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Advaita for the 21st Century

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of shrI vidyAraNya svAmi

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Chapter 8

kUTasthadIpa
The Lamp of Immutable Consciousness

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7

In this chapter kUTastha or pure Consciousness, which is eternal and immutable, is being distinguished from the reflection of pure Consciousness in the modifications of the mind (vRRitti) with the help of an example. When the rays of the sun fall on a wall, the wall is illumined and looks bright, though by itself the wall has no brightness. When the rays of the sun fall on a mirror and the rays reflected from the mirror fall on the wall, the wall looks even brighter. Similarly, because of the presence of pure Consciousness within, the physical body acquires sentiency. When the mind functions through any of the sense organs and becomes modified into the form of an external object, the pure Consciousness becomes reflected in this modification (which is known as vRRitti). Then the sentiency of the body becomes even more manifest because the person sees external objects, hears external sounds, etc. Even when there are no mirrors to reflect the rays of the sun the wall on which the sun�s rays fall directly remains illumined. Similarly even when there are no vRittis of the mind, pure Consciousness illumines the body and gives it sentiency. Even in the state of deep sleep, when the mind and the senses are dormant, pure Consciousness illumines the body.

The process of visual perception, according to advaita vedAnta, is described in chapter 1 of vedAnta paribhAshA thus: 'Just as the water in a tank, issuing through a hole, enters through a channel, a number of fields, and assumes the shapes of those fields, so also the luminous mind, stretching out through the eye, goes to the space occupied by an object and becomes modified into the form of that object. Such a modification is called a vRRitti of the mind. This vRRitti removes the ignorance covering the object. Then the reflection of pure Consciousness falls on the vRRitti and the person perceives the object. Before the rise of the vRRitti the object was not known. In other words, there was ignorance of the object. This ignorance becomes known only because of the pure Consciousness or brahman. Later, when the object is perceived, the knowledge of its existence also arises only because of pure Consciousness. Thus the ignorance as well as the knowledge of any object arises only because of pure Consciousness, which is the witness of both. It is, therefore, said that all things are objects of the witnessing Consciousness, either as known or as not known. It is only when the pure Consciousness is reflected in the vRRitti of the mind that an object becomes known. The vRRitti, the reflection of Consciousness in the vRRitti and the object itself are illumined by brahman or pure Consciousness; whereas only the existence of the object is made known by the reflection of Consciousness in the vRRitti.'

It is thus seen that the cognition of any object, such as a pot, is brought about by the chidAbhAsa or reflection of consciousness in the vRRitti, combined with pure Consciousness or brahman, which is the substratum of the mind. The naiyAyikas hold that the cognition, �this is a pot�, becomes known only through another cognition, which they call �anuvyavasAya�. This view is not accepted by vedAnta, because it will lead to infinite regress, as the second cognition would need a third cognition to become known, and so on, ad infinitum. In vedAnta, pure consciousness or brahman itself takes the place of this anuvyavasAya, and since brahman is self-luminous it does not need another cognition. Therefore, the cognition �this is a pot� is brought about by chidAbhAsa, but the knowledge �The pot is known (or I know the pot)� is derived from Brahman or pure Consciousness. Thus the distinction between chidAbhAsa and brahman has been brought out in respect of cognition of objects outside the body. The same distinction applies also in respect of cognitions within the body, because the chidAbhAsa pervades also the inner states such as desire, anger, the ego-consciousness, etc., just as fire pervades a red-hot piece of iron. All vRRitti of the mind arise one after another. But vRittis are absent during deep sleep, swoon and samAdhi. The consciousness that witnesses the interval between two successive vRRitti as well as the period during which vRRitti are absent is called kUTastha. This is immutable.

The objects of internal cognition are the states of the mind such as happiness, sorrow, anger, etc. The mental modification (vRRitti) naturally coincides with them. The mind has not to go out to unite with them as in the case of external perception. So the mental states of happiness, etc., are said to be revealed by the witnessing Consciousness itself, as soon as they arise. These cognitions are pratyakSha, or perceptual knowledge. vedAnta paribhAShA says: 'Being cognized by the witnessing consciousness itself does not mean that the mental states are the objects of the witness self without the presence of corresponding mental modifications, but that they are the objects of the witnessing consciousness without the activity of the means of knowledge such as the sense organs.'

chidAbhAsa, which is the reflection of pure Consciousness in the mental modification, has a beginning and an end. But pure Consciousness is eternal and immutable. brahman or pure Consciousness, its reflection in the mind and the mind itself are related in the same way as a face, its reflection and the reflecting medium.

