|
EARLY TRANSLATIONS OF SOME VEDANTIC TEXTS
The Karikas of Gaudapada
THE
Karikas of Gaudapada are a body of authoritative
verse maxims and reasonings setting forth in a brief and closely-argued manual
the position of the extreme Monistic School of Vedanta philosophy. The
monumental aphorisms of the Vedanta Sutra are meant rather for the master than
the learner. Gaudapada's clear, brief and businesslike verses are of a wider
utility; they presuppose only an elementary knowledge of philosophic terminology
and the general trend of Monistic and Dualistic discussion — this preliminary
knowledge granted, they provide the student with an admirably lucid pregnant
nucleus of reasoning which enables him at once to follow the Monistic train of
thought and to keep in memory its most notable positions. It has also had the
advantage, due no doubt to its pre-eminent merit and the long possession of
authority and general use, of a full and powerful commentary by the great Master
himself and a further exposition by the Master's disciple, the clear-minded and
often suggestive Anandagiri. To modern students there can be no better
introduction to Vedanta philosophy — after some brooding over the sense of the
Upanishads — than a study of Gaudapada's Karikas and Shankara's commentary with
Deussen's System of the Vedanta in one hand and any brief and popular exposition
of the six Darshanas in the other. It is only after the Monistic School has been
thoroughly understood that the Modified-Monistic and Dualistic-Monistic with
their intermediary shades can be profitably studied. When the Vedantic theory
has been mastered, the Sankhya, Yoga, Nyaya and Vaisheshika can in its light be
easily mastered in succession with Vijnanabhikshu's work and the great synthesis
of the Bhagvadgita to crown the whole structure. The philosophical basis will
then be properly laid and the Upanishads can be studied with new interest,
verifying or modifying as one goes one's original interpretation of the Sacred
Books. This will bring to a close the theoretical side of the Jnanakanda; its
practical and
Page – 427
more valuable side can only be mastered in the path of Yoga
and under the guidance of a Sadguru.
Gaudapada begins his work by a short exposition in clear
philosophical terms of the poetical and rhythmic phraseology of the Upanishads.
He first defines precisely the essential character of the Triune nature of the
Self as manifested in the macrocosm and the microcosm, the Waker, the Dreamer
and the Sleeper, who all meet and disappear in the Absolute.
1. The Vishwa being the Lord who pervades and is conscious of
the external, Taijasa he who is conscious of the internal, Prajna he in whom
consciousness is (densified and) drawn into itself, the Self presents himself to
the memory as One under three conditions.
Shankara: The position taken
is that, as the entity which cognizes enters into three conditions one
after another and not simultaneously, and is moreover in all three
connected by the memory which persists in feeling "This is I" "This is I"
"This is I", it is obvious that it is something beyond and above the three
conditions. and therefore one, absolute and without attachment to its
conditions. And this is supported by the illustrations like that of the large
fish given in the Scripture.
2. Vishwa in the gate of the right eye, Taijasa within the
mind, Prajna in the ether, the heart, this is its threefold station in the body.
Page – 428
Shankara: 1. The object of
this verse is to show that these three, Vishwa, Taijasa and Prajna, are
experienced even in the waking state. The right eye is the door the means,
through which especially Vishwa, the seer of gross objects, becomes subject to
experience. The Sruti saith, "Verily and of a truth Indha is he, even his Being
as he standeth here in the right eye." Vaishwanara is
Page – 429
Indha because his essential principle is light and is at once
the macrocosmic Self within the Sun and the seer in the eye.
2. "But," it will be objected, "Hiranyagarbha is one and the
cognizer of the material field, the guide and seer in the right eye is quite
another, the master of the body." Not so; for in itself — if we look into the
real nature of our perceptions — we do not realise any difference between
them. And the Scripture saith, "One God hidden in all creatures" and the Smriti
also:
"Know me, O son of Bharat, for the Knower of the body in all
bodies. I stand undivided in all creatures and only seem to be divided."
3. Be it noted that though Vishwa works indeed in all
the organs of sense without distinction yet because the perceptions of the right
eye are noticed to be superior in acuteness and clearness it is for that reason
only specifically mentioned as his abiding place. After this Vishwa then
dwelling in the right eye has seen a shape or appearance, if he remembers it
when he has closed his eyes, he still sees within in the mind, as if in a dream,
the same shape or appearance as manifested in the form of the idea or impression
it has left. And it is just the same in a dream, the impression or idea
preserved by memory reproduces in sleep the same shape or appearance that was
seen in waking. It follows that this Taijasa who is within in the mind is no
other than Vishwa himself.
