srimadbhagavtham-skandha1-chapter1

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Jai Srimannarayana!

 

(continued from the previous post)

 

 

janma:dhyasya yathah anvaya:dhithrathscha:rthe:shvabhijnah

the:ne: brahma hrdha: ya a:dhikavaye: muhyanthi yathsoorayah

the:jo: va:ri mrdha:m yatha: vinimayo: yathra thrisargo: mrsha:

dha:mna: sve:na sadha: nirastha kuhakam sathyam param dheemahi

 

Let us meditate on that Reality, the Brahman,who shines always pure

with His own light who is cognised through the method of agreement and

difference as the source from whom everything arises, who is the

indweller of all beings and cognizer of all and self- illumined, who

instructed the veda, incomprehensible even to the sages, to the

creator, Brahma, who is the substratum of this world formed from the

combination of the three gunas resulting in the gross elements ,

water, fire and earth and which is unreal in the sense that Brahman

alone is the self of all and the sole reality.

 

'janma:dhyasaya yathah' is the second suthra of the Brahmasuthra,

padha, I adhikarana, I. The first su:thra 'atha:tho

brahmajinjnaaa:sa:,' which means 'then therefore the enquiry into

Brahman,' emphasises the necessity for acquiring the knowledge of

Brahman and the second suthra' janma:dhyasya yathah,' explains the

subject matter of the enquiry, that is, Brahman. It means, 'that from

which the creation, sustenance and the dissolution proceeds. This has

reference to the upanishadic statement 'yatho: va: ima:ni

bhoottha:ni ja:yanthe:, ye:na ja:tha:ni jeevanthi, yasmin

abhisamvisanthi, thadhvijijna:sasva thadhbrahma, 'which means ,'know

that to be Brahman from whom all beings emerge by whom they are

sustained and into whom they merge back. This is implied by

janmadhyasya yathah, the first two words with which the Bhagavatha

purana starts. That which is the source of sentient and insentient

beings is brahma, Brahman who is sathyam param the supreme truth or

reality and let us meditate on that, Dheemahi.

 

 

 

Brahman is cognized through the method of agreement, anvaya and that

of difference, vyathire:ka. Brahman can be inferred to be the source

of the world by texts that speak of identity between Brahman and the

jiva which are examples of anvaya, such as 'sarvam khalu idham

brahma,' all this is Brahman , 'ayam a:thma: brahma,' this self is

Brahman, 'e:thadha:thmyam idham sarvam,' all this is ensouled by

that(Brahman) and 'thatthvamasi,' that thou art etc.

 

 

The other texts that are specified by itharathah in the sloka are

those that imply difference between the jiva and Brahman such as

'thadha:ikshatha bahu sya:m praja:ye:ya, that willed to become many,'

denoting the creation and 'yah a:thamani thishtan a:thmanah antharah

yam a:thma: na vedha yasya a:thma:sariram yah a:thma:namantharah

yamayathi.' This text ,meaning 'He who stands inside the individual

self, as its innerself, whom the individual self did not know, to whom

the individual self is the sarira and who controls the individual self

from within,' denotes that Brahman is the self of all.

 

Brahman is the abhijna, the knower in all things, artha. He gave the

vedas to Brahma , the a:dhikavi by His will,(the:ne: hrdha:

a:dhikavaye:) To understand the true meaning of the vedas is difficult

even for the wise and learned who get confused, muhyanthi

yathsoorayah. Brahman always shines in His own light, sadha: sve:na

Dha:mna:.

 

(to be continued ...)

 

Jai Srimannarayana!