ATMABODHA | VERSE 09 | SRI ADI SANKARACARYA sachchidaatmanyanusyuute nitye vishhNau prakalpitaaH . vyaktayo vividaassarvaa haaTake kaTakaadivat.h .. 9 Pada Artha: sanckrit to english Sat Chit Aatmaani: whose nature is Existence-intelligence Anustuyate: which is All pervading Nitye: eternal Vishnaav: upon Vishnu (one whose stride is largest) Prakalpitaa: projected by imagination Vyaktiyaha: manifested Vividhaa: manifold Sarvaaha: all Haatake: out of gold Kataka aadi vat: just as bracelets and other ornaments All the manifested world of things and beings are projected by imagination upon the substratum which is the Eternal All-pervading Vishnu, whose nature is Existence-Intelligence; just as the different ornaments are all made out of the same gold. In the previous verse we learnt that the world is like a bubble of water. Just as the bubbles of water emerge, sustain, burst and fall back in water, all the creations are but illusions on Brahman and Brahman is the substratum of all the names and forms. Sri Sri Shankara explains this further in this sloka. For any creation to occur, there has to be three separate and fundamental causes, the material cause {Upadana Karana} or the raw material from which the creation occurs, the instrumental cause {Nimitta Karana} which is the equipment with which the creation is done and the efficient cause {Abhinna Karana} or the intelligence that creates or works at the material with the instrument. For example, in case of the creation of a pot the mud is the material cause, the potter’s wheel or the stick is the instrumental cause and the potter is the efficient cause. Thus in a creation the three separate causes exist and the material is transformed into a new thing. From the previous example we have learnt that all the creations are like bubbles of water, and the only reality is the Brahman. Thus Brahman becomes the material, and efficient cause of all the creation. Here the objects created are not different from the creator. Just like the various ornaments are but gold, i.e. Gold is the material cause of all the ornaments, the world is but a creation of the Mind on Brahman. Just like the bubbles that are not different from the water, the different names and forms are but Brahman only. Thus in case of the creation of the world, there is no actual creation happening. This is what Sri Sri Shankara is explaining here as all the creations are only projections of the imaginations of the substratum of Brahman. Sri Sri Shankara is here explaining that the duality perceived due to ignorance is nothing but the work of the Mind. We can also here note that just as how nothing happens to the gold even when the gold ring goes out of shape or is melted, so too even when there are changes in the world, the eternal reality remains the same. It is ever changeless, immutable. The names and forms associated with various ornaments seem to distinguish them from gold are changeable and are hence unreal, even when the names and forms undergo changes the gold remains the same as it is. Similarly the names and forms associated with the different objects of the world which appear to be different from Brahman and are changeable and therefore unreal. Even when the names and forms undergo change the substratum remains as it is. Another important thing to learn here is that the word ‘Vishnu’ means “one who pervades”. Hence it means the infinitude non dual Self alone. It is only intended to convey Brahman as that unlimited by time or space and not as anything else.
Posted on: Sun, 30 Mar 2014 01:39:27 +0000
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