Evolution from Brahmi to Gupta to sanskrit part 45

This Supreme Cosmic Spirit or Absolute Reality called Brahman is said to be eternal, genderless, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent, and ultimately indescribable in human language. It can be at best described as infinite Being, infinite Consciousness and infinite Bliss. Brahman is regarded as the source and essence of the material universe. It is pure being. Brahman manifests as Hiranyagarbha, the " world soul", which also can take many forms or manifestations of the thousands of gods. It was deemed a singular substrate from which all that is arises, and debuts with this verse:

"Great indeed are the devas who have sprung out of Brahman." — Atharva Veda

“Sri Ramakrishna  says,”

" Brahman is without comparison. It is impossible to explain Brahman by analogy. It is between light and darkness. It is light, but not the light we perceive, not material light."

The Advaitin explains away the apparent disparity and contradictions in the following way; the Upanishads prescribe two forms of Brahman a higher one (para) without attributes and without activity, change and modification and a lower one (apara) which has all the attributes and activities mentioned in some passages.  

Brahman means the ultimate reality behind this universe and the gods. According to the Upanishads Brahman is "the eternal, conscious, irreducible, infinite, omnipresent, spiritual source of the universe of finiteness and change." Brahman is the origin of all things, living or otherwise. Brahman is derived from the word- ‘Brah’ meaning ‘to expand’. This tells us about the infinite form of the Brahman- infinite power, infinite boundaries and manifestations.

"What Brahman is cannot be described. All things in the world - the Vedas, the Puranas, the Tantras, the six systems of philosophy - have been defiled, like food that has been touched by the tongue. Only one thing has not been defiled in this way, and that is Brahman. No one has ever been able to say what Brahman is.

Brahman is beyond word and thought. It is said in the Vedas that Brahman is of the nature of Bliss. It is Satchidananda. In Samadhi one attains the knowledge of Brahman - one realizes Brahman. In that state reasoning stops altogether, and man becomes mute. He has no power to describe the nature of Brahman."

IshAvAsyam idam sarvam - All this IS Ishvara.

Omityetadaksharamidam sarvam - Om IS the whole of this universe.

sarvam khalvidam brahma - All this is Brahman.

Brahaman is the Absolute, the Ultimate Reality, whose charsteristics are absolute existence (sat), absolute consciousness (chit) and absolute bliss (annanda).

The sanskrit name for God is Sat-Chit-Ananda = Sat (Existence), Chit (Consciousness), Ananda (Bliss). Brahman is Sat-Chit-Ananda in many different forms and God the formless (Existance, Consciounsess and Bliss). Brahman is the Universal Spirit; the Ultimate Reality, Pure Consciousness; the One existence; the Absolute; "the unchanging reality amidst and beyond the world", which "cannot be exactly defined". The instructions regarding Brahman were often given in short formulas also known as Upanishads. "Its secret name (Upanishad) is Satyasya Satyam, 'the Truth of truth.' [Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 2.1.20]

The description of Brahman: "Not this, not this" (Neti, Neti); for there is no other and more appropriate description than this "Not this." Now the designation of Brahman: "The Truth of truth." The vital breath is truth and It (Brahman) is the Truth of that. — Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 2.3.6

It is clear that reason can not explain Brahman nor take us there. Then can the models of Brahman as advocated by systems like Advaita Vedanta explain Brahman? Some people say that Brahman is like a principle. If Brahman is a principle then it is hard to see how Brahman projects Itself in the human mental plane to show up as forms (Saguna Brahman). Can a mere principle project? Sometimes Brahman is also thought of as an ocean of Consciousness. This idea is baffling too. Our everyday experiences are of conscious beings. So what does an ocean of Consciousness mean?

Thinking of Brahman as a principle or ocean of Consciousness is simply using analogy to our normal experience. Actually nothing whatsoever can be said about Brahman except that It exists. Let me quote Sri Ramakrishna on the nature of Brahman,

                Every leaf, every drop of water, every cloud in the sky, every object, animate and inanimate, is all Brahman. Whatever you perceive at any time at any place is only Brahman and nothing but Brahman.

              Brahman made with two words brah means expanding this word is derived from Brahmand means universe and universe as per theories is expanding as per time .

