The Goddess Gayatri---English translation of the Third Chapter of Chandogya Upanishad with original texts and meanings. (The Universal Consciousness and the Universe.)
The Goddess Gayatri (gaayatrI ) ---English translation of the Third Chapter of Chandogya Upanishad with original texts and meanings. ( The Universal Consciousness and the Universe.)
(Written following the teachings received from the great seer Shri. BijoyKrishna Chattopadhyaya (1875-1945) and his principal disciple Shri. Tridibnath Bandyopadhyaya (1923-1994).
The Sanskrit words written in italics are the itrans version of Devanagari scripts and can be found in the Sanskrit -English dictionary by Sir. Monier Williams in the website <https://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/monier/>
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Introduction.
Goddess Gayatri (
Chandogya Upanishad Third chapter, Twelfth part.
Verse 3.12.1
gaayatrI vaa idaM sarvaM bhUtaM yadidaM ki`ncha.
vaag vaa idaM sarvaM bhUtaM gaayati cha traayate cha.
Word to word meaning
Consolidated meaning
Inner meaning and etymology.
The word bhUta means (i) past, (ii) what has been already created, (iii) an object, a material, an entity, (iv) anything that is created.
So, essentially bhUta means anything that has been 'materialized'.
The word 'gaayati ' (= sings) is from the root word gai meaning 'to sing'. The words ga , gaana and gai are all connected and imply meaning related to 'motion' (gati / going) and gaana (song).
Like the force changes the state of a body from rest to motion, in Consciousness, it is 'word' that sets us in motion. A word heard or a song heard can take us from laughter to tears, from one state to the other.
So, gaana or song means to move by the song or words.
In Chandogya UpaniShad there is a word called udgaana (ut ---up + gaana --song). It is the song by which one is uplifted or transcended beyond death. mukhya (principal) praaNa or eternal Consciousness who is life or animation in every entity, carries everyone beyond death, carries every one from mortality to eternity. So, here gaana means udgaana .
When we conceive the shape and quality of a thing inside us or in our mind, we build it within our mind by our mind. Similarly this world is the manifestation of the divine mind. Mind is the place where the Consciousness takes a defined form or where vaak crystallizes as words or vaakya . ( This is further transformed into coordinated well defined actions or activities.) Thus this universe is the formation of the words of the Universal Consciousness and is manifested in the divine mind. So it is cited that vaak is everything.
The nature of Consciousness is to 'speak' and 'listen'. Whatever we say, we also listen to it. 'Speaking' is the act of 'expression' or 'creation'. Listening is to 'know' or to 'feel' what is being expressed or created. veda (knowing) is also called shruti (listening) since Consciousness becomes what Consciousness 'knows' (or speaks) and whatever Consciousness thus becomes, Consciousness 'feels or knows' it; this feeling is listening. Everything is thus created by the Consciousness and held (felt / listened ) by the Consciousness.
In Consciousness, 'to know' means 'to become'. Any entity, say a tree is the 'knowledge' of the Universal Consciousness called 'tree'. In that 'tree' 'Consciousness' has become bound and finite by knowing Consciousness as 'the tree'. Universal, unbound Consciousness who is existing or living as that 'tree' is also called 'praaNa ' . The particularity, the way Consciousness is bound and held (as tree ) is 'vaak '. Thus vaak is like a 'container' in which praaNa is contained.
Similarly, in our inside, with every sensing , with every feeling, we are becoming what we are sensing or feeling and at the same in our core we remain unchanged, immutable.
Thus is the fire (agni ) inside the earth or praaNa burning inside our body. So, in saama veda (chaandogya upaniShad ) agni (fire) or praaNa and pRithivI (earth or body) or vaak is a pair. It has been told that praaNa or the spirit is 'ama ' and vaak is 'saa '. Together they make 'saama ' or the perfect union, perfect conjugation, the 'sameness or oneness' in everything created.
( It may be noted that the first primary note in Indian music or song is saa .)
