1. Philosophy, Mystic Philosophy Of The Upanishads (1

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Eliot : H. B.

(Sir Charles) Eliot's Hinduism and Buddhism.

Farquhar : O.R.H.I.

Farquhar's Outline of the Religious History of India.

James : V. R. E.

James's Varieties of Religious Experience.

Macdonell : H.S.L.

Macdonell's History of Sanskrit Literature.

Max Müller : S.B.E.

Max Müller: Sacred Books of the East.

Radhakrishnan: P.U.

Radhakrishnan's Philosophy of the Upanishads.

Radhakrishnan : I. P.

Radhakrishnan's Indian Philosophy.

Ranade: C.S.U.P.

Ranade's Constructive Survey of Upanishadic Philosophy.

Underhill: E. M.

Underhill's Essentials of Mysticism and other Essays.

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MYSTIC PHILOSOPHY OF UPANISHADS

the

Śvetāśvataras

and

the

Maitrāyaṇas.

These

older

Charaka

schools

were

gradually

superseded

by

the

later

school

of

the

Taittirīyas

who,

departing

from

the

old

tradition

of

the

black

Yajurveda

and

following

the

example

of

the

other

Vedic

schools,

formed

a

separate

Brāhmaṇa

of

their

own,

as

we

have

pointed

out

before.

But

the

Charakas

stuck

to

their

old

tradition

and

had

all

their

Brāhmaṇa

materials

included

in

their

Saṃhitās.

Hence

the

Upanishads

belonging

to

the

older

Charaka

schools

must

have

have

formed

parts

of

their

respective

Saṃhitās.

In

other

words,

since

in

the

Charaka

schools

the

Veda

meant

the

all-inclusive

Saṃhitā,

any

work

of

these

schools,

which

formed

a

part

of

their

Vedic

tradition,

whether

as

Āraṇyaka

or

Upanishad,

or

or

as

Vidhi

or

Arthavāda,

must

be

regarded

as

belonging

to

the

Saṃhitā.

Of

the

three

Saṃhitopanishads

of

the

Charakas,

the

Kaṭha

is

a

metrical

Upanishad

and

is

attributed

to

the

Kaṭhaka

Śākhā

of

the

Charakas,

although

it

has

little

connection

with

the

existing

Kaṭhaka-Saṃhitā

or

with

the

fragments

of

the

Kaṭhaka

Brāhmaṇa

preserved

in

the

Taittirīya

Brāhmaṇa.

Of

course,

the

story

of

Nachiketas

is

found

in

this

Upanishad

as

well

as

in

the

Kaṭhaka

section

of

the

Taittirīya

Brāhmaṇa,

and

it

may

be

that

the

Upanishad

has

borrowed

the

the

story

from

the

Brāhmaṇa

or

the

Brāhmaṇa

from

the

Upanishad.

But

beyond

this,

there

is

no

other

connection.

In

Śaṅkara's

time,

the

Kaṭha

perhaps

formed

a

whole,

as

Śaṅkara

thought,

with

the

other

texts

of

the

Kaṭhaka

school

and

thus

found

a

place

in

the

all-inclusive

Saṃhitā.

It

may

therefore

be

regarded

as

the

Mantropanishad

of

the

Kaṭhaka

school.

Kaṭhakanam

Mantropanishad.

The

Śvetāśvatara

is

also

a

metrical

Upanishad.

According

to

to

its

own

statement,

it

derives

its

name

from

an

individual

author,

who

was

either

the

founder

or

a

prominent

representative

of

the

Śvetāśvatara

school.

Hence

the

tradition

which

assigns

it

to

the

Śvetāśvatara

school

of

the

black

Yajur-veda

should

not

be

lightly

set

aside.

The

Śvetāśvataras

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VEDIC LITERATURE AND UPANISHADS

21

their Śakhā tradition is concerned, a somewhat independent

and volatile character. Many of these Upanishads have no

connection whatever with any Vedic Śākhā and derive their

name from their subject matter or some other circumstance ;

and even those that maintain the semblance of a connection

with Vedic Śākhās often do so by bearing the name of, or

attributing their teachings to, some reputed Vedic teacher of

antiquity, often selected from outside the tradition of the

Atharva-Veda. Thus we find such names as Māṇḍūkya (a

Śākhā of the Rig Veda), Jābāla, Śāndilya (teachers of Sāma-

Veda) etc., among the Upanishads of the Atharva-Veda. *

Thus while the Āraṇyakopanishads occupy a place in the

Āraṇyakas and the Sambitopanishads in the Samhitās of

their repective Sākhās, the independant Upanishads, though

ascribed to the Atharva-Veda, have no real connection

with it or any other Veda. Only two treatises, viz. the

Muṇḍaka and Praśna may be traced to two genuine teachers

of the Atharva-Veda, yet they too have no fixed place in its

exising Śākhā literature. The other genuine independant

Upanishad, as we shall presntly see, is the Māṇḍūkya,

which is ascribed to the Atharva-Veda, though the name

it bears is mentioned among the Śākhās of the Rig Veda.

• Perhaps on this analogy the Katha and Śvetāśvatara came to be

regarded, when the continuity of their Śakhā tradition was lost, as the

Ārshya (i.e. originatIng form some Vedic Rishi or seer) Upanishads

of the Atharva-Veda. But this is certainly a mistake. Apart from their

names which are derived, according to the well established practice

prevalent in the Vedic schools, from the Śakhas to which they belong,

there is sufficient internal evidence to show that they are the genuine

works of the black Yajurveda.

KARMA-KAṆḌA AND JÑĀNA-KAṆḌA

43

The king said, "For this, O Anpamanyava, you eat good food, see dear faces around you and there is Vedic glory in your family;* but the heaven you worship is only the head of the world-soul, and if you had not come to me for right instruction, your head would have fallen."

Satyayajña Paulushi replied "The Sun only, Sir, I worship as the world-soul."

The king said, "For this, O Paulushi, you eat good food, see dear faces around you, and there is Vedic glory in your family; but the sun you worship is only the eye of the world soul, and if you had not come to me for right instruction, you would have become blind."

