l t h e p r o c e d u r e s o frejunvenat ion, these have proved lo be no more than lemporaryhe ghtening ol some gland acl iv i t ies, al iogether"trans enl resul ls"as one dist inguished biologist has iermed lhem.There is as yet

no evidence whaisoeve r lh al thes e medico-scient i t c procedureshelp lo increase in any way ihe bas c polent ial speci l c longev tyof the indiv dlal . In the words of Prol . Vernon T. Schuhardi , anauthori ty in lhe i e di

' 'A ihough loudly proclaimed,lhese procedures were not we IIounded in theory and have not with stood the exacl ing lhecr i t ical tesls of t imeand coni i rmal ion. No evidence has beend scovered lhat a ihe aging the body as a r /hole ls depend'ent on ei lher lhe act iv i ly or lhe tai lure o the sexual glands,per se . . . The el fects were lemporary and did not oi isetthe slow dec ine ol old age. Indeed, some danger is involvedn such a one-s ded st imulal ion oJ lhe seni le since the or-

ganism as a whole may nol be physical ly const i tuted towthsland the sudden and abnormalstress,, ,The hormonesmay ater lhe background of physiologica react ons andrnodi ly thai structural nlegr i ty ol the cel ls and t issue, bu1lhey have little lasting effect on the primary causes of agingthe ser, i / / ty. . . Thus whi le the germinal elements become thesource of poslerty, the body seems predesl ned to weaken,grow o d and dle. And by the lat ler 1950's nomeans havebeen iound lo ser ious y al ter lh is decl ine."

So we see lhal the scienl i l ic at tempts at prevent ing devital-sat ion and proionging the individLral l i fe 'span oi man have so larproved fut le and usive, and we on our parl venture to asserlthat lhese w l l prove equa ly so even in the lulure; ior, the roolof the ma ady ies somewhere else and is too deep and inscru-lable lor sc ence to probe or to f ind the rernedy thereof. Toant ic ipate the ne ol suggesled solut ion, we may siate torthwiththal "even t Sc ence -physc al Science or occult Science-werelo discover the necessary condi l ions or means ior an indef nl tesurvival ol lhe body, st l l l , i f lhe body could not adapl i ise I soas to become a i i t nslrument oi express on for the nner grolvth,lhe sou wou d i ind some way to abandon i l and pass on io a nev/ncatnal on. The mate al or physicalcarses ol dealh are not i ls

soe or ts tTUe cause; i ts t rue inmost reason ls the spir i luaL

262 Chapter-12

necessity lor the evolut ion ol a new being."

(B) Keyesiddhi procedures; Leaving behind the iield ol sci-enl i f ic achievements as wel l as lai lures,we pass onnow lo asurrmary considerat ion of some oi the attempts fnade by man,start ing fror i the other. lhe higher, end ol the range ol our being.

These occull-spirilual attempis al dehasiddhl, the atlainmentoi pedecl ion of lhe mater ial body ol man, have in the majol tyoi cases come down to us in lhe lorm ol t radi l ions and a lorewhose sources sometimes have been lost n the obscure andremote past ol lhe race.

Thus, in lhe words of lhe Mother, "in a very ancient lradilion,preceding even the Vediand Chaldean traditions, there was alreadythe quest ion ol a glor ious body which would be plasi ic enoughIo be conslanl ly remodel led by lhe deeper conscrousness, abody expressing lhis conscio usness, T here was the quesl jon olluminosity i ihe matter const i tut ing ihe body being able lo be-corne luminous atwi l l .There was the quest ion ol a kind of l ightness being possible which would enable the body to move aboutin lhe air by mere wi l l - force and some procedure of handl ing thernner energy on so on. '

Some Buddhist kadi l ions speak ol lhe Buddha's lemporaryvictory over death, Mttyumata.Fhese are based on a Buddhistbel ief that usi as an arhalcan abandon the'coeft ic ents ot l i le. 'so he can also slop them (sthApayatr. "According lo theVarbhasikas, the saint says: ' lVay l the aci ton that is to f ipen lorme in enjoyment r ipening l i te l 'By i ts nalure, l i le is ' r ipening'lvipeka), and it can teplace any enjoymenl whlch normally oughtlo ripen from a former meril, and which the saint no longer desfesand has escaped by his sainthood. By this process, 'vanquish-ng death' , the Buddha prolonged his l i le three months for ihe

salvat ion of men, and the disciples ernploy lhis to assure theduralron ol the dtamma . This lerm of three monlhs seems tobe grven as a maxrmum, ad as lhe mark ol the viotory ot theBrddha over Mrlyumera, 'l\rara, who is dealh'."'

At lempts at Kayasiddhi ' 263

Thrs quesl ion of a possible maximum l imlt to the postponemenl ot deaih is very signi l canl and h ghly germane to lhe prob,lem we have been discussing. For, al though there have been inthe past seem ngly a l ied ideas and ant crpal ion- lhe perfeclibr l i ty ol the race, certain Tantr ic sadhanas, the ior l af ter a corn-plele physical s iddhi by cer iain schools of yoga, " lhese havebeen at lempted lor ihe most part as indiviudal personal achieve-meri ts, mperlect and precariously maintained by the help olYogasiddhis, and nol as a dharma, nalu'al law, oi the transformedphyscial nature. But mental or v i tal occult powel ' , warns SrAurobindo, can only br ing siddhis of the hgherplane nlotheindiviudal l i fe- l ike lhe Sannyasi who could lake any po sonwithoul harrn. but he diedola poison after al l when he forgct looobserve lhe condi l ions of the siddhi."

Among the var ious at lempts in lhe pasl fal l ing into this cat-egory. menlion may be made ot:

(i) atlempts at dehasiddhilhtough kebbaicara, conquest olTime, by cer lajn schools oJ Halhayoga;

{ji) atlernpts at lhe attainme^l o1 a rcsanayt taru, body withdivinessence, by lhe Raseswara secl ;

(iii) attempts at skandasiddhi made by certian l,4ahaya ni Tanlr cschools among lhe Buddhislq;

(iv) atlempts at keyesiddhiby Nathayogis like I!,latsyendra,Goraksha, Jalandharanaih and others;

(v) attempts al the elaborai on 01 a bhavadeha by Saha)yaVaishnavas.

Bul none ol these attempted Siddhis became inlr insrc io themater ial body and hence cold nol be made lo endure. As a mat-ter of tacl , as we shal l see in lhe course oi our study, " there canbe no immorta ty of the body w lhout supramenlal sal ioni lhepolentral i ly is there in the yogic force and yogis can l ive lor 200or 300 years or more, but there can be no real pr inc p e ol l tswithout the supramental ."5

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Chapter-13

Bitth is the filst spiritual myslety of lhe physical universe,death B the second which gives its double point of perylexily tothe myslety ol birth; for life, which would otherwise be a selt'-evdenl fact of existence, becomes itsell a mystery by virlue afthese lwo which seem lo be its beginning and ils end and yel ina thousand ways betray themselves as neither of these things,but ralher intermediate stages in an accull processes ol life,

(Sri Aurobindo, The Life ot Divine, p.742J

Our mortalily is only justilied in the ligh! of our immoftality..

( lb id. , p.681)

lmmartal lile breathe in that monstrous death.

(Sri Aurobindo, Last Poems, p.43)

Although Death walks beside us on Lile's toad,A dim byslander at the body's statt...Other is the riddle ol its ambiguous lace:Death is a stair, a door, a stutubling strideThe soul must take to cross frcm birth Io birth,A grey deleat Negnant with victory,A whip to lash us towatds our deathless slale.

{Sri Aurobindo, Saylfi', Book X, Canto l, pp.600-01)

To make a terrct ol deathWho smiling beckons us to larther life,And is a briCge for the persistent breath,

|sl barn of fo y...(Sr i ALrrobindo, Mofe Poems, p.18)

W" no* "o-"

to the qirest ion of quest ions, prasnamutfamam, the ul trmate problem that al l embodied l i te has lo tace:

268 Chapter '13

Whal rs t t ie raison d 6lre of death, this cruel and monstrous

lest played with immortal l i fe by some myster ious necessl ly olthlngs, or by some diabol ical Power, as some in lherr exaspera-tron would l ike to declare?

Nachikeias, ihe young aspiranl ol the Kathopanrshad, askedYama lor lhe solul ion to this problem ol dealh-Yama lhe knowerand keeper ol lhe cosmic Law through whach the soul has lo r iseby death and l i te totheireedom oJ lmmorlal i ty: Even when askedbyYama.lhe Lord ol Death:"Anolher boon choose, O Nachikelas;imporlune me nol, nor urge me;lhis, lh is abandon, lhe seekingsoul of Nachikelas stood l i rm and declared: "This ol which theylhus debate, O Death, declare to me, even thal which is in lhegreal passage; lhan this boon which enters in inlo the secrel lhalis hrdden lrom us, no other chooses Nachikeias.