                  The universe starts forming some millions of light years and the Big Bang happen at very large scale and the space got filled with various matter ,gases to form solid liquid ,planets and earth was also created and humans or other living beings also lives there so all atman (inside of human )along with their bodies lives inside this Brahman (universe) which was believed to be permanent. It is eternal. It is always existent. It is independent existence.

                   It has the dharma of non-perishing. Truly it is not born, does not become old, does not die, does not disappear, and is not born again.

                         This universe size is still expanding we are at 13.77 billion light year old so the Brahman size is this and it’s growing still it fully expands and then start contracting back to starting point then again new Big Bang can happen but as per Vedic scriptures it was believed that universe life is so big that humans can never achieve a state or time period to know where it starts and where it end when it was born and when it will end. This truth is unknown and this is Brahma or universe we all are part of it.

                                This lower Brahman is God who is a blend of Brahman- the attribute-less reality and maya or avidya which is an indeterminable entity. The soul too is a blend of the higher Brahman and mind a product of avidya. The world is a false appearance of Brahman. It comes to this that God, soul and the world are the apparent diversifications of Brahman the attribute-less entity. The factor that is responsible for the above apparent diversifications is known maya or avidya.

                    Shankaracharya has accepted Nirguna Brahman as the Ultimate Reality. This Ultimate Reality is Nirvikara (immutable), partless, eternal, indestructible, indefinite and all pervading and permeating. It is imperceptible and is beyond our comprehension and expression.The Nirguna Brahman is obviously higher than the Saguna one and it cannot change for it is aja, unborn.

Shankaracharya believes that the Upanisadic observation:

 ‘tat tvam asi’

is literally true and that the soul is identical with the higher reality.

                        But he finds both the Bhagavadgita and the Sutras of Badarayana speaking of the jiva as an ‘amsa’ of the Highest Reality. Brahman is indeterminate (nirviklpa). It is unlimited and Transcendental, the essence of Brahman is Absolute knowledge.

                        According to Shankara the nature of Brahman cannot be expressed by any positive description, since that will make it finite. Both our mind and speech can express only limited things. He says that Brahman beyond the reach of our mind and speech. Act quality mode of action whereas Brahman is devoid of all these.

                     Hence, we cannot describe Brahman (avayakta), Brahman is the Supreme Being beyond the range of all speech and is beyond the reach of our mind. Shankara says, Brahman is nirvises, the soul is identical with Brahman and the world is non real on the basis of the texts of the Bhagavadgita and the Visnupurana.

“na tadasti vina yatsyat maya bhutam caracraram”.

            There is no entity either movable or immovable. This text implies that Brahman is nirvisesa and the objects of the world are non-real as they receive their existence and manifestation from it.

 “ksetrejnam cap imam viddhi sarvaksetresu bharata”.

Brahman is the pure consciousness is identical with the soul immanent in all the bodies.

“Pratyastamitabhedam yat sattamatramagocaram Vacasam atmasamvedyam tajjnanam brahmasamj nitam”.

                           Brahman is of the nature of consciousness which is free from all duality and which is mere existence. It transcends all speech and it is self luminous

                          Brahman is beyond activity and inactivity, Ishvara cannot be changeless and inactive. Being empirically real, he must be ever acting. He is the Creator, Sustainer and Destroyer of this universe. God creates the universe out of himself, and at dissolution draws the entire universe towards Himself.

                         He is the controller of both soul and matter, but here it should be kept in mind that though God goes out as the universe and return to himself, the alternations belong to his body alone and not to His essential nature.

                     Ishvara’s oneness is not impaired by self expression in the many. God is both the world and beyond it. This way Shankara has explained both the immanence and transcendence of God mentioned in the Upanisads.

                     As the immanent inner ruler He rules from within, for He is the soul of souls. Again He also transcends the universe as the Creator, Preserver and Destroyer of this universe.

When there is no other thought than Brahman in our mind, and when this happens for hours, it is called as ????? (Dhyana) or ????????????? (Chittaekagrata).

                            This stage is also called as ‘Turiya’. There are total four stages of the mind as follows, waking: consciousness plus thinking, dreaming: unconsciousness plus thinking, sleep: unconsciousness minus thinking and finally Turiya: consciousness minus thinking.

                  To achieve such stage, initially we should concentrate our mind on an idol, by "considering" it as a 'Brahman'. After achieving this Chittaekagrata on an idol, a moment may come when this idol will disappear and there will be nothing in our mind. Such stage of mind is also evident while we sleep, where our mind is inactive and there is nothing in our mind to think.

