[Advaita-l] 'United, we stand, divided, we fall' - Message of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad

[Raghav Kumar Dwivedula]

Namaste Subbu ji

Regarding the beautiful and profound mantra quoted by you - ब्रह्म तं
परादाद्योऽन्यत्रात्मनो ब्रह्म वेद क्षत्त्रं तं
परादाद्योऽन्यत्रात्मनः क्षत्त्रं वेद लोकास्तं परादुर्योऽन्यत्रात्मनो
लोकान्वेद देवास्तं परादुर्योऽन्यत्रात्मनो देवान्वेद भूतानि तं
परादुर्योऽन्यत्रात्मनो भूतानि वेद सर्वं तं परादाद्योऽन्यत्रात्मनः सर्वं
वेदेदं ब्रह्मेदं क्षत्त्रमिमे लोका इमे देवा इमानि भूतानीदं सर्वं यदयमात्मा
॥ ६ ॥
(brahma tam paradaadyo anyatrAtmano Brahma Veda ....)
The central theme of the mantra is: All this is Atma (Brahman), there is
nothing other than Brahman.

There is an interesting anecdote about how bheda buddhi ( looking upon some
people as the "other" in an absolute sense and that they are separate from
the Self) leads to 'defeat' or being conquered by those very 'others',
presumably through creating attachments and hatred  or rAga-dveSha (which
is inherent in all dvaita buddhi) and bhaya (fear also is from recognising
a second entity independent of the Self) and all the other ramifications of
such an attitude of "othering".

When Swami Vivekananda was
"passing through the (Kashmir) valley of the Jhelum, the Swami was in a
reminiscent mood. Speaking of Brahmavidya, the path of realisation
of the One Absolute, and of how love conquers all evil, he related the
story of one of his classmates, who subsequently became a rich man. He was
suffering from an obscure disease which baffled the skill of the doctors.
Naturally, he lost hope of recovery
and interest in life in general, and turned to religion and thoughts of
Vairagyam, as men do in such a case. Hearing that the Swami had become a
religious man
and an adept in Yoga he sent for him, begging him to come if only for once,
which he did. As the Swami sat at his bedside, there came to his mind the
Upanishadic Shloka—“Him the Brahmana conquers, who thinks that he is
separate from the Brahmana. Him the Kshatriya conquers, who thinks that he
is separate from the Kshatriya and him the universe conquers, who thinks
that he is separate from the universe." (Paraphrased translation)

Curiously, this acted like a charm on the sick man and the effect was
miraculous. He grasped the theme even with the repeating of the Sloka, felt
strength in
the body as he had not done for a long time, and made a quick recovery ! "

(Presumably some deep inner conflict caused the stress and a psychosomatic
ailment.)

