[Advaita-l] nAsadIya sUkta in the taittirIya brAhmaNa - part 3

[Venkatraghavan S]

अथ तृतीयामाह - now in the third rca it is said -

तम आसीत्तमसा गूढमग्रे प्रकेतम् | सलिलं सर्वमा इदम् |
तुच्छेनाम्वपिहितिम् यदासीत् | तमसस्तन्महिना जायतैकम् इति ||

*तम*: शब्देनाविद्यामायाशक्त्यादिशब्दवाच्यं जगद्विकारोपादानं
मूलाज्ञानमुच्यते | by the word "tama:", mUlAjnAnam or primal nescience,
denoted by words such as avidya, mAya, shakti, etc., which happens to be
the material cause for the world, is meant.
यथा तम: पदार्थानावृणोत्येवमिदमपि ब्रह्मतत्त्वमावृणोतीति तम:शब्देन व्यवहार:
| just like tama:, or darkness, hides objects, this (mUlAjnAnam) also hides
or covers Brahman, thus the usage of the word "tama:" in this context.
तादृशं जगद्विकारनिष्पादनक्षमं ब्रह्मण्याश्रितम् किन्चित्तम *आसीत्* | Thus,
there was some tama located in Brahman which had the capability to
accomplish the creation of the world.
तेन *तमसा* सर्वं जग*द्गूढम्* यथा मृत्पिण्डे घटो गूढो यथा वा बीजे वृक्षो
गूढस्तद्वत् | By that darkness the entire world lay concealed, like the pot
concealed within the clay, or like the tree concealed within a seed.
अत एव *प्रकेतं* प्रकर्षेण ज्ञातुमशक्यम् | being so (concealed), it was not
possible to perceive this world clearly then. (Note, in the mantra the word
praketam is used, but it should be taken as apraketam. The beginning "a" is
dropped as the previous word in the mantra ended with "E" - gUDham agrE)

तथा च मनुना स्मर्यते - as is said in manu smriti
आसीदिदं तमोभूतमप्रज्ञातमलक्षणम् |
अप्रतर्क्यमविज्ञेयं प्रसुप्तमिव सर्वत: || इति

This (physical universe) became covered with darkness, unknowable, without
any characteristic features, inconceivable, indistinguishable, as if in
deep sleep from all sides.

तत्र दृष्टान्त: - *सलिलमि*ति यथा वर्षे पतिता वर्षोपला:
सलिलमात्रत्वेनाविशिष्यन्ते तथा *सर्वे* जग*दिदं* तम
आसीत्तमोमात्ररूपेणावशिष्टमित्यर्थ: | An example here - just all that is
left of hailstones that fall during rains is only water, this entire world
remained purely as darkness then.
अत्र हि काणादादसत्कार्यवदिन: कारणे पूर्वमविद्यमानमेव कार्यमुत्पद्यत
इत्याहु: | Now, the followers of kaNAda,  asatkAryavAdins, hold that a
previously non-existent effect is born from a cause.
सत्कार्यवादिनास्तु साङ्ख्यादय: पूर्वं विद्यमानमेव कार्यमव्यक्तं
सत्कारणव्यापारेण व्यक्ती भवतीत्याचक्षते | SatkAryavAdins, such as sAnkhyas,
say that a previously existent, but unmanifest effect becomes manifest due
to an existent cause
तत्र सत्कार्यवादिनां मतमेव तमसा गूढमिति श्रुत्या अङ्गीकृतं | Here, the
satkAryavAdin's position is being upheld by the shruti with the use of
"tamasA gUDham"
आ समन्ताद्भवत्युत्पद्यत इत्याभूज्जगत्तदेत*त्तुच्छेनापिहितं* | This world
was covered on all sides by this tucCha, this trifle (non-existent), from
which it would be born again
तत्वज्ञानमात्रेण निवर्त्यत्वात्तत्कारणम् मूलाज्ञानं तेनापिहितं प्रलयकाल
आच्छादितम् | because this world and its cause, mUlAjnAna, can be
permanently resolved only through the brahma jnAna, the world laid
concealed by its cause mUlajnAna at the time of pralaya
तादृशं यज्जगदासीत्तज्जगदव्यक्तं सत्पूर्वोक्तादाज्ञानरूपात्तमस: सकशा*न्महिना*
 महत्त्वेनाभिव्यक्तजगद्रूपेणा*जायतो*त्पन्नम् | the unmanifest, existent
world (existent, for reasons articulated earlier) was born out of this
primal nescience, this darkness,   by manifesting itself into this vast
universe
तदिदमज्ञानदृष्ट्या जगदाकारेण भासमानमपि परमार्थत एकं ब्रह्मैव |  all this,
which appears to us today, out of ignorance, as the world, is in reality
the one Brahman alone.