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (bRihadaaraaNyakya upaniShad ) explains the word gaayatrI as gayaaM tatre ', i.e. 'who rescues the "gaya '. ( Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, Fifth Chapter, Fourteenth Brahmin, fourth verse.)
The word gaya means the sensory and functional organs and is related to the word 'gam ' in Sanskrit and to the word 'go' in English. It means our senses or faculties by which (or with which) we move around. Our senses and the corresponding organs, like vision, listening , taste, hands, legs etc. are the activities of Consciousness or praaNa . By praaNa we are active. We are active by the activities of the Consciousness described as praaNa . This is 'going' and by which we go, we work, we sense, are called 'gaya '. We evolve and get nourished by this 'going or grazing or moving around'. Thus the organs are also called 'go ' in Sanskrit. 'go ' in Sanskrit, also means 'cow' as they are pastoral animals and we are nourished by the 'milk'. 'go ' and 'gaya ' in Sanskrit are related to the alphabet 'ga ' and the root word 'gam ' (to go).
In our current state, our senses and the organs are decaying. They are impaired as we age or they are impaired otherwise by disease or accidents. They are limited. We cannot sense or perceive beyond certain limits. We cannot do whatever we want.
In upaniShad , the seers have said that the Universal Consciousness as the eternal praaNa (mukhya praaNa ) carries us and our faculties beyond the limitations and mortality. This is the meaning of 'gayaaM tatre ' as mentioned above and this is why the Universal Consciousness who is carrying each of us beyond limitations and death and to eternity is addressed as 'gaayatrI '.
(In chandogya upanishad , mukkhya (principal) praaNa or Eternal Consciousness has been termed as the goddess 'dUr ' or from whom death keeps a distance or from whom death moves away. Also mukkhya praaNa has been described as the horse (ashva ) transcending everyone beyond the death. This is the basis of durgaa (goddess dUr ) and the Vedic ritual called ashvamedha yaj~na.)
Verse 3.12.2
yaa vai saa gaayatrI yaM vaava saa yeyaM pRithivyaasyaaM hIdaM sarvaM bhUtaM pratisThitametyameva naatishIyate.
yaa vai saa gaayatrI yaM vaava saa yeyaM pRithivyaasyaaM hIdaM sarvaM bhUtaM pratisThitametyameva naatishIyate.
Word to word meaning
Consolidated meaning
She who is gaayatrI indeed she is this who is this earth.
Inner meaning and etymology
Thus we who are physicalized are the physical forms of gaayatrI ; gayatrI has physicalized Herself as the physical universe.
We cannot overcome this limitations of physicality or defined identity. We cannot surpass Her. We remain under Her terrestrial regulations.
pRithivI (earth)= pRithaka (separated, segregated) + vI (characterized)——who (female) is characterized by separation or segregation——the goddess in whose domain we exist with separate identity, in isolation, with distinct individuality.
pRithivI (earth)= pRithaka (separated, segregated) + vI (characterized)——who (female) is characterized by separation or segregation——the goddess in whose domain we exist with separate identity, in isolation, with distinct individuality.
Verse 3.12.3
yaa vai saa pRithivIyaM vaava saa yadidamsmin puruShe sharIramsmin hIme praaNaaH pratiShThitaa etadeva naatishIyante.
Word to word meaning
Consolidated meaning
She who is that earth, this (earth) indeed is that what in this entity is the body. In this body, certainly these all praaNa (sensory faculties) are founded. These faculties cannot surpass the body.
Inner meaning and etymology
Our body is like a wall or a boundary between our inside and outside. What is the earth outside, is the body in us; what is the sky outside is the inner sky (refer verse 3.12.8 below) in us.
We see, the eyes do not see; the function of vision resides in the eyes. We hear and not the ears; the function of hearing resides in the ears. Our existence in the Consciousness is like this and we ourselves are cast in the physicality (physical form of Consciousness) in specific forms. In this way we are embodied.
