The Philosophy of the Panchadasi

by Swami Krishnananda

Brahman does not cease to be, just because there is no knower of it, while visions will cease when meditation ceases. Though Brahman is present in all beings without distinction, it is manifested in a greater or lesser degree in different persons and it is this degree of manifestation that explains the distinction between the wise and the ignorant. Though the general existence of Brahman is common to one and all, it is its particular manifestation that determines the degree of enlightenment attained by different persons. There are degrees in approaching the Truth, and naturally one is lower and the other is higher, all these forming a successive series leading to the highest Sakshatkara, or realisation. Better than ignorance are the selfish activities of people immersed in worldliness. The performance of duty and engagement in activities of an unselfish nature with a view to the purification of oneself, is higher. Higher than this is meditation on Saguna-Brahman (Brahman with attributes). Saguna-Brahma-Upasana, again, is of two kinds, in accordance with the nature of the symbol used in meditation. When particular symbols are used, it is called Pratika-Upasana, where the meditator seeks to find the universal in the individual symbols by making them vehicles of the higher concept on which he is meditating. In the other kind of Saguna-Upasana, the whole universe is taken as a symbol for meditation, where one’s feeling is that all, indeed, is Brahman. In Ahamgraha-Upasana, or the meditation by which one strives to grasp the essential inner ‘I’, the symbol is Consciousness, which, in the beginning, appears as personal and later on becomes universal. That which approximates to true knowledge in a greater degree is to be considered better than the others as a means of liberation. In this manner, by stages, N irguna-Upasana becomes mature and merges into Brahma-Jnana, or Experience of Brahman. As Samvadi-bhrama leads to correct perception later on, so does Upasana lead to real experience by sufficient maturity in the end. Just as Samvadi-bhrama is not the direct cause for the perception of the desired object, since contact is the direct cause, yet the former is responsible for the latter, so, indeed, Upasana may not be the direct cause of Brahman-Experience, but it leads the seeker to the acquisition of that knowledge which is the direct cause of liberation. Here, we have to concede that Japa of Mantras, devout worship of images, and so on, are also means for spiritual perfection in the end, though not the direct means. We consider that as a better means and a higher one which has a greater nearness to Truth.

Fully perfected Nirguna-Upasana ends in the absorption of the Universe in Consciousness, which is simultaneous with the direct perception that the Atman is Brahman. This is knowledge of Truth, which one acquires by the laborious practices of meditation on the Absolute Brahman, with such attributes as Nirvikara or Changeless; Asanga, or unattached; Nitya, Eternal; Svaprakasa, or Self-luminous; Eka, or One alone; Purna, or Full; Bhuma or the Plenum; etc., which are only ideas in the beginning but become realities in the end, as the embodiment of the Universal Atman itself. It is towards this end that the practice of Yoga has been enjoined on the aspirants. One should not, here, mistake the lower stages for the final end to be reached, and there should be no stagnation at any lower stage with the wrong feeling that it is the goal. Upasana, as a soul-filled approach, is prescribed for those who enter into the more difficult means of directly meditating on the higher realities. It is in the absence of this primary means that Yoga as concentration of mind is prescribed as a secondary means. It is for these latter that concentration on special concepts is prescribed, by which the dross of the mind is removed and it is steadied to enable it to reflect Truth. For the higher minds Samkhya (knowledge) is prescribed, and for the lower ones Yoga (concentration). Here Samkhya means knowledge of the Absolute and not the special jargon of the school of Kapila. Samkhya is to be taken in its liberal sense of knowledge of Truth by discrimination between the Universal Self and the not-Self, and not in the sense of the metaphysical concepts of the school of Kapila, according to which Purushas are many, Prakriti is eternal and the one is different from the other. For the Yoga, Isvara is isolated from both. When Samkhya and Yoga are understood in their true sense, they lead to the same goal, says, the Bhagavadgita.

The goal finally reached by the Samkhya and the Yoga is one and the same, inasmuch as the principles involved in both practices are similar. In the Samkhya, there is an acute and penetrating understanding of the different categories of the Universe, and this is achieved by an investigation of every item of experience which presents itself before the consciousness of the individual. This result is achieved also by the Yoga, which is the force of the concentration of the mind on the ideal by deliberate direction of the mind and the will towards it.