Indradyumna Bhāllaveya replied, "Air only, Sir, I worship as the world soul."

The king said, "For this, O Bhāllaveya, you eat good food, see dear faces around you, and there is Vedic glory in your family; but the air you worship is only the breath of the world soul, and if you had not come to me for right instruction, your breath would have left you."

Jana Śārkarākshya replied, "Ether only, Sir, I worship as the world-soul."

The king said, "For this, O Jana, you eat good food, see dear faces around you, and there is Vedic glory in your family; but the ether you worship is only the trunk of the world soul, and if you had not come to me for right instruction, your trunk would have perished."

Budila Āśvatarāśvi replied, "Water only, Sir, I worship as the world soul."

The king said, "for this, O Budila, you eat good food, see dear faces around you, and there is Vedic glory in your family; but the water you worship is only the bladder of the world-soul, and if you had not come to me for right instruction, your bladder would have burst"

• The remark is undoubtedly sarcastic and is repeated, it may be observed, in the case of each of the six Brahmans. See below.

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51

Equinoxes happen twice in a year, once in spring and again in autumn. They do not remain stationary, but on account of the slow and retrograde motion of the earth's axis along the ecliptic, they change their position with respect to Nakshatras as time rolls on. At the present time the vernal equinox is in the constellation Uttara Bhādrapada, but at the time of the Rigveda, when some of its earliest hymns were composed, the vernal equinox fell, as Tilak points out, in the constellation of Punarvasu. Now the time required for the movement of the vernal equinox from Punarvasu to Uttara-Bhādrapada can be easily calculated. It has been ascertained that the vernal equinox traverses a space of about one degree in 71.7 years and that the distance between Punarvasu and Uttara-Bhādrapada is a little over

= 106 degrees. Therefore the fall of the vernal equinox in Punarvasu must have taken place a little over 71.7 x 106 years ago, i.e. roughly 7900 years ago. In other words, the earliest hymns of the Rigveda were composed about 6000 B. C. But even if we give up the indistinct references to Punarvasu in the Rig-veda and confine ourselves only to the unmistakable references to Mrigaśiras or Orion, the time of the Rigveda cannot be later than 4500 B. C. as Tilak and Jacobi have so clearly shown.

In his "Artice Home in the Vedas", Tilak has briefly described how he arrived at the above conclusion. "The axis of the earth," he writes "has a small motion round the pole of the ecliptic, giving rise to what is known as the precession of the equinoxes, and causing a change only in the celestial, and not in the terrestrial poles. Thus the polar star 7000 years ago was different from what it is at prsent, but the

"The first point of Aries (i.e., the vernal equinox) is slowly changing, it moves along the ecliptic in the retrograde direction at the rate of 50·2" in a year." Elementary Mathematical astronomy by Barlow and Bryne, page 103. (50·2" in a year is equal to one degree in 71·7 years).

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Śabda and that the other six sources of knowledge mentioned above are mere varities of these three.

We shall now consider the three main sources of knowledge and see in what respects they are considered inadequate by Upanishadic philosophers.

2. Pratyaksha.—Its inadequacy.

Pratyaksha is explained as knowledge obtained through the contact of a sense organ with an external physical stimulus. It is perceptual knowledge. In this knowledge the world outside is presented in fragments to the cognitive apparatus of man through his physical sense-organs. Hence perception can only reveal the existence of a physical object or its sensible qualities, but can give no information about the existence of anything which does not strike the eye, or the ear, or any other senses of man. Perceptual knowledge, from its very nature of origin must be confined to the sensible, physical world, and must be incapable of revealing any super-sensible object, much less the nature of transcendental Reality about which the Upanishads speak. The five physical senses, through which perceptual knowledge is obtained, being composed of gross physical matter with an abundance of tamas, as we shall see afterwards, are competent only to reveal the behaviour of physical objects; they are utterly unfit to reveal the Reality lying beyond the husk of the gunas.*

Thus the Kena-Upanishad says, “There (where Brahmanis) the eye cannot reach, nor speech, nor the mind.”—Kena I. 3.

The Kaṭhas says, “His form is not visible. No one can see him with the eye.”—Kaṭha VI. 9.

“He cannot be heard, He cannot be touched, He cannot be seen, He cannot be tasted, He cannot be smelt.”—Kaṭha III. 15.

The Muṇdaka says, “He cannot be reached by the eye, nor by the other organs, He cannot be reached by tapas, nor by other works.” Muṇd. III. i. 8.

• See Chapters XVII § 3 and XXI § 3.

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MYSTIC PHILOSOPHY OF UPANISHADS

or divine communion. Nothing higher can be conceived of,

nothing higher can enter the sphere of human ambition, if

the goal of human life is correctly estimated. In this state

man ceases to be the finite mortal being which he ordinarily

is and becomes completely Brahman.

4. The Yoga-gunas or Mystic Experiences.

Some very strange phenomena are said to appear, as

Yoga advances. When the novice has placed himself

securely on the path of Yoga, he experiences strange sights

and sounds, and also strange tastes, smells and touches.

These mystic sense-experiences are called Yoga-gunas in

Śvet. 2.12. Of these five yoga-gunas or mystic sense expe-

riences, references to strange visions and auditions are fre-

quently met with in the Upanishads.* When the Yoga gunas

appear, the yogi becomes, we are told in the same verse,

free from disease, old age and sorrow.†

Another yoga guna or mystic experience accompanying

yoga practices is what is known as levitation. Yogic levita-

tion is the natural rising and floating of the body in the air

during the time of intensive meditation; it is believed by

some to be due to the generation in the body of a force of

magnetic orgin which reverses gravitation.‡ This force is

described in Śvet. 2·12 as the fire of Yoga (Yogāgni) and

one of its first products is said to be levity or lightness

(laghutvam) which results in levitation. (See Śvet. 2·13). In

Maitri 6·22 the sage who meditates on Brahman by means

of the mystic syllable “Om” is said to be levitated (ūrdham

utkrāntah). The same text further declares; “Just as the

• See chapter XXV & 4 (6).

† See also Y. S. 1.35.

‡ “Gravitation is in fact a force of magnetic nature, and may be

reversed and changed into repulsion, just as ordinary magnetism can

be. Such a reversal of this peculiar type of magnetism can be pro-

duced at will by one who has learnt its secret, but it has also frequently

been produced unintentionally by ecstatics of various types. It is

related, for example, both of St. Teresa and of St. Joseph of Cupertino

that they were often thus levitated while engaged in meditation.”

ascetics

(vānaprasthas)

and

those

who

did

not

observe

the

āśrama

rules

(anāśraunins)

were

equally

eligible

for

the

higher

It

is

therefore

evident

that,

according

to

the

Upanishads,

the

āśrama

in

which

one

is

placed

need

not

be

relinquished,

nor

should

one

give

up

his

āśrama

Whatever

one's

āśrama

may

be,

the

duties

of

that

āśrama

should

be

diligently

performed,

until

the

goal

is

Maitri

IV.

iv.

3,

is

emphatic

on

this

point.

In

Īśā

11

we

read

:-“He

who

knows

the

value

of

knowledge

and

of

work,

overcomes

death

by

work

and

attains

immortality

by

knowledge.”

Again

the

Īśā

says,

“All

this

is

to

be

covered

by

the

Lord

(one

should

recognise

the

presence

of

God

in

When

thou

hast

surrendered

all

this

(when

thou

hast

given

up

thy

attachment

to

the

things

of

the

world),

thou

mayest

Dost

thou

not

covet

the

wealth

of

others.

Performing

work

in

this

way

(i.e.,

without

attachment

and

with

a

recognition

of

the

presence

of

God

in

everything),

mayest

thou

expect

to

live

for

a

hundred

years.

Then

thy

works

will

not

cling

to

thee.

There

is

no

other

way.”--Īśā

1-2.

Thus

works

or

duties

are

not

to

be

shunned,

but

they

ought

to

be

performed

in

the

right

spirit,

in

a

spirit

of

detachment.

Kena

IV.

recommends

works

along

with

tapas

and

self-restraint

for

the

knowledge

of

Brahman.

Tait.

I.

11

enjoins

the

performance

of

good

work

for

those

who

aspire

after

higher

But

work

alone

can

not

suffice

for

illumination,

it

only

purifies

the

mind

by

dissipating

latent

desires.

The

popular

belief

that

asceticism

and

relinquishment

of

āśrama-duties

are

necessary

pre-conditions

of

illumination

is

not

supported

by

the

Upanishads.

On

the

contrary

asceticism

is

regarded

as

the

consequence

and

not

the

indispensable

antecedent

of

Brih.

IV.

iv.

22

says,

“Knowing

this

the

people

of

old

did

not

wish

for

What

shall

we

do

with

offspring,

they

said,

we

who

have

gained

the

Self

and

the

world

of

Brahman

;

and

having

risen

above

the

desires

for

sons,

wealth

and

happiness

in

the

other

world,

they

adopted

the

life

of

wandering

medicants.”

176

MYSTIC PHILOSOPHY OF UPANISHADS

samvisati.

"The absolute Reality, the God with whom the soul seeks to be united is above and beyond all that is concrete and finite. To ascribe any finite quality or characteristic to Him is to limit Him. We can preserve the infinite oneness and wholeness of His Being only by eliminating all that is finite in our account of Him. 'He is not this.' 'He is not this.' The soul that would reach the goal of bliss in union with Him must, therefore, rise above states and processes, above notions and thoughts, above aspirations and deeds, and find, in wordless communion, in a consciousness transcending images, ideas or states of any kind, a junction of the soul—centre with Absolute Reality, a flight of the alone to the Alone."*

This flight of the alone to the Alone is the mystic way; it is Yoga. Since it involves a complete transcendence of the psycho-physical apparatus and the psychological states which arises from its operation, it leads to a direct unitive experience of God, an experience which the mystic or the Yogi can describe, only negatively from the lower empirical standpoint, and positively, only as blissful consciousness or 'being-knowing-bliss,' as we shall presently see. Thus the epistemic content of Yoga corroborates and strengthens the evidence of deep sleep.

4. The place of Reason in Upanishadic philosophy.

• R. M. Jones in Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics Vol. IX page 84. † Compare Victor Cousin's definition of mysticism: "Mysticism is the opposite of rationalism. It results from the despair of the intellect which has begun to doubt the power of reason and to dream of direct.

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MYSTIC PHILOSOPHY OF UPANISHADS

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MYSTIC PHILOSOPHY OF UPANISHADS

2. The Traditional Approach.

In approaching Brahman from the standpoint of the old tradition the sages of the Upanishads have followed two ways which we set forth below.

(a) Śāstrayonitvāt.

Bādarāyaṇa, following Śāṇḍilya and Varuṇa, defines Brahman in his Brahmasūtra I. i. 2. as the cosmic principle which accounts for the origin, preservation and dissolution of the world. He then proves the existence of Brahman on the basis of Its revelation in the traditional literature. “Śāstrayonitvāt.” Brahman is to be known from Its being the source of the Śastras or the traditional literature. Bādarāyaṇ seems to rely on Brih. II. iv. 10 which says,

“Just as from a fire kindled with damp wood clouds of smoke spread in all directions, so, in truth, from that Great Being has been breathed forth all the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Histories, the Mythologies, the commentaries, etc.” Brahman is the source of all knowledge which tradition has brought down to us. Brahman reveals Itself in the soul of man, as we read in Śvet. VI. 28, and thus truths are known and literatures formed. From this fact of revelation we may infer the existence of the author of revelation or Brahman.

In the Brihadāraṇyaka passage quoted above Yājñavalkya seems to advocate the above view. Brahman is the repository of all knowledge and whatever knowledge has come down to us has been breathed into men by a divine afflatus. Thus we read in the Muṇḍaka Upanishad “from Him have come the Rik, the Saman, the Yajus etc.”

(b) From the traditional gods to Brahman.

The traditional argument takes another form. The forces of nature were personified and hypostatised in the Vedas and were called gods. This process of hypostatisation is taken from the Vedas and is carried much further in the Upanishads, so much so that in the end it defeats its own purpose, and the gods thus created are dissolved into one. In the Upanishads,

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237

only a subjective experience of the ignorant Jīva and exists only in the mind of the Jīva, and (ii) an objective illusionism which regards the world as an illusory creation of God and as such allows to it a magical objectivity.

A. Subjective Idealism and its difficulties.

The first position viz., that of subjective idealism may be set forth in the following words of Professor Dasgupta:- The Śaṅkara school of Vedānta holds that "the world as such has no real existence at all, but is only an illusory imagination which lasts till the moment when true knowledge is acquired.

As soon as we come to know that one truth is the Self, or Brahman, all our illusory perceptions representing the world as a field of experience cease.

This happens not because the connection of the self with the world ceases, but because the appearance of the world process does not represent the ultimate and highest truth about it.

All our notions about the abiding diversified world (lasting, though they may be, from beginningless time) are false in the sense that they do not represent the real truth about it.

They are true only in a relative sense, so long as they appear to be so; for the moment the real truth about them and the Self is comprehended, all world appearance becomes unreal, and that one truth, Brahman, the pure being-bliss intelligence, shines forth as the absolute—the only truth in world and man.

The world-appearance as experienced by us is thus often likened to the illusory perception of silver in a conch-shell; for the moment, the perception appears to be true and the man runs to pick it up, as if the conch-shell were a real piece of silver; but as soon as he finds out the truth that this is only a piece of conch-shell, he turns his back on it and is no longer deluded by the appearance or again attracted towards it."*

And just as the silver is a mere subjective experience and is objectively non-existent, so is the world around us.

Now to hold that the world-show as it presents itself to man is a merely subjective creation of the ignorant Jīva is practically

*History of Indian Philosophy pp. 440-441.

238

MYSTIC PHILOSOPHY OF UPANISHADS

243

BRAHMAN AND THE WORLD - PARINAMA OR VIVARTA?

his life from the very beginning of creation. The difficulties to which such a theory of subjective idealism leads we have considered in the previous section.

Lastly, the theory of objective illusionism has no support in the Upanishads. The texts on which Sañkara relies have not been correctly interpreted by him. Sañkara relies mainly on the following passage of the Chhāndogya Upanishad*:—

"His father said to him: 'Śvetaketu, as you are so conceited and so stern, and as you consider yourself so well-read, have you, my dear, ever asked for that instruction by which we hear what cannot be heard, by which we perceive what cannot be perceived, by which we know what cannot be known?'

"'What is that instruction, Sir?' he asked. The father replied: 'My dear, as by one clod of clay all that is made of clay is known, the difference being only a name, arising from speech, but the truth being that all is clay.'

"'And as, my dear, by one nugget of gold all that is made of gold is known, the difference being only a name arising from speech, but the truth being that all is gold.'

"'And as, my dear, by one pair of nail scissors all that is made of iron is known, the difference being only a name, arising from speech, but the truth being that all is iron,—thus, my dear, is that instruction.'

This passage does not mean more than this that if one knows the fundamental reality or its fundamental elements, he knows everything, for everything that exists is constituted by the fundamental reality and its elements. If this passage

one. This transference thus made, the wise term 'Ignorance' (avidyā), and, in contra-distinction to it they call the accurate determination of the true nature of things, 'vastu-svarupam,' (the being-in-it-self of things) 'Knowledge' (Vidyā). If this be so, it follows that the nature of that to which a transfer is thus made, is not in the slightest degree effected by such transfer."

*See Chand. VI. 1, 3-4. See also Chapter VII.

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This is mystically spoken of as water, as we shall presently see.

In the same chapter of the Brihadāraṇyaka,* in reply to Ārtabhaga's question about the deity or entity which overcomes death, Yājñavalkya says "death is fire (for like fire it consumes all things); but that which overcomes the fire of death is water." Now this "water" which overcomes death is nothing but the vehicle of ethical qualities, the "karman" which remains uneffected by death, as explained above.

Similarly in Brih. 6. 2. and Chānd. 5. 3. the vehicles of ethical qualities is referred to as water and we are told that water (i.e., karman, or the vehicle of ethical qualities) comes down from the moon-world and after gradually assuming a subtle and a coarse body is born as man.†

Thus according to Yājñavalkya there are three bodies of man, (1) the gross physical body which is destroyed at death, (2) the subtle body (called 'linga' in Brih. IV. iv. 6) composed of the five subtle elements,(in which are enclosed the vehicles of buddhi, manas and prāṇa, and which accompanies the soul to the other world where it is ultimately destroyed) and (3) the body of ethical qualities (called karmāśraya, or karman) which survives death here and in the other world and which sticks to man so long as he retains his individuality and is not united with Brahman.

3. The Doctrine of five kośas or sheaths.

In the Taittirīya-Upanishad the soul of man is described as being enclosed in five vehicles called kośas or sheaths. These kośas are said to constitute the five selves or rather the five consecutive coverings of the self of man. These five kośas are known as annamaya, prāṇamaya, manomaya, vijñānamaya and ānandamaya. They are really the psycho-physical organs of man.

*See Brih. 3. 2. 10.

†See Chapter XXX §§ 4 and 5.

256

MYSTIC PHILOSOPHY OF UPANISHADS

The existence of the Prāṇamaya kośa as a vehicle subtler than, and distinct from the physical body is proved by the facts of pathology. There are some well-known diseases which are attended with little or no disturbance of the physical body. In functional amnesia, for instance, in which there is no organic brain disease, the memory is deranged, but the derangement is evidently of a super-physical origin. Dr. Coriat mentions the following interesting case:—“Not long ago a serious abdominal operation was performed on a lady by an eminent surgeon in the presence of other surgeons of national reputation. Naturally, every means to avoid sepsis was employed which their art suggested. In spite of their precautions the wound became badly infected and a culture revealed the presence of no fewer than three species of pathogenic microbes. The temperature rose to a dangerous degree, and her condition became very serious. As a last resort opsonic treatment was employed which reduced the sepsis and the temperature. The patient, however, did not rally and her life was despaired of, one unfavourable symptom being that from the beginning she had evinced no desire to live. At length one day, she

*Divergent accounts of the functions of the five prāṇas are found in the Upanishads; but the difference is not of fundamental importance to deserve detailed consideration.

181.45

Pra

274

MYSTIC PHILOSOPHY OF UPANISHADS

becomes indistinguishable from It, just as the flavours of

various flowers are indistinguishably lost in the taste of

honey.

It is difficult to give satisfactory explanation of the above

phenomena. No serious attempt at explanation is made in

the Upanishads. Whatever may be the true explanation,*

it is beyond doubt that they are the natural accompaniments

of mystic meditation, and not its pathological manifestations,

as is sometimes wrongly assumed.†

5. The nature of Consciousness.

We have discussed the four states or phases of conscious-

ness. We have seen that different psycho-physical organs

are employed in them and that their specific character is

determined by the nature of these psycho-physical organs‡

Thus in the states of wakefulness and dream, the vehicles

involved being comparatively coarse, consciousness is marked

by a polarity which disappears in deep sleep and Yoga.

Since the vehicle of deep sleep (ānandamayakośa) does not

perform any function and the vehicle of Vijñānamaya kośa or

buddhi employed in Yoga is of pure sattva, consciousness

in these two phases makes the nearest approach to its own

true nature. In addition to the above normal phases, some

abnormal states are also mentioned in the Upanishads. These

abnormal states are believed to originate from the derange-

ment or abnormal functioning of the psycho-physical organs

through which consciousness manifests itself. In Brih.

3.3 1. we find an interesting reference to the case of a female

medium. The abnormal state of mediumship is explained as

being due to the activity of a spirit from the other world

within the body of the medium whose normal functions are

then suppressed. The spirit in this case was a Gandharva,

• Some believe that these phenomena are due to the development

of the higher senses (i.e. the powers of the subtle body).

† See H. Joly's Psychology of the Saints, Chapter III.

‡ See Chapter XVII § 3.

280

MYSTIC PHILOSOPHY OF UPANISHADS

duties which a house-holder was expected to perform. Accord-

ing to Chānd. 2. 23. 1. study, sacrifice* and charity are the

chief duties of a house-holder. To these may be added the

duties of establishing a family and begetting children. That

the duties of procreation and maintaining a family were

considered to be of very great importance for the house-

holder is proved by the fact that the subject ef procreation

has received elaborate treatment in Brih. 6. 4. and Ait. 2,

and that it has been constantly spoken of as an act of sacri-

fice, thus according to it the rank and sanctity of a Vedic

sacrifice. (See Chānd. 3. 17. 5, 5. 8-9, Brih. 6. 2. 13, and

6. 4. 3).

A different code of duty was, however, prescribed for the

house-holder who was desirous of Moksha, while living with

his family (Chānd. 8. 15). He should, according to Chānd. 8.

15, pursue his sacred studies in a clean spot in his own

house-hold, train up pious sons and pupils, injure no living

things and finally subdue all this senses in the Ātman. For

such a one immortality and union with Brahman are

promised.

There was some difference of opinion as to what was the

chief duty of a house-holder. According to Rathitara, the

house-holder's chief duty was truth-telling; according to

Pauruśishti, it was tapas; according to Maudgalya, study

and teaching of the scripture were the chief duties. Accord-

ing to Chānd. 3. 17. 4, the following were recognised as the

chief duties of a house-holder's life: (1) tapas (austerities),

(2) Charity (Dānam), (2) Ahimssā, (non-injury to life), (4) truth-

telling (Satya-Vachanam) and (5) right dealing (Ārjavam).

• In Brih. 1. 4. 16. five different kinds of sacrifice are mentioned for

a house-holder. They are: (1) throwing libation into sacrificial fire (this

is sacrifice for the gods), (2) study of the scriptures (sacrifice for the

rishis or saints) (3) performance of funeral rites and procreation-(sacrifice

for the fathers) (4) giving food and shelter to men, (sacrifice for man),

and (5) giving food and water to animals, (sacrifice for animals).

286

MYSTIC PHILOSOPHY OF UPANISHADS

3. The Meaning of Karman.

The scientific theory of conservation of energy can explain physical actions chemical or mechanical, which have no moral worth; it breaks down when it is applied to human actions which have moral value; for although it assumes the equality of action and re action and thus satisfy the intellectual demand for causal order, it does not satisfy the moral demand for justice. We have no reason to believe that while the intellectual demand of the human nature is a reality its moral demand is an illusion. The theory of karman satisfies both these demands of the human nature by insisting that an adequate reaction should take place not only on the physical plane, but on the moral plane also.

3. The Meaning of Karman.

The doctrine of karman is the pivotal doctrine of Indian philosophy of morals and religion. From the time of the Upanishads down to the present day it has been dominating the mind of the Indian people in a way for which there is hardly any parallel in the religious or cultural history of the world. All the schools of Indian philosophy, with the solitary exception of the materialists or Chārvākas, and all religious sects of pure Indian origin, including the heretical Jainas and Buddhists, have reverentially accepted this doctrine and built on it their respective ethico-religious systems. A doctrine such as this deserves a most careful and sifting examination.

The word ‘karman’ is derived from the root ‘kri’ (to do). Etymologically, karman means acting, doing, work. In this primary sense the word is frequently used in the Upanishads. But besides this primary meaning, karman has a special meaning or significance. It stands for the sumtotal of the results produced on the agent by his activity; it stands for the collective modification wrought on the character and constitution of the agent by his work.

294

MYSTIC PHILOSOPHY OF UPANISHADS

is

in

an

abject

state

of

fatalism

;

but

it

is

up

to

him,

as

a

free

agent,

to

overcome

the

influences

of

the

kośas

and

break

all

fetters.