4. Then by cessation of the process called memory Prajna in
the ether or heart becomes unified or as it is said densified consciousness
drawn into itself. And this happens because the processes of the mind are
absent; for sight and memory are vibrations of the mind and in their absence
the Self in the form of Prana takes its abode in the ether or heart without
possibility of separation or distinction. For the Scripture saith, "It is Prana
that swalloweth up all these into itself." Taijasa is the same as Hiranyagarbha
because it has its abode in the mind, and the mind is the subtle part of the
body, as is clear from the verse, "This puruṣa
is all mind," and from other like sayings of the Scripture.
5. It may be objected that Prana in the state of Sleep is
Page – 430
really differenced and manifest and the senses become one
with Prana, so how do you predicate of it absence of manifestation and
differentia by saying it becomes One ? But there is no real fault in the
reasoning; since in the undifferenced the particularising conditions of space
and time are absent and the same is the case with Prana in the state
of Sleep. Although indeed the Prana is in a sense differenced because
the idea of separate existence as Prana remains, yet the more special sense of
separate existence as circumscribed by the body is brought to a stop in Prana
and Prana is therefore undifferenced and unmanifest in the Sleep in relation
at least to the possessors of this circumscribed egoism. And just as the
Prana of those who have the circumscribed bodily egoism becomes undifferenced
when it is absorbed at the end of the world, so it is with him who has
the sense of existence as Prana only in the condition of sleep which is
in reality precisely the same as that of the temporary disappearance
of phenomena at the end of a world; both states alike are void of
differentia and manifestation and both alike are pregnant with seeds of
future birth. The Self governing either state is one and the same, it is
Self in an undifferenced and unmanifest condition. It follows that the governing
Self in each case and the experiences of the circumscribed bodily egoism are one
and the same; therefore the descriptions previously given of Prajna become One
or become densified and self-concentrated consciousness etc. are quite
applicable; and the arguments already advanced support the same conclusion.
6. "But," you will say, "why is the name Prana given to the
undifferenced?" On the ground of the Scripture, "For, O fair son, the cord and
fastening of the mind is Prana." "O but," you answer, "there the words '0 fair
son. Existence itself is prāṇa'
show that it is Brahma Existent which being the
subject of the verses must be intended by the word Prana." However, my reasoning
is not thereby vitiated, because we all understand the Existent to be pregnant
with the seed of future birth. Although, then, it is Brahma Existent
which is meant by Prana, all the same the name Prana is given to the Existent
because the idea of pregnancy with the seed from which the Jiva or
life-conditioned spirit is to be born, has not been eliminated from it and
indeed
Page – 431
it is only when this idea is not eliminated from the idea of
Brahma that he can be called Brahma Existent. For if [it] were the absolute
seedless Brahma of which the Scripture had meant to speak, it would have used
such expressions as "He is not this, not that nor anything which we can call
him"; "From whom words return baffled"; "He is other than the known and
different from the Unknown". The Smriti also says, "He (the Absolute) is called
neither Existent nor non-Existent." Besides if the Existent be seedless, then
there would be no ground for supposing that those who have coalesced with and
become absorbed into the Existent or the state of Sleep or the destruction of a
world can again awake out of either of these conditions. Or, if they can,
then we should immediately have the contingency of liberated souls again coming
into phenomenal existence; for on this hypothesis, the condition of
souls liberated into the absolute and those absorbed into the existent would
be alike, neither having seed or cause of future phenomenal existence. And if
to remove this objection you say that it is the seed of ignorance
which has to be burnt away in the fire of knowledge that is absent in the
case of liberated souls and Some other seed of things in the other case, you
are in danger of proving that Knowledge (of the Eternal) is without use or
unnecessary as a means of salvation.
7. It is clear then that it is on the understanding that the
Existent is pregnant with the seed of phenomenal life that in all the Scripture
it is represented as Prana and the cause of things. Consequently it is by
elimination of this idea of the seed that it is designated by such phrases as
"He is the unborn in whom the objective and subjective are One", "From whom
words return baffled", "He is not this nor that nor anything we can call him",
and the rest. Our author will speak separately of this seedless condition of the
Same Self which has been designated by the term Prajna, this condition being the
fourth or Absolute is devoid of all relations such as body, prāṇa etc.
and is alone finally and transcendentally true. Now the condition of
undifferenced seedfulness also like the two others is experienced in this
body, in the form of the idea of the awakened man which tells him, "For so
long I felt and knew nothing." Thus then the Self is said to have a
threefold station in the body.