With regard to the manner in which the appearance of the jIva is to be understood, there is a difference of opinion between the two main post-Shankara advaita schools - the vivaraNa school and the bhAmatI school. According to vivaraNa, the jIva is reflection (pratibimba) of brahman in nescience, and brahman as the prototype reflected is Ishvara. This is known as the �reflection theory�. The bhAmatI view, which is known as the �limitation (avachCheda) theory�, is that the jIva is brahman as delimited by nescience. The analogy for the former view is the reflection of the face in a mirror; for the latter view it is the delimitation of ether by a pot, etc. svAmI vidyAraNya rejects the limitation theory by pointing out that if Brahman becomes a jIva by being merely delimited by the intellect, even a pot which is also pervaded by brahman would become a jIva. He accepts a modified form of the reflection theory, known as AbhAsa-vAda, or �semblance theory�. While according to the vivaraNa theory the reflection is real and is identical with the prototype, in the semblance theory the reflection is a mere appearance, an illusory manifestation. In the reflection theory the apposition between the jIva and brahman is through identification, like the identification of the space within a pot with the total space. In the semblance theory the apposition between the jIva and brahman is by sublation, as in the case of the illusory snake and the rope, where one says: 'What appeared as a snake is only a rope.'

The jIva is in reality none other than brahman, but because he identifies himself with his gross and subtle bodies he wrongly thinks that he is different from brahman. When the jIva realizes that he is brahman, the identification with the two bodies ceases. The shruti text, 'All this is indeed brahman' (chhAndogya upaniShad (3. 14. 1)) means that what appears as the universe is in reality brahman. Similarly, by the text, 'I am brahman' (bRRihadAraNyaka upaniShad (1. 4. 10)), the identity of jIva and brahman is declared.

brahman has been described as Existence-Consciousness-Bliss. As the support of the universe, brahman is existence. As the cognizer of all insentient objects it is Consciousness. As it is always the object of love, it is bliss. Its relationship with the world is only as the substratum, like the relationship of the rope to the illusory snake. In fact, there can be no relationship between brahman, which is the only reality and the universe which is mithyA, i.e., neither real nor unreal.

Both jIva and Ishvara are reflections of brahman in mAyA. Though both the mind and the body are products of food, the mind is subtler than the body and so it can reflect Consciousness. Similarly, jIva and Ishvara are subtler than inert matter and so they can reflect Consciousness.

In dream we ourselves create so many objects. So there is no wonder that mAyA creates everything that we experience in our waking state.

brahman is pure Consciousness. brahman reflected in mAyA is Ishvara, who is omniscient. Omniscience implies that there are things to be known. These things are the creation of mAyA. So it will be correct to say that brahman, which is pure Consciousness, becomes a knower of everything only because of mAyA.

brahman is ever associationless and changeless. brahman is the only reality. Since mAyA is not real from the absolute point of view, bondage which is caused by mAyA is also not real. If bondage is not real, release from bondage is also not real. So from the point of view of absolute reality, there can be no such thing as an aspirant for liberation or a liberated person. Bondage, release, aspirant and liberated exist only when we are speaking from the empirical point of view. This distinction between the two standpoints has always to be kept in mind. When what was taken to be a snake is found, with the help of a lamp, to be only a rope, no one would say that a snake was previously there, but has gone away and a rope has come in its place. On the other hand one would say that there never was any snake and there was only a rope all the time. Similarly, when a person becomes liberated, it would be wrong to say that the person was previously in bondage and has now become liberated. The correct position is that he was never in bondage, but was liberated all the time, though he wrongly thought that he was in bondage.

When it rains in torrents, the ether is not affected at all by it. Similarly pure Consciousness is not affected by the phenomenal world which is the creation of mAyA. The enlightened person knows that he is the pure Consciousness and so he is not affected by whatever happens in the world.

He who studies this chapter and reflects on it ever abides as the self-luminous kUTastha.

End of Chapter 8

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