As we are obsessed with physicality or with our body (or with the mortality or earth) so accordingly we perceive, sense or know whatever is filtered through the terrestrial system. Our sense of vision, touch etc. are all limited by those rules or regulations of the Universal Consciousness that govern the earth or mortality.
At the same time, this shows how unbound, omnipotent, omniscience, eternal Consciousness has become bound and limited, defined and physicalized . Consciousness is simultaneously unbound and bound, eternal and mortal.
As we are now in a system that is compelling us to identify ourselves with our body, our sensing and other faculties decay as the body decays or is affected by disease or injury. We are unable to function properly with disorders in the body. Thus it is said that these sensory faculties cannot surpass the body.
Verse 3.12.4
yat vai tat puruShe sharIramidaM vaa tad yadidamasmin antaHpuruShe hRidayamasmin hIme praaNaH pratiShThitaa etadeva naatishIyante.
Word to word meaning
Consolidated meaning
What indeed is body in that entity, this is certainly that what is the heart inside the entity; certainly in it (in the heart) these all sensory faculties are founded (held). All these (sensory faculties) cannot surpass (the heart).
Inner meaning and etymology.
In the heart we hold everything that belongs to us.
Each of us lives in the respective world made of senses and feelings. We see or know everything in our inside. This world where we really live is held by the heart and so we say, 'my life, my children, my wealth' and so on.
What is gravitation, the attraction of the earth by which we are being held and stabilized as earthly beings, is also the attraction of the heart. Earth is called dharitrI , which means the goddess who is holding everyone. The root word is dhaa and it means 'holding or possessing'.
This is how we are materialized or the Universal Consciousness has become physical. So, if we trace the lineage, it is vaak materialized as objects or entities, physical beings. vaak as the earth is holding all that is physical. Earth (physicality of the Universal Consciousness) collectively is the defined universal physical identity or the body of everything or every being. Thus we or our sensory faculties are held in coordination and cohesion in the body. This 'holding' that has created our existence is the attraction of heart, attraction out of love of the creator; in each of us it is revealed as what is called heart or the centre of feelings. Our senses and feelings are held by the 'heart' or 'hRidaya '.
Verse 3.12.5
saiShaa chatuShpadaa ShaDvidhaa gaayatrI tadetad RichaabhynUktam
Word to word meaning
Consolidated meaning
She is thisgaayatrI who is four-footed, striking (us) in six ways.
She is this
These are Rik mantras chanted about her.
Inner meaning and etymology (Please see the next verse).
Verse 3.12.6
paadaH asya sarvaa bhUtaani
Word to word meaning
taavan (to that extent) asya (his /her) mahimaa (magnificence),
(puruSha excels the magnificence)
(all creatures are resting on his/her one foot)
(the eternal divinity is resting on the other three feet).
Consolidated meaning
Till that is his/her magnificence !
All creatures are resting on his / her one foot.
The eternal divinity is resting on his /her other three feet.
Inner meaning and etymology.
Four feet of gaayatrI .
This is that gaayatrI who has created herself as all the creatures, as all the objects. The earth or the entire physical universe is her body. She is holding everyone by the heart. In her manifestation, she has made four steps. The entire physical universe is resting on one foot of her and the rest, which is the eternal divinity, is resting on her other three feet.
We stand on our feet and it is our stability. Our feet rest on the earth. We are all held by the earth and are compatible to earth's environment. This stability is called pratiShThaa .
Existence of each of us and every entity, live or inert, is corresponding to the universal sense of 'existence / stay' or to the state of 'to be' / 'asti ' (exist) of the Universal Consciousness.
In this context, there is another word called
Further, Upanishads have related the word 'pratiShThaa ' to 'feet' as well as to the 'eyes'.
Our eyes receive the perception of what has been created with shapes and colours . The sense of existence or reality is primarily related to vision. This is why we have a natural inclination to believe what we see rather than what we hear.
The vision (eye) is related to motion (foot). In the external sky, the sun is the source of vision or light and also the source of motion or time.
The motion of the earth around the sun and around her own axis has created an environment which has sustained our lives and presented the existence of revealed, dimensioned and visible universe to us.
