[Advaita-l] [advaitin] akartaaham abhoktaaham -2

[kuntimaddi sadananda]

Here it is said that Prabhu does not do anything. Then how does karma-phala sanyog happens? Bhagavan replies in two words – swabhavastu pravartate.

We have to understand the meaning of swa-bhava. This is nothing but Bhagavan’s prakriti or maya. Bhagavan will talk about it in detail in the 7th Chapter. He tells that His prakriti is twofold – para prakriti and apara prakriti.


Scriptures say that you are Brahman. Aham Brahmasmi. When we ask what is Brahman, scriptures say that it is the cause of this world. जन्माद्यस्य यतः| it is that from which the world has come. Brahman itself is free from all modifications and change. It is nirguna, nirakar.  It is Satyam, Jnanam, Anantam. No change can happen in that Brahman. Then how can Brahman be the cause of this world?

To explain this the scriptures talk about its power called maya or prakriti. With this power Brahman alone appears like this world and Brahman alone is appearing like all the beings.

Maya or prakriti is the power of Ishvara.
In the very presence of Ishvara, prakriti manifests as this world. मया अध्यक्षेण प्रकृति सूयतेसचराचरम्| There are 24 tattvas or aspects present in this world.

The 24 elements are: the five gross elements – akash, vayu, agni, jala, prithvi. They are called panch mahabhutas. Then there are panch jnanendriyas and panch karmendriyas. Then there are pach tanmatras. Tanmatras are the five elements in their subtle form. At the cosmic level there is mana, buddhi, chitta and ahamkar. They are the expressions of prakriti. They are called the world.

Prakriti is Bhagavan’s prakriti. Prakriti is not different from Bhagavan.  Bhagavan, Ishvara and Brahman are same. In His presence His power functions and manifests as this world.

Why Bhagavan manifests as this world? There are anadi and anant jivas. These are like jig-saw puzzle pieces. We will join them together later on. All of us sitting here are called jivas. There are infinite jivas. And there is this world. Both of them are expression of Ishvara alone. Ishvara alone is expressing as jivas and this world.
How? Through His power called maya or prakriti.

These Jivas are not different from Ishvara by nature. At present we don’t know. From when do we not know that we are Ishvara or Brahman?  We don’t know from the beginningless time. Not knowing myself as Brahman is called avidya. There are infinite avidyayukta jivas and there is world. The jivas are interacting with the world.

Because of not knowing myself, I am associated with some portion of this world. Five elements have gone to make my body. Organs of action and organs of perception and mana, buddhi, chitta and ahamkar are the part of the world. But I am associated with them from beginningless time. These are called my upadhis.

It is like the space inside the pot is associated with the pot. In the same way, I am associated with my indriyas, mana, buddhi, chitta and ahamakara.

I am the jiva and these are my upadhis. These upadhis are part of the prakriti.
Since I don’t know who am I, this association has given rise to different types of desires in my antahkaran. I continue to interact with the world in order to fulfil those desires. World is created by Ishvara through His prakriti. Mana buddhi, chitta, ahamkar is also created by Ishvara through His prakriti. But the jiva and his ignorance which has given rise to his desires, those desires are not created by Ishvara. Though they are born in prakriti.

Let us understand this with a day-to-day example of mobile phone. Suppose there is a mobile phone instrument made by Apple Company. There are certain things like the outer cover, the software and some applications are created by the Apple Company. You buy this phone. You get a special number which is your unique number. While using it, you create different types of wants in it. You use the phone to call. You use the application. It is Company’s provision but if you ask the manufacturer that what a particular person is doing with his phone then they will not know it. Manufacturer is not responsible for the calls made by the individual. He is not responsible for the games you are playing. Similarly, just imagine that Ishvara is the creator of all these machines called jivas. The special number is your ahamkar. That is also the part of the mobile. You operate the mobile (jiva) and click a photo. The picture is also in that machine but the manufacturer
 (Ishvara) is not responsible for it. To wipe that photo you need not use any outer duster. There is provision of deletion within the machine. Similarly the body, mind, senses are fantastic machine created by Ishvara for each one of us. But the desires, ignorance belong to me, not to Ishvara. Maya belongs to Ishavara. Prakriti or maya is shakti of Ishvara.  Avidya is the ignorance of the jiva.

I have different types of desires in my heart because of ignorance of myself. The antahkaran functions when the desires are born.

The sense of I is born in the buddhi and that get associated with the body, mind etc because of my presence. This association activates the buddhi. That makes everything function in this world. The motivation for the prakriti to function comes from the avidya.