How

is

Karman

dissolved

or

dissipated.

Any

work,

whatever

its

nature

may

be,

if

done

with

a

desire,

generates

Karman,

it

produces

configurations

or

modifications

of

the

subtle

body

and

the

causal

body,

which

configurations

lead

to

transmigration.*

Karman

thus

holds

man

in

its

iron

grip

and

entangles

him

in

a

never-ending

cycle

of

deaths

and

births.

Is

there

no

way

of

escape

possible?

Can

we

not

break

the

fetters

of

Karman?

We

have

seen

in

the

previous

section

that

there

is

a

way

of

escape

through

spiritual

initiative,

that

when

abhimāna

is

transferred

from

the

plane

of

manas

to

that

of

buddhi,

leading

to

a

union

with

Brahman,

the

fetters

of

Karman

are

broken;

that

so

long

as

actions

are

done

from

desires,

i.e.

from

the

plane

of

manas,

they

only

forge

fetters

of

transmigration.

Good

actions

can

produce

good

results,

but

they

cannot

annihilate

karman

altogether.

According

to

the

Upanishads,

only

those

who

have

been

united

with

Brahman

or

realised

their

true

self,

have

broken

the

fetters

of

karman

and

gained

complete

freedom.

We

have

the

following

characteristic

declarations

in

the

Upanishads

:-

"As

the

soft

fibres

of

Ishīkā

reed

are

burnt

when

thrown

into

fire,

so

are

the

evils

(Karman)

burnt

of

one

who

knows

this,

that

is,

the

the

true

worship

of

all-pervading

Brahman"

Chānd.

V.

XXIV.

"As

water

does

not

cling

to

the

lotus

leaf,

so

work

does

not

cling

to

him

who

knows

Brahman."

Chānd.

IV.

xiv.

"He

who

knows

Brahman

is

followed

neither

by

good

works

nor

by

evil

works.

He

overcomes

all

the

sufferings

of

the

heart

(which

arise

from

good

and

bad

works)."

Brih.

IV.

iii.

See

chapter

XXX.

17239

181.45

CHA

181

294.592

K96S

300

MYSTIC PHILOSOPHY OF UPANISHADS

(that is, union with Brahman takes place).12 It also characterises this state as the highest and the supreme goal (sā kāshṭhā sā parā gati).

Now when this ideal is reached, man is lifted into the realm of the Absolute, not only from the intellectual point of view, but from the moral point of view as well. All duality, intellectual and moral ceases, all contradictions are reconciled.*

Thus often in the Upanishads contradictory intellectual and moral qualities are attributed to the sage who has reached the goal. The idea behind this is to indicate that the sage has reached that stage in which our categories and concepts do not apply and that the fullness of this condition can only be imperfectly expressed by language. Hence it is often said that this ideal cannot be truly or adequately realised by intellectual or moral efforts, such as we understand them. Hence in the formulation of this ideal a via negativa is often adopted. "Not this," "not this," "beyond good and evil" are some of the negative descriptions met with in the Upanishads. The Upanishadic summum bonum can be truly realised only in a unio mystica, the methods of which we have discussed in Book I. The methods, as we have seen, include intellectual as well as moral efforts. The latter are therefore not useless; on the contrary they are regarded as very important, as they prepare us for the final goal which cannot be reached without such efforts.

We have discussed in a separate chapter the characters of the sage who has realised the highest ideal.† Further discussion on this topic is therefore unnecessary. But a question has been raised in some quarters as to whether the ideal of life set forth in the Upanishads can be called religious. The answer is easy enough. The Upanishadic ideal is not religious, if we hold with the dualists that religion must imply a permanent duality between the worshipper and the

• See p. 196. † See Chapter XV.

3941

181.4

A. 117

12345

294.592

K96D

320

MYSTIC PHILOSOPHY OF UPANISHADS

ness is reborn. Just in the same manner when our physical

body wears out and becomes unfit for life's work, it is

dissolved, its energy being handed over to the subtle body—

this we call death. Death is followed by a period, more or

less prolonged, during which the karmic traces of the

subtle body in which the soul of the Jiva is then clothed

unfold themselves in the world which corresponds with the

configuration of his subtle body—this corresponds to dream.

After a while the subtle body is also worn out and dissolved.

Then the soul encased in a quiescent causal body goes to the

moon and takes rest. This respite in the moon corresponds to

deep sleep on the physical plane. In the sphere of the moon

the soul assimilates its past experiences and makes prepara—

tion for a new plunge into coarse matter. When this prepa—

ration is completed, it comes down to earth, investing itself

with new garments of coarse matter. This is reincarnation.

This corresponds to re-awakening after deep sleep.* This is,

in substance the theory of transmigration as propounded

in. Brih. 4. 3.

But why do we lose, it may be asked, our memory of the

past life on being reborn? In the daily renewal of conscious—

ness memory bridges over the gulf which separates the old

from the new consciousness and demonstrates the unity of

both. Why is it otherwise in reincarnation? Why is the

reincarnated soul devoid of its memory of the past? The

explanation of this lies in the fact that while in our daily

awakening, consciousness functions through the same coarse

and subtle bodies, in our reincarnated life our consciousness

functions through entirely new coarse and subtle bodies.

But the memories of the past lives remain stored up in the

causal body and may be revived, as they are actually revived

in some special cases. (See Chapter XXXI § 3(c)).

According to the Upanishads, ordinary mortals reincarnate

*See Brih. 4. 3.

181.42 PRA

PRA

327

THE DOCTRINE OF TRANSMIGRATION

In this doctrine the five stages through which the soul of the ignorant Jīva is believed to pass in course of his descent from the moon are figuratively described as five sacrificial fires and the descending soul is conceived as a libation thrown successively into these fires, from the last of which, namely the fire of woman, it emerges assuming a human form.

Inspite of its obscurity the doctrine of five fires seems to teach that the reincarnating soul which has at first only a causal body gradually clothes itself in coarser and coarser garments, gathering, in course of its descent, materials with which it builds up the kośas appropriate to its life on earth. But in this process of building and descent the struggling desires or the dominant seeds of the causal body play the most important part, as will be shown below.