And Gi lgamesh ol lhe ancient Babylonian lore who sel outon lhe quest after the Plant ol Everlasl ing Li le but la led in hisal lempt. raised the same insisient cry lo the departed soul otEnkidu: 'Tel l me, my Friend, lel l me, reveal lo me, lhe mysleryoi dealhl '

As the Motherhas remarked:"Why is lhere death? Thrs ques'

t on has been pul al least once in lheir l i fe by al l pefsons whoseconsc ousness is awakened in lhe sl ightest degree. In lhe deplhof each being there is such a need lo prolong, develop, perpelu-ate l i te that conlact wi lh death produces a shock, a recorl : Insome sensi l ive beings i l produces horror, in others, Indlgnatrcn.One asks: What is this monslrous farce in which one has lolake part without wishing ior i l or Lrnderslandrng i l? Why lo beborn, i { i i rs to die? Why al l this ef iort lor growth, lor progress, lor

lhe dev. lopmeni of iacul l ies, I i t s lo arr ive al an rmpovensh_menl and l inaly al dec ne and decomposit ion?' Some submitpassivey io a tale that seerns inexorable, others revol i or, i lthey are ess slrong, despair ."

Whi le drscussing lhe necessi ly and iusl i l icat ion and the cu'f i rnal on and self- ful i ment of the process ol death. we musl al

' d l

The Myslery ol Lile and D€ath

lhe very outset try lo get rid ot a basic and besetling error ofperspective that tends lo vit iate a proper and unbiased evalua-tion ot lhe phenomenon ol death. For, if we can contemplate lhissombre phenomenon, nol from the l imited and necessari ly dis-lorted angle ot vision ol lhe l ini le terrorstruck ego-bound indi-vidual, but from lhe perspective ol cosmic Becoming, we cannottai l lo discover thal dealh and dissolution is nol such an unmil i 'gated evil as it appears at lirst sight to be. As a matter of facl,dealh as death has no sepaate ot intrinsic reality: it is theresolely to serve the purpose ol lite. We can even go larlher andstate that death is a orocess and ohase ol life itself and that lhelalter, and by no means death, is lhe fundamenlal all-pervadinglrulh of existence.

But whal is Life, what are its criteria? Biological sciencesknow no delinite answerlo these questions. As a matter of fact.the more profoundly men ol science have soughl to probe themyslery ol lhe essence of life, the more it has eluded theirgrasp,so much so that lile at times appears to them to be jmmanentlypresenl everywhere, its overt manifeslalion depending upon somelavourable conditions which alone Science can hope to sludyand speciiy. To modern biological thought lhere are no uriyer-sally valid ctiletia ol lile- Ballled with the lask of delining whata living organism is, biology seeks at times to proceed in a rounda-boul way. as in the lollowing definilion offered by Prof. GeorgeE. Hulchinson:

' 'The necessary and sutl icienl condit ion Ior an object lo berecognizable as a l iving organism, and so to be the subjecloi biological investigation, is that il a discreet mass ol mat'ter, with a detinite boundary, undergoing conlinual inler-change of material with i ls surroundings without manitestalteratron ol properties over shoft periods ol time and, asascerlained eitherby direct observations of by analogy withother objecls of the same class, originating by some proc-ess ot division or fort i f ication from one or two pre-exisl ingobiects ol lhe same kind.'

270 Chapter 13 The Myslery ol Li fe and Dealh 2 7 1

. To crle a few observalions reflecting the sense ol biotogicalpredrcamenl belore the task oJ del jmit ing the t ie id of Li ie and otlMrnd:

( i ) "Whi le lhere is l i t t le di f f icul ty in tel l ing whether a higherorganism ts al ive, there is no agreement as lo whal char-acler ist ics would be required lor the most pr imrt ive or-ganisms in order to cal l them l iv ing." (Prof. StanleyL.Mil ler.)

(r) In recenl years, the "study ol v iruses has become intensive, leadtng to a blurr ing of the concepl ion oi ihe ,v i la l

phenomena. l l is st i l l doubt lul whether a v rus can bedescribed as l iv ing and, tndeed, as to whal we mean byi i i ing." (Prol . Charles Singe0

In lacl , as the fainl gl immerings ol recent scient i i rc researchsuggesl and spriritual experience and vision certity, Life revealsrtsel t as essent ial ly the same everywhere laom lhe atom lo man,thq atof i conlaining the subconscious stut l and rnovemeni otbeing which are released inlo consciousness in the an mal. withplant l i le as a midway stage in lhe evolut ion. Li le s real ly aunrversal operat ion oi Conscious-Force act ing subccnsciouslyon and in lv lat ter; i t is the ope.al ion that creales, mainlains. de,slfoys and re-creates forms or bodies and attempts by play ofnerve-lorce, that is to say, by currents of interchange ol stimu-latrng energy to awake conscious sensat ion in lhose bodies. Inthis operat ion lhere are three stages; the lowest s that in wh chlhe v brat ion is st i l l in the sleep ol Matter ent i rely subconsclousso as l0 seem whol ly f iechanical ; the middle stage ts thal inwh ch r l becomes capable ol a response st i l l submental but onlhe verge ol whal we know as consciousness; the highesl is thalIn whrch l iJe develops conscious menlal i ly in lhe lorm ofame,ntal ly percepl ible sensalron which In thts l ransl on beco,r-eslhe bas s lor lhe developmenl ol sense-mtnd and .- te l igence. l ls In lhe middle stage lhal we catch the idea ol l i fe as dist in-gu shed trom Matter and lv i ind, but in real i ty i t is lhe same in al l

lhe slages. 'Thus, " there is no break, no r igid l ine ol demarcal ionbetween the earth and the meial tormed in r l or belween lhemeta andlhe plant and.. . there is none ei lher between the ele_menls and aloms thal const i tute lhe earth or metal and lhe metalor ear lh that they const l tule. Each step ol this graded ex slence prepares lhe nexl, holds in l tselJ whal appears in that wh chiol lows i t . Li te is everywhere, secrel or mani lest, organised orelemental , involved or evolved, bl i universal. al l -pervading, im'perishable; only i ts torms and organising di l ter"

1 s this prana sarvAyusam "the omnipresent Lile lhal hasrnani iesled and nhabi ls lhe maler ial universe"lhat lhe Motherhas in view when she relets in one of her art ic les lo " a fewlundamenlal nol ions.. .needed to help us n our endeavour: loconquef lhe fear ol dealh. As she says:

"The lrst and the mosl importanl thing is to know thal ,te aone and immottal. Onlv the lorms, counlless in number, aretransient and br i t t le. This knowledge one musl eslabl ishsecurely and permanently in the mind, and as lar as poss -

b e one nrust ident i fy one's consc ousness wi lh the l i fe ev-er last ing that s independenl oi any form but manifests i i -sel l in a iorms.This gives the indispensable psychologicalbasrs l rom where lo face the problem.' 'L i le then does not die; bul the torms are dissolve, and i l islhis dissolut ion lhat physicalconsciousness lears- And yellhe form changes conslanl ly and there is nolhing lhal de'bars this change lrom being progressrve. This pragressivechange alone can make it possiblelhal death would na morebe tnevttable.

Bul s ince, due to reasons lhal we shal l present ly explore,lhis progress change oJ lhe body and the physical being of man,responding ful ly to the demands made upon i t by the divine In_habi lani in His inl in i tely progressive si l i -bocomtng, cou d nol be

so lar el lectuated. death has been put torward and made lo play

rts roe as an agent ol life ilself lo serve the ends al cosmtc

The Mystery ol Lrle and Death 213

Thatdeath is no morelhan atemporary curlain placed against

elenallile - more janua vilae - or thal dealh is but the obverse ol

the coin of Li ie, as hinted by the Osir ian l \ ,4ysleries, has been

known lo the mystics lhroughout the ages.This knowledge has

been variously given l i terary expressions ol which a lew repre_

sental ive ones may be cited here:

( i) "Death is l i fel '(Novalis)

( i i) "Li le is deaih and Dealh is l i le " (Euripides)

(i i i ) "Al l Death in Nature is Bi h, and in Dealh i tsel l appears

visibly lhe exaltation ol Lite." {Fichle)

(iv) "For birth halh in i tself the gern ol dealh.

