Sanaatan Dharm Series : Unity of all : तत्त्वमसि, अहं ब्रम्हास्मि

तत्त्वमसि: That You Are {Chhandogy Upanishad} : You are that Supreme Brahman. Similarly you have the phrase अहं ब्रम्हास्मि {I am Brahman} from the Bruhadaranyak Upanishad. Both these simple phrases are the keys to an underlying truth that is simplicity itself in its statement, and yet profound in their import while also being incredibly complex and hard to fathom fully in their true depth of meaning and implications that lie dormant in them. This article does not attempt to do any of the above; I am using these phrases as the opening into my introduction to one or two of the foundational realities of the world around us, based on solid scriptural authority. The objective is to instill questioning attitude in the readers’ mind, and hopefully encourage to study it for themselves

For starters, both the simple phrases above are by themselves enough to really let loose a series of questions in ourselves : for, if all of us have a Divine presence in us, that we all have the capacity to be one with God, Brahman – then it automatically means the differences we see are perceived. Further, no way can this be limited to only believers of a particular faith; this transcends all. Yet, we see all around us a multitude of attitudes and beliefs, which are seemingly irreconcilable.  Understanding this requires us to go a lot deeper into the nature of creation. The Upanishadic Texts and The Shrimad Bhagwad Geeta taken together can lead us to the deeper realms; contained in them is the reality of the world we see all around us. Let us look at some of their learnings:

THE NATURE OF CREATION

All we see around us – Humans, Animals, Trees, Stones – indeed, all of the physical creation – is Divine – a part of what has been called the Paraa Prakruti; and all of this is permeated by the Apara Prakruti – the Force of the Divine. This is in very simple terms the nature of creation – explained in the Shrimad Bhagwad Geeta, Mundak Upanishad, Kathhopanishad, and many others. But I choose to start with  the Eeshavasyopanishad opening verse : ॐ ईशा वास्यमिदꣳ सर्वं यत्किञ्च जगत्यां जगत् । तेन त्यक्तेन भुञ्जीथा मा गृधः कस्यस्विद्धनम् ॥ १॥

As per the verse above, as translated in the Geeta Press Book “Eeshadi Nau Upanishad” on page 28, the translation is, with references from The Gita as well: मनुष्यों के प्रति वेदभगवान का पवित्र आदेश है की अखिल विश्व-ब्रह्माण्ड में जो कुछ भी यह चराचरात्मक जगत तुम्हारे देखने सुनने में आ रहा है, सब  सर्वाधार सर्वनियन्ता सर्वशकितमान सर्वज्ञ सर्वकल्याणगुणस्वरूप परमेश्वर से व्याप्त है;सदा सर्वत्र उन्ही से परिपूर्ण है {गीता ९/४}. कोई भी उनके अंश से रहित नहीं है {गीता १०-३१, ४२}. यों समझकर उन ईश्वर को निरंतर अपने साथ रखते हुए -सदा सर्वदा उनका स्मरण  करते हुए ही तुम जगत में ममता और आसक्ति का त्याग करके केवल कर्तव्य पालन के लिए ही विषयों का यथाविधी  उपभोग करो अर्थात - विषरूप ईश्वर की  पूजा के लिए ही कर्मों का आचरण करो. {गीता २-६४, ३-९, १८-४६}. इसमें तुम्हारा निश्चित कल्याण है. वस्तुतः ये भोग पदार्थ किसी के नहीं है. ये सब परमेश्वर के हैं, और उन्ही की प्रसन्नता के लिए इनका उपयोग  होना चाहिए.

In simple words – rough translation in my own words, the verse Eesh-1 from Eeshupanishad given above means whatever you see around you is permeated by the Divine, nothing is devoid of The Divine. Understand this, and always do whatever you do for The Divine, Keep The Divine in your mind and heart – and go about your life with detachment – do your deeds as duty unto Parabrahm – in that lies your certain salvation. All that you see – belongs to God; you have been given it to use it for God’s pleasure.

UNDERSTANDING THIS

Now this is a tall order – and the only way is the undertake it as a journey. My objective is just to kindle thoughts in your mind – if our scriptural authorities so clearly define unity in all, {remember अयं बन्धुरयंनेति गणना लघुचेतसाम् उदारचरितानां तु वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम् ॥} – then it is for us to understand, accept and analyse this in the current context. We have seen various scriptural authorities from our sacred writings, some of which are mentioned in the text above – The verse from the Eeshavasyopanishad telling all that you see is permeated by the divine; or the terms तत्त्वमसि & अहं ब्रम्हास्मि, or the references to the Shrimad Bhagwad Geeta. We have to learn to see the divine in all. Once we achieve that – the question of hate or anger or jealousy does not arise!

There can be highly logical questions raised – like many have been; I cant answer them for you. I can answer them for myself – not for you; for I am neither you, nor am I a Guru, a learned person, I am but a student. All I can say is one has to look at and imbibe some other realities – namely, while the Divine is present in anyone and anything - critically, sentient beings like us are also given a choice of how to behave – and what to do in their lives. We must learn to use discrimination to analyse the specific deeds of the individual rather than a collective. The Gita particularly lays great emphasis on this;  the deeds of the individual. More of this later; in another article… for now, look at the article image; that is our path - the path from I-You-He-She-It-They to this reality, a journey of knowing ourselves...