Upanishadic Stories and Their Significance (eBook)

Swami Tattwananda (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2021 | 1. Auflage
136 Seiten
Advaita Ashrama (Verlag)
9780000306685 (ISBN)

Infos

In the Upanishads we find, in places the highest abstract truths placed before us through stories and dialogues. These stories are not mere legends. They form part of the book of life. They embody the teachings of the rishis, the ancient sages of India, as imparted on various occasions and under varying circumstances. A selection of these spirituality enlightening stories is given here so that we may understand clearly the deep significance of the Vedas. Life transforming in character, these ancient stories have perennial relevance.

Published by Advaita Ashrama, a publication house of Ramakrishna Math, Belur Math, India.

Textauszug

1

THE SELF OF ALL

FROM
THE KENA UPANISHAD

This story beautifully brings out the central truth that the Upanishads declare, that Brahman, the Absolute Reality, cannot be experienced by mere reasoning. As long as we are seekers of knowledge, we try to reduce our ignorance as best as we can. But in the frontiers of our knowledge, there will still be left areas of ignorance. We may go as far as thought can reach, but still fail to experience the Reality that underlies everything. When this is the case, we can easily imagine the situation of those who are either ignorant of or indifferent to that Ultimate Reality which is called Brahman. It is to explain the real nature of Brahman that this story, in the form of a dialogue between a sincere seeker and his spiritual teacher, is meant.

The Disciple: Respected Sir: Some say that it is through our senses that we know everything. Nothing, they say, enters the mind except through the senses. It is regarding this that I have a doubt. By what power, or by whose will (1) does the mind (2) experience and understand objects? What power makes the vital breath (3) of life function? And how does the eye see and the ear hear? What is the power of person behind all these senses-based experiences?

The Teacher: You have asked a very important question. Listen. He of whom you ask is the Ear of the ear, (4) the Eye of the eye, and the Life of the life-breath. The discriminating person never considers the senses as the Self. Therefore, this discrimination makes him/her immortal. The mind and the senses (5) cannot attain immortality. Precisely because of this reason, it is so difficult to realize Self. We cannot describe It as something known. For, It is not an object of knowledge. (6) We cannot describe It as the unknown, either. For, it is our very Self. Scholarship cannot give this knowledge. The realized sage alone points it out to the seeker: “Behold! It is the grace of the Self that makes the senses (7) function and thereby known. The senses cannot comprehend the Self. But know for certain that without It the senses cannot do their various jobs.”

In short, whoever declares, “I know all about the Self,” knows (8) very little indeed.

The Disciple: Respected Sir: Can I put it this way? I do not say that I know all about Brahman. (9) Nor do I say that I cannot know Brahman at all. The scripture says, “Brahman is known to him who says that It is unknowable,” (10) and it also says, “Brahman is unknown to him who says that It is knowable.” Therefore, does it not mean that the way to know Brahman is to understand the significance of this double negation? May we not say that Brahman becomes manifest as the Pratyagatman, as Pure Consciousness? (11) And such knowledge leads to liberation and immortality. Does it not?

The Teacher: Yes. But our ancients, you know, used the form of stories to bring out clearly these truths of spirituality. Hear one of these stories now. In very ancient times, a great war broke out between the Devas, the gods, and the Asuras, the wicked ones.

The Disciple: Sir, may I know the cause of the war?

The Teacher: The usual reason—the good people lack strength, and the strong people lack goodness. The Devas, gods, obeyed the laws of God. They received sacrificial offerings from men, and in return, gave them their belongings. The Asuras who believed in might as right, found particular delight in disturbing the order, the peace and harmony of the Cosmos. Indeed, the sadistic temperament, which the Asuras represented, is never happy unless it makes others miserable.

The Disciple: Yes, Sir. There are people with a negative sense of values.

The Teacher: That’s true. In the beginning, the Asuras were victorious. But with the intervention (12) of Brahman, the Devas triumphed in the end. However, the Devas thought that they triumphed with their own power. The sense of victory made them intoxicated with pride. The result was, they forgot to express thanks where they were due.

The Disciple: This is regrettably bad. It is as if the moon forgot the fact that it shines only by borrowed light!

The Teacher: Not just that. Flushed with victory, they wished to arrange a victory parade. Agni was their leader in both war and peace, with Vayu as the next in command, and all the gods in their usual splendour. In tune with his own rank, the last to arrive was Indra.