Page – 432
3. Vishwa is the enjoyer of gross objects, Taijasa of
subtle, and Prajna of pure (unrelated) pleasures; thus shall ye understand the
threefold enjoyment of the Self in the body.
4. The gross utterly satisfieth Vishwa, but the subtle
Taijasa and pure pleasure satisfieth Prajna, thus shall ye understand the
threefold satisfaction of the Self in the body.
Shankara: The meaning of
these two verses has been explained.
5. That which is enjoyed in the three conditions and that
which is the enjoyer, he who knows both these as one enjoyeth and receiveth no
stain.
Shankara: That which is
enjoyed under the name of gross objects, subtle objects and pure pleasure in the
three conditions, waking, dream and sleep is one and the same thing although it
has taken a threefold aspect. And that which enjoys under the names of Vishwa,
Taijasa and Prajna has been declared to be one because they are connected by the
sense of oneness expressed in the continual feeling "This is I, This is I" and
because the nature of cognition is one and without difference throughout.
Whoever knows both these to be one though split up into multiplicity by the
Page – 433
sense of being enjoyer or enjoyed does not receive any stain
from enjoyment, because the subject of enjoyment is the One universal and the
enjoyer too is not different from the enjoyed. For note that whoever be
the enjoyer or whatever his object of enjoyment, he does not increase with it or
diminish with it, just as in the case of fire when it has burnt up its object in
the shape of wood or other fuel; it remains no less or greater than it
was before.
6. It is a certain conclusion that all existences which take
birth are already in being; Prana brings the All into phenomenal being, it is
this prāṇa or puruṣa which sends forth its separate rays of
consciousness abroad.
Shankara: All existences
(divided as Vishwa, Taijasa and Prajna) are already in being, that is, they
existed before and it is only by their own species and nature and illusion of
name and form created by Ignorance that they take birth or in other words put
forth into phenomenal existences. As indeed the writer says later on, "A son
from a barren woman is not born either in reality or by illusion." For if birth
of the in-existent — that is something coming out of nothing — were
possible, then there would be no means of grasping this world of usage and
experience and the Eternal itself would become an unreality. Moreover we have
Page – 434
seen that the snake in the rope and other appearances born of
the seed of illusion created by Ignorance do really exist as the self of the
rope — or other substratum in the case. For the snake in the rope, the
mirage and other hallucinations of the sort are never experienced by anybody
unless there is some substratum. Just as before the coming into being of the
snake it existed already in the rope as the rope's self, so before the coming to
birth of all phenomenal existences, they already existed as the self of the seed
of things called Prana. And the Scripture also saith, "This universe is the
Eternal", "In the beginning all this was the Spirit". The Prana gives birth to
the All as separate rays of consciousness; — just as the rays of the Sun, so are
these consciousness-rays of the Purusha who is Chit or conscious existence and
they are clearly distinguished in different bodies of gods, animals, etc. under
three different lights as Vishwa, Taijasa and Prajna, in the same way as
reflections of the sun are clearly seen in different pieces of water; they are
thrown from the Purusha and though they differ according to the separate
existences which are their field of action and enjoyment, yet they are all alike
like sparks from a fire being all Jiva or conditioned Self. Thus the Prajna or
causal Self gives phenomenal birth to all other existences as the spider to his
web. Compare the Scripture, "As a fire sendeth forth sparks."
7. Some who concern themselves with the cause of
creation think that Almighty Power is the origin of things and by others
creation is imagined as like to illusion or a dream.
Page – 435
Shankara: Those who concern
themselves with creation think that creation is the pervading Power, the
extension, so to speak, of God; but it is implied, those who concern themselves
with final and transcendental truth do not care about speculations on creation.
For when men see a conjurer throw a rope into the air and ascend it armed and
accoutred and then after he has climbed out of sight fall hewn to pieces in
battle and rise again whole, they do not care about inquiring into the
illusion he has created with all its properties and origins. Just so this
evolution of the Sleep, Dream and Waking conditions is just like the
self-lengthening of the juggler's rope and the Prajna, Taijasa and Vishwa self
abiding in the three conditions is like the conjurer climbing up the rope, but
the real conjurer is other than the rope or its climber. Just as he stands on
the ground invisible and hidden in illusion, so is it with the real and
transcendental fact called the Fourth. Therefore it is for Him that the
Aryan-minded care, those who follow after salvation and they do not care for
speculations about creation which are of no importance to them. Accordingly the
writer implies that all these theories are only imaginations of those who
concern themselves with the origin of creation and then goes on to say that by
others creation is imagined as like to an illusion or again as like to a dream.
