The young Rama – schooled in religion and worship – asks the sage about the forms of Brahma, Vishnu, Maheshwara. The sage takes the young Rama back to his true self.
Glossary:
akash: San. m., n. (ambara) sky, space, an expanse; the element of ether, the subtlest form of matter. Space gives things form and keeps them discrete. Its quality is sound. ‘It is through space that sounds are transmitted and heard. Love and play are products of akasha and seeds sprout on account of akasha.’ ‘Akasha pervades the cosmos but remains unstained.’ (BG: 23:32)
avidya San. f. ignorance, especially in a spiritual sense arising from the illusion of maya, the veil of separateness. The darkness of ignorance veils our perception, so that we see a snake in a rope and are deluded by our senses into believing the world is real; we are unaware of the true Reality that underlies and sustains it.
chinmatra: of the nature of pure consciousness or undifferentiated existence
Atma-satta The potency of Atma (the Soul).
tattva San. n. ‘thatness’ – real nature, essence, principle; truth, reality, the Absolute (brahman); one of the five elements; the chemical elements.
ashabad pad: the state divested of words, speech. The inexpressible Brahman state;
shunya Hin., San. adj. var, sunya void, empty m. null, void, nothingness, emptiness, non-existence; solitude.
Abyasa (abhyaasa). Systematic, steady practice.
vichara: self-inquiry; contemplation, thought; reflection and introspection
vichara: inner inquiry as against blind unreasoning faith.
Question 223: Sir, Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh are of pure forms and of the nature of akash. How do you call them aspects of ignorance (avidya)? Kindly remove my doubts in this regard.
Answer: Ramji, you first understand the nature of Atma and ignorance and then you will understand the fact. That which appears to be existent despite its non-existence, represents ignorance and that which is ever existing is called Atma. The pure consciousness or undifferentiated existence (chinmatra Atma-satta) which is free from ideation is called the tattva (real nature, essence, principle). This pure consciousness undergoes modifications and exists as names and forms, and when this state is firmly established, then the idea of the mind also arises. The three attributes–sattva, rajas and tamas–too are states of this pure ideation due to which the entire phenomenon is manifested. There are nine divisions of these attributes and every object is established according to its attributes or qualities.
Ramji, just as the bubbles in water are merely perceptual and in reality there is water only, so also knowledge and ignorance are just attitudinal. What remains after these two have been renounced, is the potency of Atma. Therefore, abandoning both these, you should be established in the Atma. Atma-satta (potency, existence of the Atma) is the state sans verbal manifestation (ashabd-pad) and it is also all-pervasive, omnipresent, omnipotent and cosmic void (shunya roop). It pervades like cream in milk. Just as butter is not obtained without churning curd, so the Atmic state is not attained without contemplation and abhyas (systematic, steady practice). The universe is a reflection of Atma.
Just as the space (akash) of a jar is not destroyed with the destruction of the jar, so Atma is not destroyed even when the universe ceases to exist. Just as movement is produced in iron filings when they are brought into a magnetic field and the magnet remains immobile, so the bodies in the universe keep moving due to the powers of Atma, but Atma is always the non-doer (akarta). It shows that the entire flux in the universe is perceived due to the influence of Atma-satta but in reality nothing but Atma exists.
Ramji, such is your (physical) self. Abandon all illusions and be fixed in your true self and then you will attain salvation.
Forever having the form of joy which is full of splendour, forsaking the world that we see which does not have definition, and which can be attained only by constant search and a state full of bliss, is the divine and perennial concept that we ourselves are Brahman.
By ignorance of this entire concept of the physical world, by the realisation of Atma, which leads to the loss of this concept, which is beyond mind and word, and also pure and fully free, is the divine and perennial concept that we ourselves are Brahman.
By the negative action of the words: not this, not this, that which shines entirely in those, who enter the state of samadhi, that which is beyond the three states (sleep, dream and waking) and which does not have any second, is the divine and perennial concept that we ourselves are Brahman.
That due to its bits of bliss makes this world pleasant, that due to its splendour makes this world full of light, and that by whose thought this physical world becomes nothing, is the divine and perennial concept that we ourselves are Brahman.
That which is endless, divine and controls everything, that which is peaceful, alone and attainable through Om, and that which is formless, has great lustre and no death, is the divine and perennial concept that we ourselves are Brahman.
That sea of bliss in which the seeker drowns himself, and that wonderful cause which forever makes it disappear, the ignorance which makes the physical world appear, is the divine and perennial concept that we ourselves are Brahman. Vijnana Nauka of Adi Shankaracharya
Hamsa Gayatri
Om Hamsaaya Vidmahe
Paramahamsaya Dheemahi
Tanno Hamsa Prachodayat
“May we realise Hamsa that is our own Self as the Swan. Let us meditate on that Paramahamsa, the Supreme Self. May Hamsa illumine us.”