The Golden Prayer

[Guest guest]

Gummuluru Murthy on 18th Dec. asked for an interpretation of verses 15

and 16 of IzopaniSad. I have attempted one below:

 

The Golden Prayer

 

The verses 15 and 16 of IzopaniSad translate as follows:

 

The face of Reality is hidden by the golden container. Reveal it, O

Sun, so that I may visualise the dharma of the Self as Truth. O Lord

of Light, the only Seer, Controller of all, the Sun, Giver of Life to

all, spread apart your rays, gather up your brilliance, so that I may

perceive the wondrous Form of your being; For I myself am That.

 

The Sun is the only visible representative of the Supreme Truth,

Divine Light, brahman. There are only three locations in which one can

visualise that brahman in this earthly world: One is the Sun, the

second is the inside of the heart, the third is the space between the

eyebrows. Incidentally, this last one gives the esoteric reason why

Hinduism insists on a tilak or mark between the eyebrows. Of these

three since the Sun itself can be visualised as brahman, the worship

of brahman, the ultimate, through worship of the Sun is the easiest to

practise. He is the One therefore who illuminates from within. Our

limited consciousness has to open up to the infinite Consciousness

represented by the Sun. The allegory of the golden container is full

of meaning. The Sanskrit word 'pAtra' is derived from the definition:

'pIyate anena iti pAtram' - that by which we 'drink', i.e.,

experience. We experience the good and bad results of our past karma

from this reservoir of our samskAra which brings forth our cycle of

births and deaths. There are three seeds for this sprouting forth of

our samskAras or vAsanas. The three are: Light (cit), Existence (sat)

and Love (Ananda). They respectively activate, our Intelligence from

its states of ignorance and inertness, our Life (i.e., birth and

death) from its state of formless subtlety and our Mind through its

states of Love and Hate. These activations express themselves in our

wish to know, our wish to live, and our wish to enjoy - these three

being in turn sustained by one's father through knowledge, one's

mother through food, and one's spouse through pleasure and

companionship. This then is the whole cycle of our samsAra. The

resservoir for all this is the golden container representing the

reservoir of all our vAsanAs.

The Creator, brahmA through whom this blossoms in the world as Life is

called hiraNya-garbha (= Golden Conception) in this charge of His. So

the rays of the Sun which are golden in colour, and which constitute

the blinding factor (the veil of ignorance) for not allowing us to

see the Sun, the Reality, constitute, as it were, the golden

container of our vAsanAs. The only Seer is hiraNya-garbha, who sees

it all through. Our individuality, our names and forms, our inner

organ of Mind with all its ramifications, its accessories in the form

of sense organs - all these are created by this hiraNya-garbha, who

gives the Light, to all of them. He is therefore the savitA, the Sun.

So we ask Him, plead with Him and request Him to remove the blinding

rays from himself, because the seeds of our samskAras are with Him,

so that we can see Him as He really is. He is the one who can make us

transcend our individuality and make us see the Oneness and realise

that 'What I see is Myself; I am this Purusha' I am brahman - aham

brahma asmi.

V. Krishnamurthy

[Guest guest]

Namaste.

 

I am grateful to Professor Krishnamurthy for his interpretation of

Isha upanishhad verses 15 and 16. That is the answer I was looking

for (interpretation of the golden glow of the Sun) and I appreciate

it very much.

 

As we started a discussion of these verses (Isha upanishhad verses

15 - 18), let me put a few more thoughts on these noble verses.

 

Firstly, the vedic thinkers have recognized the Sun as pratyaksha

daivam, pushhan, the nourisher. If there is a God in the Universe,

it is the Sun. The vedic prayer, gayatri mantra, also emphasizes

this point.

 

According to Vedic thinkers, Sun is the visible symbol of Brahman.

But only as a symbol. This can be seen in Isha upanishhad, verse 15.

The mumukshu says he/she wants to see, not the Sun, the symbol, but

the true form of Brahman, the spiritual reality behind the Sun.

 

The mumukshu says he/she wants to see the effulgence (kalyAna*tamam*)

of the Brahman rather than the ordinary effulgence of the Sun

(brighter than the thousand Suns, says bhagavadgita).