5. The cause of descent.

While the fate of the Jīva after death is conditioned by the configuration of his subtle body, his rebirth or re-incarnation in this world is determined by the configuration of his causal body. The problem of re-incarnation is treated in the Upanishads as a great mystery and the language employed in its discussion is obscure and metaphorical. Yet it is not altogether impossible to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion by comparing the principal transmigration texts of the Upanishads.

In Brh. 3. 2. 13. Ārtabhāga asks :—“What remains of man after death when the component parts of his gross body are reduced to their elements and when the kośas of the subtle body including the manas and Atman (probably used in the sense of buddhi) are dissolved into their sources?”* The manner in which the question is answered by Yājñāvalkya shows that the problem is considered to be a mystery. However, the answer given is that only Karman remains and that it is this Karman which determines the character (good or bad)

• See p. 253.

328

MYSTIC PHILOSOPHY OF UPANISHADS

of the next birth or descent of man upon this world. Here Karman stands undoubtedly for the Karmāśraya or the causal body, because that which exists after the destruction of all other kośas mentioned by Ārtabhāg: must be the Karman or the configuration of the causal body.* In Brih. 6. 2. and Chānd. 5. 3-10 we are told that the un-liberated Jīva takes a dark path (called Pitriyāna) after his death, that after a long journey in which he has to pass through several stages, led by strange guides, he arrives at the sphere of the moon, and that there in the world of the moon the Jīva lives for a time and is then fe l upon by the gods as the Soma juice is fed upon by the sacrificer.† But what is the meaning of "the Jīvas being fed upon by the gods"? Evidently it cannot be taken literally, as Śañkara rightly points out. To my mind, this devouring of the Jīva by the gods in the moon-world is nothing more than the dissolution of the subtle body of the Jīva into its elemental sources, as described in Brih. 3. 2. 13. (see above). And after the subtle body of the Jīva has been dissolved on the sphere of the moon, the Jīva, encased in his causal body, comes down from the lunar world, passes through different regions, gathering materials from each for the re-construction of his subtle body, and having built up an appropriate subtle body in accordance with the tendencies latent in the germinating seeds of the causal body, comes down to the earth, builds up a coarse body from the fertilised ovum and finally assumes a human shape and is born as man. The new subtle and coarse bodies in which the Jīva re-incarnates are thus determined in their constitution by the tendencies latent in the configuration of the causal body, by the germinating seeds of desire latent in it, just in the same way as a tree is determined by its seed. Hence it is the dominant or germinating seeds of the

• See p. 254.

† See Chānd. 5. 10. 4.

388

MYSTIO PHILOSOPHY OF UPANISHADS

Colonel Rochas has made remarkable experiments upon the retrogression of memory in hypnotised subjects. He has investigated in a strictly scientific spirit cases in which hypnotised subjects profess to remember their former births and found that these recollections are as clear, coherent, and convincing, as any revelations which have ever been made by Mrs. Piper or other famous mediums.* It is to be hoped that other Scientists would come forward and carry to a successful conclusion the researches started so ably by Colonel Rochas.

(c) The study of living testimony.

Much useful work has already been done in collecting and sifting the testimony of living persons who claim to remember their previous lives, and many authentic cases of reincarnation have been brought to light. I give below three such cases (considerably abridged), one from India, one from Japan, and the other from America, which are recounted with similar other cases in C. W. Leadbeater's "Other side of Death". Mention may also be made of the recent case of Śānti Devi of Delhi which was extensively reported in all the leading newspapers of India.

(1) An Indian case.

"Within the Maharajah of Bharatpur's extensive territory was found a boy of four years, Prabhu by name, the son of a Brahmin called Khairāti, who with childish prattle and laughter told with the greatest detail of his supposed former existence. He gave his former name, the year of his other birth, his personal appearance on his earlier visit to this earth, and recounted events, such as famines, which had happened more than fifty years before his last birth. He told of his former wife, his daughters and sons, giving their names and the money he received on their marriages, and described his former home and neighbours.

The child, the savants vouch, had not been tutored and

• See M. L. Chevreul's "Proofs of the Spirit-world."

294.392

K96p

346

MYSTIC PHILOSOPHY OF UPANISHADS

Prof. Deussen has ably and conclusively shown that apart from the fact that liberation is not annihilation but a trans-cending of all that is worthless, the above view is untenable for the simple reason that historically the doctrine of liberation was developed earlier than the doctrine of transmigration.

Prof. Deussen has ably and conclusively shown that apart from the fact that liberation is not annihilation but a transcending of all that is worthless, the above view is untenable for the simple reason that historically the doctrine of liberation was developed earlier than the doctrine of transmigration.

"In the Brāhmaṇas," as Dr. Farquhar points out "men were already struggling to reach philosophical conceptions of the world which might form a more satisfactory basis for the religious life than the gross ritual and magic of sacrifice. Terror-struck at the prospect of repeated deaths in the other world, men longed for release from that fate; and some believed that they had found it in the conviction that the gods and all the spiritual powers of the world are deathless, and that the man, who knowing this, brings his own spirit into union with these powers wins a sure immortality."*

"In the Brāhmaṇas," as Dr. Farquhar points out "men were already struggling to reach philosophical conceptions of the world which might form a more satisfactory basis for the religious life than the gross ritual and magic of sacrifice. Terror-struck at the prospect of repeated deaths in the other world, men longed for release from that fate; and some believed that they had found it in the conviction that the gods and all the spiritual powers of the world are deathless, and that the man, who knowing this, brings his own spirit into union with these powers wins a sure immortality."*

Later on in the Brāhmaṇas, Brahman was exalted above the gods and was regarded as the final goal, the gods being recognised only as doors to the world of Brahman. "By Agni as the door of Brahman, he enters in. When by Agni as the door of Brahman he enters in, he gains fellowship (Sāyujyam) and companionship (salokatā) with Brahman."†