                   In contrast, when we meditate, mind is active and still there is nothing inside it! The very feeling that ‘I exists’ goes away in this stage and the only thing that remains is 'Brahman', which is formless and shapeless. And, we experience greatest of the happiness, which is without any object or material! Brahman is the ever-present, eternal and unchanging essence of everyone and everything. So what is brahman? It’s your intrinsic nature.

                    Vedanta, a teaching method used to help you understand your fundamental non-difference from Brahman, uses this common metaphor to illustrate how you, the individual person, are actually Brahman: Imagine that the entire universe (this includes all people, places and things, both known and unknown) is an infinite ocean.

                     Each individual thing in the universe, from an entire galaxy all the way down to a microscopic organism, is a wave in this infinite ocean. Each individual wave appears to be unique and separate, both from each other and the ocean as a whole—and on the level of everyday experience, this is true.

                                But in reality, the waves and the entire ocean itself are completely non-different and non-separate as water. Similarly, each individual thing in the universe (wave) and the entire universe as a whole (ocean) are completely non-different and non-separate as Brahman (water).

                     Brahman is pure being, existence itself, that from which all things arise and unto which all things return, just like waves arising from water and returning to water. Just as water is fundamentally unchanging by the coming and going of waves, you (Brahman) are fundamentally unchanged by the coming and going of the waves of the body and mind.

                    Brahman ,Atman ,human such words consists of man and in Hindi it’s call mun (inner self ,inside me ,reality of human ) not what be in human body or wearing an attire the body is attire while we actual live inside our thoughts body lives in society ,family ,country ,earth ,planet universe.

                Even before one who starts to practice yoga, one needs to understand the process that happens during the period of yoga practice. Note to the readers,  stop pronouncing yoga as yogaaa, it is yoga, this word has to stop here. The reason is once he or she has understood this pronouncing, means he or she is culminated to the multiverse and thus his existence as an individual is ceased, and he or she is in total control of the creator of universe, who has created the individual.

             Today due to the ignorance that individual is thinking that he or she can take control himself, thus facing the practical difficulties in his or her own life. The point here is that one needs to understand that this deha or body is given by the creator, and there is a purpose, it has to be clearly defined by the practice of absolute surrendering to the lotus feet of the creator. He or she is ever existing, individual’s soul or consciousness aspect is ever burning. It does not die, it is neither created not destroyed. This is true meaning of understanding of the yoga.

             It is not about the practicing of asanas or practicing the austarities or rituals. Or through the certifications. Today not all the teachers are teaching this very aspect. Here one has to understand the yoga aspect from this stand point of view.

Note and disclaimer :

                                A true yoga practitioner and one who has understood the true meaning of yoga, will not come out or speak. Instead he or she would be in a secluded place doing his or her sadhana. Thus he or she has to reach to the state of this ultimate reality, having the characteristics of absolute existence or sat aspect. This is also called as the absolute bliss state of mind or ananda state where the soul is in the equilibrium state of mind meaning the chit aspect is taken care of. Again chit is the initial stage of human existence, it has to go to the state of chitta stage or the end stage.

         This is often referred to as chitta bhasmam or the ashes of the body which is burnt . This is the beauty which one has to really relish or imbibe. We even refer this to udi or vibhuthi. One needs to understand that at the end some day we need to get in confluence with this multiverse once he or she has finished his or her job in this material world. Then comes the stage where the soul / jeevaatman / human consciousness in the form of fibble light that is ever burning in the individual gets liberated, thus becomes chiddatman. That is one reason why one needs to on a consistent basis needs to think that he or she is always brahman consciousness state.

According to Sankaracharya Brahman, the Absolute, has five different phases:

1 Hirayangarbha, the Cosmic Self

What is this shankara is referring to, first let us understand the true meaning of hiranyagrabha, and analyze accordingly :

Meaning of hiranyagarbha : Hiranyagarbha is a Sanskrit term that translates to “golden embryo,” “golden womb” or “golden egg.” It is derived from the root words hiranya, meaning “golden” or “wealth,” and garbha, meaning “womb,” “germ/seed" or “essence.”

