Sutra Vahini Index

Thath Thu Samanvayaath

Thath thu Samanvayaath: It is clearly demonstrable that all Vedantic axioms posit only Brahmam. The statements in the Sruthis, when studied in a spirit of reconciliation reveal the Brahmam and made known its Reality. Besides, there is the question whether the Scriptures hold forth the supremacy of works or of wisdom. Though the profound mystery of Brahmam is incommunicable to others, it has to be denoted by some categories of knowledge however unsatisfactory they are. Or else, it may remain beyond perception.

There is a school of thought which believes that the Vedas lay down Karma (Works) as means of liberation and that the Vedanta (the Upanishads) does not. But, the Scriptures or Sastras are concerned with guidance and counsel and not with exclusive adherence to some system or other. Advocacy of Karma or works is not the chief goal of the scriptures. When one is active through Karma, one has to do many merit-yielding works and these promote purity of mind. Since Karma cleanses the consciousness, many argue that the Sastras teach only this as the sole path, ignoring the fact that Karma (works) is only the means to the end.

In this connection, we have to pay attention to another fact. The desires of man, his wants, longings, resolutions and wishes, these are multiplied and prompted by Karma (works). And, the initial impulse for desire is Ajnana or Unawareness of the Reality. The doubt arises, naturally, how can the consciousness that is unaware transform itself into the consciousness that is aware (Jnana)? Darkness can never remove darkness, can it? So too, Anjnana can never destroy Ajnana. It can be accomplished only by Jnana, Awareness of the Truth. This is the dictum promulgated by Sankara. The world needs harmony very much. It needs Awareness too, to an equal extent, however difficult it may be to convey the knowledge of Brahmam to others.

It has been said that there is vast difference between the impact of Brahma Vidya (Knowledge of Brahmam) and the impact of Karma. Merit and demerit, happiness and misery, are the consequences of Karma. The happiness attainable by man through Karma ranges from the Manushya Loka level (the region of humans) up to the highest stage of Brahma Loka (the region of the Divine). So, too, below the level of the human region, there are regions where misery becomes deeper and deeper, more and more agonising. They are relatively unreal and not absolutely real. The Awareness and the Bliss therefore is innate, existing in its own right. It is externally present. It is the one unchanging, unaffected Truth. It cannot be acquired by practising prescriptions and exercises. The state of Liberation (Moksha) transcends the body-mind-ego complex. Therefore, the transcendence is beyond one's physical, mental or intellectual effort. When Awareness dawns, the darkness of Ajnana disappears. When the lamp is lit darkness is no more.

There are some who argue that it is not quite fair to declare that Knowledge of Brahmam as the only Truth cannot be gained by personal effort. Sankara reconciles this point of view with his main thesis mentioned already. The Jnana that one is actually Brahmam and nothing else is latent in the consciousness of every one but one cannot recognise it and establish oneself firmly in it by means of Karma or activity or even by Vichara or scholastic inquiry. Karma can only bind one further, for it deals with diversity as if it is real; it cannot loosen bonds and liberate him. It can at best purify the passions and emotions. Vichara can at best clarify the intellect and indicate the criteria of Jnana. Brahma Vidya alone can liberate man from bondage. Hence one is warned not to develop too much attachment to Karma.

However, we find the Sastras dwelling, once in a while, on the value of Karma. The Sastras are as affectionate to us as the mother. They teach lessons as the mother to her children, in conformity with the level of intelligence, and according to the needs of time and circumstance. A mother with two children gives the one who is quite strong and healthy every item of food he clamors for, but takes great care that the other child who is unwell is not overfed and is given only such items that can restore it soon to health. Can we, on that account, accuse her of being partial to one child and prejudiced against the other, in conferring love? The Sastras too draw the attention of those who know the secret of Karma to the value of Karma. For, Karma or Work can improve life and set its ideals aright. Every one has to be instructed on how to transform work into beneficial activity. Yet, Karma is not all.

Human life lasts but a moment, it is a bubble on the waters. Upon this ephemerable bubble of life, man builds for himself a structure of desires and attachments. Wisdom warns him that it might collapse or crumble any moment. The supreme Atma, the Paramatma, that is unattached and free from embodiment, has taken up a body and become man. Viewed in gross terms, the body is a material encasement formed out of the food consumed, the Annamaya Kosa. Within this sheath, there lies the subtle sheaths of vital airs or Prana, the mental sheath, the sheath of the intellect and the innermost sheath of all - the sheath of Bliss, the Anandamaya Kosa.

This aphorism of sutra (thath thu Samanvayaaath) makes known that spiritual inquiry or Vicharana involves the journey from the Annamaya sheath as the basis to the Anandamaya stage and nature. However, the gross has two aspects - the dependent structure and the independent base.