Chaitanyam and Jadam

Atma is chaitanya svarupa.

Atma is also nirguna. This much can be understood, since atma is the knower of jadam, and jadam is saguna.

For eg: the body, is saguna. As I know the table, so I know the body as well.
I know the sky, I know space, I know tree.

All these objects of knowledge are jadam, and chaitanyam is the knower of these.

In case of sense organs, and mind, they are also jadam, and it is the presence of atma, which makes them the seer , hearer, knower etc.


The question is around the relationship of atma chaitanya svarupa atma, and jada rupa jagad.

The jada rupa jagad is not existing as a parallel entity with its own existence per shruti.

This is also backed by yukti, since when we say "is" the chaitanyam "is".

However we cannot place chaitanyam as an object within jagad, since in that case it wont be chaitanyam the svarupa of the knower, it would be the inert or jadam.

Hence we cannot place in space or time.

We cannot think of anything outside time either, outside inside itself is a concept in space, its a space concept.

So we do not have any of those understandings explaning the relationship.

The shruti is the pramana here, and shruti reveals through its own words, that chaitanyam is kAranam and jadam is kAryam.

Chaitanyam is satyam, and jadam is mithya.

Chaitanyam as the kAranam has a shakti known as maya, and with this maya shakti, chaitanyam manifests with names and forms and is called as jadam. This same chaitanyam enters its own manifestation as the knower behind the buddhi and as the srshti kartha, as the nimitta kArana as well.
Its not a physical entry but a functional presence. It alone manifests, maintains is own manifestation as well.

This maya shakti we say is mithya. It is chaitanyam but chaitanyam by itelf is free from maya, unconnected to maya shakti. Just like a pot is simply a name and form, and has no reality of its own, maya is also just a name , a function, a power , and has its reality in chaitanyam that is akarta.

So all that is here we see as maya kAryam, maya being the kAranam, so it is not real.

Once we say the kAranam is maya shakti for the jagad, and this maya shakti is not real, then the whole jagad loses its reality, jagad also being mithya, since the cause itself is mithya. Brahman never became jagad, neither can it become, neither it need become, neither is their any real becoming.

The as though becoming, we dismiss as "as though".

Chaitanyam remains as satyam ,atma as satyam and atma kArana, kArya sambandha is mithya.

Dharma Devata - Hindi

सृष्टि की संरचना में देवी देवताओं का वास है|

कर्म एवं कर्म फल इनके बीच कारण कार्य संभंध है जिसे हम धर्म देवता के रूप में पहचानते हैं |

धर्म देवता जो है, वह हर एक मानव के जीवन में, अत्यंत महत्वपूर्ण है| यह इसलिए, के मानव को पुरुषार्थ का प्रयोग करने की क्षमता प्रधान की गई है|

इसका मतलब यह है की मानव हर कर्म में बुद्धि का सही प्रयोग कर, अपने कर्मों को संतुलित कर सकता है, तथा अंपने जीवन मार्ग का स्‍वयं नियंत्रण कर सकता है| यह स्वतंत्रता पशु पक्षी में बहुत ही कम है, और मानव में काफ़ी अधिक मात्रा में है|

परंतु यह ब|त आवश्य है, की मानव विमूढ़ता से इस बुद्धि को सही तरह प्रयोग नही कर पाता, और अनेक बार सही मार्ग को चुन नही पाता | यही मानव जाती का दुर्भाग्य है|

अगर मानव धर्म देवता को सही प्रकार से पाचनने से इनकार कर देता है, तो वह आशा एवं निराशा के द्वन्द्व में फस जाता है|

धर्म देवता को सही प्रकार समझना इसलिए मानव के लिए अत्यंत आवश्यक हो जाता है|

कर्म दो प्रकार के होते हैं| धर्ंानुसार एवं धर्म के वीरुध | सुकर्म और दुष्कर्म |

क्या सुकर्म है, एवं क्या दुष्कर्म है, इसका ज्ञान, हर मनुष्य की बुद्धी में स्थित है|

Benefits of self knowledge

What is the benefit of knowing that I am the all pervading limitless reality of all that is, I am consciousness the atma that is all pevading, what is the benefit of this knowledge?

The answer is that the benefit of this knowledge is the reality itself.

The reality itself, which I am is the benefit, since I am limitless, and I am birthless, and I am endless, and I am fulfilled and whole, which is what I want to be in the first place.

So the truth is that I am what I want to be, and with that being the case, what I want to become I become, this obviously is the only means and ends that is beneficial.

Therefore moksa is the only real pursuit.

An all pervading self evident reality revealed via words

Brahman is an all pervading and self evident reality i.e. atma, and is covered due to ignorance.

The words of the upanisad are a pramana or means of knowledge to remove this brahman ignorance, atma ignorance.

One known that atma I am, so atma is self evident.

However we superimpose the qualities of the body, such as remoteness in terms of time and space the presence of attributes such as being born, subject to aging, and death, unto this brahman or atma, which is as a matter of fact, the reality of all that is here.

There is a knower, known, knowledge triad that one is experiencing as a waker , dreamer, and even deep sleep I know I slept well.

This triad is taken to be the "atma" limiting, the atma to the knower alone, and superimposing the attributes of the body unto atma.

However in reality, atma is an attributeless all pervading reality, that pervades, the knower, known, and knowledge all three.

