Anubhuti Prakasham- Chandogya Chapter 8

Background:

We are now in the Anubhuti Prakasham portion that talks about Chapter 8 of Chandogya. In Chandogya, the 6th chapter talks about "Sat Vidya", chapter 7 talks about "Bhuuma Vidya" and Chapter 8 talks about "Dahara Vidya"

We are currently seeing this Dahara Vidya portion. In "Sat Vidya" (chapter 6), Brahman is revealed as Existence (Sat principle). In "Bhuuma Vidya" (chapter 7), Brahman is revealed as Happiness (Ananda principle). In chapter 8, Brahman is revealed as "Chit principle". Thus, through these 3 chapters, Brahman is revealed as Sat, Chit and Ananda.

In chapter 6, the teacher was Uddalaka and the student was Shvetaketu.

In chapter 7, the teacher was Sanatkumara and the student was Narada.

In chapter 8, now, the teacher is Prajapati and the students are Indra and Virochana.

Chapter 8: Ashta Guna vishishta Ishvara

Chapter 8 reveals Brahman with 8 attributes (maya sahitam brahma)- ashta guna vishista ishvara. These 8 attributes are "absence of old-age" and "absence of death" at the body level, absence of hunger and thirst at the prana level and absence of shoka and papa. These 6 are in terms of absence. 2 positive attributes are mentioned- satya kaama and satya sankalpa. 

Initial sections focus on "upasana" on this ashta-guna vishishta ishvara. The later sections focus on "gnanam". Vidyaranya skips the upasana portions and focuses on the gnanam sections alone.

What is dahara Vidya?

As mentioned, this chapter is called Dahara Vidya or Dahara Aakaasha Vidya. In the Lalita Sahasranama, we have the name "daharaakaara ruupini".

Dahara means "small". Akasha is of course space. Dahara akasha refers to the space in the heart. Brahman is revealed in both saguna and nirguna form in the cave of the heart. Hence, the name dahara vidya. We can remember Geeta- "ishvarah sarva bhutanam hrd deshe arjuna tishTati". The Lord is available as "praagnya" (antaryami rupam, i.e. saguna form) in each living being. As Nirguna, Lord is the Consciousness principle (experienced especially in the mind, whose (mind's) locus is the heart). Hence, dahara vidya means both- saguna and nirguna aspect.

Setting the context: Prajapati, Indra, Virochana

As per the Upanishad, in a certain context, Prajapati mentioned that by knowing Brahman, we can have "sarva loka praapti" and "sarva kaama praapti". This picked the curiosity of both the devas and the asuras (especially the sarva kaama praapti, total fulfilment). Deva raja Indra and Asura raja Virochana came as students to Prajapati. They served Prajapati for 32 years!

Akshi Purusha

It is only after that, that Prajapati taught Indra and Virochana. He initially reveals Brahman as "Vishva" in the individual and as Virat in the Totality. The term "Akshi purusha" is used for Brahman here. The right-eye (akshi) is used as the locus of Brahman. Note- in Mandukya also, we find this dakshina-akshi reference.

The reason is the following behind using the right eye. In the waking state, the most vital organ is the eye. Since Vishva and Virat are concerned with the waking state, the eye is taken.

The eye, the right eye in particular,  is taken as the aalambanam for Virat upasana. This is the second reason.

How Indra and Virochana mistake this akshi Purusha

Prajapati has given a general definition of paramatma as "tad amrtam, tad abhayam, tad brahma". This shows that Prajapati's intent was to reveal Brahman as the Total. Still, when akshi-purusha was taught by Prajapati to Indra and Virochana, they get the wrong message.

When we stand before someone, our body is reflected in their eye. Indra and Virochana think that this reflected body is paramaatma. They think, this is the message!

They ask Prajapati, we see the reflection in water, in a mirror. Is that paramaatma? Prajapati did not want to correct them immediately. He only said, paramaatma is in the water, in the mirror too.

 The water-bowl experiment which still causes mistakes!

To correct them, Prajapati did an experiment. He got a huge water-bowl (sharaavah). He asked Indra and Virochana to stand in front of it. He asked them, "What do you see?" They said, "We see our reflection!"

Next, he asked them to go and groom themselves- new dress, new ornaments etc. and come back. Again, he asked them, "What do you see?" They replied, "We see our reflection!"

Again, Prajapati did not correct them. He wanted them to understand their folly (on their own). He had already described Paramaatma as "tad amrtam, tad abhayam, tad brahma". Hence, it must be "non-changing". Seeing their "changed bodies" (before and after grooming), Prajapati hoped Indra and Virochana will realize that "chhaayaatma" (reflected body) cannot be the Total.

But they did not get the message! Instead, they felt, Prajapati validated their understanding and went back to their respective places!