Bul death haih in i iselJ the germ ot birth '

For they are twain yet one, and Dealh is Bit lh "

(Francis Thomsoni "Ode to the Setting Sun")

(v) 'Lite and Death - two codpanions who relieve one another

in the leading ol the soul to i ls journey's end "

(PaulRichard)

(vi) "Li ie [ is] a f igure of death and Dealh ol l i fe"

(Sri Aurobindo' Eight Upatishads' p 51-ln )

So we see that the opposit ion that our menlal i ty makes bo_

tween lite and death is no more than an error ol perspeclrve

brought about by the suporf icial view of ihings deceived by the

appearances. As a matler oJ lacl, death is there simply to serve

the purpose ot l i le, and disintegration ol substance no less than

ren ewal of su bsta nce, changeoilom no less than malnlenance

ot lorm are the consiant process ol lile itself Dealh is the vaull-

ing-board that l i fe has chosen in orderlo pass irom birth to greater

birth, l i l l lhe hourcomes when there wil lbe

"The end oi Death, the death of lgnorance

(Savil ] ' t , Book Xl ' Canlo l , P 708

Death at the Service of l i le

I have given three thy awfulshape ol dreadAnd lhy sharp sword of lerror and grief and pain

To force lhe soul af man to struggle fot light

On the brevily ol his half-conscious claysThou arl his spur to grealness in his wolksThe whip to his yeaning for eternal blissHis paignant need of immattallY.Live. Death, awhile, be slill my instrument

{sr i Aurobindo, Savir i , Book X' Canto lV p 666l

fhis world was built by Death lhat he night live Wilt lhou

abaljsh death? Then tile loo will petish. Thou can nat abolish

dealh, but thou may transform it into a grealer ltvtng'

]f Life alane were and not death' Ihere could be na immoral'

ity... Death transt'ormed becomes Life that is lmmartaltty

(Sri Aurobindo' fhaughts and Apharisms)

When the earlh will not need ta die in order to progtess'

lhere willbe no mate death.

(The Mother, Bui lel in, VoIXV No 3' p 47)

' ! am lmmattality as well as Death.

(Sri Kr ishna in Bhagavad Gita , lX 19)

The body s death is a ver i lable instrumenl servlng the Inler_

ests ol perpelualy evo ving l i le lndeed' as we shal l see in lhe

course ol our st,jdy, given the imperlect and limited selJ-cabined

instrumental capaci iy and capab l i iy oJ man, ihe process of death

has become necessary as a means and salulary in i ts ef fect '

beca!se "elernalohange ot lorm is lhesole immortal i ly lo whrch

the I in le l rv ing substance can aspire and elarnal change ol ex_

perence the sole inl in i ty to which the i in i te mind involved In

i iv ng body can attain. This change ot torm cannot be al lowed lo

rem;rn merely a conslanl renewal ol the same iorm_lype such

274 Chapier '13 The Myslery of Li le and Death 27a

inerl a as ol l iv ing slone," ln the luminous words ol the Mother:

"Opposi les are lhe qurckesl and the most eftect ive means oflashron ng l \ ,4atter so that i t may intens 1y i is manifeslal ion.. . Inv pn, o ' lhrs. nere s evidel ' y a- analogo ts expei ence n 'e-specl ol whal one cal ls l i ie and death. l i is lh is krnd ol 'over-shadow ng'ol constant presence ol Death and the possibi i ty oldeath, as t is said in Sayi l r i r you have conslanl companonlhro!ghoul your lourney from cradle to grave; you are cease,lessly accornpanied by the menace or presence ot Dealh. Andalonq w th this there is in lhe cel ls an ntensity of lhe cal l lar aPawer of €lernily which would not be lhere but t'at this constantmenace.Ihen one understands, one begins lo leel in qui le aconcrele manner that allthese things are only wa ys ol tntensit'y-ng lhe Malifestation, making it progress, making more andmore pe ect. And i f the ways are crude, i t is because the [ /ant-lestat ion r lsel l is very crude. And as i t pertects i tsel t , as i lbecomes more l i t 10 maniJesl thal which is eternal ly progres-sive. cruder means wi l l be lef l behind lor subl ler means and lheworld wi l l progress. wi lhout the need ol such brutal opposi l ions.This is so. s imply because the world js st i l l in i ls chi ldhood andhuman conscrousness also is al together in i ls chi ldhood .

From a more pract ical poinl of v iew too, the dispensal ion ol'nalural death comes indeed as a boon lo the l i le-weary indi ,vrdua In his present slatus oi ego-bound ignoranl conscrous,ness. Did not the grandfather ot Edison i ind l i fe too long al ler acenlury and dre because he wanled to? l l is only d vinised con-scrousness and l i le lhat can i ind sources ot perpelua nterest tokeep lhem going on. For lhe ordinary t ime-bound l iml led ' l 'o l

lhe ind vrdual the very prospect of physrcal i rnmorlal i ty wouldprove lo be a damnable curse. In the picl ! resque words oi

' 'Think of lhe k nd of l i fe which these mmortals would haveio ve. Century ai ier cenlury, mi l lennrum after mi l ennium lheywould see lhe same everlast ing laces, conlronl lhe same ever

as consl i lu les our bodi iy l i le belween bir th and dealh; lor unlessthe lorm-type is changed and the experlencing mrnd is lhrowninlo new forms in new circumstances oJ t ime, place and environ-ment, the necessary var iat ion ol experience which the very na-lure ol ex stence in Time and Space demands, cannot be efJec-luated. And i l is only ihe process of Death by dissolut ion and bythe devouring of life bV Life.ll is only the absence ol lreedom.lhe compulsion, the struggle, lhe parn, lhe subjectron to some'thing lhal appears to be Nol-Self which makes this necessaryand salutarychange appear terr ible and undesirable to our moralalmental i lv

So we see that the shole oersoecl ive ot our discussion olthe problem of death has changed, and we are led to the conclu-sion lhat in lhe as vet imoerlect s latus ol Li le so far evolved andelaboraled upon earth, death cannol be viewed as a denial olLi fe, bul as a pfocess ol Li ie". Indeed, Li le, in i ls s l i l l imperleclmanrleslal ion, requires lhe spua of death in order lo evolve toprogressively higherand higherforms ol exislence. In lhewordsoi Sr iAurobindo:

"Dealh rs the quesi ion Nalure puls conl inual ly lo Li le andher reminder to i t ihal i l has not yet tound i tsel f- l l lhere were nos ege ol dealh, ihe creature would be bound lor ever in lhe tormol an imperfecl l iv ing. Pursued by dealh he awakes lo lhe ideaot perfect l i fe and seeks oui i ts means and i is possib ly."

As a matler ot iaci , death has proved lo be highly sal l lary,cer l?inly to the evolut ion of their types ol species, bul also lolhe_ ndividuals const i tut ing the spec es, lhanks lo lhe spir i lualphenomenon ol soul-rebir th,

Death serves a benef ic ial role for lhe individual creature, be-cause i t is an indispensable means 10 awaken in lhe lat tefs con-sciousness lhe need ol perfection and progression. Indeed, "with-oul l t , creaiures would remain contented indel ini tely in lhe condr-t ion where they are,"and i t would have been wel -n gh rmpossible1o break lhe 'dead resistance in the mortal 's hear" 'and "his slow

276 Chapter-13

recurr ng phenomena, engage in the same worn-oul exerc ses,or lounge dly in the same unchanging slagnal ion. They havedrained every spr ng ol knowledge. They have exhausled everysource of enjoymeni. No dim marvels, no bou4dless hopes, bckonlhem iowards the fulure, They have no fulure. They have nothIng but neverending now The incessant repet l l ron, the unmit -galed sameness, the eternal monotony oi things would growhorr ble and appal l ing to lhem. The world would become a hate-Iuldungeon, and l i le an aMuldoom. What would they not givelo migrate to some untr ied exislencel They would be lhanktuleven lo l ie down lor ever in the attract ive unconscrousness oflhe lomb.

The process ol dealh has served the Inleresls nol merely ollhe individuals as individuals but of the species as wel l . Was i lnol Goethe who declared:"Dealh is Nature's experl contrvanceto get pleniy ol l i le"? lndeed, the dealhlessness ol lhe const i l r . i -l rve Individuals would prevent others ol the same species l rombeing al ive at al l . A simple calculal ion would show lhat lhedescendanls oJ Adam, endowed with physical immorlalr ty, wouldhave doubled every twenly{ ive years and in that process pro-duced, in less than a hundred generat ions, many lr i l l ions ol hu-man beings so much so lhal their bodies, packed lwo or threedeep, and conglomeraied inio one sol id mass, would have cov-ered r l_e enl i re sur lace oI lhe planet l

As a malter of facl . the remarkable truth that lhe naturalind vidual is a mrnor ierm of being and exists by lhe universal"and that " lhe individual l i fe is compeled, and used, lo securepermanence raiher for i ts spec es than for i tse l" s borne out byb o ogical evidences that have been speci l ic and mani lo d. Theopinion has even been expressed ihal al l l iv ng matter once pos-sessed potent ial immortal i lv and death as a condit ion, non-ex-istenl in lhe beginning, was evenlual ly adopted tor lhe s mplereason lhal " jusl such a safety valve was necessary lo permil olthe rperpetuat ionol ihe race' . Insteadof going ntoan !nneces-sary elaborai ion ot lhe evolul ionary evidences in supporl ol this

The Myslery of Life and Death 277

hypothesis, we may wel l quole Jrom the wri t ings ol a lew sa-vanls, thus br inging lnto focus lhe consensus oi opinion held byconlemporary men of science.

"Li ie was described by Bichat as' the sum ot the funcl ionswhich resist dealh' , bul this is a one-sided emphasis. For, whi leI rs charactef is l ic oJ organisms lhal they are conl inual ly al workn securing the persrsience of their specif ic organizal ion, r l sequal ly character ist ic that they spend themselves in securingthe coni inuance of thelr k ind. ( lnstead ol seeking lo avoid dealh.to speak metaphorically, they often rathet invite il, sacrilicrngthemselves in producing and providinglor lhe nexl general ion.

' 'From lhe standpoint of survival value ol lhe species, r l sdesirable lor the individuals oi today lo give place eventual ly lothose ol lo-morrow, because environing condit ions are neverconslanl lor exlensive periods, and i t is only by giving the repro-duct ive var ianls a change ihal new l i lness may be establ ishedand prolonged sirrv ival be made possible. Insurance of the weliare of lhe species ls the al l - important accomplishmenl. '

_ l l we could produce two sociel ies or two groups ol an rnals,one ol them being formed of immorlal individuals and the olheroi individuas growrng old and being progressively rep acedthrough dealh by new and younger ones, i l is wi lhout a shadowol doubl lhat lhe second group would be the hardier and sirongefol the two. '

"Frorn lhe point of v lew of evolut ionary history, dealh has nolbeen the pr imary phenomenoni i l is ralher a late-comer on thescene, appeaf lng not so much as an intr nsic and absolule ne-cessi ly inher ng in the very essence ot l iv ing matter, as ihrougha process ol progressive'select ion' in adaplal on lo the wel iareoi the species. A hidousand dreadfulevi l forthe ind vidual, dealhhas proved salLr iary for lhe species, srnce, thanks to r ts agency,lhe species can conl inual ly renovale and revi ta rze tsel f lhroughlhe inlroduct ion ol younger and rnore robusl rndiv duals rep ac-rng lhe worn-oul ones. '

274 Chapter, t 3

We are here discussing lhe benef i t lhat accrues lo the spe-cies ihrough the general process ol death of the const i tut ingindividuals. Bul modern biological lhought has gone further tosuggest the astonishing view thal lhe'speci i ic polent ial l i le-span'ol the individuals lorming a part icular species does nol dependsolely, or even pr imari ly, upon lhe physiological factors ar is ingrn lhe individuals taken in isolat ion, bul is ralher governed by theglobalnecessi lyof lhespecies. Thus, in the view of Prof.J.ArthurThomson, nalural dealh is not to be thought of as l ike lhe run-n ng down ot a clock. ll is morclhan an individualphysialogicalprablem; it is adjusled in reference lo the welfare af the spe-cres.. . There is good reason for regarding occurrence of death ata parl icular t ime as adapt ive."

Metalnikov expresses lhe same idea when he declares lhal' ' the individual cel ls are as a rule polent ial ly immoral, but thel imitat ion of this pr inciple of immortal i ty in the case of the higherlorms oJ organisms apparent ly occurs nol so much due to indi-vldual physiological exigencies as to some unspecifred supra,ndividual causes (causes surlndividuelles."

Dr.J.A.V But ler seeks lo specity this supra- indrvidua causeof nalural decay and death in the lol lowing terms:

' ' I t wouid seem lhal the l i te span is determined by the inter-play of two ef lects, the necessity ol l ivrng ong enough lo startol l the new generat ion and, having pertormed lhe task, the factlhal a fur lher Hel ime is unnecessary and, in many respecls,harmlul lo lhe wel l -being and development ol lhe spectes. l t squite possible that mechanisms exist in organisrns wh ch bf lngaboul this l imital ion of ihe l i fe period, when the biological ly use-ful per iod is over, bul we do nol know whal lhese mechanisms

l i these views represenled lhe whole l ruth ol lh ings, lherecould be no possibi l i ty whatsoever ol increasing lhe l i le-span oJman. nol to speak oJ indef ini tely prolonging his l i fe. Bul al thoughthe aioresard biological conclusion is probably val id n the case

The Myslery ol Li le and Dealh

of all inlra-human sDecies. it is nol at all so in the case ol man.For, as has been noted and commenled upon by some observ-ers, man is unique among l iving beings in having a dispropoFtionately long, and Jrom one point of view biological ly useless,posl-reproduclive phase in the l i le-cycle. The implication is ob-vio!s: the individual man is nol there solely to fulf i l the inteieslsof the race. lndeed, wilh lhe appearance of man upon the earth-scene the evolution has docisively changed its process andbourse. Up l i l l th6 advent ol man the organic evoll l ion was el 'fected through lhe automatic operation of Nature withoul the con-scious paft icipation ot any l iving b€ing, in the {orm of i ts self-aware wil l or seeking, aspiral ion or endeavour. 8! l in man theliving creature has torthe first time become awake and aware othimselt; he has felt that there can be a higher status ol con-sciousness than his own;lh€ aspiration to exceed andtranscendhimself is 'del ivered and arl iculate' in him. l l has thus become apraclical proposition lhal in man a conscaous evolutjon may re'place the subconscious and subliminal evolltion so far adoptedby Nature.

The appearance ot man on lhe earth-scene has beon indeeda unique event in lhe gr€al process of cosmic Becoming, andhis role in the universe is veri ly capital. For, "to the Life-Spir i t ,the indivldua in whom i ls potential i t ies centre is pre"eminently{\,4an, the Purusha. l t is the Son ol Man who is supremely capa'ble ol incarnating God. This Nlan is the N,lanu,lhe thinker, theManomaya PurJsha, menlal person or soul in mind of lhe an-cieni sages, No mere suporior mammal is he, bul a conceptiv€soul basing itself on lhe animal body in Matter. He is consciousName or Numen acceplrng and utilising form as a hedium thrcughwhich Person can dealwith substance.'

Also. "lhe ascent to lhg divine Lile is the human journey, lheWork ol works, lhe acceptable Sacrifice. This alone is man'sreal b{rsiness in lhe world and lhe iusti l ication of his exislence,without which he would be only as insect crawling amo!ng olhereohemeral insects on a spock ot surlace mud and waler which

279

2aa

has managed to iorm l tsel f amid the appal l ng mmensi l es oi ihephysicaluniverse.

And this adds lor man a new dimension lo the problem oldealh and earthly immortal i iy. For, al lhough we have seen thalthe nalural opposi l ion we are apl1o make between l i le and deathis an ef ior of the habi lual myopic consciousness of man, anopposi i ion "false lo inner truth lhough val id n surtace pract calexper ence" , and also that "death has no real i ly except as apfocess oi fe", yel , the quesl ion remains: i f death is not thelundamental t rulh ot experience, i f i t is to be regarded as a proc_

ess ol 1e lsel f in the lat ter 's st i l l impe ect status of sel f 'unlold-ing, does nol man, so iar the highest ernbodiment ol evo v ngl i le, possess the capac ty and capabi l i ty ot outgrowing lhal im'perlect status, and thus rendering the process of death no longera pract ca necessi ly and hence el iminab e from his lndiv dualle?

Aiter al l a rnovement oi progress lhai needs io be accomp shed through repeated and radicalshui l l ing ol moltal lorms,th!s necessitat ing lhe appearance of dealh, s nol a 'game lhats lundamental ly conslrucl ive or intrnsica y desrrabe. As theMother has observed whi le discussing the quest on ol lhe ne-cessity ol dealh:

' 'She [Nature] loves her meanderings, her successive l r ia ls.

hef deleals, her recoTnmencement, her new invenl ions, Shejoves lhe caprices ot lhe way, the unexpecledness oi the expe-r ence One might a most say lhat for her the ongef lhe t ime i t1akes, ihe more i l is amusing.

"B! l you gel t rred even with the besl ol games. There comesa i ime when one has need lo chanqe.

