The ATMAN(SELF) DEFINED
स पर्यगाच्छक्रमकायव्रणम स्नाविर शुद्धमपापविद्धम।
कविर्मनीषी परिभुः स्वयंभूर्याथातत्थ्यतो र्थान व्यदधाच्छाश्वतीभ्यहः समाभ्यः ॥8॥
Sa paryagac-chukram-akayam-avranam
asna-viragm suddham-apapa-viddham,
kavir-manisiparibhuh svayam-bhuh yatha-tathyatab
arthan-vyadadhac-chasv-tibhyah samabhyah(8)
"He,theAtman,isall-pervading, bright,bodiless,scatheless,withoutmuscles,pure,unpiercedby evils,wise,omniscient, transcendentand self-existing.Healoneallottedtheirrespectivefunctions(duties)tothe variouseternalyears(Creators)."
Here is a complete and exhaustive definition,if not a word-painting of the Eternal, atleast as sufficient amount of data to give a sincere student/sadhak an intuitive understanding of the all-comprehensive factor called the Life or Atman. The great commentator Sankara has frequently used this stanza and the expression therein in his commentaries to indicate the Self in us.
That (Self) is all-pervading, radiant, bodiless, soreless, without sinews, pure, untainted by sin, the all-seer, the lord of the mind, transcendent and self-existent. That (Self) did allot in proper order to the eternal Prajapatis known as samvalsara (year) their duties.
The word paryagat means’gone abroad or went around’, which transpires that the Self went to spread itself everywhere, meaning that the Self is all-pervading and extend beyond all limitations. Sukram declares the Self to be bright, being the very light-giving principle in our intelligence. Akayam (bodiless) indicates the Self or pure life as ‘bodiless, having no connection with the matter envelopments, generally constituted of the great five sheaths. It is no more a prisoner in the body, all its identifications have ended forever. The expression ‘scatheless and without muscles’ signifies that it has no physical body at all, and, therefore, no disease can come there. The term ‘suddha’ (pure) indicates that the Atman has no causal body since it is untouched by sin. The Self is immaculate (apapa-viddham). Thus, the Atman is neither the physical nor the subtle nor the causal body, transcending them all is the Self, Eternal and Perfect.. It is positive factor with all the dynamic qualities of Life.
Swami Chinmayananda has declared the nature of the Self in following series of phrases:
The Self is the Seer- a declaration that the Life-spark in us isthe real vitality behind our senses with their perceptions. In fact,if the Life-principleis removed from the sense organs,they become impotent to register any impression of their objects. They function only,when oresided over by the grace of the Self. None of the activities of perception,feeling or thinking can be experienced by usif we arenot 'charged' by the Life-principle in us.
Omniscient- The Self is considered omniscient, All- knowing(manisi). The Self in us as the one Consciousness is the eternal 'knower' in all bosoms. The Atman is certainly transcendent,beyond the realm of the finite. Transcending the finite,liesthe domainof thattranscedent Self.
Self-existing(Svambhu) - Our intellectcan function only in three definite fields of activity called,time,space and causality.Cause-hunting is the great avocation of the intellect. However,the causation-hunting-intellect will have to be checkmated at some particular point by a great grand supposition only to stem the tide of its own wasteful flow. Thus,philosophically,we have to accept that there was a first cause, which in its never-ending flow of changes,has brouhgt about the entire world of existing plurality. But the Ultimate Cause must,in itself, be uncaused by any other cause than itself. This is Svayambhu meaning self-sprung,i.e.self-existing. It isnotborn out of 'a something',but It is self-born, Self being the first cause, not in itself the effect of anycause..
