[Chaturamnaya] Swarupa Ashtakam - 7

[S Jayanarayanan]

(Continued from previous post)
 
 
Verse 6
यदानन्दलेशैः समानन्दि विश्वं यदाभाति सत्वे तदाभाति सर्वम् ।
यदालोकने रूपमन्यत्समस्तं परं ब्रह्म नित्यं तदेवाहमस्मि ॥
 
That from which the whole world gets bliss, consciousness and existence, Iam that supreme, eternal Brahman.
Brahman is the sole source of Ananda. Nothing else in creation (including the mind and body which are part of Karya Prapancham) has even a drop
of Ananda. Although materialistic objects or events (example, a new possession or a marriage) seem to provide happiness, for none of them Ananda
is an intrinsic property.
 
What is the proof?
 
No object can give same amount of happiness to all people and at all times uniformly. A source of joy today can possibly transform into a source
of grief at any moment. This illustrates that an object by itself does not intrinsically contain the real Ananda. Then why do we experience
temporary happiness from objects? That is because the phenomenon of happiness has been misunderstood. E.g. when a dog bites a bone, the bone
blisters its tongue but the dog enjoys the taste of the blood assuming the bone to be the source of it. Similarly when mind experiences Ananda,
however temporary, it is nothing but the reflected (Pratibimba) Ananda from Atma. Conducive circumstances provided by external factors temporarily
calm the mind and it is able to experience some of this reflected happiness or Atmananda. And we make the mistake of associating the source of this
happiness to the external trigger. How can I experience original Ananda and not just reflected Ananda? I cannot experience, I can only realize and claim.
Example, I can experience only a reflection of my own face (in a mirror), I cannot ‘experience’ my own face. I can only realize and claim it.
 
Like happiness, the world also borrows its existence (Sat) from Brahman. So when we say the world is existent, it implies that it is borrowed.
Same goes for the body and mind, which are also part of the Karya creation. And like existence, consciousness is also borrowed by the world from Brahman.
Therefore, the world, body and mind are all Nama-Roopa, only borrowing existence, consciousness and happiness from Brahman and reflecting these like a mirror.
Therefore Brahman is not in the world, but I am the Brahman experiencing the world and the reflected Satchitananda. If the Nama-Roopa mirror dissolves,
the reflected ‘Sat-Chit-Ananda’ dissolves but the original Brahman, which is Me, remains.
 
 
(To be Continued)