In the language of Sanskrit (which is also known as the language of the gods), the word for
Also, the word for 'matter' or any object in Sanskrit is 'padaartha '.
Elsewhere, in dhyaana mantra of gaayatrI , the three Vedas----Rik, yajur and saama are mentioned as the three steps or feet of gayatrI . veda means, 'Consciousness is knowing you and you are knowing the Consciousness' and this is the essence of creation! This is the universe. This 'knowing' unfolds in three steps---saama , yajur and Rik and reversely as Rik, yajur and saama .
(till that is his/her magnificence) tato (from that) jyaayaaMshcha (excels) purusha -----This means gaayatrI excels all who are in the state of divinity and state of mortality.
This supreme soul, this
The number six or ShaT (ShaD, ShaH) represents the sweetness or nectar. In Latin, six is 'sex' and sex is 'sexus '. The god of sex or kaamadeva is said to have 'five arrows' to strike. The honey bees are also six legged or hexapods . (Some common forms of sugars contain six carbon atoms in a ring.)
Also, there is a goddess name ShaShThI who is worshipped on the sixth day of a child's birth. ShaShThI means sixth.
( Earlier and even sometimes now, the transgenders in a group would be visiting the homes of a newborn. They would sing and dance to celebrate the newborn. The transgenders are also called Chakka in 'Hindi' and 'Urdu' meaning 'hexads '.)
The word 'fifth' is panchama in Sanskrit. It is related to the word pach meaning 'to cook' or 'cooking'. Thus the number 'five' is related to 'cooking', 'punching' or 'mixing' to create a composition. Thus, there are five forms of praaNa , there are five 'senses' and five fundamental elements (kShiti , ap , tejas , marut , voyma ). Each of us is made of these 'five' elements or by five forms of praaNa plus the sixth 'one' who is the One (soul) in everyone.
In Sanskrit, the consonants are classified in groups of five (and there are five such groups). Five consonants in each group with the One or aatman make six or make a particular class of potency or a sphere (maNDala ) for composition. ( Vowels are inbound or they are pointing toward aatman .)
Consonants are called vya~njana which means vi (specially, particularly) + a~njana (pigment or hue). Thus the consonants are manifestive , figurative, decorative.
(So, there is also a term called pa~ncha vya~njana meaning five dishes or figuratively a complete and grand course of victuals.)
This part of Upanishad that narrates gaayatrI also contains a chapter on madhu vidya (Knowledge of Nectars). Five nectars or divine honeys have been described there along with the five groups of deities. Each nectar or each type of honey belongs to a specific group of deities. Each type of honey is connected to a specific veda ; five divine honeys belong respectively to the five Vedas. The mantras or words of each veda are mentioned as the honey bees. The five groups of the gods are called vasu , rudra , aaditya , marut and saadhya . Along with five nectars, the central theme is aaditya . aaditya is the son of aditi who is the mother of the gods. aditi is the one who is without (a) duality (diti ). aaditya (also a name of the sun) has been mentioned as the 'divine honey or divine nectar' in this chapter of Upanishad . aaditya is also the centre of 'universal assimilation, amalgamation or unification'. It is the centre where the Universal Consciousness is enjoying the pleasure of drawing duality into Oneness.
She is svayaM prakaasha , i.e. she manifests herself by herself and in that manifestation everything is manifested. The divinity is her first manifestation. Thus her radiance (varga) is emitting through the divinity.
(Honey and the curd are the two articles used to make mantha (mix) for making the offerings in Vedic rituals. Honey (madhu) is aatman or soul and curd (dadhi) is praaNa. dadhi is from the root word dadh meaning 'to hold'. Milk stands for vaak. Milk that comes out from vaak nourishes the universe. One of the breasts of vaak is named as vaShaTkaara. vaShaTkaara means the act by which everything is turned ShaT or six or 'sweet'. This turning into sweetness happens when vaak reveals the Universal Oneness. vaak nourishes the deities by milk from her two breasts called svaahaakaara and vaShaTkaara; she nourishes the divine fathers by the milk from her breast called svadhaakaara; human beings are nourished by the milk from her breast called hantakaara.
