Srihari Krishna

Lord Brahma continued, “Although being unreal like a dream, this universe appears to be real. In such unreal world, endless sorrows follow one another sequentially and destructions of various forms are visible. Yet, O Lord, the appearance and disappearance of this universe take place solely due to You and not due to itself”.

The ups and downs experienced arise due to the Lord and not due to the world. This is because the universe lacks the independence to function on its own. Unless He wills even an ant cannot move. The fire cannot burn without His will. There is a fable in which the Fire-god fails to burn the dry blade of grass. This is because the Supreme Lord’s grace was essential for the Fire-god to complete his duties perfectly. The five basic elements obtain their vitality and their consciousness due to His grace. They lack independence. They merely obey His commands. Dissolution is also the outcome of His command. He has already pre-ordained how the creation should run. The creation will never have an independent existence.

“Such universe, which is an outcome of illusion, makes itself visible in You, the Lord of infinite knowledge and bliss. O Lord, You remain indestructible. You alone are eternal. Spiritual ignorance (ajnana) causes this unreal world to appear as real. Mistaking this unreal world to be real, the ignorant living entities forget You, who truly are real”.

The ignorant people falsely consider this unreal world to be real and in the process they forget the Supreme Lord who alone is real. Undoubtedly this creation is Yours, O Lord. It is indisputable that this creation of Yours possesses infinite glory. Let us also assume that it is a partial aspect of Yours. Nevertheless, ignorant people are trapped into this creation of Yours and are totally absorbed in it. They discuss about it, worship it while forgetting You, who are real. Having distanced from that which is true, they are holding on to that which is untrue.

“O Lord, You are all-pervading. You make Yourself visible as the Self within the living entities. You are of primordial existence. You are the truth. You are Self-luminous. You, the indestructible Lord, are the cause behind every existence. You are beyond eternal time. You are changeless and are beyond the limitations of time and space. Supreme bliss is Your original form. You are pure without any blemish. You are without a second. You are beyond the carrier called illusionary energy (maya).

Only the person who obtains the divine vision called ‘Vedanta’ through the medium of the Sun called ‘Sadguru’ (a Self-realized spiritual master), and who, through it realizes You as his inner Self, will cross this false ocean called worldly bondages (samsāra) which others fail to cross.

Just as a rope is mistaken for a snake, the failure to understand one’s original Self results in the unreal world appearing real. When the individual obtains Supreme Knowledge, then just as due to clearer perception the snake is no longer visible in the rope, this visible world merges into the Self and ceases to have any separate existence”.

A person mistakes a rope for a snake. After sometime he realizes that there was no snake that only a rope existed and that it was his erroneous perception all along.

“The terms ‘bondage’ and ‘liberation’ are well-known, nevertheless both these terms have their origin in spiritual ignorance. The Self is an embodiment of Pure Knowledge. It is without a second and is situated beyond Nature. Only when, through proper analysis, Self-knowledge is grasped, it will be known that just as differences such as day and night do not have any existence in the Sun, the Self does not have differences such as liberation and bondages”.

In the Sun, which is Self-effulgent, can differences such as night and day exist? Can darkness exist? Likewise in the Self, differences such as bondages and liberation do not exist.

“The Self is eternally liberated. The ignorant human being considers himself to be bonded and hence construes destruction of bondage as liberation. The truth is that liberation and bondage do not exist in the Self”.

By specifically mentioning that day and night do not exist in the Sun, it is being emphatically declared that our Maharishis of yore were well-versed in the knowledge that Sun was stationary object which does not rotate around the earth. The truth is that the Sun revolves around another Sun which is superior to it. Nevertheless, the rate of revolution is different which gives the impression that it is a stationary object.

“Spiritually ignorant persons consider You, who in reality are the inner Self, as an external entity while considering other non-Self objects such as their body, as their inner Self. They thus search for the Self outside of them.”

They consider the Self which exists within them as an external entity with a distinct existence and hence search for God outside of them. They fail to understand that He resides within them. He pervades through this creation created by Him. If the person believes that God resides elsewhere outside of him, then who is he? From where did he originate? He must question himself.

“Their ignorance is deep-rooted. O infinite Lord, those possessed with wisdom reject the senses and other non-Self objects that arise due to the gross body which is of intermediary existence between birth and death and instead seek You, who reside within as the Self. Through this they understand You. Although rope and snake are distinct existences, unless the erroneous misconception (of the snake) is destroyed, the wise fail to understand the true form (of the rope) even though it exists directly before their eyes”.

Misconception must be erased. The understanding that the snake does not exist and that it is a rope should be obtained. Likewise reality must be understood.

“O Lord, only through the discriminatory knowledge between the Self and non-Self objects, the individual can know You. Even though this is the undeniable truth, unless the person is graced by Your lotus feet, he can never understand the true greatness of You, the supreme Self. Even after endlessly investigating the Self for a very long period of time, the person who is deprived of Your grace, can never ever realize You”.

Narayana Narayana