'And yo! dream o{ a game in wh ch 1' no langer be necessary to destray in order ta praqress.

And since we are asslrred by SrlAurobindo and the Motherthat. grven the lul l i lment ol a certa n sel ol cond t ons death can

be done away within the l i fe oi the individual, and cosmlc Li fecan lu I i tsel l n a cont lnuously progressive way, we seek lof nd out lhe basic melaphysical iactors that render the advent oid€ath nevitable in the l i le o{ a human being. And for thal wemay very wel l star l wi lh the suggest ive conc usions arr ived atby contemporary scient i f ic researches in this f ie ld, not indeedas probal ive but only as i l iustrat ive oi the nature and process ofLr le and Dealh. Thrs approach is not al logether Lnjusi i l ied; fora- S r Ar 'oo oo l-d" so clear ly po nled oJI:

"Science and metaphysics (whether Iounded on pure intel-lectualspeculat ion or, as in India, ul t imately on a splr i tualvis ionoi things and spir i tual experience have each rts own provinceand method ol inquiry, Science cannol dic iate i ts conclus onsto metaphys cs any more than melaphysics can impose i is con-c usrons on Science- Sl i l l i f we accept the reasonable bel ielthal Being and Nature in al l their states have a syslem of corre-spondences expressive of a common Truih underly ing them, i t sperrniss ble to sLlppose that l rulhs of the physical universe canihrow sorne l ight on the nalure as wel l as lhe process oi lheForce thal is acl ive in the universe - not a complete l ight, forphysical Science is necessari ly incomplete i r the range oi lsinqu ry and has no clue to the occult movements ol the Force." '

Chaplef -13 The l ,4yslery ol Lrfe and D€alh 241

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oc

L;(EE

-' 66

=

Althaugh God made the wo d for his delight,An ignorant Powet took charge and seemed his WillAnd Death's deep falsity has mastercd Life.

(Sri Aurobindo, Sayllr l Book X, Canto l l l , p.629)

Death is the canstant denial by the AII of the ego's falseself limitatian in the individual frame ol mind, life and body.

(Sri Aurobindo, lsha Upanishad, p.1A3)

It was the conditions of matter upon earth that have madedeath indispensable.The whole sense afthe evolution ol Mattelhas been a grcwth from a first state af unconsciousness la anincreasing consciausness,,, A fixed fom was needed in orderthat lhe organised individual consciousness might have a slablesupport. And yet it is this lixity of the lo n that made death

lcanversations of the l,4otheL p. 58)

How could thal escape death which lives by death?

(Paul Fichard, The courage af Chtist. , p.1a6)

Chapter-14

A. First Factor : The Part against the Whole

The individual l i le, emerging as a t inite and ephemeral wavein the bosom oi lhe'All jForce'that is governing the world, hasconstantly to bear the disrupling impact oJ lhe lal ler. In order tosecure oermanence tor i lsel l , i t has perforce to contend w th thisAll-Force and establish i ts harmony with i t . Bul although it is afact that Life is powet, veyurugni, and thal lhe growth ol theindividual l i fe brings in i ts wake a corresponding increase ot the

286 Chapter'14 Melaphysrcal Faclors of Dealh 247

devoured or is unable to renew ilsell and therelore wasled awayor brokeni r l has to go through lhe process ol dealh tor a newconslTlrct on oT renewal."

C.Third Factor :Acl ion and Reaction

Life by i ts very nature is sel lexpansive and the individuall i te forms no exception to lhis rule. Thus, even though l imiled incapacily and deficient in resources, i l altempts, consciously orsubconsciously, lo extend i ls sway over lhe environment. Bulthis envrronment is not a mere vacuum, nor is i t a mass pas-sively yield ng to any pressure hom outside. Occult ly viewed.thrs ooks l ike an arena swarming with innumerable enli l ies andpowers thal loo in their lurn are constantly seeking to sel l-ex-pand, and hence become "intolerant of, revoll against and atlackthe exislence which seeks lo master therlr.

ln lhrs way, a very adverse reaction is sel up in lhe milieuagainsl lhe encroaching and impacling individual I le and how-ever slrong the mastering l i te, unless ei lher i t is unlimited or elsesucceeds in establishing a new harmony with is environmenl,i i cannot a ways resisi and tr i lmph bul must one day be overcome and disintegaled."

D. Fourth Factor: Lile the Consumer

Whal rs lhe relalion belween lhe subslantial lorms and lhepervading l i te lhat creates and mainlains them? In the languageol the Upan shad, the l i je-lorce acl as ihe anna, lood, of thebody, and at the same time it uses up the body as i is own food.

in olher words, the l i te-energy in lhe individual creature con-t inually provides the necessary stuft and malerials with whichthe forms are being buil t up, maintained and renewed lhrough aprocess ofdynamic equilibrium. But at the same lime. as a reverseoperalion, the self- imprisoned l i le-energy in ihe l imiled individualdraws upon the substantiai slut l of i ts own creation, in an al-lemot io reolenish its own lund.

individual power, st i l l , in the nature of things, " i l is impossible fora divided and individualised consciousness with a div ded. indi-v dualised and therelore l imited power and wil l to be master ofthe All-Force; only the Allwil l can be thal and the ndividuaionly, i t at al l , by becoming again one wilh the All-Wll l and there-lore with the All-Force. Otherwise, the individual l i te in lhe ind -vidual form must be always subiect to the lhree badges of i lslimilation, Death, Desire and Incapacity."

B, Second Factor: The Parl againsl All Other Parts

The divided and individualisgd l i fe represenls bul one vorlexamongst a countless number oi similar vort ices pul folth by theAllForce, sarva-kratu, manifesting inthe univelse. lt is no betlerlhan "a part icular play ot enelgy special ised to consti lule, main-tain. energise and t inal ly to dissolve when rts ulr lrtyfs over. oneof the myriad fo.ms which al l serve, each in i ls own place, t imea^d scope. lhe whole play of lhe universe.

Now, in this weller of rn! lual ly jostl ing lragmenled l i lejorces,the energy ot l i fe imprisoned in a part icular indrvidualframe hasconstantly to withsland the mutl ipronged altacks coming lromall around. Indeed, tor each individual l i le i t lurns out 1o be aruthless batt le of one againsl al l . And the cosmic movemenlseems lo take the form of acrcal{ungel mahebubhukse, wherclr,each separate liJe is trying lo prey upon lhe energy ol olher aivesby leverishly seeking 1o devour and feed on them. Bul in theoccult dispensation of lhings, a l imiled exislence cannol be an'eater, ' anneda, al l the while, without at lhe same trme servingas' lood'. anra lo others.

Thus, " lhe l i te organis6d in lhe body is constantly exposedto the possibility of being broken up by the attack ol the lileexternallo i l or, i ts devouring capacity being insull icient or nolproperly served or ihere being no right balance between lhecapacity ol devouring and the capacily or necessily ol providingiood Jor lhe l i le outside. i t is unable to orolecl i tself and is

249288 Chapler-14

Thus, in lhe matr ix ol the individual body, there is a constantand conlrnuous lwo-way llow ol ene.gy: liJe{orce supporling lhephysrcal stabrl ly, and the mater ial body supplying lhe needs oll i le. But lhis is nol always done in harmony; ralher, l i le and bodyoflen acl as "co-wives", sapahelivyedhino,6allling agarnsl eacholher to the delr i rnent ol bolh. The aioresaid stale ol reciprocalmaintenance consi lu les theretore a highly unslab e slate o1eqdi l ibr lum, apt lo be easi ly dis lurbed and broken because olth s lack ol inner harmony and a so owing io the essenl ial l imr 'tat on of ihe l i ie"energy in lhe ego-bound separat ive nd vidual

Now, " i lhe balance belween lhese lwo operalrons is imper-lecl or rs disturbed or i f the ordered play ol the di j lerent currenlsol l i ie jorce rs lhrown out ot gear, then disease and decay inler-vene and commences lhe process ol dis inlegrat ion.

Over and above this, when appeaG on lhe scene and seekslo grow and develop in lhe individual f rame, i t creates an addi-l ional s lrain on lhe body and the maintenance oi l i le becomesproport ionalely precanous, For, " there is an increasing demandof ihe le-energy on lhe lorm, a demand which is in excess oiihe ong nal system ot supply and disturbs lhe or ig nal ba anceol supp y and demand, and before a new balance can be eslab-l ished, many dlsorders are inlroduced inimlcal 1o the harmonyand to the length ot mainlenance ol the l l ie."

p u r s

Thus i l is thal in lhe compass ol an individual existence,thefe exisls an acute discord and dispari ly in the contrary sel l -drlves of the lhree evolulionary formations, [,4atier, Lile and Mindlnslead ot being anyonyabaddhabehu,each one ollering lhe oih-ers its helping hands, and grhiakantha, all seized and governedby the divine Lord inlhe supremely harmonious cosmic Dance,fesarla, lhey l ry to go their own separate ways, in iotal disregardol lhe stresses and slrains lhey are apl lo int l ict upon the olherparls, in lheir whimsica separaie swir ls.