(It is noteworthy that the first primary note in Indian music is saa and it is called ShaDja (ShaD + ja) i.e. born out of six!
In Chandogya Upanishad, it is mentioned that in saama, saa is vaak and ama is praaNa.)
(It is noteworthy that the first primary note in Indian music is saa and it is called ShaDja (ShaD + ja) i.e. born out of six!
In Chandogya Upanishad, it is mentioned that in saama, saa is vaak and ama is praaNa.)
Verse 3. 12. 7.
yad vai tad brahmetIdaM vaava tad yaH ayaM bahirdhaa puruShaadaakaasho yo vai sa bahirdhaa puruShaadaakaashaH.
Word to word meaning
yad vai tad (what is that) brahma ( absolute being; one who is growing and surpassing) iti (iti denotes end of a sentence or a statement), idaM (this/ it) vaava (certainly) tad (that) ya(what) ayaM (from this/ with respect to this) bahirdhaa (external) puruShaad (from the being or entity) aakaasho (the space / sky); yo (that) vai (certainly) sa (that) bahirdhaa (external) puruShaad (from the being or entity) aakaashaH (space or sky)
Consolidated meaning
What is that brahma (absolute being; one who is growing and surpassing), it is this the space external to the entity (creature or any defined thing); certainly it is the space external to the entity.
Inner meaning and etymology.
brahma means the one who is vast and who is growing. brahma is from the root word bRih meaning 'to expand or grow' . The act of the vaak by which she keeps growing is called bRiMhaNa. (Thus, bRimhaNa also means trumpeting by an elephant.) It is for this reason, elsewhere in Upanishad, vaak is termed as bRihatI (who keeps growing or who is mighty) and she is known as the consort of bRihaspati (Jupiter--the largest planet in our solar system).
Every fragment of the Universal Soul is called puruSha or an entity. One of the meanings of the word puruSha is 'one who is inside a pura or inside a body or envelope'. The last alphabet Sha means 'fragment'. (In Devanagari script this alphabet symbol contains a divisive segment; it is"ष".) Thus in every entity puruSha exists.
Power or the aspect of the Universal consciousness by which Universal Consciousness or the Universal soul becomes many or the Consciousness multiplies into many is vaak. Consciousness is creating many from oneness by words or by talking. In Chandogya Upanishad it is mentioned that the essence of puruSha is vaak.
aakaasha = aa (aatman / soul) + kaasha (radiance)---the plane or space that is irradiated by the manifesting Universal Soul or Oneness. Thus this is the plane behind any creation. So, here in space, all the words are held.
Here in this space the entire universe is being held as 'words or sound'. shavda is the word for sound in Sanskrit. shavda (shava + da) means who can bestow or donate (da) a state of shava or inertness--who can freeze something into a confinement or within a boundary. The word shava means 'corpse'. A word defines Consciousness with definiteness and the unbound eternal Consciousness freezes as that 'word'; this is becoming 'shava' by shavda (sound) or by word or by vaak.
The last alphabet da in the word shavda represents the 'act of donating or providing a certain state'.
A word can freeze someone in a specific state or mood also a word can unfreeze a state or a mood. By hearing certain words one will laugh and hearing some other words the same one will cry.
This is the act represented by da. The sound or shavda can freeze one into inertness or confine one into a limitation or boundary. The sound or shavda can unfreeze and remove all confinement and boundaries. The alphabet ‘da’ in ‘shavda’ is best known in the word dyu (divinity) meaning 'self revealing, self illuminating eternity’, in the word vidyut (electricity) which illuminates and which can detonate and in the word danta (tooth). The word danta (tooth) signifies the processing of a word (i.e. transformation of vaak to vaakya.) It is 'da' + anta (end)---meaning through which vaak ends or materializes (into physicality).