Virochana made a slight modification after going back to asura loka. Instead of saying, "reflected body is paramatma", he said, "body itself is paramatma". He never came back to Prajapati. He started an "andha parmapara". Thus, chaarvaaka became the philosophy- materialistic philosophy- where body is the end-all and be-all. 

Why did they miss the point? That's because they were not yet ready for the teaching- they had some "pratibandha" obstacle, which had to be overcome. We normally say, continue with bhakti. Obstacles, such as this, will be taken care by bhakti, and we will come back to the right teacher, to get the knowledge correctly!

Problem in akshi-purusha:

Indra came back, because he felt, this chhaayaatma as paramaatma is not making sense! He felt, the body may suffer from conditions like blindness etc. In these cases, this body or its reflection, cannot be paramatma.

Swapna purusha

When Indra comes back to Prajapati, he first asked him to serve for 32 years! That's because he did not understand the intent of the teaching, when Prajapati taught Akshi Purusha. This reveals an important message for the saadhaka. If we are not able to get the import of the Vedantic teaching, it points to a certain lack of preparedness of the mind. It's as though there is some latent papa, some pratibandha, some obstacle, which prevents the student from getting the full impact of the teaching. This lack of preparedness can be solved only through karma-yoga. Hence. Prajapati asks Indra to serve him for 32 years. After this, he starts teaching again.

This time, Prajapati reveals the swapna-purusha. Prajapati's intent is always this- through the swapna-purusha, he wants Indra to know, he (the dreamer) is a mixture of the dream-body, the dream-chidabhasa (reflected consciousness) and the original consciousness. Of this, Prajapati wants Indra to take the original consciousness as the "invariable" and own that up, as his true nature.

Problem in swapna-purusha:

But, like the mistake Indra made in case of Akshi Purusha, he continues to make the same mistake. He takes the reflected consciousness in the dreamer (swapna purusha) as his true nature, as though that is the original "ashta guna vishishta paramatma". But, this cannot be the case, since Prajapati had pointed out that this paramatma is "tad amrtam, tad abhayam, tad brahma". Also, the dreamer suffers from nightmares, and such a swapna-purusha cannot be the paramatma. In particular, "chora" and "vyaaghra" bhaya are given as examples! 

Initially, Indra does not get this message and goes away, thinking he has got the full teaching.

But on the way back to his abode, he realizes this swapna-purusha is making no sense. Hence, he returns to Prajapati.

Supta-purusha:

When Indra returns, Prajapati asks him to serve for 32 more years, for the same reason as the last time!

Note this point: By now, Indra has done these many years of service to Prajapati:

- 32 years after which Prajapati taught akshi purusha!

- 32 years after which Prajapati taught swapna purusha!

- 32 years after which Prajapati taught supta purusha!

He has put in 96 years of service already!

At the end of the most recent 32 years of service, Prajapati teaches. This time, he reveals the supta-purusha, the pragnya, the person-in-deep-sleep. The supta-purusha comprises the kaarana-shariram + chidabhasa + chit (original consciousness). Again, Prajapati's intent is that Indra should take the invariable (i.e. original consciousness) as his true nature/ as paramatma.

In supta-purusha, since the mind is asleep, there is no individuality.  It is closest to Paramatma (as though merged with the totality) as seen in Mandukya: esha sarveshvarah etc. Indra was initially satisfied. 

Problem in supta-purusha:

While going back to his abode, he realized, the deep-sleep state is "jadah" (inert) and cannot be the paramatma.

Hence, he comes back to Prajapati

The complete teaching: Dahara-vidya revealing nirgunam brahman

Prajapati makes Indra serve for only 5 years! That's because his mind has become subtle enough to appreciate the paramatma as supta-purusha. 

From now, comes the main teaching. This is section 12, which is the most important section in Chandogya, Chapter 8.

But, we need to remember one point. After section 12, we have 3 more sections in the Upanishad- 13, 14, 15. But Vidyaranya does not comment on them at all! For him, the teaching is over, once he elaborates the verses in section 12. The reason is the following:

This chapter is called dahara-vidya. But, it has 2 parts. In the first part, comprising the first 6 sections, we get dahara-vidya in which saguna-brahman is revealed (for the sake of upaasana). Next, from 7-12, we get dahara-vidya (especially chapter 12), where nirgunam brahman is reveaed. After this, the upanishad goes back to the original saguna-brahma topic.

Vidyaranya had skipped the sections 1-6 since it dealt with saguna-brahma upasana. Hence, he skips 13-15 also, for the same reason!

For him, the main teaching of nirgunam brahma is in sections 7-12 (both sections included). This point must be remembered.

The sections 13-15 (both sections included) constitute prayers, very similar to the krama-mukti prayers towards the end of Ishavasya Upanishad. But Vidyaranya skips all of this.

That said, he elaborates section 12. It is a section which has the complete-teaching: