By: Jayakrishna Nelamangala
|| ōm̐ śrī gurubhyō namaḥ hariḥ ōm̐ ||
Mantra # 13
Just as vidya and avidya are mentioned as the causes for the two-folded moksha, so also, sambhooti and asambhooti are mentioned as the causes for moksha. The point of this teaching is that, in case Parabrahman is not understood as given by Veda properly, there will indeed be an undesirable consequence. All-Doership in Creation and in Destruction both must be understood as Complete in Vedic Parabrahman.
उपनिषत् upaniṣat
अन्यदेवाहुस्सम्भवात् अन्यदाहुरसम्भवात् ।
इति शुश्रुम धीराणाम् ये नस्तद् विचचक्षिरे॥ १३ ॥
anyadēvāhussambhavāt anyadāhurasambhavāt |
iti śuśruma dhīrāṇām yē nastad vicacakṣirē || 13 ||
सम्भवात् sambhavāt means by the knowledge that Vedic Parabarhman is the sr̥ṣṭi-kartr, the All-Creator. असम्भवात् means ‘by the knowledge that God is also the संहारकर्तृ samhāra kartr, the All-Destroyer.
Thus, we have heard from the knowledgeable, denoted as “dheeras”. They are those with ripened state of knowledge. They are ज्ञानवृद्ध jñānavr̥ddha. They have grown in their knowledge and are aged in this sense वृद्धाः vr̥ddhāḥ. We don’t need to do much for getting into old-age. It happens whether we want it or not. But growth in knowledge is not like that. It does not come with age automatically. It needs sustained effort in acquiring knowledge through a proper Guru, sorting out all that is knowledge from all that is wrong-knowledge and leading the life of applying and teaching it. One should study what is taught under the brahma-sootra: ॐ आत्मा इति तूपगच्छन्ति ग्राहयन्ति च ॐ ōm̐ ātmā iti tūpagacchanti grāhayanti ca ōm̐
Note that upanishat uses “dheera” to mean a jnyāni. Who are those dheeras? Those that have taught us tattva. What is tattva? That which is established by pramāṇa is tattva.
From these words गुरुनियम guru-niyama is established. Whoever teaches tattva to us, only he is jnyāni to us, a guru to us and a dheera to us. By understanding it in this way, there is no scope for learning many different things from many different people. We need to learn only that which is tattva. What is established by pramāṇa, or tattva always comes in a single variety. However, what is not established by pramāṇa comes in many different varieties. The upanishat has already made the demand that we recognize and separate all that is Vedic and tattva from all that is unVedic and therefore wrong-knowledge.
If an adhikārin gets a Guru, Guru will teach him tattva. If not, it means he is गुरुरहित guru-rahita, without a guru. To consider all and sundry as Guru, is not in line with this upanishat. Preserving the sanctity of the word “Guru” is essential for ज्ञानसाधन jñāna-sādhana.
“ācāryavān purushō vēda” says chāndōgya.
In the path of knowledge i.e., brahma-jignyāsā that reveals Śrutyukta Parabrahman, there is no point in blindly accepting politically correct statements. A person with fittedness for knowledge, if he obtains a Guru, then that Guru will teach him tattva-jñāna. If he does not have a Guru who teaches tattva-jñāna, it simply means he is devoid of a Guru. For this reason, following this upanishat, one who understands the sacredness of a Guru and teaches tattva-jñāna, the word ‘Guru’ when exclusively reserved for only such a person, it helps as a means for gaining knowledge. By teaching “इति शुश्रुम धीराणां iti śuśruma dhīrāṇāṁ”, “ये नस्तद् विचचक्षिरे yē nastad vicacakṣirē” the upanishat clarifies on the status of being a Guru. What is taught by a Guru, must be that which has been taught by people who are ज्ञानवृद्ध jñānavr̥ddha. The same applies to ज्ञानवृद्ध jñānavr̥ddha too. Thus, what is taught must remain intact from time immemorial to eternality. All these point to the Unauthoredness of vēda.
As it has been pointed so far यथार्थज्ञान, तत्त्वज्ञान, परमात्मज्ञान yathārtha-jñāna, tattva-jñāna, paramātma-jñāna etc., all these words have one and the same meaning. This meaning is established by the knowledge that ‘Brahman is svatantra’ which is established by the fact that ‘all this is ईशावास्य īśāvāsya’. This knowledge is the knowledge of All-Creatorship of Brahman which includes All-Destructorship of Brahman. One who is fit for knowledge should obtain that knowledge through a proper study of shasstra. While studying shāstra, if it appears that, for a certain item Brahman is not sr̥ṣṭi-kartr, is not samhāra-kartr for that item, then he should understand that it is denial of Brahman and adjust his studies. Hence the term वृद्धाः vr̥ddhāḥ used while understanding this mantra
These ideas must be carefully observed and understood. If there is no proper study and contemplation, then there is the possibility that the serious student of shāstra will fall into the tradition of another darshana, which may be quite opposed to what is taught here. In this circumstance, he will accept the existence of beginningless and eternally existing things which do not need creation, and comes to the conclusion that, Vedic Parabrahman’s All-Creatorship and All-Destructorship must have a secondary meaning and the two qualities must be understood as it is well known in the world. In the presence of this wrong-knowledge, when he encounters in shāstra sentences which teach सर्व-सॄष्टि-संहार-कर्तृत्व sarva-sr̥̄ṣṭi-saṁhāra-kartr̥tva, he makes their meaning yield to the meaning that he already has imagined. The upanishat is warning us against falling into such traps.
Blindly agreeing with a certain thought and blindly disagreeing with the thought, both are equally bad. They don’t help in the growth of knowledge. This ‘agreeing’ need not be ‘agreeing with knowledge’ hence it is equivalent to ‘those who believe’. In this context, ‘agreeing’ means ‘to know it through a study of shāstra’. It is so because, this whole context is the context of knowledge. Hence, all words get their meanings through a study of shāstra, and not otherwise. When the Creator Brahman is not understood to be the Destructor Brahman, the Creator who created bondage won’t be the Giver of mōksha (which is nothing but the destruction of bondage) thus makes the very purpose of shāstra futile and there won’t be any need for any sādhana either.
With this background, we will make an attempt at studying the 13th mantra as:
उपनिषत् upaniṣat
अन्यदेवाहुस्सम्भवात् अन्यदाहुरसम्भवात् ।
इति शुश्रुम धीराणाम् ये नस्तद् विचचक्षिरे॥ १३ ॥
anyadēvāhussambhavāt anyadāhurasambhavāt |
iti śuśruma dhīrāṇām yē nastad vicacakṣirē || 13 ||
The understanding of All-Creatorship, sarva-sr̥ṣṭi-kartrtva of Parabrahman (सम्भवात् sambhavāt) results in one part of the two-fold mōksha (अन्यदेव anyadēva) the understanding of His All-Destroyership, sarva-samhāra-kartrtva, (असम्भवात् asambhavāt) results in the other part (अन्यद् anyat) of the two-fold mōksha.
Thus say, (आहुः āhuḥ) people who are ripened with knowledge. We have heard it like this (इति शुश्रुम iti śuśruma) from those who find their enjoyment in knowledge (धीराणाम् dhīrāṇām). Those knowledgeable (ये yē) are our Gurus who have explained (विचचक्षिरे vicacakṣirē) that tattva to us (नस्तद् nastad).
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