Thus, in this space, where so many worlds once revealed are now existing in 'negativity' like corpse and they will be again illuminated and recreated. Also here so many new worlds are being created. This is happening everywhere in the scale of macro and in micro.
In the sky or in the space or void there is nothing and there is everything. There is absolute darkness and there is splendid illumination.
What are mentioned above with respect to the alphabet da, space and shavda have been preached by lord prajaapati in the Brihadaaranyaka Upanishad, Fifth Chapter, Second Brahmin. There, this alphabet da is termed as the divine alphabet and is mentioned can be heard in the rumbling of the thunder. It thunders, da, da, da---the sound by which lord prajaapati is instructing the deities 'to restrain' (dama), instructing asura (who powerfully defies the divinity) 'to be kind' (dayaa) and instructing human beings 'to donate' (daana).
It is vaak who takes us from negativity to positive existence and it is vaak who transforms positivity to negativity. Thus vaak personified as the goddess sarasvatI is white in colour representing the manifestation into positivity. She has also another aspect called neela sarasvatI . neela means blue. She is the goddess in whom we rest when we sleep; in her we exist as 'negative'.
vaak is growing by trumpeting. She is greater than the greatest and none can surpass her.
(This aspect of vaak is also worshipped as goddess kaalI. The alphabet da mentioned above also implies 'cutting off'. In Bengali language the word 'daa' means a sickle. Goddess kaali holds a sickle like weapon in one of her hands. It is called khaDga. khaDga is from the root word khaD meaning to divide or break. With this sickle like sword she has been fragmenting herself into many, fragmenting oneness into dualities. The severed heads are the worlds created from the fragmentation; these heads adorn goddesses's neck in the form of a garland. Neck is the organ through which the words are aired in the external. The crematorium is her abode; it is the space where everything loses its identity and from where everything is revealed. Her affection and love and the pleasure of fragmenting the Oneness are expressed as the trails of bloods at the corners of her mouth and the blood dripping from the severed heads. This blood is praaNa or the streaming life or time flowing everywhere.)
Verse 3.12.8
ayaM vaava sa yaH ayamanta puruSha aakaasho yo vai saH antaHpuruSha aakaashaH. Word to word meaning
Consolidated meaning
It (the external sky) indeed is that what is the sky inside this entity; what indeed is that sky inside the entity.
Inner meaning and etymology
What is the space outside or the external sky is also the sky inside us. Space or sky means where things exist without dimensions. This inner sky is the heart or hRidaya mentioned in the verse 3.12.4 above. This inner sky and body is analogous to the external sky and the earth. This is our real abode. Here everything is available. When this sky comes in perception, the dependability on physicality and the body goes away. This sky is full of pleasure or it is the pleasure personified. Thus in Sanskrit, the word for happiness or pleasure is sukha = su (easily/greatly) + kha (sky).
The inner sky when easily perceptible or available (sulabha= su /easily + labha / achievable) we get the pleasure. When this sky is shrunk we get distress. The word for sorrow, sadness etc. in Sanskrit is duHkha. duHkha = duH (dur) / difficult + kha (sky).
This is the heart or the space where we feel sorrow and joy. The revelation of this inner sky to a truth seeker brings so intense pleasure that sometimes he / she gets so turned to inside that he / she declares this external, physical universe as maayaa or fictitious.
Verse 3.12.9
ayaM vaava sa yaH ayamantarhRidaya aakaashstadetat pUrNamapravartti pUrNaamapravarttinIM shriyaM labhate ya evaM veda.
Word to word meaning
Consolidated meaning
It (this external sky or space) is indeed that which is the sky inside the heart; that this is full (absolutely content) and immutable; the grace that is full (perfect in all respect), that is imperishable, is acquired by the one who thus knows. Inner meaning and etymology.
It is brahma who is the space external and who is the heart or inner sky in us.
The One (the Universal Consciousness), who manifests as outside and inside, as the two fundamental spaces and directions, is termed as antar (inter / inner) hRidaya (heart) aakaasha (sky/space). In Upanishad , this space is also termed as daharaakaasha (dahara aakaasha).