A mother has five children and all of them want to eat five different dishes. Children have the desire but they do not have the capacity to create. Mother has capacity to make the dishes but does not have desire. She prepares five different dishes taking the five different desires of her children in her mind.

She appears to be working but really speaking she is not working for out of her own desires. She is working for the children. Similarly, our desires are in the prakriti of Ishvara and prakriti function and create different things for our desires. We experience joys and sorrows. Though we are witness of that prakriti but because of our ignorance we experience that we are knower, feeler, doer. Karta bhokta and jnata notions are assumed in us.

I, the real Self am not doing anything. In my presence, because of the avidya, different types of desires are created in prakriti and that itself is called swabhava here. It is because of this swabhav that all activities are happening.

Through the sadhana desires get reduced and finally the avidya gets eliminated through proper knowledge, the prakriti will have no motivation to create anything for my sake. This whole show will become defunct. Thereafter, once I drop this body then I will not be born again.

Swabhav is His prakriti. Prakriti is not functioning by itself but it is functioning to fulfil desires of jivas. Once the desires get eliminated though proper sadhana, then the prakriti will have no role and will get dissolved for us. Just like when I drop this body, the body get disintegrated.  It becomes part of this nature. It is held together by me for my sake. Once I die, this body gets disintegrated and becomes part of the nature but my mind, senses, intellect, chitta or ahamkar does not die. My pranas do not die. Sukshma sharira does not die. It takes up another body to fulfil my desires. This goes on and on. Once I gain knowledge about myself the desires get eliminated and my need for the sukshma sharira gets eliminated too. I am not born again. You have to contemplate on these subtle points.

Prabhu does not create the sense of doership nor does He create any object, nor does He create any sanyoga between karma and karmaphala. All this happens in prakriti.
 
नादत्ते कस्यचित्पापं न चैव सुकृतं विभु: |
अज्ञानेनावृतं ज्ञानं तेन मुह्यन्ति जन्तवः || १५ ||
nādatte kasyacit pāpaṃ na caiva sukṛtaṃ vibhuḥ
ajñānenāvṛtaṃ jñānaṃ tena muhyanti jantavaḥ 5.15

Atman was called Prabhu in earlier verse. Here Atman is called Vibhu. Vibhu means all pervading. Atman exists everywhere. He is the Lord of the entire creation. That Vibhu, our own Self, doesn’t take anybody’s papa. Nor does he take anybody’s punya.

What is papa and punya? When we have senses of doership which is falsely superimposed on the Self because of ignorance I become the doer. Body is doing and I feel I am doing.

Sometimes you see the clouds moving and the moon is stationary but it appears that moon is moving. The movement of the clouds is superimposed on the stationary moon. Similarly, the body, mind and senses are functioning but I have the notion that I am functioning. The sense of doership is superimposed on myself when I see the body functioning. The sense of knowership is superimposed on myself when the knowledge happens through the buddhi and senses. The sense of enjoyership is superimposed on myself when the positive stimuli happens in the antahkaran. Self is not a doer. But because of ignorance this superimposition is done.

When there is sense of doership some actions are considered papa and some actions are considered punya.

Bhagavan says clearly that I don’t take anybody’s punya and I don’t take anybody’s papa. No punya or papa can enter that pure Self. Punya and papa is in our antahkaran only. There is no antahkaran in the pure Self.

One can experience this in the state of deep sleep. In your deep sleep you leave the body, antahkaran, senses and you remain separated from everything. Your senses, mind cannot enter the deep sleep. We are experiencing the deep sleep state but we cannot talk about it. Because intellect, mind cannot enter that state. Atman is beyond our senses and mind. Papa and punya are in antahkaran only. Antahkaran cannot enter Atman.

We say  कायेन वाचा मनसेंद्रियैर्वा बुद्ध्यातमानवा प्रकृतिरस्वभावात करोमि यद्यद् सकलं परस्मैनारायणायेति समर्पयामि| when we do puja. We offer everything to Ishvara. As a sadhana, it is good. We do all this in the state of ignorance. We consider ourselves as doer only in the state of ignorance. Knowledge of all the beings is covered by ajnana. Therefore they get deluded with the notion that I am doing this. I am eating, I am walking, I am talking are the notions caused by our ignorance. They are all delusion of the jiva.

Atman neither does anything, nor propels anyone to do anything. Atman neither takes anybody’s papa nor punya. It is untouched by all objects, actions. It is niranjana – pure.

That is the nature of our own pure Self.
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Continued in Part III