[Chaturamnaya] Tattvabodha of Adi Sankaracharya - 25

[S Jayanarayanan]

(Continued from previous post)
 
 
For a better understanding, let us compare
brahman and mAyA:
 
Brahman - mAyA
--------------
1. anaadi - anaadi
2. cetanam - acetanA
3. nirvikAram - savikAra
4. satyam - mithyA
5. nirguNam - saguNa
 
3.1.1 Evolution of the five elements
 
tataH AkAshaH sambhUtaH . From that (mAyA) the space
(AkASa) is born.
 
AkAshAd vAyuH . From AkASa, vAyu (air)
vAyostejaH . From vAyu, the Fire.
tejasa ApaH . From Fire, Water.
adbhyaH pR^ithivI . From Water, the Earth.
 
Of the twenty four tattvas mentioned ear-
lier, the creation of the five elements is divided
in to subtle (sUkshma) and gross (sthUla)
elements. First, the five subtle elements are
born out of the brahman-mAyA couple, which
will be grossified later by a process called
panceekaraNam. The subtle forms are not vis-
ible, while the gross forms are visible.
 
* tataH -> brahmasahitamAyayA ->  From that
brahman-mAyA couple, AkASa is born.
According to the scriptures, Space has
only one attribute, namely, sound (shabda).
(shabdaguNakaM AkAsham)
 
* From the subtle AkASa, subtle vAyu is
born, which has two attributes, namely,
sound (shabda). and touch (sparsha)
 
* From the subtle Air, subtle Fire is born,
which has three attributes, namely, sound
(shabda), touch (sparsha) and form (rUpa)
 
* From subtle Fire, subtle Water is born,
which has four attributes, namely, sound
(shabda), touch (sparsha), form (rUpa)
and taste (rasa)
 
* From subtle Water, subtle Earth is born,
which has five attributes, namely, sound
(shabda), touch (sparsha), form (rUpa),
taste (rasa) and smell (gandha)
 
Element  Attribute(s)
Space: sound
Air: sound, touch
Fire: sound, touch,  form
Water: sound, touch,  form, taste
Earth: sound, touch,  form,  taste, smell
 
Even though all the five are subtle elements,
there is still a gradation among them - space
being the most subtle with only one attribute,
and earth being the least subtle with five at-
tributes of perception. In the scheme of cre-
ation, these five tanmAtras evolve in the order
of their grossness.
 
Since all these five elements are born out
of mAyA which has three guNas, they should
also have three guNas because the properties
of the cause (kAraNam) should pervade the
effect (kAryam) also. So, within subtle space
itself , we have saatvik AkASa, rAjasik AkASa
and tAmasik AkASa, etc.
 
 
(Continued in next post)