This atma is of the nature of consciousness, and reflects or is seen as "isness" w.r.t the known objects and w.r.t knowledge thought forms, and even with respect to the knower, wherein the knower says I am, and this knower is of the nature of consciousness.

This consciousness , the reality of the knower, is the non dual reality, that is not limited to the knower, whereas is the attributeless reality that pervades and lends existence to both the known and the knowledge.

Therefore , the knower, the known as well as knowledge, all the three are on non dual reality called atma, which is the satyam, and the status of being knower, known and knowledge with names and forms, are mithya, or a transactional lower order of reality that is not absolute truth.

Thus shastra serves as means of knowledge that the self evident atma is an all pervading attributeless non dual, cosnciousness, that lends existence to all that we say "is" or "am", and the world or jagad is mithya.

Brahman is satyam, jagad is mithya, the jiva or self is brahman.

Being witness vs participant

The self is the witness of desires, as well as actions and prayers made to fulfil those desires.

The basic svarupa of consciousness is non separate from the atma, whereas the role of being a participating doer, or person who is praying while being non separate from the atma, they are incidental to atma, and not intrinsic.

So while I can be an actor and a doer, and a person who prays, the one to whom I pray, the reality of that being is myself. The one to whom I pray, and the one for whom and unto whom I dedicate my actions, that being , the reality of that being is atma.

Thus knowing the fact that ishvara, IS, with the same certainty that I am, ones desires are fulfilled then and there.

Fear of desires being not fulfilled due to ommissions and commissions

Sometimes what one desires may or may not be fulfilled or happen.
Things may happen more , less or neutral to how much one desires.

If it is more than what one desires, the state of mind is happy mind, and neutral plus sad mind thereon.

These states of the mind, are driven by the psychological order, where ones wanting state is fuelled by desires, and their need to get fulfilled.

This wanting person, is actually a basic person, who says I am incomplete, wanting to be whole is the base desire in every desire.

In case of a jnani, the jnani is aware that the self is whole.

In such a scenario the base desire is no more present, as one is already whole and complete.

The other transactional desires can be there, again these transactional desires may or may not be fulfilled, based on the law of karma, the prayers and so on. Jnani is free to desire and pray also.
In this case the prayer is to nullify his own past omissions and commissions , hence pray for the well being of all, and of oneself and ones own duties.

When such a prayer is made, it is made with a desire , and the desire will be fulfilled as per the laws of karma, as per the laws which are isvara. This paradigm has no impact on the fulfilled wholeness of the being who is the jnani, and does not have any impact on brahmatvam or brahman, in its svarupa.

The fulfilling of desires is also brahman, with maya sakti acting as the karma phala dAta, and the self acting as the "doer" agent of action, either to achieve the desire, or the act of prayer to turn the tide where there are hidden obstacles, which is ones own punyAs and pApas from the past, ones own prarabdha karma.

This prarabdha I have full freedom to pray to nullify the pApas, while fully aware that in reality the atma was neither a doer, nor a receiver of actions and their fruits thereon.

In that case what is the prayer for, the prayer is as though, for as though desires, and the results also have to follow an as though order, so there is some order in the giving of results.

This is the paradigm in which the jnani finds oneself.

Gnanam is atma svarupa, what does that mean?

What is it meant when it is said that jnanam is the svarupa of atma.

Now there are certain things I try to be, I try to do, and certain things I am without doing anything, which is my nature, in the sense I am that.

For eg: if you take gold, gold can be a ring, a necklace or a simple lump of gold, however the essential goldness, the shine of gold is what makes gold as "gold". Hence that shineness is not an attribute of gold, it is the svarupa or essential nature of gold, without which you cannot call gold as gold. Gold need not undergo change, or become shining, gold shines off itself.

Same way atma is chit, or consciousness. So when we say atma is a knower of thoughts, the knowerness is not something atma becomes, atma happens to be the knower w.r.t to thought, but this awareness is atmas very svarupa, its nature.

Awareness or jnanam we need not define it as a "understood" thing, it is self evident.
Why is that? When I say I "know" an apple, I am the knower. However with regards to myself, I do not need to know myself at all. The reason is that knowledge is my very svarupa, the awareness is my very svarupa. I need not become aware, I am awareness itself. The pure awareness.

In apple awareness, there is an apple form, and I happen to be the truth of that form, wherein they say I am a knower of apple. But in reality I am pure awareness that is formless awareness, which need not know itself, as there isnt a second thing to know.

Since I am awareness itself, Any awareness there is, I am the truth of that awareness. I am the truth of apple awareness, I am the truth of space awareness, I am the truth of time awareness, space , time , apple etc. being names and forms.

This is at the level of thought.

How about reality itself, the creation itself.

With regard to the jagad, I am the awareness with maya shakti, which means I am awareness with all knowledge. Just like in the dream state, awareness is the very mountain, the streams and the people in the dream, with maya upadhi, awareness alone manifests as this universe. So the difference is in the roles, and not in the essential nature of I being awareness that is non dual.

Awareness is also limitless and infinite, here there is no space or time or any creation. Neigh awareness the I am is not even a cause of creation or anything, there is no name or form here, whereas at the level of names and forms I am the truth of the unmanifest and the manifest both. I am brahman.