To conclude, the stanza,while referring to all the above qualities to Isha, can also be considered to paint the idea of the seeker (sadhak) wholly becoming one with the Pure, Bodiless, Luminous, Incorporeal, Immaculate,Brahman, the Eternal Reality. The Rsi says loudly that it is this Self or Pure Consciousness that is the power and strength behind the laws of all natural phenomena, because of the unquestionable authority behaind the Lawgiver and His Law,That authority,might or power belongs to the Supreme Reality, the Self.
vedrakash
http://www.ethicalvaluesinishopanisad.blogspot.com/
स पर्यगाच्छक्रमकायव्रणम स्नाविर शुद्धमपापविद्धम।
कविर्मनीषी परिभुः स्वयंभूर्याथातत्थ्यतो र्थान व्यदधाच्छाश्वतीभ्यहः समाभ्यः ॥8॥
Sa paryagac-chukram-akayam-avranam
asna-viragm suddham-apapa-viddham,
kavir-manisiparibhuh svayam-bhuh yatha-tathyatab
arthan-vyadadhac-chasv-tibhyah samabhyah(8)
"He,theAtman,isall-pervading, bright,bodiless,scatheless,withoutmuscles,pure,unpiercedby evils,wise,omniscient, transcendentand self-existing.Healoneallottedtheirrespectivefunctions(duties)tothe variouseternalyears(Creators)."
Here is a complete and exhaustive definition,if not a word-painting of the Eternal, atleast as sufficient amount of data to give a sincere student/sadhak an intuitive understanding of the all-comprehensive factor called the Life or Atman. The great commentator Sankara has frequently used this stanza and the expression therein in his commentaries to indicate the Self in us.
That (Self) is all-pervading, radiant, bodiless, soreless, without sinews, pure, untainted by sin, the all-seer, the lord of the mind, transcendent and self-existent. That (Self) did allot in proper order to the eternal Prajapatis known as samvalsara (year) their duties.
The word paryagat means’gone abroad or went around’, which transpires that the Self went to spread itself everywhere, meaning that the Self is all-pervading and extend beyond all limitations. Sukram declares the Self to be bright, being the very light-giving principle in our intelligence. Akayam (bodiless) indicates the Self or pure life as ‘bodiless, having no connection with the matter envelopments, generally constituted of the great five sheaths. It is no more a prisoner in the body, all its identifications have ended forever. The expression ‘scatheless and without muscles’ signifies that it has no physical body at all, and, therefore, no disease can come there. The term ‘suddha’ (pure) indicates that the Atman has no causal body since it is untouched by sin. The Self is immaculate (apapa-viddham). Thus, the Atman is neither the physical nor the subtle nor the causal body, transcending them all is the Self, Eternal and Perfect.. It is positive factor with all the dynamic qualities of Life.
Swami Chinmayananda has declared the nature of the Self in following series of phrases:
The Self is the Seer- a declaration that the Life-spark in us isthe real vitality behind our senses with their perceptions. In fact,if the Life-principleis removed from the sense organs,they become impotent to register any impression of their objects. They function only,when oresided over by the grace of the Self. None of the activities of perception,feeling or thinking can be experienced by usif we arenot 'charged' by the Life-principle in us.
Omniscient- The Self is considered omniscient, All- knowing(manisi). The Self in us as the one Consciousness is the eternal 'knower' in all bosoms. The Atman is certainly transcendent,beyond the realm of the finite. Transcending the finite,liesthe domainof thattranscedent Self.
Self-existing(Svambhu) - Our intellectcan function only in three definite fields of activity called,time,space and causality.Cause-hunting is the great avocation of the intellect. However,the causation-hunting-intellect will have to be checkmated at some particular point by a great grand supposition only to stem the tide of its own wasteful flow. Thus,philosophically,we have to accept that there was a first cause, which in its never-ending flow of changes,has brouhgt about the entire world of existing plurality. But the Ultimate Cause must,in itself, be uncaused by any other cause than itself. This is Svayambhu meaning self-sprung,i.e.self-existing. It isnotborn out of 'a something',but It is self-born, Self being the first cause, not in itself the effect of anycause..
To conclude, the stanza,while referring to all the above qualities to Isha, can also be considered to paint the idea of the seeker (sadhak) wholly becoming one with the Pure, Bodiless, Luminous, Incorporeal, Immaculate,Brahman, the Eternal Reality. The Rsi says loudly that it is this Self or Pure Consciousness that is the power and strength behind the laws of all natural phenomena, because of the unquestionable authority behaind the Lawgiver and His Law,That authority,might or power belongs to the Supreme Reality, the Self.
vedrakash
http://www.ethicalvaluesinishopanisad.blogspot.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment