Vedanta - My Self & Your Self - நீயா நானா ? - Isavasya Upanishad - Sloka 7

Preamble

In the previous Sloka the Upanishad said everything is in ātmā, ātmā is in everything. Ātmā is sarva and ātmā is the content of everything. Ātmā and anātmā have got kārya-kāraṇa-saṁbandha. In all these discussions, we talked about ātmā and everything else, the anātmā. The moment you use the word saṁbandha, duality has come. Why? Any relationship always requires two members. So saṁbandha means duality. Ātmā-anātmā means duality. Is this a contradiction to the advaita (non duality) philosophy? 

The upaniṣad says in this mantra, that really speaking, kāraṇam and kāryam, are not two separate things. They are only two separate words we use. On enquiry, you will understand, that gold and bangles are not two things. Just because I use two words, gold and bangle, you cannot say, gold is in this place and bangle is in that place. Because bangle doesn’t have an existence separate from gold. Then what is bangle? It is just another name for gold. Under certain conditions, the gold itself is called ornaments. 

Therefore, kāryam and kāraṇam, are two words, but they are not two different entities. Really speaking, you cannot talk about a saṁbandha also. If somebody asks, “What is the relationship between gold and ornament?”, generally we say “kārya-kāraṇa-relationship”. But if you think, you cannot talk about relationship because they are not two things. They are two words, given to one and the same thing. Where is saṁbandha? Similarly, Īśvara and jagat, ātmā and anātmā, God and world, are two words. There is no such thing called ‘world’, other than, or separate from God. Therefore there is only advaitam. So that is said here. Let us see the Sloka.

Sanskrit Verse 

यस्मिन्सर्वाणि भूतान्यात्मैवाभूद्विजानतः । 

तत्र को मोहः कः शोक एकत्वमनुपश्यतः ॥ ७ ॥

Meaning in Tamil 

அனைத்தையும் தன் ஆன்மாவாய்

அனைத்திலும் தன் ஆன்மாவை

எவனொருவன் பகுத்து அறிவானோ

அவ்வொருமை காண் அவனுக்கு

மருட்சியும் துயரும் என்ன உள ?

English Transliteration

yasminsarvāṇi bhūtānyātmaivābhūdvijānataḥ | 

tatra ko mohaḥ kaḥ śoka ekatvamanupaśyataḥ || 7 ||

Meaning of the Sanskrit Words 

यस्मिन्सर्वाणि भूतान्यात्मैवाभूद्विजानतः 

yasminsarvāṇi bhūtānanyātmaivābhūdvijānataḥ

In whom all beings have become the self from discerning,

यस्मिन् - yasmin (mn. loc. sing. relative pron. yad): in whom, in which.

सर्वाणि - sarvāṇi (n. nom. pl. pronominal adj. sarva): whole, entire, all, every, everything.

भुतानि - bhut̄ āni (n. nom./acc. pl. bhut̄ a; past pass. p. √bhu)̄ : beings.

आत्म - ātmā (m. nom. sing. ātman; from √an, √at, or√vā): the self.

एव - eva (ind.): so, indeed, truly, only, even.

अभूत् - abhūt (3rd sing. aor. P. √bhu)̄ : became, was.

विजानतः - vijānataḥ (mn. abl./gen. vijānat; pres. act. p. vi √jn͂ā): from/of understanding, knowing, discerning, discriminating; from/of the knower, the discerner, the sage.

तत्र को मोहः कः शोक एकत्वमनुपश्यतः

tatra ko mohaḥ kaḥ śoka ekatvamanupaśyataḥ

Therein, what is the delusion, what is the sorrow of the oneness seeing one?

तत्र - tatra (ind.): there; therein.

को - kaḥ (m. nom. sing. interrogative pron. kim):who? which?

मोहः - mohaḥ (m. nom. sing. moha; noun from √muh): loss of consciousness, bewilderment, delusion.

कः - kaḥ (m. nom. sing. interrogative pron. kim): who? which?

शोक - śokaḥ (m. nom. sing. śoka; from √śuc): burning, hot; flame, glow, heat; sorrow, affliction, grief.

एकत्वमनुपश्यतः = एकत्वम् + अनुओअश्यतः =  ekatvam (n. acc. sing. eka -tva): oneness. + anupaśyataḥ (mn. abl./gen. sing. anupaśyat;

from anu √dṛś): from the seeing (one); of the seeing (one).

Meaning in English 

When to the knower, all Bhutas become one with his own Atman, what perplexity, what grief, is there when he sees this oneness.

Understanding the Sloka

यस्मिन्सर्वाणि भूतान्यात्मैवाभूद्विजानतः । yasminsarvāṇi bhūtānanyātmaivābhūdvijānataḥ

Yasmin sarvāṇi bhūtāni ātma eva abhūt – when a person understands, the so- called anātmā is a different name for ātmā itself. Vijānataḥ means for a wise person. 

According to Vedānta, there is no matter at all. Matter is another name for consciousness. For a scientist, the tangible matter is nothing but intangible energy in motion. For a vedāntī, the tangible matter is the intangible consciousness instead of energy, in seeming motion. The entire universe is nothing but paramātmā only. 

Okay, what do we get by knowing all these things? Is it not a waste of time? The Upanishad says that the benefit is 

तत्र को मोहः कः शोक एकत्वमनुपश्यतः

tatra ko mohaḥ kaḥ śoka ekatvamanupaśyataḥ

tatra kaḥ mohaḥ kaḥ śokaḥ ekatvaṁ anupaśyataḥ – as long as you have got this misconstrued view that atma and anatma are different  (dvaita-darśaṇam), then desire (rāga,) hatred (dveṣa), lust (kāma), anger (krodha), greed (lobha), delusion (moha), pride (mada), envy (mātsarya), grief (dukham) – all these things will never never go away.  If you have the vision that what is in me is what is in you and the universe and it is the same as Paramatma “Sarvaṁ paramātmamayaṁ jagat”, then the benefits which we gain from this knowledge are freedom from delusion, grief and abhorrence. So ekatvaṁ anupaśyataḥ – for that advaita-darśī who knows I am non-dual ātmā, kaḥ mohaḥ – where is the delusion?

புறநானூறுப்பதியில் கணியன் பூங்குன்றனாரின் “யாதும் ஊரே யாவரும் கேளிர்” என்ற வரிகள் இத்தத்துவத்தை அடிப்படையாக் கொண்டதே எனக் கூறினால் அது மிகையாகாது. ஆன்ம அறிவு பேரறிவின் வழியாயது என்று உணர்ந்து அதனிடம் அன்பு செலுத்துங்கள். அப்போது அகண்டாகாரம் வேரறிவுப் பொருளாய சிவமும் உங்கள் அறிவில் பொருந்துவான். உங்கள் அறிவு அவன் அறிவாக அமையின் அணிமாதி சித்திகள் தாமே பொருந்தும். அப்போது சிவன் உங்களது அறிவைத் தன்னறிவாகத் திருவுள்ளத்தில் கொண்டனன் என்பது விளங்கும் என திருமூலர் திருமந்திரத்தில் கூறுகிறார்

2361. அறிவுஅறி வாக அறிந்துஅன்பு செய்மின்
அறிவுஅறி வாக அறியும்இவ் வண்ணம்
அறிவுஅறி வாக அணிமாதி சித்தி
அறிவுஅறி வாக அறிந்தனன் நந்தியே.

எனவே நம்மை நாம் அறிவோம். அறிந்து அன்புடன் வாழ்வோம்.

Summary

Those who see all creatures in themselves and themselves in all creatures know no grief. How can the multiplicity of life delude the one who sees its unity?