(The Mahaswami (late) Sri Chandrasekharendra Sarasvati Swami is considered a saint of recent times. His discourses on various topics while on a visit to Madras in 1930's are indeed the benchmark.)
In the Krita Yuga (the first of four ages or eons in which time is divided in India), Bhrigu asked Varuna, his father and teacher thus: “How to gain knowledge of That from which beings and entities originate and to which they return”. The teacher exhorted the disciple to practice tapas (supreme concentration of the energies of the mind and the senses) because that is the means to the attainment of the knowledge of Brahman (Supreme God).
At the fifth stage, Bhrigu told his father and teacher that he was on occasion enjoying spells of bliss. What was that? The teacher explained that the occasional spell of bliss was the Ultimate Reality (Aananda). “It now occurs to you in droplets. If this becomes full, it is then known as Brahmaanandam (Infinite Bliss.) That Infinite Bliss will always remain complete and not have shortage at all. It is an entity extending across all time and all materials. There is an entity named Aatma (Self.) This Aatma is the basis for body, praana, manas and vijnaana. But it is beyond all these. The Aatma realizes itself and experiences enjoyment in itself. That happiness or pleasure is the cause for the occasional Aananada enjoyed by you.”
Thus goes the story of the Taittireeya Upanishad
We get only a drop of that Infinite Bliss occasionally. A tree with large branches and thick foliage hardly allows any sunlight to pass through. If the leaves move about due to breeze, then, a little sunlight shines through the gap in the leaves and shows up on the ground under the tree. The sunlight again gets covered after a while.
Similarly the feeling of bliss comes to us only occasionally. Infinite Bliss is an all-pervading entity. But our past karma (effect of actions) and bad qualities of mind and intellect hide that Bliss from us. For the moment when our good deeds prevail as in the case of the sunlight filtering through the leaves, we do get droplet of that Bliss. This leads to our experience of happiness or pleasure. If we continue to think out deeply as in tapas, we may get united with, and become one with that Infinite Bliss.
KRISHNA SAYS: Aatma (Self) is the basis for all entities. But doubts arise about the statement that the Aatma is beyond everything. In the Bhagavad-Geeta, Sri Krishna has created many such doubts but has finally clarified them all.
Yo Maam Pasyati Sarvatra
Sarvam Cha Mayi Pasyati |
{Geeta VI (30)}
"I am in all entities. All entities are in me". The second part suggests that He (God) is the basis for all entities. On the other hand, does the first part mean that all entities are the basis for Him (God)? Which is correct?
The correct interpretation is that Swaami or God is the basis for all things. God is inside everything. This does not mean that they support/bear Him. They got their shape and life from Him (God). They will not exist if there is no God. Therefore they are not the basis for Him (God). He (God) alone is the Lord of everything.
Eesvaraha Sarvabhootaanaam
Hrudeseh Arjuna Thishtathi |
Braamayan Sarva Bhootani
Yantraa Roodaani Maayayaa ||
{Geeta XVIII (61)}
The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone's heart. He is directing their wanderings as if they were on the puppeteer's rotating machine. Sri Krishna thus clarified the correct position.
Na Cha Mat-Sthaani Bhootani |
Na Chaaham Theshu Avasthitaha ||
{Geeta IX (5)(4)}
"I pervade the whole creation. All things are resting in Me, but I am not in them." Here the principle that the Aatma is beyond everything is established.
Naaham Prakaasaha Sarvasya
Yoga-Maaya-Samaavrutaha |
{Geeta VII (25)}
"I am never manifest to all. That is due to my Yoga-Maaya (Ma-is not and Ya-that which)." [Maya is neither real nor unreal; it is of a third category.]
On deep consideration one can clear the doubts. Had Sri Krishna stated, "I cannot be perceived by any one at all" it would mean "if there were one thousand persons I cannot be perceived by all those thousand persons." But Sri Krishna has said, "I cannot be perceived by all."This could mean "May be for 999 persons out of the thousand, I am not manifest; I may be perceived by at least one out of the thousand." The crucial term in the sloka is "Sarvasya" (not manifest to all) and not "Kasyaapi" (none at all). That would mean that God could be perceived by a few.
Who are these few persons? These are the seers who are not affected by the Yoga-Maaya indicated by Sri Krishna. These seers have clarified the apparent contradiction in the Geeta sequences referred to above.
In the dusk if a garland of flowers is lying on the ground, it may appear as a snake to the passer-by. The garland and the apparent snake are one and the same. When the garland is recognized the apparent snake will go. Thus for the appearance the garland was the basis.
Just as the garland is mistaken for the snake, the unintelligent persons, due to delusion, see the different Universes in the place of the single Brahman (Supreme God). In fact Brahman (Supreme God) is the basis for the entire Universe. What is the meaning of the statements "I am in all things. All things are in me"?
In the illustration of the garland-snake, garland is the substrate; the snake is what is super-imposed. For the terrified person, the snake has disappeared into the garland. At that stage snake is the base in his view. If his ignorance is removed and he realizes that it is only a garland, the garland has hidden the snake into itself. Then the garland becomes the base.
The unintelligent person looks on the Universe as the Truth; but in reality, God is the basis and support for the Universe. The seer has removed the false appearance (the Universe) from his mind. For him Brahman (Supreme God) is everything, including he (the seer) himself. The seer, in his nirvikalpa samaadhi (impersonal, unconditioned state), does not perceive the Universe as an appearance even, apart from the Supreme God. When the Universe itself is non-existent, the question of the Universe being inside the Supreme God or of the latter being inside the former does not arise at all
When one is unaware of Reality, one perceives the body, vital principle of life, mind, intellect etc. Full realization of Truth comes only when occasional sparks of bliss arise beyond the above material/immaterial perceptions. Thus Sri Krishna has stated, in the ultimate stand of the seer, as follows "I pervade the whole universe. All things are resting in Me, but I am not in them." If an ignorant person had looked upon the garland as the snake, how can one say, in reality, that the snake was inside the garland or that the garland was inside the snake? Kambar, the great Tamil poet and composer of the Classic Kamba Ramaayanam has stated as follows:
Alangalil Thondrum Poymai
Aravu Enapp Pootham Aidum
Vilangiya Vikaarap Paattin
Veruppaadutra Veekkam
Kalanguva Devaraik Kandaal
Avar Enbar Kaivil Endi
Elangaiyil Porudaar Andre
Maraigaluk Kirudhi Yaavaar
(Sundara-Kaandam)
The illustration of garland appearing as snake in the dusk is again referred to here. Similarly the inflated feeling of difference (between the universe and us) appears on account of the mixture of the five elements. This differentiation or dual appearance (of the world and the individual) is not true. If He is known by whom all these appearances will disappear, then as in the garland-snake example, the delusion will go and the garland, namely the Supreme God will be perceived. That absolute reality as declared by the Vedas (Holy Scriptures) is Sri Rama who fought Ravana in Sri Lanka. The universe is made of the five elements. Its substrate is Sri Rama. If the appearance goes or is reduced, then, what remains is only the truth of the Supreme Self. This is the gist of Kambar's statement in this poem
As a follower of the Vaishnava (worshipper of Vishnu) sect, Kambar might have subscribed to a different theory. But here Kambar has enunciated clearly the principle of Advaita (non-duality).