Later on in the Brāhmaṇas, Brahman was exalted above the gods and was regarded as the final goal, the gods being recognised only as doors to the world of Brahman. "By Agni as the door of Brahman, he enters in. When by Agni as the door of Brahman he enters in, he gains fellowship (Sāyujyam) and companionship (salokatā) with Brahman."†

"In the final step the creative principle of the universe was conceived to be the ātman, the self; and as was to be expected, union with the ātman became now the aim of all endeavour and longing. This took place before anything was yet known of transmigration."‡ In Satap. Br. 10. 6. 3. we read "He is my soul (Ātman); thither to that soul on my departure from this world shall I enter in." This union with the ātman, the eternal principle in man and nature, insures immortality and freedom from suffering and death. This is liberation. This idea of liberation was derived from the conception of the ātman in the time of the Brāhmaṇas, long before anything

"In the final step the creative principle of the universe was conceived to be the ātman, the self; and as was to be expected, union with the ātman became now the aim of all endeavour and longing. This took place before anything was yet known of transmigration."‡ In Satap. Br. 10. 6. 3. we read "He is my soul (Ātman); thither to that soul on my departure from this world shall I enter in." This union with the ātman, the eternal principle in man and nature, insures immortality and freedom from suffering and death. This is liberation. This idea of liberation was derived from the conception of the ātman in the time of the Brāhmaṇas, long before anything

• Farquhar: O. R. H. I. p. 340. † Satap-Br. 11. 4. 4. 1. ‡ Deussen : P. U. p. 342.

• Farquhar: O. R. H. I. p. 340. † Satap-Br. 11. 4. 4. 1. ‡ Deussen : P. U. p. 342.

THE DOCTRINE OF MOKSHA OR LIBERATION

351

In the Bhūma-Vidyā (which inculcates the worship of Brahman as Nirguṇa) the liberated sage is said to assume bodies and thus have separate existence from Brahman; while in Shoḍaśa-kalā-Vidyā of Praśna (which is evidently a Saguṇa-Vidyā) the liberated sage is said to be divested of all his kośas or limiting adjuncts and absorbed completely in Brahman. Bādarāyaṇa clearly says in harmony with the teachings of the Upanishads that all forms of Vedāntic worship lead to the same result (see B. S. 3. 3. 4. and Kaṭha 2-15). The true position of the Upanishads seems to be that ordinarily, the liberated sage i.e., the sage who has obtained a knowledge of Brahman, whether he worships Nirguṇa or Saguṇa Brahman, goes to the world of Brahman in a pure Sāttvic body and lives there realising higher and higher communion with Brahman till the time of Pralaya, when he either enters into Brahman and attains Nirvāṇa or continues to lead a free and blissful life in Brahman as before. But they seem also to recognise the possibility of exceptional cases in which the sage may, by strong and resolute efforts, destroy all the kośas, completely identifying himself with Brahman, and plunge into Brahman at death.* But references to such cases of Nirvāṇa are very rare.

5. 'The Social Value of Liberated Lifs.'

The social value of liberation, though not generally recognised, is indeed very great. The sage possesses "peace that baffles understanding." He triumphs over circumstances and is not troubled by ill-health or ill-fortune. In the midst of failure and adversity he retains his equanimity of mind. His intimate communion with God gives him strength to labour, struggle, and suffer, and opens out to him vistas of ever-increasing happiness. He is thus a great social exemplar.

"The mystic" (i.e., the liberated sage), says Underhill,† * See Brih. 4. 4. 6. † Underhill : F. M. pp, 40-43.

15492

181.48

Pra-E

10

22

Kenap

17

2

Upnishad

17

21

Sankara

Gaudapadas,

17

Fn.

an more are more

19

13

(108-10-98)

22

15

differedt

26

1

asctic

29

Fn.

some drink

39

27

dreem

45

1

esence

45

25

evident

47

6

creations myths

50

34

tasis

51

30

prssent

52

16

coidcided

54

12

evidences

55

18

limits

57

6

presupposes

59

10

rcatteacd

61

Fn.

jugan-mithya jageamithya

61

Fn.

Brakmaiva

65

Fn.

chapter XXII

69

H.L.

Syetem

70

23

Samyutta Niyaka

71

29

tells as

74

27

alss

77

Fn.

Deussen : Ru

79

4

Chapter XXHII

81

H.L.

Methads

91

11

Devatta

92

27

Kathas

94

34

of the mots

100

10

a faw

102

4

abtuined

102

4

seaker

103

2

Tapamulam

105

13

from what may

113

19

couch

120

11

"Said, Sir,

125

31

orginally

134

18

following rivers

142

19

Patañjalís

145

21

they body

147

21

following rivers

147

26

conditions

149

19-20

amor intellec- amor intellec-tualis Deiu tualis Dei

153

7

deligently

163

9

compasion

170

27

cognision

171

7

• (Deussen: S.V. pp. 347-348)

172

10

petitio principii

173

8

deep asleep

173

22

Support Sankara

174

6

Mund

175

Fn.

Mund ^ and (Mand)

180

4

quit

184

29

comes

189

5

suggests

189

Fn.

(b) B.

195

22

Vijñānandaṃ

197

9

exist beyond

197

29

Aparokha

198

14

conscious-ness

199

6

dreamless,

205

Fn.

Avyatāt

207

Fn.

Deussen's V.

211

31

Brahmins calls

214

H.L.

casmogony

217

1

world-sced

218

30

macrosm

222

4

beings

222

15

Sa akamata

223

Fn.

whe there tanmatras on tanmātras are

225

Fn.

+see

226

30

paoceed

227

12

(Svet 6. 11)

228

12

eesence

228

27

of Brahman

229

13

declares

231

13

upadhi of (b)

239

17

(b)

240

10

practisedta pas

251

7

habitat at

252

29

either

253

3

formulatedis

257

14

amanebility

261

4

preceptacle

264

14

words.-

267

23

coarse, physical

269

25

Metapsysical

271

3 & 4

Budhi

102140

294.59218

SEN C.1

12437

294.59218

Sen C.1