[Advaita-l] Iswara Darshanam -7

[kuntimaddi sadananda]

                                                                                              Iswara Darshanam -7

As mentioned before, when we see the world we do no see it as it is, but clouded by our likes and dislikes or rAga and dweshaas which are due to vAsanAs. When we say -this is an object, say this is a watch or this is a house, it is the recognition of an object or Iswara sRiShTi, whereas when we say this is my watch or my object we have added the my-ness to the objects that I transact with. This is mamakaara or this belongs to me, is the notional ownership. This owner ship is associated with notion of an owner that is different from Iswara. Inclusion of some always involves exclusion of others. That is the ahankaara that involves intense identification with the body, mind and intellect as I am this. Arjuna vishAda yoga starts with the notion of my people, involving mamakAra or my-ness and how can I (ahankaara) kill my own people – swajanam Krishna. Seeing the world via the myness or mamakaara and i-ness or ahankaara glasses, leads to jiiva-sRiShTi or
 individual creation.  All the suffering is only due to this jiiva sRiShTi, and not due to Iswara sRiShTi. Iswara sRiShTi is dictated by samaShTi vAsanAs of all beings put together, that includes the bodies, minds and intellects of all beings and the universe of plurality. Arjuna now understands and said, only due to your grace I have lost that delusion, and now I want to see the Lord’s universal form.  Krishna mentioned in the earlier chapter that everything is Brahman only – the actor, the action, the instruments of action, the field of action, the performer, the result as well as the enjoyer of the result – all nine yards is nothing but Brahman in the form of Iswara only. 

brahmArpaNam brahmahaviH brahmAgnou brahmaNAhutam|
brahmaiva tena gantavyam brahma karma samAdhinA|

The cause for samsaara or suffering is only due to the notion that I am separate from the Universe and thus the creator of the universe is not different from the universe that one perceives. Most religions teach that Iswara or God is veshveshara or vishvasya Iswara – Lord of the universe, with Iswara different from the creation. Whereas Vedanta says it is vishvam eva IswaraH (called karmadhAraya samAsam), the Universe itself is Lord, since He himself became many. This is the essence of Vedic religion or Hinduism which considers that the material cause for the universe is not different from the intelligent cause. Since the intelligent cause cannot but be a conscious entity (unconscious entity cannot create), and consciousness being infinite cannot become unconscious entity, Vedanta says creation is only apparent or name-sake and not really real – vAchArambhanam vikAraH. It is like gold becoming ornaments, while gold remains as gold. All the ornaments
 are nothing but gold only but with different attributes and names that go with them. Hence all the differences among the ornaments are only at superficial level and not at substantive level. 

On the other hand in the vishwa ruupa darshana, Arjuna sees the Lord with many components or divisions. The divisions therefore are only apparent and not real. One appearing as many that involve divisions is accomplished by maaya Shakti or creative power of the Lord. It is similar to the nidra-shakti or power of sleep which covers that I am a waker sleeping comfortably in an air-conditioned dark-room and projects both conscious beings and unconscious entities in the dream world. It is only one mind supported by consciousness that I am, is projecting the world of plurality with all differences. As can be noted there are five kinds of differences:

1.    Jiiva-Iswara difference
2.    Jiiva-Jiiva difference
3.    Jiiva-jagat difference
4.    Jagat-Iswara difference
5.    Internal differences in the jagat. 

Krishna while showing His universal diving form also says to Arjuna, you can see all the present and future also and also you can see whatever you wish to see, since there cannot be anything other than Me and everything in the past, present and future is all part of Me only. He is karnaNam, KAranam, karthA, the instrumental, the material and intelligent causes of the universe, and also He is bhUta, bhvya, bhavat prabhuH, the lord of the past, present and future, as said in Vishnu sahasra nAmAvali. 

Hence Arjuna can see what is going to happen by the end of the war. Interestingly, Aarjuna sees himself as part of the viswaruupa. Here the ViswarUpa darshanam as Iswaa darshanam are in tune with both VishiShTaadvaita and Adviata doctrins. The only difference between the two is the plurality that in vishiShTadvaita is seen is taken as real with all jiivas and the world as part of totality, as the virat purushha, while advaita considers the vision or any vision is only apparently real but not really real. Whatever experienced is real for vishiShTadvatia while whatever experienced is only apparently real or mithyaa but not really real, since reality is defined as that which does not undergo any change or mutation. That which is infinite alone is real since finites can undergo a change but not infinite. Anything that changes is not really real but only apparently real. If everything is changing there must be something that is changeless even to recognize
 these changes. Also infinite cannot have parts, since it cannot be parted. Since universe is made up of parts in the infinite, the vision cannot be real. We did not mention dvaita doctrine here, since it does not even consider Brahman as the material cause for the universe. 

As Arjuna was wonderstruck at the vision and remains silent with filled with devotion. Sanjaya, the background commentator also sees the vision. He was blessed by Vyaasa Bhagavan to see everything that is happening in the battle field, including what goes in the minds of all the people fighting the war. Sanjaya makes the comment that the vision is so brilliant, as though thousands of the suns rising at the same time. Scripter says,  tasya bhaasaa sarvamidam vibhaati, everything shines after that while that is self-shining . There are multitude of faces, eyes, all with verities of divine ornaments, weapons of all kinds, divine perfumes – in essence whatever that is found in the whole universe consisting of 14 lokas are there. This is essentially what puruSha sUktam describes – sahasra sErShA puruShaH sahasrAksha sahasrapAth.. etc. The whole universe is nothing but Him only – hence all the faces that I see, all the eyes that I see, all the perfumes
 that I smell, all the ornaments that I find, everything that exists in the universe is nothing but He only. This is Arjuna’s vision. 

For us the spiritual seekers, since Bhagavat Geeta is meant for us, it is important for us to see the Lord in every face that we see, in every pair of eyes that we see, nay in everything that we transact with. That is the vision of Geeta that is projecting to us. We do not see the Iswara only because our eyes are glued to the superficial names and forms that differentiate one form from the other. We are giving reality to these differences. As a spiritual discipline important thing to do is then to see the presence of the Lord in every name and form that one sees starting from one’s own BMI. As Arjuna saw himself to be part of the Lord only, so too, we should see ourselves as part of the totality. In addition, we should start seeing the presence of the Lord in every object or person one encounters – that exactly is the instruction in the IshAvAsya Up. that says IshAvAsyam idam sarvam – see that the Lord pervades everything. As one progresses in
 sAdhana, there should be shift from eka rUpa Iswara to anekarUpa Iswara to arUpa Iswara. Seeing the Lord in one form for upAsana or prayers, understanding that all forms are His forms only as He in multitude of forms and finally He is formless as He is infinite which cannot be limited by any form or ultimately He is the subject I, the existence-consciousness that I am which has no objectifiable form since I am the subject. 

To be continued.

Hari Om!
Sadananda