Om
Raghav







On Thu, 11 Jun, 2020, 2:00 PM V Subrahmanian via Advaita-l, <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> This slogan 'United we stand, divided we fall' is one shouted by workers in
> their protest demonstrations. However, the heart of this slogan is the
> central teaching of the Vedanta. In the  Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 2.4.6 we
> have this mantra:
>
> ब्रह्म तं परादाद्योऽन्यत्रात्मनो ब्रह्म वेद क्षत्त्रं तं
> परादाद्योऽन्यत्रात्मनः क्षत्त्रं वेद लोकास्तं परादुर्योऽन्यत्रात्मनो
> लोकान्वेद देवास्तं परादुर्योऽन्यत्रात्मनो देवान्वेद भूतानि तं
> परादुर्योऽन्यत्रात्मनो भूतानि वेद सर्वं तं परादाद्योऽन्यत्रात्मनः सर्वं
> वेदेदं ब्रह्मेदं क्षत्त्रमिमे लोका इमे देवा इमानि भूतानीदं सर्वं यदयमात्मा
> ॥ ६ ॥
>
> The central theme of the mantra is: All this is Atma (Brahman), there is
> nothing other than Brahman.
>
> Translation: (Swami Madhavananda)  The Brahmana (Jati) ousts one who knows
> it as different from the Self. The Kshatriya ousts one who knows him as
> different from the Self. The worlds oust one who knows them as
> different from the Self. The gods oust one who knows them as different from
> the Self. The beings oust one who knows them as different from the
> Self. All ousts one who knows it as different from the Self. This Brahma,
> this Kshatriya, these worlds, these gods, these beings, and this all
> are the Self.
>
> Shankara's Bhashya: ननु कथम् अन्यस्मिन्विदिते अन्यद्विदितं भवति ? नैष दोषः
> ; न हि आत्मव्यतिरेकेण अन्यत्किञ्चिदस्ति ; यद्यस्ति, न तद्विदितं स्यात् ; न
> त्वन्यदस्ति ; आत्मैव तु सर्वम् ; तस्मात् सर्वम् आत्मनि विदिते विदितं
> स्यात् । कथं पुनरात्मैव सर्वमित्येतत् श्रावयति — ब्रह्म ब्राह्मणजातिः तं
> पुरुषं परादात् परादध्यात् पराकुर्यात् ; कम् ? यः अन्यत्रात्मनः
> आत्मस्वरूपव्यतिरेकेण — आत्मैव न भवतीयं ब्राह्मणजातिरिति — तां यो वेद, तं
> परादध्यात् सा ब्राह्मणजातिः अनात्मस्वरूपेण मां पश्यतीति ; परमात्मा हि
> सर्वेषामात्मा । तथा क्षत्रं क्षत्रियजातिः, तथा लोकाः, देवाः, भूतानि,
> सर्वम् । इदं ब्रह्मेति — यान्यनुक्रान्तानि तानि सर्वाणि, आत्मैव, यदयमात्मा
> — योऽयमात्मा द्रष्टव्यः श्रोतव्य इति प्रकृतः — यस्मात् आत्मनो जायते
> आत्मन्येव लीयत आत्ममयं च स्थितिकाले, आत्मव्यतिरेकेणाग्रहणात् , आत्मैव
> सर्वम् ॥
>
> The gist of the Bhashyam: If one were to consider/know the Brahmana jati as
> different from the Atman, that Brahmana jati would 'oust' such a knower.
> What does this mean? The perceiver considers the Brahmana jati as different
> from himself, as anatma. So, that 'anatma' retaliates by punishing him by
> letting him to be finite, paricchinna, limited, and therefore, to continue
> in samsara, in ignorance.  Everything in creation, if viewed as anatma,
> that is something having an existence of/by itself, independently, will in
> turn show this perceiver also to be finite, a mithya vastu. The idea is:
> when we see a serpent, owing to error, in a rope, till such time the
> rope-knowledge has not arisen, we continue to view that serpent as 'real',
> having an independent existence. But, as is well known, such is not the
> case. The superimposed snake is appearing to be real only on the borrowed
> existence of the rope. In the same way while everything in creation exists
> only due to the Atma, the grand substratum, if anyone were to see it as
> existing independently without the supporting, sustaining, Atman, that is,
> bereft of Atman, then such a view itself will continue to keep the
> perceiver in bondage, ignorance.
>
> This idea is deftly conveyed by Shankara Bhagavatpada in this commentary to
> the Brahmasutra 1.4.19 'vaakyaanvayaat', a very important adhikaranam:
> Shankara encapsulates the central teaching of Vedanta in these powerful
> words. Those requiring the translation may look up the book by Swami
> Gambhirananda.
>
> यत्कारणमात्मविज्ञानेन सर्वविज्ञानं प्रतिज्ञायानन्तरेण ग्रन्थेन तदेवोपपादयति
> — ‘ब्रह्म तं परादाद्योऽन्यत्रात्मनो ब्रह्म वेद’ इत्यादिना ; यो हि
> ब्रह्मक्षत्रादिकं जगदात्मनोऽन्यत्र स्वातन्त्र्येण लब्धसद्भावं पश्यति, तं
> मिथ्यादर्शिनं तदेव मिथ्यादृष्टं ब्रह्मक्षत्रादिकं जगत्पराकरोतीति
> भेददृष्टिमपोद्य, ‘इदꣳ सर्वं यदयमात्मा’ इति सर्वस्य
> वस्तुजातस्यात्माव्यतिरेकमवतारयति ; ‘दुन्दुभ्यादिदृष्टान्तैश्च’ (बृ. उ. ४ ।
> ५ । ८)
> <
> https://advaitasharada.sringeri.net/display/bhashya/Brha?page=4&id=BR_C04_S05_V08&hl=%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%A8%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%AD%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A6%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%83%E0%A4%B7%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%9F%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A8%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%88%E0%A4%B6%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%9A
> >
> तमेवाव्यतिरेकं
> द्रढयति ; ‘अस्य महतो भूतस्य निःश्वसितमेतद्यदृग्वेदः’ (बृ. उ. ४ । ५ । ११)
> <
> https://advaitasharada.sringeri.net/display/bhashya/Brha?page=4&id=BR_C04_S05_V11&hl=%E0%A4%85%E0%A4%B8%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF%20%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%B9%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%8B%20%E0%A4%AD%E0%A5%82%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%B8%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF%20%E0%A4%A8%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%83%E0%A4%B6%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%B8%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%AE%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%83%E0%A4%97%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B5%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%A6%E0%A4%83
> >
> इत्यादिना
> च प्रकृतस्यात्मनो नामरूपकर्मप्रपञ्चकारणतां व्याचक्षाणः परमात्मानमेवैनं
> गमयति ; ‘तथैवैकायनप्रक्रियायामपि’ सविषयस्य सेन्द्रियस्य सान्तःकरणस्य
> प्रपञ्चस्यैकायनमनन्तरमबाह्यं कृत्स्नं प्रज्ञानघनं व्याचक्षाणः
> परमात्मानमेवैनं गमयति । तस्मात्परमात्मन एवायं दर्शनाद्युपदेश इति गम्यते ॥
> १९ ॥
>
> Thus, the Vedanta teaches:
>
> 1. If we are divided, that is, hold the view that I am different and the
> rest of the creation is different, then we 'fall', that is, we remain in
> ignorance.
> 2. On the other hand, if we gain the 'total view', akhanDa darshanam, we
> stand firm as the Atman, Brahman, with nothing in the universe to limit us
> and bind us.
>
> Om Tat Sat
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