[Advaita-l] 'I am the impeller of the samsāra tree'

[V Subrahmanian]

On Fri, Sep 9, 2016 at 3:08 PM V Subrahmanian <v.subrahmanian at gmail.com>
wrote:

> 'I am the impeller of the samsāra tree'
>
> In the Taittiriyopanishad there is a contemplation that results in Advaita
> jnāna according to Shankaracharya. The outstanding feature of this
> contemplation, given out in a mantra, is that the aspirant visualizes
> himself to be the Impeller of the entire creation.
>
>
> Taittiriyopaniṣad 1.10.1.अहं वृक्षस्य रेरिवा । कीर्तिः पृष्ठं गिरेरिव ।
> ऊर्ध्वपवित्रो वाजिनीव स्वमृतमस्मि । द्रविणं सवर्चसम् । सुमेधा अमृतोक्षितः ।
> इति त्रिशङ्कोर्वेदानुवचनम् ॥ १ ॥
>
> 1.     I am the mover of the tree of the universe. My fame rises high,
> like a mountain peak. My root is the Supremely Pure Brahman. I am the
> unstained essence of the Self, like the nectar of immortality that resides
> in the sun. I am the brightest treasure. I am the shinning wisdom. I am
> immortal and undecaying.
>
> Thus did Trisanku proclaim after the attainment of the Knowledge of the
> Self of the Self.
>
> Bhāṣyam:
> अहं वृक्षस्य रेरिवेति स्वाध्यायार्थो मन्त्राम्नायः । ..... *अहं वृक्षस्य
> उच्छेद्यात्मकस्य संसारवृक्षस्य रेरिवा प्रेरयिता अन्तर्याम्यात्मना । *
>

Here is an interesting insight into the term  * अन्तर्याम्यात्मना *in the
bhashyam. The aspirant says 'I am the impeller of the universe 'as the
antaryami'.  The Bridaranyaka  antaryami braahmanam 3.7.3 teaches that the
' antaryami is the jiva's atma.'  एष त आत्मान्तर्याम्यमृतः  There the
identity, mahavakya jnana, is taught: Thus the antaryami is the nirguna
brahman, pure consciousness, that is what impels, by its mere presence, the
entire creation. The jivatma paramatma aikyam is taught in this and by
demonstration in the Taittiriya mantra shown above.

om tat sat

>
>
> The very significant part of the bhāṣyam is that Shankara says 'I am the
> impeller of the entire creation.' How? As the antaryāmin it is I, the Pure
> Consciousness, that am at the basis of the whole creation with all its
> activities.
>
> How is it that the aspirant says that he, the Pure Consciousness, is the
> antaryāmin since the very term 'antaryāmin' involves an action on the part
> of the impeller? This question is answered by Shankara in the Bṛ.Up.
> antaryāmi Brāmaṇam as 'It is by being a mere witness, the impelling
> happens.' And that Impeller is the Ātman of everyone.
>
> The true meaning of impelling is known from the first four mantras and
> bhāṣyam of the Kenopaniṣad.  There the Pure Consciousness is taught as the
> power behind every organ, prāṇa, etc. In the crucial fifth mantra the
> Upaniṣad teaches: Know 'that' alone to be Brahman which is the Impeller of
> all organs but That which the organs themselves do not know. And most
> importantly, Brahman is NOT that which people meditate upon as a deity
> distinct from themselves.
>
> Shankara here says that the Upanishad teaches that any deity that is
> different from oneself is anātmā, a-brahma.
>
> Shankara says in the antaryāmi Brāhmaṇam that 'such Īśvara, known as
> Nārāyaṇa... is the Immortal Self of everyone.'
>
> In the light of the Kenopanishat mantra too, it is clear that this
> 'Nārāyaṇa' is not any deity, for if it is understood to be so, it will be
> anātmā, a-brahma.  Hence alone Shankara says in the Bhagavadgita bhashyam
> 'I am non-different from Vāsudeva'.
>
> Thus, the Taittiriya mantra shown above is a fine Advaitic contemplation
> where the aspirant knows that he, the Pure Consciousness, is the Power
> behind the entire creation.  This Power is a passive presence and not any
> active entity. This Power is Brahman, the substratum of the entire creation.
>
> Om Tat Sat
>