                    It is also the name of the founder of the yoga tradition -- predating even Patanjali, who authored the Yoga Sutras. Whether Hiranyagarbha was human or a deity is not established, but the name first appears prominently as a form of the sun god. The pre-Pantanjali yoga system is sometimes referred to as hiranyagarbha yoga darshana (yoga system of philosophy).

                     The epic narrative, "Mahabharata," cites Hiranyagarbha as the one who is glorified in Vedic verses and taught in yoga literature. The Upanishads call him the Supreme Existence, or Brahman. In this regard, Hiranyagarbha is also a name for Brahma in classical Puranic Hinduism because he was born from a golden egg.

                      Here is the thing why shankara is telling to understand the cosmic self, hiranyagarbha. As we know none of the individuals are born just like that. It is when there is confluence of the mesculine and feminine, that’s when the egg or zygote is formed in the womb of so called feminine structure. Who is commonly referred to as the prakrithi, mother, ma, sthree, women, janani and you name it.

                      The egg or zygote will be in the womb which is protective it itself. It is the prakrithi that gives all the wealth that an individual needs to learn by teaching him or her the hyms, or showing the baby in the womb all the beautiful world virtually. Though he or she would be in the womb, still in the incomplete state or not having that proper structure.

                       It is only after ninth month that individual comes out of the genetals to explore the world. Which is the mooladhara, where the energy is realized and infused to other chakras in the body. That is one reason why sthree / women / ma is respected to this day and will be respected all the centuries till the multiverse stops its existence.

Logically if we see this can be compared to as a wealth. Not the wealth of movable and immovable properties or not the money, not the name and fame. But the  true wealth of gnana yoga. The mother hears to all the chanting during the nine months periods in the womb, helping the baby to understand the world virtually while being in the womb itself. This will be his or her first lesson.

2/ Ishwara, the form of an Avatar

               As I said in the previous para, the zygote is formed in the sthree’s womb as a result of the purusha coming in confluence with the prakrithi / mesculine with feminine, who is referred to as ishwara / shiva / brahman and you name it, it has all the names we can give. He is the one who is the benefactor for the shrusti / laya / jathi and gathi aspect of the universe creation.

However without purusha there is no prakrithi, without prakrithi there is not purusha.

               Both of them have equal responsibilities. Both need to act for the very existence and co-existence of the multiverse. One need not really go to outer space to check the length and breath of the multiverse. Though he or she can measure the size of the multiverse while being in the body itself.

             This is possible in case he or she is able to understand this deha as the servant of the ishwara tattva which has around 25 tattvas which is again the a bigger topic. This is the beauty of our hindusim, shiva or ishwara has created the human being in such a way that it has all the 25 tattvas imbibed and inscribed right from the zygote is formed in the mother’s womb. This unfortunately we knowingly or unknowingly ignore it. And we fall into the illusion and delusion aspect, thus face the difficulties.

              One needs to understand the ishwara tattva or shiva tattva once he or she is in the process of getting the initial phase of gnana kanda. This will be the second step for the individual to understand the whole analogy of the very existence or co-existence of the multiverse.

3/ Jiva, the individual soul

One needs to understand this jeeva or soul is only instrument or facilitator for the activities that are assigned to the individual to be carried on. He or she has to follow her instructions only. Not try to alter or add his or her activities. Here is where all of us fail to understand, we don’t do that absolute surrender to the almighty. Even after understanding the where definition of yoga from the view point of prakrithi and purusha we tend to have ahamkara that, it is me who is sole benefactor for all the good deeds or bad deeds.

Though none of us are aware of the fact that the karmic deeds are co factors that make us to the actions in our daily life. At the same time we feel bad or crave for the all the material needs which are temporary in nature. We do not carry them either while we leave this body. If we see an individual is born naked and goes without any cloths. Everything is removed while burning the body. This is something one needs to understand.

While doing yoga if one sees, the body mind and soul, at one stage gets into confluence with the multiverse where the individual forgets himself. He or she will be in the deep meditation. Thus the body gets lightened in this process. However one needs to really experience this. The one who experiences this again cannot explain this process. Only one who has experienced this, can feel this state of mind. This is what is true meaning yoga as a whole. And holistically.

4/ Prakriti, the perishable nature

The prakrithi meaning sthree / mother / women is created for two very important reasons :

1)               Giving that true knowledge. The guidance towards the better personality meaning making sure that he or she goes in a right direction. That is one reason why mother always scolds or tries to stay be vigilant during the upbringing of the kids.                      

