[Chaturamnaya] Tattvabodha of Adi Sankaracharya - 26

[S Jayanarayanan]

(Continued from previous post)
 
 
3.1.2 Evolution of the sattva aspect
 
Since all these five elements are born out
of mAyA which has three guNas, they should
also have the three guNas because the prop-
erties of the cause (kAraNam) should pervade
the effect (kAryam) also. So, within the subtle
Space itself, we have saatvik AkASa, rAjasik
AkASa and tAmasik AkASa, etc.
 
3.1.2.1 Sense Organs
 
 eteShAM pa~nchatattvAnAM madhye
 AkAshasya sAtvikA.nshAt shrotrendriya.n sambhUtam .
 
>From among these five elements, from the saatvic
aspect of AkASa, the organ of hearing, the ear,
evolved.
 
 vAyoH sAtvikA.nshAt tvagindriya.n sambhUtam .
 
>From the saatvic aspect of vAyu, the organ of
touch - the skin - evolved.
 
 agneH sAtvikA.nshAt chakShurindriya.n sambhUtam .
 
>From the saatvic aspect of Fire, the organ of
sight - the eye - evolved.
 
 jalasya sAtvikA.nshAt rasanendriya.n sambhUtam .
 
>From the saatvic aspect of Water, the organ of
taste - the tongue - evolved.
 
 pR^ithivyAH sAtvikA.nshAt ghrANendriya.n sambhUtam .
 
>From the saatvic aspect of Earth, the organ of
smell - the nose - evolved.
 
The five sense organs evolved from the sattva
aspect of the five elements. Every element
has an essential property (guNa - for example,
Water-taste) and the corresponding sense or-
gan evolved from it (namely, tongue in this
example). Similarly the property of Fire is form
and the organ of perception of form is the eye,
which evolved from it, and so on.
 
3.1.2.2 antahkaraNa (inner equipment)
 
 eteShAM pa~nchatattvAnA.n samaShTisAtvikA.nshAt
 manobuddhyaha~NkAra chittAntaHkaraNAni sambhUtAni .
 
>From the total saatvic aspect of these five ele-
ments, the antahkaraNa (innner equipment) com-
prising of manas, buddhi, ahamkAra and citta,
evolved.
 
Here two more parts are added to the list of
subtle bodies (sUkshma Sareeram) mentioned
earlier, which are ahamkAra and citta, thus
making a total of 19. That means 19 parts are
to be created from the subtle elements out of
which five organs of perception and four in-
ner equipment are created out of the saatvic
aspect, since the sense organs and the inner
instruments are related to knowledge. To sum-
marize, the sauna aspect is responsible for the
creation of the jnAnendriyas and the
antahkaraNas.
 
 
(Continued in next post)