One whose practice, whether by Samkhya or by Yoga, is not adequately mature in one life, may have its completion at the time of his death, and, if this is not practicable on account of the working of obstructing Karmas, knowledge will dawn in the next life, or a future life. Knowledge usually should dawn at least in Brahma-loka, and there the final liberation is to be attained. Whatever is the last thought of the individual at the time of death shall be the determining factor of one’s rebirth, because the last thought is the quintessence of all the thoughts one has been cherishing throughout one’s life, and it is but natural that at the time of the death of a body the Pranas should stand collected and projected towards the region whose experience shall be the materialisation of one’s last thought. This is equal to saying that what one does in the present life shall fashion the nature of one’s future life. It does not mean that the last thought can be anything other than what one has been thinking throughout life. Moksha is the immediate non-objective experience of Brahman on which one has been meditating all along with intense devotion. By the force of Upasana, the primeval ignorance of the Jiva is dispelled, and Brahman is attained. The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad states that in the case of the desireless one, who has no other desire but the desire for the Atman, the Pranas do not depart. They do not get directed to any region or realm like projectiles, as they do in the case of ordinary mortals, but they dissolve then and there into the Substance of Brahman. Upasana leads to Jnana, the supreme achievement in life.

By the practice of unselfish Upasana, Moksha is attained, is the teaching of the Upanishad, and that by Upasana attended with desire, Brahma-loka is attained. One who meditates on the different constituents of Omkara, identifying them with the Brahman in Saguna form, passes through the region of the Sun, and having then reached the Brahma-loka, is finally liberated by the end of time when there is cosmic dissolution (Pralaya). He who meditates thus, transcends all realms and attains the ultimate liberation gradually, and so it is called Krama-mukti, or Progressive salvation. The Upanishad, in this connection, mentions that at a particular stage the soul of the Upasaka encounters a superhuman being who guides it along the path further until liberation is attained. In the Brahmasutras too, the author makes out in one of the aphorisms that by Upasana on that which is not merely a symbol, the seeking soul becomes fit to receive the guidance of the superhuman being referred to. It is also made clear here that the rule according to which one attains whatever one intensely thinks upon determines the attainment of the ends of Upasana. This rule of fulfilment of wishes is called in the Brahmasutras as Tatkratu-nyaya, after the term used in the Upanishad. There, in Brahma-loka, by the force of the Upasana practised previously, one attains to Truth and returns not to this world again. He is finally liberated. There is only ascent and no reverting to the mortal world, as a result of desireless meditation.

Usually, in the Upanishad, the manner in which Pranava-Upasana is described, is Nirguna, but sometimes it is also regarded as Saguna for the purpose of Upasana. It all depends upon the nature of the object with which Pranava is identified as the designator thereof. In the Prasna Upanishad, Pippalada gives his instructions to Satyakama on Omkara which is conceived of as both Para and Apara, i.e., the higher and the lower. Similarly, in the teaching of Lord Yama in the Katha Upanishad, it is said that the Upasana on Omkara leads to the realisation of whatsoever is in one’s mind at the time of the Upasana, depending on the nature of the determination with which one commences the Upasana.

Thus, summing up, we may say that liberation may be possible either here immediately, now, or at the time of the dropping of the body, or it may be even after one’s having attained Brahma-loka. Here, what determines the attainment is the nature of the Upasana. This fact is also emphasised in the Atma-Gita, where we are told that one should resort to continuous meditation on the nature of the Atman when discriminatory enquiry and investigation into the truths of things by direct approach is found difficult due to impurity of mind, fickleness of intellect, etc. Nevertheless, one should engage oneself in the practice, without the least trace of doubt in the mind, even though the realisation may not be near at hand. At the proper time the realisation shall come and there should be no impatience in this regard. As in digging out a treasure from the earth the stones etc., from above are removed with the help of instruments, so by setting aside the stone of the body and digging the earth of the mind with the spade of the intellect, one obtains the treasure of the Atman within. Meditation is imperative in the case of every seeker even if there is no immediate experience. Let there be the confidence that what we are seeking for is our essential nature and, therefore, naturally, it should be much easier to realise it than to acquire other things which are extraneous to our nature. There will be felt within in the case of meditation an uncommon tranquillity and peace of mind, a joy and a sense of power which cannot be had in this world. By overcoming attachment to the body in this manner, by protracted meditation on the Atman which is the Absolute, the mortal becomes the immortal and there is Sadyo-mukti, or instantaneous experience of the Supreme Being. (Verses 1-158)