           This is one of the divine virtue of the very existence of the feminine nature or women / mother / sthree. This unfortunately as the kids grow up forget. Yet again mother is mother, she has always that warmth heart to forgive the son or a daughter. 

                    Like wise if we compare the very existence of mother with prakrithi, it does the same. We individuals are kids of the prakrithi, on a consistent basis it check if the individuals are going on a right path or not. In case the individuals are going on a wrong path, that’s when prakrithi starts acting upon by re-establishing that dharma aspect.

                         How prakrithi does it, it eradicates the negatives by removing them permanently. It does not even have that compassion. Everyone who does wrong, prakrithi eradicates. Thus leaves the one who follows the dharma path. This is what happened during the corona or covid.

           Thus prakrithi perishes and reinstills that dharma aspects. Like it happens in the fields. For a new crop to grow, one needs to remove all the old crop, sow the new seeds on the farm land, thus new crop starts to grow.

5/ Shakti, the creative power

            For doing all of these activities what is that one driving force that keeps the individual moving it is shakthi, which is again of three types, which are iccha shakthi, gnana shakthi, and kriya shakthi. All of these are clearly explained during the process of nurturing the individual. And how do you develop this, with thorough practice of yoga and gnana marga.

          Here is where one needs to understand that yoga is not about the certifications or practicing of asanas etc. It is all about getting the gist about the subject of yoga which needs to have iccha or inquisitiveness to know what is this yoga, how is it to be practiced, what i will get, what is that I need to do after getting this, how I need to use this in constructive way.

         Today everyone is running around the certifications of yoga, unfortunately we are forgetting the very ideology of why are we practicing the yoga.

Thus develops the gnana or knowledge base in the sub-conscious state, how do you adopt the same in your daily life. Are we using it in constructive way meaning, trying to implement in our daily life. Else it is absolute waste to get this gnana, instead spend some time on the other aspects. If one asks me this gnana or knowledge gathering is one part of it and its usage is one part. Then comes kriya Shakti, where he or she starts to apply in his or her life.

And who is the one who gives all of the above knowledge it is again prakrithi, sthree, mother, goddess by way of shakthi or power deep within. Which is created by purusha or Shiva or Brahman.

Again for the shrusti or creation / creating that environment or condition to work in systematized or schematic way or having that rhythm or laya / jathi and gathi  is shiva.

Thus yoga is not about the asanas or getting certified, one needs to understand the subject from the objective point of view . Else practicing yoga does not make any sense.

"Listen to a story. Once a man entered a wood and saw a small animal on a tree. He came back and told another man that he had seen a creature of a beautiful red color on a certain tree. The second man replied:'When I went into the wood, I also saw that animal. But why do you call it red? It is green.' Another man who was present contradicted them both and insisted that it was yellow. Presently others arrived and contended that it was grey, violet, blue and so forth and so on. At last they started quarrelling among themselves. To settle the dispute they all went to the tree. They saw a man sitting under it. On being asked, he replied,'Yes, I live under this tree and I know the animal very well. All your descriptions are true. Sometimes it appears red, sometimes yellow, and at other times blue, violet, grey, and so forth. It is a chameleon. And sometimes it has no color at all. Now it has a color and now it has none.'

In like manner, one who constantly thinks of God can know His real nature; he alone knows that God reveals Himself to seekers in various forms and aspects. God has attributes; then again He has none. Only the man who lives under the tree knows that the chameleon can appear in various colors, and he knows, further, that the animal at times has no colors at all. It is the others who suffer from the agony of futile arguments........

God reveals Himself in the form which His devotee loves most."

1.    Brahman ( brih - 'to grow, to expand' also 'the greatest') is God. 

The Vedas also describe the various manifestations of the Brahman :

1.    Asat or Unknown

2.    Sat or Known

3.    Ishvara - universal Lord

4.    Hiranyagarbha or Cosmic Self

5.    Viraj or Cosmic Body

6.    Purusha or Cosmic Being

7.    Kala or Time

8.    Trimurtis

9.    Akasha - The Space

10. Pranava or Aum

11. Annam or Food

12. Atman or Individual Self

Vedas give a very clear definition of Brahman, along with various methods (yogas) to realize Brahman. The definition is quite simple actually.