The Disciple: Indeed! It must have been a spectacular event.

The Teacher: Yes. It was. Then, suddenly a Lustrous Being, the like of whom they had never seen before, flashed before them. The Devas were stunned with astonishment. Quickly they recovered and wished to investigate who the Luminous Being was. This is because they firmly believed that there was absolutely nothing in the entire Cosmos that was not known to them. They went to Agni and requested him to investigate this strange thing.

The Disciple: Did Agni, the god of fire, agree?

The Teacher: Of course. Extremely conscious of his strength and power, he went and approached that Lumi­nous Being. But it so happened that he lost his presence of mind, and it was left to the strange Luminous Being to put him the question, “Who are you?”

“People call me Jatavedas, (13) the All-knower,” Agni answered with evident pride.

“Your name is familiar, but tell me what is it that you can do?” the Luminous Being asked.

“I can reduce everything to ashes,” replied Agni.

Perhaps, the Luminous Spirit must have been amu-sed. He placed a piece of straw before Agni and said: “Please burn this piece to ashes!”

Agni smiled to himself, “What a silly and trivial command! I can reduce a whole forest to ashes. I am invoked and worshipped, at every and any sacrifice, as the first among the gods. And, above all, I played such a crucial role in the recent victory of the gods.”

Thus flushed with pride and over-confidence he went forth to burn the piece of straw. But, though he put forth all his energy, as if he would burn down the entire world, it was all in vain. The piece of straw remained straw. Agni returned, defeated.

You know, the gods never give up a struggle so easily. They next chose Vayu, the wind-god, to set right the defeat of Agni, the fire-god.

The Disciple: Perhaps, it was because fire cannot burn without air. The more the air, the greater the fire is. They chose Vayu for that reason, obviously.

The Teacher: That could be the reason. But Vayu did no better. He could blow up everything but could not blow off that small piece of straw. The assembled gods were stunned, amazed. They could clearly see that Shining One before them. However, they know not who He was. Now, they went to Indra, their Lord and Master and requested him to help solve the mystery.

The Disciple: Did Indra consent to go and unlock the profound mystery?

The Teacher: Yes, he consented to go. He duly arrived upon the scene. He too felt astonished, but for a diffe­rent reason. All of a sudden, the Presence that he came to question disappeared.

The Disciple: Did he turn back defeated as other gods?

The Teacher: No. He was not made to return with a sorry story of defeat. Though vexed with himself, he stayed on, plunged in deep, profound thought, lost in meditation. There is a saving grace in the power of meditation. Meditation made him go beyond the world of the senses, its hopes and fears. He forgot completely that Luminous Being which was the object of his enquiry, his quest. He bowed in reverence before the mystery.

The Disciple: Perhaps, he felt the paradox of the quest: if he who knows does not know, then, clearly, he who knows that he does not know is in a better position to know.

The Teacher: Yes. That’s exactly the significance of the story. And I’m glad you caught it. Precisely at that juncture appeared Mother Uma, like a splendorous image made of molten gold. Uma, the Universal Mother, is the source of creation, preservation and destruction of the universe. Her very presence kindled in Indra’s mind a vibrant bliss that had never before been experienced. The Universal Mother taught Indra the secret of the mystery that he faced. She said that what he was in quest of was none other than Brahman, the Ultimate Absolute Reality.

The Disciple: I now know, revered teacher, that unless Mother, the Goddess of Learning favours and instructs a person, one cannot attain the knowledge, the realization, of the Absolute.

The Teacher: You are right. The knowledge of Brahman is attained only with the help of the scriptures and the teaching of a spiritual guide, a Guru. It cannot be achieved by any other means.

The Disciple: Then, what happened to Indra?

The Teacher: What happens to a lump of lead when it comes into contact with the philosopher’s stone? The alchemy of Self-knowledge (Brahmajnana) transmutes leaden metal into gold. Indra realized the profound truth that Brahman, the Supreme Reality, pervades everywhere and everything. That, in short, apart from Brahman there is no manifestation. He is the Self of all. He and his power are inseparable. He exalts, elevates those whom He can humble. The Devas (gods)...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 24.8.2021
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Religion / Theologie ► Hinduismus
• ISBN-13: 9780000306685 / 9780000306685