In partrcular,-and this is very much perl inenl lo our discus-sion,-" the Lle rs at war with body; i t at templs io iorce I losat is ly l r le 's desires, impulses, sat isJact ions and demarlds fromits l imried capaci ly whal could only be possible lo an immortaland drvine bodyi and lhe body, enslaved and lyrannised over.suifers and is in conslanl dumb revolt againstthe demands madeupon r l by the Li le '

The mind on i ts par l is engaged in war bolh againsl the l i leand ihe body. And lhe consequences of ih is bal l le of the mem-bers, this nternecine war of at tr i t ion inlo he being, cannol bul bedlsaslro!s lor the prolonged mainlenance of the embodied le.

F. Sixth Factor: lmperfecl Poise of Consciousness andForce

The ind vidual sel f or berng is in essence one wi ih the Div neand s secret y aware of ts div ine potent ial i l les. ln manifestat ioni l assumes the aspecl ol Purusha or consclous being supporl inglhe Prakr i t i or Nalure lhat is the execut ive side ot Chi l -Shakl i .

Thrs one and unique Being projects i lsel f on each plane oinature, in lo he lorm of a represenial ive Prusha or being that isproper to that part icular plane. Thus, in man, lhere is a menlalbeing correspondrng to the menlal nalure, a vi tal being corte_sponding io the vla nature and a physical being answering to

wletaphysical Faclors ol Dealh

E. Fi f th Factor: War of the Members

To a superf ic ial v iew ol things, the individual man seemsrndeed lo be a single whole, undivided in consciousness andnlegraled in wi l l . Bul a deeper probe reveals lhe disconcert ing

Iacl lhal , in lhe present state ol his evolul ionary developmenl,man's being and nalure rs nol al l o l one kind, oJ one piece, 'butrather a complex and helerogenerous amalgam ol many elemenls,nol a I of them harmonised and co ordinated in their urqes and

294 Chapter-14

the ohvsical nalure,

Now in the evolul ionary emergence so lar el lectualed hereupon earth, the dual aspect of chi t-shakt i- the aspect ol con-sciousness and the aspecl of Jofce-have nol qui te marched inslep, lhus creat inq adeleter ious divis ion between the demand olthe conscious being, Purusha, and the capacit ies ol the lorce olnature, Prakr i t i -Shakt i . In man, Jor example, there is not onty ad vis ion and conl l ict belween the diverse demands and pul ls ollhe mental , the vi taland the physicalbeings, but what is worse,each ol lhem is also divided againsl i tsel l .

Thus, " the capacity o{ the body is less than the capaci ly oilhe insl inct ive soulorconscious bejng, the physical Prusha withjni l , lhe capaci ly of lhe vi tal lorce less than lhe capacity of thermpulsive soul, the vi tal conscious being or Purusha within i t ,the capacily of the mental energyless lhan the capacity of theInlel leclualand emotional soul, lhe mental Purusha withtn i t , Forthe soul is the inner consciousness which aspires to i ls owncomplete sell-realisation and theretore always exceeds lhe indi-vidual lormal ion oi the moment, and the Force whrch has lakenrls poise inthe lormation is always pushed by i ts sout to thatwhich rs abnormal to the poise, l ranscendent of i t ; lhus con-slanl ly pushed i l has much trouble in answering, mode rn evolv-1g trom lhe presenr lo a greater capaci ly

Now lhe quest ion is: how lo solve this probtem of div is ionbelween consciousness and force? Mind, as i t grows, tr ies in i tsown l imlted way lo resolve the resultant conf l icts, mosl ly througha process ot makeshi l t compromise. But this ad hoc solul ionsno solr.riion at all. and mind tails miserably in the end. As a malterof fact, lhe problem cannoi be solved on lhe ptane of the mind.lor essenl ial ly this is a quesl ion ot sat is ly ing in ful l the nl ini teasp ralron of an immorlal being,-the secret godhead, the em-bod ed Divine- lodged in the cont ines of a mortal l i ie and body.Hence, the mind of man, baff led by the immensi ly of ihe task,g ves up the at lempt in a mood of desperat ion "ei ther by submis-

l , {etaphysical Factors ol Dealh

sion with lhe mater ial is l lo lhe modal i iy of our apparent be ng orwith the ascet ic and the regional ist bythe reject ion and condem_nation ol the ea hly l i ie and wi lhdrawal lo happier and easiert ie lds of existences.

G. Sevenlh Factor: The lnfinite as a Summalion of lheFinite

Now we come to the last lact,-indeed, the mosl crucial andlundamenlaloJ al l , - that necessitales and just i l ies the presenceol oeath nlhe actual state ol evolutionary progression. For, ilarises lrom the basic "necessity ol lhe nalure and objecl olembodied l i le i tsel f , which is lo seek inf ini le experience on al ini le basis."

Indeed, this slupendous cosmic Becoming has Jor i ts secretpurpose and goal the discovery and enjoymeni, in Space andTime, of al l that already exisis beyond Time and Space. And inthis cosrnic D.ama, visvaJile,

The soul is a f igure of the Unmanifest,The mind labours lo lhink ihe lJnthinkable,The l i le lo cal l lhe lmmorlal into bir th.The body lo enshrine the l l l iumi lable.

But, in the as yet imperfect elaboralron of evolul ionary pos

sibr l i l ies, ihe form and the basis lhrough which and upon whichthe individual soul sourred bv i ts secrel sense of div ine inf ini 'lude seeks to bui ld up i ts in l in i te experience, is by i ts very or_ganrzat ion l imlted and r igid, thus circumscribing the posslbi l i ty

ol experience, ln the condit ions ol existence as al present pre-

vai l ing, this inl in i te experience on a f in i te basis becomes at al l

teaslble onlV lhrough the successive assumptjon and dissolLr_

t ion ol an inl in i te ser ies ol forms ln the words of Sr l Aurobindo:

"The soul, having once l imited i tsel l by concentrat lng on the

moment and the f ie ld, is dr iven to seek i is in l in i ty aga n by theprincip e ol succession, by adding moment to momenl and t f lus

stor ing up a Time-experience which i t cal ls l ls pasl ; in lhat Time

291

292 Chapler. l4

rt moves lhrough successive Jields, successive experiences orl ives, successive accumulat ions of knowledge, capacity, enjoy-nenl and al l lh is r l holds in subconscrous or superconsc'oJsmemory as r ts lund ot past acq! is l ion in Time. To this processchange of lorn rs essenl ial , and ior the soul nvolved n ndl-vrdual body change ot lorm means dissolut ion of the body,",

We have completed our study oi lhe metaphysics of Deathivr 'e have seen lhe necessity and jusl i f ical ion lor lh is process ofNature, not indeed as a denialof Li fe, but as the process ol Li iei tsel i . For lo repeat in part what we have quoied before, "dealhrs necessary because elernal change of form is the sole immor-talily lo which the ,rlle living substance can aspire and elernalchange of experlence lhe sole inf ini ly lo wh ch the l inte mindinvalved in living body can allain."

Such rs lhen the problem ol death; and once the problem iskncrvn In rrs 'undamenla' nalure, lne solul ton must be tor lhcom-ing inlhe march of the spir i l . Indeed, lhe i tal jc ised port ions ot theabove cr lal ion a ready suggest the possible clues lo t t .

Chapter-15

The Physiology ofSenescence and Death

Chapter-1S

On lile was laid the haun ng linger of Death.(Srj Aurobindo, Savitti, Book , Canto V . o 203)

A brcath of disillusion and decadenceCorrupting watched for Lile,6 matutityAnd made to rct the lull grain ol the sout:Progrcss became a purveyor ol Death

llbid., Book , Canto V[, p. 204)"This is the scientific view of death. But it teaves death with

allit mystery, with allils sacrectness; we are not in the leas! abteto the prcsent time to say what le is -stilltess, F)erhaps, whatdeath is. We say of cettain things-they are ative; of certainothe6 - they are dead; bul what the dillerence may De, what Eessenllal to these two slat6s, science 6 ulte y unable lo b u;at the prcsenI titne."

