Krishjan

Chapter 1 — First Chapter

Shvetashvatara

15 Shloka • Translation Only

Om. The knowers of Brahman ask— "What is the cause of Brahman? From where have we been born? By what do we live? Upon what are we established? Governed by whom do we experience happiness and suffering, O knowers of Brahman, and remain ordered in our various conditions?"

Is Time the cause? Or Nature? Or Necessity (Destiny)? Or Chance? Or the elements? Or the womb (source of beings)? Or the Puruṣa?—thus have some reflected. But the mere combination of these cannot be the ultimate cause, for the individual self is not sovereign with respect to the causes of pleasure and pain.

Then the sages, being concentrated, saw in meditation yoga the creative power of the Lord himself, which was hidden in his qualities. He is the only one who is the ruler of time, soul and all causes.

The sages saw a chakra or wheel in which there is a Nemi, three circles, sixteen ends or ends, fifty arays, twenty pratyeras, six octaves, a loop of different forms through which, on three different paths, He moves on the roads and there are two instruments of his fascination.

Or we see Brahman in meditation as a river containing water from five sources. There are five fiery turns in it for five reasons. There are five vital waves in it. His mind is the source of the fivefold knowledge. Panchavidha sorrows are its orbits which have five vortices, five branches and innumerable sides.

In that Brahma Chakra, which is the life and shelter of all, the swan (the traveling soul) is roaming. When he separates from his individual soul (Jivatma) and realizes himself as the driving force (Paramatma), then by His grace he attains immortality.

The Supreme Brahman is clearly declared in the Upanishads. It is tripartite. It is a strong shelter and indestructible. Knowing its inner essence, the sages of Vedas got absorbed in it and were freed from birth.

God sustains this world made up of both the perishable and the imperishable, the manifest and the unmanifest. As long as the soul does not know God, it remains attached and bound by worldly enjoyments. But when he knows God, then he becomes free from all bondages.

The all-knowing God and the little-knowing creature are both unborn. That power is also eternal soul and unborn which connects the relationship between the enjoyer and the enjoyed. When the living soul knows this trinity of Brahma, then it becomes eternal and universal and becomes free from the feeling of the doer.

Prakriti is perishable and Ātman (individual soul) is imperishable. He, the only God, rules both the mortal and the soul. By meditating on that One and becoming united and identified with it, one finally gets freedom from all ignorance or delusion.

On knowing the Lord Devadhidev, all bondages are broken, all sufferings go away and freedom from birth and death is attained. By meditating on them, a person goes beyond the consciousness of the body and reaches the third state, the state of Vishvaishwarya. Then all his wishes are fulfilled and he becomes the only one.

One who is eternally present in the soul must be known. Knowing it, nothing remains to be known beyond it. The enjoyer, the enjoyment and the motivator of pleasure are the three sides of Shakti Brahma.

The idol of Agni, even though it is located in its origin Arani, is not visible until the fire is lit by rubbing it, although the subtle form of Agni is always present in the Arani. By rubbing Arani, fire can be obtained from the origin again. Similarly, by meditating on Pranava, the soul is seen in its manifest form which was present in the unmanifested form even before meditation.

By making his body an Arani, he should see the Supreme Light of God like a mystical fire by the practice of rubbing the upper Arani in the form of Pranav.

Just as there is oil in sesame, butter in curd, water in an underground source, fire in wood and it can be obtained by peeling, peeling, digging and rubbing, similarly God is hidden in the soul, which can be attained by anyone through truth and penance.