8. Those who have made up their minds on the subject of
creation say it is merely the Will of the Lord; those who concern themselves
about Time think that from Time is the birth of creatures.
Shankara: Creation is the
Will of the Lord because the divine ideas must be true facts — pots etc. are
ideas only and nothing more than ideas. Some say that creation is the result of
Time.
Page – 436
9. Others say that creation is for the sake of enjoyment,
yet others say it is for play. Really, this is the very nature of the
Lord; as for other theories, well, He has all He can desire and why
should He crave for anything?
Shankara: Others think
creation was made for enjoyment or for play. These two theories are criticised
by the line "This is the very nature of the Lord." Or, it may be, that
the theory of Divine Nature is resorted to in order to criticise all other
theories by the argument He has all He can desire and
why should He crave for anything ? For no cause can be alleged for the
appearance of the snake etc- in the rope and other substrata except the very
nature of Ignorance.
10. He who is called the Fourth is the Master of the
cessation of all ills, the Strong Lord and undecaying, the One without a Second
of all existences, the Shining One who pervadeth.
Shankara: The Self, Fourth
or transcendental is the master of the cessation of all ills, which belong to
the conditions of Prajna, Taijasa and Vishwa. The expression Strong Lord is an
explanation of the word Master; it is implied that His strength and lordship are
in relation to the cessation of ills, because the
Page – 437
cessation of ills results from the knowledge of Him.
Undecaying, because He does not pass away, swerve or depart, i.e., from his
essential nature. How is this ? Because he is the One without a second owing to
the vanity¹ of all phenomenal existences. He is also called God, the Shining One
because of effulgence, the Fourth and He who pervades, exists everywhere.
11. Vishwa and Taijasa are acknowledged to be bound by cause
and effect. Prajna is bound by cause only; both of these are held not to exist
in the Fourth.
Shankara: The common and
particular characteristics of Vishwa and the two others are now determined in
order that the real self of the Fourth may become clear. Effect, that which is
made or done, is existence as result. Cause, that which makes or does, is
existence as seed. By inapprehension and misapprehension of the Truth the
aforesaid Vishwa and Taijsa are, it is agreed, bound or imprisoned by existence
as result and seed. But Prajna is bound by existence as seed only. For the seed
state which lies in unawakening to the Truth alone (and not in misreading of
Him), is the reason of the state of Prajna. Therefore both of these,
existence as cause and existence as effect, inapprehension and misapprehension
of the Truth are held not to apply to the Fourth, i.e., do not exist and cannot
happen in Him.
12. Prajna cogniseth nought, neither self nor others,
neither
¹falseness
Page – 438
truth nor falsehood; the fourth seeth all things for ever.
Shankara: But how then is
Prajna bound by Cause, while in the Fourth the two kinds of bondage conditioned
by inapprehension and misapprehension of the Truth is said to be impossible.
Because Prajna does not cognise at all this duality of an outside universe even
from Ignorance and conditioned as distinct from Self, so that like Vishwa and
Taijasa he also is bound by inapprehension of the Truth, by that darkness which
becomes the seed of misapprehension; and because the Fourth blindeth all things
for ever. That is to say, since, nothing really exists except the Fourth,
He is necessarily in seeing of all that is. Omniscient and all-cognisant at all
times and for ever; in him therefore the seed state of which the conditioning
feature is inapprehension of the Truth, cannot possibly exist. Absence of the
misapprehension which arises out of inapprehension naturally follows. The Sun is
for ever illuminative by its nature and non-illumination or misillumination as
contrary to its nature cannot happen to it; and the same train of reasoning
applies to the Omniscience of the [seer]. The Scripture also says, "For of the
Sight of the Seer there is no annihilation." Or indeed, since it is that in the
Waking and Dream State dwelling in all creatures is the light or reflection in
them to which all objects present themselves as visible, cognisable objects, it
is in this way too the seer of all things for ever. The Scripture says,
"There is nought else than This that seeth."
NOTE : Words
underlined in the manuscript are printed here in italics.
Page – 439
|