(Dr. Minot, Age, Growth and Death)

TI he phenomenon ol sentle decay and nalural ctealh has

remained l i l l this date an insoluble r iddle to science. We havewilly.nilly come to accepl the tacl that all things born must ljvelor a while, grow old with t ime and eventually dje. But physiologyknows no reason why lhe body should ineluclably wear out inlhis way. As Dr Maurice Vernet has so kenchan y poinied oul."Biologically speaking and jn natural condations, that is io sav.accidenlal vrolence being excluded, lhere should not and neednot have be end ealh at all...Viewed from ths aspect of the bodv.dealh seems lo us to be altogelher meaningless (un ron-seas

Chapter-15

The same idea has been expressed in different ways by someother eminenl medical authorit ies as well: e,9,,

"There is no physiological reason al the present day whymen should diel '(Dr. Wil l iam A. Hammond)

"Such a machine as lhe human frame, unlessdepraved or injured by some externalcause, wouldfor perpeluity. (Dr. GerDan Medical Prospectus)

\i) Law of oryanisation- All life realises in timea specific organisation when a characteristic oJ lhecerned, ol course under normal condil ions,

(ii) Law of assimilation-A living organism has lhe power lolranstorm and make similar to i ls own substance lhe naterialsthat it borrows lrom its environmenl as its nulrition

liii\ Law of rcgulation-W hatever may be the quanlrty ot lhequality of exchange operations that a living organrsm sels upwith the surounding world an incossant regulation inlervenes lomaintain the organisation in lhe specific equilibrium ol its rhythms'founctions and tissue composition.

(iv) Law ol reproduction -Even

condit ions, possesses the Powerenlical lY.

lvJ Law of specilicity - Every living Jorm is, in ils lunda_mental excitability (response), specifice to the species to whrchi1 belongs.

lvi) Law ol revesibility - For every new existence, there oc'curs a cyclic reiurn lo the state ol indiflerentiation, and, lhrough-out the cou.se ol lite, there manifests a tendency locome backto lhe lundamenlal equit ibrium slale ol the species

Wilhout seeking to elucidale these laws o{ life in terms in'telligible lo non-screnlitic readers,lel us concentrale on lhe secondIaw alone. For, it is this law ol assimilation thal proves suliicientby ilselt to characterise a living body, and it is perphaps some

accidenlal lyseem iormed

and n spacespecies con-

l iving being, under normalto self-reproduce itself in

297

lacuna in the proper functioning of this particular law, that brings in the phenomenon of

senescence and death.

In fact, the physical universe is in a state of dynamic flux; it is the contending ground of

innumerable physicochemical forces and reactions. Now, the essential difference between an

inanimate thing and a living organism seems to lie in the -fact that while external influences,

whether physical or chemical, wear out and ultimately destroy the former, changing it into

something else, in the case of the latter the temporary disruption induced by the foreign intrusion

is not allowed to go to its destructive term, but rather used as an agent to provoke some counter-

reaction in the living body that ultimately helps it in its self-reparative and self maintaining

activity.

The apparent fixity of form and stability of body of a living organism is a gross error and illusion

of the senses. As a matter of fact, every single cell in a metazoan body as well as the total

organization itself is continually undergoing a countless set of chemical reactions that form part

of a simultaneously occurring double process: (i) the process of disruption, analysis, breaking

down and running down (katabolism), and (ii) the process of construction, synthesis, building up

and winding up (anabolism). Thus, "a living organism is never the same. It is changing from day

to day, from minute to minute, from second to second of its existence. It instantaneous

physiological state is the resultant of all of its antecedent states.

Now, the characteristic feature of a living organism is a constant balancing of accounts so that

the specific activity of each of its cells and of its correlated structure and organization continues.

This "capacity of continuing in spite of change, of continuing, indeed, through chanage" is a

fundamental attribute of life. The living organism has been sometimes compared to a clock, as it

is always running down and always being wound up. But unlike a clock, it can wind itself up, if

certain conditions are adequately fulfilled. The chemical processes are then so 298 correlated that

"the pluses balance the minuses and the creature lives on."

But unfortunately for the individual form, this miraculous vital capacity of self-repair and self-

maintenance is not unlimited. In course of time, in the process of continual exchange of energy

with the environment, this power of active assimilation gets stunted and atrophied, the katabolic

operation has the upper hand over that of anabolism, and as a result fatigue and senile decay set

in, culminating in the phenomenon of death when all metabolic activity ceases in the organism,

turning it into non-living stuff. As X. Bichat has so graphically described the onset of the process

of natural death:

"In the death which is the effort of old age all the functions cease, because they have been

successively extinguished. The vital powers abandon each organ by degrees; digestion lan-

guishes, the secretions and absorptions are finished; the capillary circulation becomes

embarrassed; lastly, the general circulation is suppressed. The heart is the ultimum moriens.

Such, then, is the great difference which distinguishes the death of the old man from that which

is the effect of a blow. In the one the powers of life begin to be exhausted in all its parts and

cease at the heart, the body dies from the circumference towards the centre; in the other, life

becomes extinct at the heart and afterwards in the parts, the phenomena of death are seen

extending themselves from the centre to the circumference."

But whence spring this circumscription of the capacity of an organism and he gradual corrosion

of its metabolic functions, leading finally to the failure of life? Are we to suppose that a

multicellular body ultimately dies because,in course of time, it somehow fouls its 'internal

evironment] (milieu intirieur)? That ageing processes do occur even in a body kept in good sur-

roundings, with adequate and regular supply of nutritional requriements and protected from the

invasion of other predatory organisms, is a well-attested physiological fact. But it has so far been

299 very difficult to ascertain why organisms age in this way and what determines the species-

longevity.

Various theories have been advanced from time to time to account for the phenomenon of

senescence and death but none of these has stood the test of universal scientific validation. The

more significant of these theories of ageing are as follows:

(1) The life-span of the members of a species is in direct ratio to the period of time the

individuals take to reach the stage of biological maturity. (Buffon).

(2) The life-energy and the vital characteristic with which a living organism begins its career get

used up with the passage of time. (Bichat)

(3) The cells composing a multicellular body are in constant internecine fight for existence,

whose final result cannot but be the wasting away of the whole. This is the theory of cellular

anthropophagy (Cholodkowsky)

(4) The conjunctive tissues undergo hypertrophy with time and by and by invade and overwhelm

the more vital epithelial tissue. (Demagne)

(5) The somatic cells cannot go on self-dividing indefinitely. for some reason or other, they

progressively lose with time the power of self-fission, thus bringing about the phenomenon of

senile decay. (Maupas, R. Hertwig and Mainot)

(6) With the passage of time there occurs an increase in the protoplasmic mass of the cells at the

cost of the nuclear material. Senescence is the natural outcome of this sprocess. (Minot)

(7) Senescence is due to the pigmentation of nerve-cells. (Muhlmann, Ribbert)

(8) The protoplasmic mass gets altered witht ime and exhibits a tendency towards flocculation.

This is the collodial theory of ageing. (A Lumiere, Marinesco)

300

(9) A progressive induration and ossification taking place in the body are the causes of old age

and natural death. (homer Bostwick, De Lacy Evans)

(10 The intestinal contents are supposed to be full of millions of types of micro-organims

secreting toxins or poisons whose reabsorption in the bodily system provokes the setting in of the

process of ageing. (Metchnikoff)

(11) Senile decay is due to the process of prgressive cellular differentiation. (Delage, Minot)

(12) Senescence is mainly due to the destruction of the higher elements of a multicellular body

by microphages (Metchnikoff)

(13) The glands of internal secretion are the agents for the onset of the ageing process. (Horsley,

Lorand)

(14) There is an intimate connection between reproduction and death. The primary object of

living is to bring ever new specimens of the species into being. Thus the body contains two types

of protoplasm: germinative proteoplasm and somatic protoplasm: The former is essentially

immortal and continues its existence in the offspring's body, while the latter is doomed to decay

and persih some time after the animal has attained to reproductive maturity. (Weismann,

Hansmann, Gotte, et. al).

These are some of the theories of senescence' mentioned in their briefest outline. Most of the

theories advanced so ar fail to take into account the real and fundamental underlying mechanism

of senile decay; instead they try to bring into focus one or other of the factors that come into play

as a result and not as the cause of ageing. it is amply clear that the scientific world as a whole has

not arrived till this date at any definite conception about the real nature of the mysterious process

of senescence and natural death. But, as far as can be judged from an external analysis,

biological thought seems to list the following as contributory factors: 301

(1) The extreme complexity of the organization of a metazoan body rendering the task of self-

recuperation well-nigh impossible and forcing the organism to accumulate what has been termed

physiological arrears and biological debt;

(2) lack the complete coordination and cohesion among the various elements of the bodily

organization, giving rise to physiological disorders and malfunctionings of different sorts and

eventually weaking out the internal organs and tissues;

(3) exposure to environmental stresses and strains, unbearable for the organism beyond a certain

limit, and thus inexorably leading to the ultimate breakdown and dissolution of the structure:

(4) specialization of the somatic cells for diverse and specific functions, resulting in their loss of

"embryonic versatility", so much so that the ogranism as a whole, wrong to the loss of plastic

adaptability, fails to cope with the varying demands of the ever-changing situation and

eventually falls an easy prey to death.