Upanishads have cited three fundamental spaces, three planes of the Universal consciousness which are :
(i) bahir aakaasha (external space or sky),
(ii) antara aakaasha (internal space or sky)----this is also hRidaya or heart or space of the heart.
(iii) antara hRidaya aakasha (also dahara aakaasha)---sky or space inside or beyond the heart----the space that controls both internal and external.
The One who is our soul, every one's soul and eternal, whom we all feel inside as 'assertion less self' and One who is the foundation on whom we stand and assert as 'I am', whose activities are the senses and sensations in us, our faculties and actions, who is praaNa the life god, whenever this One manifests, two directions are first created. These two directions are inside or internal (antara) and outside or external (bahir).
Where we 'feel' is the heart (hRidaya) and is the 'inner space' or the sky inside us. Everything we feel inside. Everything we sense inside. Whatever we call outside, it is a sense or feeling felt in us. Whatever entities vaak has become, we are feeling them accordingly or correspondingly. The word 'accordingly' or 'correspondingly' is 'anu' in Sanskrit. So, anubhUti meaning 'feeling' is 'to form correspondingly'.
anubhUti----anu (in correspondence) + bhUti (formation).
The tree, the moon, the river or whatever is there in the external space, each is creating or initiating the corresponding feeling or sensation in us and we accordingly describe it as 'tree' or 'moon' or 'river' or as the universe.
The external or the Universe that vaak has become, is called sambhUti. Corresponding to sambhuti, anubhUti happens in us. In Consciousness, 'to feel' or 'to sense' means 'to become'. In our inside, with every sensation, with every feeling, we are actually becoming it (what we feel or sense). As vaak is casting herself in formations as all the entities of the universe, so also we are cast in different formations inside, in antara aakash (inner space) with every sensation, with every feeling.
sambhUti means perfect (sama) formation (bhUti).
This (sambhUti and anubhUti ) is something like 'parallel' universe that modern science says.
In Ishopanishad, sambhUti (also vidya) and anubhUti (avidya) have been cited. However, instead of anubhUti, the word 'vinaasha' has been used in Upanishad. vinaasha means 'destruction' or 'extinction'. As we are mortal and so also our feelings and senses; they disappear as we go into sleep or death. Since it is short lived it is called vinaasha or avidya. The universe or sambhUti continues.
Following is a hymn in shvetaashvatara Upanishad :
RichaH akShare parame vyoman
(The Rik mantras are in this supreme, eternal sky)
yasmin devaaH adhivishve niShedhuH
(Where the deities dominating on the universe reside)
yastaM na veda kimRichaa karishyati
(Those who do not know this what will they do with the mantras of Rik veda)
ya ittadvidusta ime samaasate
(Those who know like this, everything gets resolved for them.)
This space inside the heart or the space beyond the inner sky (antara aakaash), is antara hRidaya aakaasha, the space from which both inner and outer spaces are created. It is perfect, complete and content in all respects, and where everything is rooted. This is why the seers have quoted:
" yat cha asti
(whatever exists)
yat cha naasti
(whatever does not exist)
sarvam asmin samaahitam
(All that is entirely founded in it)."
This space is described as apravartti or immutable. apravartti means what is without any pravartana. a = without; pravartana = rotation, cyclic motion; no motion or time exists here. This is constant and eternal.
pUrNaam (that what is full) apravarttinIM (that what is immutable) shriyaM (grace) labhate (acquires) ya (who) evaM (like this) veda (knows):
The immutable soul who is celebrated as akShara aatman in Upanishads, is in the core of this space called antara hRidaya aakaasha (also dahara aakaasha). One who takes shelter here, the one acquires the grace of perfectness and eternity.
(The word shrI means beauty or grace. It is from the root word shri and shri is also the root word for aashraya or shelter.)
debkumar.lahiri@gmail.com
(The word shrI means beauty or grace. It is from the root word shri and shri is also the root word for aashraya or shelter.)
debkumar.lahiri@gmail.com
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