 

Verse 16 also says "yo'sAvasau purushhah so'hamasmi" (The person who

is in the Sun, I am He). Identity of Atman and Brahman is the basic

point of advaita. It is the same spirit in the Sun, the pratyaksha

daivam, as in the mumukshu. There may be a difference at the surface,

but at depth, it is all identity. Isha upanishhad verses 15 and 16 ask

us to see the identity behind the apparent differences at the surface.

That is also the essence of the mahAvAkyAs tat tvam asi and

aham brahmAsmi.

 

My favourite upanishhads are Katha and Isha upanishhads. Isha upanishhad

is unique in that different assemblage of verses address mumukshus at

different levels of understanding Brahman. Verses 15 to 18 address a

mumukshu who has lived a life of dharma all life and is full of morals,

who has strived earnestly to seek Truth, but who has not yet realized

the highest Truth. That is reflected, for example, in this mumukshu

seeking Brahman in the Sun. "yo'sAvasau purushhah so'hamasmi" says that

the mumukshu is well aware of the identity of Brahman and Atman. However,

that knowledge seems to be not fully established in that mumukshu. If it

were firmly established, there is no need to look for Brahman behind the

effulgence of the Sun. Brahman can be visualized as the innermost Self of

the mumukshu itself.

 

Again, comments will be most appreciated so that I can clarify my own

understanding.

 

Regards

Gummuluru Murthy

------

Yadaa sarve pramucyante kaamaa ye'sya hr^di shritaah

atha martyo'mr^to bhavatyatra brahma samashnute Katha Upanishhad II.3.14

 

When all the desires that dwell in the heart fall away, then the mortal

becomes immortal, and attains Brahman even here.

------

[Guest guest]

Hi everybody,

Aikya recently said that I ought to share my journey on list in spite of

not knowing the language and teachings. I was also reminded that love's

love and that's what matters. Usually, I just read these posts, but this

one came this morning about the sun and late last night, I wrote a note to

a person on another list where there is much arguing about paths to

enlightenment. The note is in humour, yet it refers to a logo -- the sun.

Hope you all laugh with me. Happy holiday. Tamra

 

The post from G. Murthy:

According to Vedic thinkers, Sun is the visible symbol of Brahman.

But only as a symbol. This can be seen in Isha upanishhad, verse 15.

The mumukshu says he/she wants to see, not the Sun, the symbol, but

the true form of Brahman, the spiritual reality behind the Sun.

 

The mumukshu says he/she wants to see the effulgence (kalyAna*tamam*)

of the Brahman rather than the ordinary effulgence of the Sun

(brighter than the thousand Suns, says bhagavadgita).

 

Verse 16 also says "yo'sAvasau purushhah so'hamasmi" (The person who is in

the Sun, I am He). Identity of Atman and Brahman is the basic

point of advaita. It is the same spirit in the Sun, the pratyaksha

daivam, as in the mumukshu. There may be a difference at the surface,

but at depth, it is all identity. Isha upanishhad verses 15 and 16 ask

us to see the identity behind the apparent differences at the surface.

That is also the essence of the mahAvAkyAs tat tvam asi and

aham brahmAsmi.

 

Paths to enlightenment:

 

Robert,

All of us have different paths. I just want to share mine with your because

I know that if I tell anyone else, WaWa mini-market will become the

wealthiest church of the 21st century. You see, I think that religions

start because some individual realizes something so profound that s/he

really does want to share it. Then the foolish people, rather than hearing

that the person is just telling it like it happened, think that that is the

way it has to happen. Then they make a big religion out of it, getting all

of the particulars right so that everybody can follow the leaders

footsteps.

Well, Robert, one night I went to WaWa and I can tell you about the journey

and the music in the store and the light and everything. I can explain the

logo of WaWa -- profoundly Taoist. WaWa will be, (if I ever tell and I

won't), the Temple of the 21st century.

Actually, they put the logo there on purpose to attract blind followers

like me whose unconscious would be drawn, although quite unaware as to why.

The enlightenment was not buying the vanilla when the mint chocolate chip

was hidden in the rear. I always look deeper now that the truth has been

revealed.

Love and deep depths of realization and ice cream!

Tamra