The absence of internal harmony and co-ordination, the inability to withstand the shocks of the

`not-self and a progressive loss of adaptability and plasticity — these, then, are in the main the

symptoms of the malaise as manifest on the biophysical plane. No doubt, they are suggestive and

significant; but they reveal no more than the frontal aspect of the malady.

And, then, what is it that becomes missing at death? What are the indubitable criteria with which

to distinguish a dead body from the same body which was living a moment before? How to know

that life has indeed ebbed away and the body has passed into the state of absolute death? Here,

too, medical science finds great difficulty in pronouncing unequivocally. Indeed, some of the

common signs and symptoms of death as ordinarily listed are:

Cessation of breathing and of the beating of the heart; 302 insensibility by the eye to luminous

stimulus; pallor of the body; complete muscluar relaxation; reduction of the temprerature of the

body; rigor mortis or statue-like rigidity; etc., etc.

But the curious fact that has come out of detailed scientific investigations is that none of these

signs or symptoms are definitive and absolute; every single test of death—death in the sense that

the body has irrevocably passed into the state of inanimate stuff and the vital functions cannot be

brought back to activity again — has proved to be utterly unreliable, with the single exception of

putref active decomposition. But putrefaction sets in quite a long time after 'life' has actually

'departed' from the body. And even this process of decomposition can be prevented with the

adoption of some preventive measures. Hence we come back to the crucial question:

What is life and what is death?

Prof. Joseph Le Conte emphasised this very point when he wrote:

"...But death? Can we detect anything returned to the forces of nature by simple death? What is

the nature of the difference between the living organism and a dead organism? We can detect

none, physical or chemical. All the physical and chemical forces withdrawn from the common

fund of nature and embodied in the living organism seem to be still embodied in the dead, until

little by little they are returned by decomposition. Yet the difference is immense, is

inconceivably great! What is the nature of this difference expressed in the formula of material

science? What is it that is gone and whither is it gone? There is something here which science

cannot understand."

In order to seize the problem of life and death at the base, we must now turn to metaphysics

founded on an integral vision of things.

Metaphysics of life and Death 303

A Truth supreme has forced the world to be; It has wrapped itself in Matter as in a shroud, A

shroud of Death, a shroud of Ignorance

(Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, Book X, Canto IV, p. 658)

Who thinks he sees difference, from death to death he goes.

(Katha Upanishad, 11.1.10)

When every desire that finds lodging in the heart of man has been loosened from its moorings,

then this mortal puts on immortality.

(Ibid., 11.3.14)

Forms on earth do not last ... because these forms are too rigid to grow expressing the progress of

the spirit. If they become plastic enough to do that there is no reason why they should not last.

(Sri Arobindo, Letters on Yoga, p. 1229)

We have had occasion to mentioned before that, viewed through the eye of the spirit, life appears

to be a "universal Force working so as to create, energise, maintain and modify, even to the

extent of dissolving and reconstructing, substantial forms with mutual play and interchange of an

overtly or secretly conscious energy as its fundamental character." But what is the basic nature of

this Force whose other name is Life? In order to unravel the mystery of life and death, we must

first comprehend the sense and significance of this great Cosmic Becoming.

The Self-creation, ãtma-kriti, and a progressive unfoldment of a supremely transcendent and

luminous Reality "with the multitudinous relativities of this world that we see and those other

worlds that we do not see as means and material, condition and field",2 is the secret meaning of

the universe. This transcendent Reality that has thus thrown itself into forms and is even 304

secretly present behind the appearances of the universe, being indeed "the origin, the continent,

initial and the ultimate reality of all that is in the cosmos," is Sachchidananda, a triune principle

of Existence-Consciousness-Bliss—an infinite and absolute Existence, an infinite and absolute

Consciousness, an infinite and absolute Bliss, all rolled into one. Consciousness has a double

aspect,—aspect of absolute self-awareness, Chit, and an aspect of absolute self-force, Shakti,—

by which Being possesses itself whether in its static condition or in its dynamic movement. The

creative action of Sachchidananda has its nodes in a fourth divine principle, turiya dhãma, that

has been given by Sri Aurobindo the suggestive name of Real-Idea or Supermind, and in which

is "a divine Knowledge one with self-existence and self-awareness and a substantial Will which

is in perfect unison with that kowledge."

Thus, "Consciousness that is Force is the nature of Being and this Conscious-Being manifested

as a creative Knowledge-Will is the Real-Idea or Supermind." This Supermind that is the divine

Gnosis has created and arranged the cosmic order, but arranged it indirectly through three other

subordinate and limiting terms, Mind, Life and Matter, which form by some sort of refraction in

this lower hemisphere of existence a triple aspects of the divine quaternary, and work, "so far as

our universe is concerned, in subjection to the principle of the One in its play of division and

multiplicity... Mind is a subordinate power of Supermind, which takes its stand in the standpoint

of division, actually forgetful here of the oneness behind though able to return to it by re-

illumination from the supramental; Life is similarly a subordinate power of the energy aspect of

Sachchidananda, it is Force working out form and the play of conscious energy from the

standpoint of division created by Mind; Matter is the form of substance of being which the

existence of Sachchidananda assumes when it subjects itself to this phenomenal action of its own

consciousness and force." 305

Life is thus seen to be the putting forth of the Conscious-Force, Chit-Shakti of Sachchidananda,

which is in its own nature "infinite, absolute, untrammelled, inalienably possessed of its own

unity and bliss." But the central circumstance of the cosmic process as it is constituted now, in

the involution of the triune Reality in the apparent nescience of the material universe and in its

slow evolution there from, is the dividing and darkening faculty of mind, itself obscured by

ignorance. And since our Life is subservient to "the divided mortal Mind, parent of limitation

and ignorance and the dualities2 it becomes in its turn "darkened and divided and undergoes all

that subjection to death, limitation, weakness, suffering, ignorant functioning of which he bound

and limited creature-Mind is the parent and cause."

This disabling perversion whose consequence for the individual being is a 'state of mortality',

mrtyu, has its source and origin in the self-ignorance of the individual soul, because of which it

suffers a "limitation and self-division from the One who is all and in all and beyond all", and has

its idea of self-fixed to "a single formation in Time and Space of body, life and mind," thus

excluding from its view "all that it verily is with the exception of a mass of experiences flowing

out from and in upon a particular centre and limited by the capacities of a particular mental, vital

and bodily frame..."

Thus, through this essentially separative action of the ego-centre in the mind, the soul in its self-

ignorance considers itself as a separate self-existent individuality—although in reality it is never

so--and "regard all cosmic action only as it presents itself to its own individual consciousness,

knowledge, will, force, enjoyment and limited being instead of seeing itself as a conscious form

of the One and embracing all consciousness, all knowledge, all will, all force, all enjoyment and

all being as one with its own."

However, consciousness and force being essentially one, 306 we can expect to have some real

power only over something with which we are one in our self-awareness. Hence, the separative

ego, attributing to itself only a certain fragmented portion of the play of Consciounsess-Force,

becomes into the process the possessor only of "a certain limited capacity of force of con-

sciousness which has to bear all the impact of what the soul does not regard as itself but as a rush

of alien forces;; against them it defends its separate formation of individuality from dissolution

into Nature or mastery by Nature. It seeks to assert in the individual form and by its means its

innate character of Ish or Lord and so to possess and enjoy its world."

But in the very nature of things this cannot happen, since by the very definition of the term, the

ego possesses but a limited capacity. And the difficult of the individual life arises from this

original sin of the separative mind-ego. For the "universal life in us, obeying this direction of the

soul imprisoned in mind, itself becomes imprisoned in an individual action. It exists and acts as a

separate life with a limited insufficient capacity undergoing and not freely embracing the shock

and pressure of all the cosmic life around it." But because of the inherent limitation of individual

life cabined in the confines of a rigidly static material frame, the life-being in the poor individual

existence cannot but succumb sooner or later to the inexorable nemesis of disintegration and

death.

We must try to be more specific and enumerate the different situations that the limited individual

life has to confront and that have for their cumulative effect the inevitable decay and dissolution

of this life.