mahAvAkyaratnAvaliH- Translation No. 44. Miscellaneous statements.

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*mahAvAkyaratnAvaliH- Translation No. 44. Miscellaneous statements.*

 

 

 

170. amAtraH caturtho avyavahAryaH prapancopashamaH shivo'dvaitaH—mANDUkya

up. 12.

 

Om which is partless is turIya (fourth)—beyond all empirical relationships,

the total negation of the universe, the auspicious and non-dual.

 

Shri Shankara gives the meanings of the words in this sentence as under:--

 

amAtraH—that which has no matra, part--- Om as a whole. (In the preceding

three mantras of this upanishad the three letters, a u and m of Om have been

considered separately. The letter a is said to represent the waking state,

the letter u the dream state and the letter m the deep sleep state. In the

present mantra Om as a whole represents the Self).

 

caturthaH—turIya, the absolute Self.

 

avyavahAryaH—beyond empirical relations, because of the disappearance of

names and nameables (forms), that are nothing but creations of the speech

and the mind.

 

prapancopashamaH—the total negation of the phenomenal world.

 

171. yatra nAnyat pashyati nAnyat shRiNoti nAnyat vijAnAti sa

bhUmA—chAndogya up. 7.23.1.

 

The Infinite (bhUmA) is that where one does not see anything else, does not

hear anything else, and does not know anything else. (The word 'bhUmA' is

derived from the same root 'bRimh' (to grow), as the word 'brahman' and so

it has the same meaning as 'brahman'.)

 

172. sa eshha neti netyAtmA agRihyo nahi gRihyate ashIryo na hi shIryate

asango nahi sajyate asito na vyathate na rishhyati--- bRihad. up. 3.9.26.

 

This Self is what has been described as 'Not this, not this'. It is

imperceptible, for it is never perceived; undecaying, for it never decays;

unattached, for it is never attached; untrammeled, for it does not suffer,

nor perish.

 

173. sa yathA saindhavaghano anantaro abAhyaH kRitsnaH rasaghana eva evam vA

are ayam AtmA anantaro abAhyaH kRistnaH prajnAnaghana eva-- brih. up.

4.5.13.

 

This is spoken by sage yAjnavalkya to maitreyI.

 

As a lump of salt has neither inside nor outside and is but a homogeneous

mass of taste, even so this Self, my dear, has neither inside nor outside

and is but a homogeneous mass of consciousness through out.

 

174. vilIne manasi gate samkalpavikalpe dagdhe puNyapApe sadAshivaH—

 

When the mind has ceased, resolves and cogitations have come to an end,

merit and sin have been burnt off, the person is sadAshiva (supreme brahman

).

 

The mind or antaHkaraNa has four functions and has four names according to

these functions. When it is debating about the pros and cons of some thing

it is called manas or mind. When it comes to a decision it is called buddhi

(intellect). The function of storing information is called citta. The

" I-ness " behind all these functions is called 'ahamkAra' or ego.

 

All these functions are propelled by the desires, likes and dislikes in the

mind. On the realization of one's nature as the supreme brahman, all

desires, likes and dislikes come to an end. Thereafter the mind ceases to

function in the ordinary manner. This is what is meant in the above

statement. Of course the jnAni continues to have his intellectual powers,

and uses them for the benefit of the world.

 

S.N.Sastri