Shvetashvatara

The Shvetashvatara Upanishad opens with the metaphysical questions about first causes. Upanishad is an ancient Sanskrit text embedded in the Yajurveda. The word Shvetashvatara translates to "the one carrying beyond on white horse" or simply "white mule that carries".

First Chapter

The sages, while discussing Brahman, ask the question: Is Brahman the cause (of the world)? Where did we come from, by what do we live and in what do we merge in the end? Hey Brahmavido! Who is that presiding deity under whose guidance we follow the law of happiness and sorrow?

Time, Prakriti, Niyati, randomness, inert matter, any of these or their combination cannot be the reason because they also have their own birth, have their own identity and their own existence. The soul also cannot be the cause, because it is also not free from happiness and sorrow.

Then the sages, being concentrated, saw in meditation yoga the creative power of the Lord himself, which was hidden in his qualities. He is the only one who is the ruler of time, soul and all causes.

The sages saw a chakra or wheel in which there is a Nemi, three circles, sixteen ends or ends, fifty arays, twenty pratyeras, six octaves, a loop of different forms through which, on three different paths, He moves on the roads and there are two instruments of his fascination.

Or we see Brahman in meditation as a river containing water from five sources. There are five fiery turns in it for five reasons. There are five vital waves in it. His mind is the source of the fivefold knowledge. Panchavidha sorrows are its orbits which have five vortices, five branches and innumerable sides.

In that Brahma Chakra which is the life and shelter of all, the swan (the traveling soul) is roaming. When he separates from his individual soul (Jivatma) and realizes himself as the driving force (Paramatma), then by His grace he attains immortality.

The Supreme Brahman is clearly declared in the Upanishads. It is tripartite. It is a strong shelter and indestructible. Knowing its inner essence, the sages of Vedas got absorbed in it and were freed from birth.

God sustains this world made up of both the perishable and the imperishable, the manifest and the unmanifest. As long as the soul does not know God, it remains attached and bound by worldly enjoyments. But when he knows God, then he becomes free from all bondages.

The all-knowing God and the little-knowing creature are both unborn. That power is also eternal soul and unborn which connects the relationship between the enjoyer and the enjoyed. When the living soul knows this trinity of Brahma, then it becomes eternal and universal and becomes free from the feeling of the doer.

Prakriti is perishable and soul is imperishable. He, the only God, rules both the mortal and the soul. By meditating on that One and becoming united and identified with it, one finally gets freedom from all ignorance or delusion.

On knowing the Lord Devadhidev, all bondages are broken, all sufferings go away and freedom from birth and death is attained. By meditating on them, a person goes beyond the consciousness of the body and reaches the third state, the state of Vishvaishwarya. Then all his wishes are fulfilled and he becomes the only one.

One who is eternally present in the soul must be known. Knowing it, nothing remains to be known beyond it. The enjoyer, the enjoyment and the motivator of pleasure are the three sides of Shakti Brahma.

The idol of Agni, even though it is located in its origin Arani, is not visible until the fire is lit by rubbing it, although the subtle form of Agni is always present in the Arani. By rubbing Arani, fire can be obtained from the origin again. Similarly, by meditating on Pranava, the soul is seen in its manifest form which was present in the unmanifested form even before meditation.

By making his body an Arani, he should see the Supreme Light of God like a mystical fire by the practice of rubbing the upper Arani in the form of Pranav.

Just as there is oil in sesame, butter in curd, water in an underground source, fire in wood and it can be obtained by peeling, peeling, digging and rubbing, similarly God is hidden in the soul, which can be attained by anyone through truth and penance. Could

Krishjan
Krishjan | Explore Dharma

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