Commentary on the Panchadasi

by Swami Krishnananda

Bhātīti cet bhātu nāma bhūṣaṇaṁ māyiksya tat, yadasad bhāsa mānaṁ tat mithyā svapna gajādi vat (70). As we see elephants in dreams, so we see the world of space. Elephants are moving about in the forest or jungles of the dream world. Are we not seeing them? But do we believe that they really exist there? So don't say that I am seeing space and, therefore, it must exist. Perceptibility is not the criterion of reality. The world is real in the same sense that elephants in dream are real.

Jāti vyakti dehi denau guṇa dravye yathā pṛthak, viyat sato stathai vāstu pārthakyaṁ ko’tra vismayaḥ (71). The species, or genera, is different from its particular. The body is different from its limbs. The substance is different from the quality. In the similar way, Existence is different from space.

As we distinguish between quality and substance, we have to distinguish between space and Absolute Existence. As the substance is not the quality, Existence is not space, and space is not Existence.

Buddho’pi bhedo no citte nirūḍhiṁ yati cetadā, anaikāgryāt saṁśayād vā rūḍhya bhāvo’sya te vada (72). You may say, “I am not able to understand what you are saying. After all, I am seeing space. You are putting forth some arguments to prove that logically space cannot exist. Maybe, but it does not enter my brain.” Why does it not enter your brain? Is it because you have doubts, or you have no strength to concentrate your mind properly? If you cannot concentrate, please develop the art of concentration.

Apramaṭo bhava dhyānāt ādye’nyāsmin vivecanam, kuru pramāṇa yuktibhyāṁ tato rūḍha tamo bhavet (73). The inability to distinguish between Pure Existence and the form which it has taken as space is due to the inability to concentrate the mind properly. We do not have sufficient logical capacity to distinguish between things; the real and the unreal get mixed up in our understanding, and we do not have that perspicacity of understanding by which such distinction can be arrived at. So the author says that we must develop the power of concentration. We must be very strong in our will, and we must be able to come to decisive conclusions through logical apprehension, if our difficulty is due to absence of concentration of mind.

Ādye’nyāsmin vivecanam: But if we have doubts, our doubts cannot be removed unless thorough investigation is made into our own psychic condition. Why do doubts arise in the mind? There is a muddle in our thinking. So psychological analysis is necessary in the case of doubts in the mind. And if it is absence of concentration of mind, meditation is prescribed.
 
Kuru pramāṇa yuktibhyāṁ tato rūḍha tamo bhavet: If this practice is resorted to, we will succeed in apprehending the great fact that Pure Existence pervades all things, and space, time, etc., are its apparent manifestations.

Dhyānāt mānāt yuktito’pi rūḍhe bhede viyat satoḥ, na kadācit viyat satyaṁ sadvastu cchidra vanna ca (74). After a deep investigation into the nature of fact, what do we conclude? By meditation, by the proper application of the right means of knowledge, by logical methods, we distinguish very clearly between Existence and form, and we will never again make the mistake of confounding Existence with space, or vice versa – space with Existence. The idea is repeated again and again to drive into our minds the Ultimate Reality of something which we cannot see with our eyes, and the unreality of that which we are seeing with our eyes.

Jñasya bhāti sadā vyoma nistattvo llekha pūrvavat, sadvastvapi vibhā tyasya nicchidratva puraḥ saram (75). People with wisdom and insight, who are called jnasya, can see right in front of them the pervasion of Universal Existence behind all things. Just as we can see light spread out everywhere when the sun shines, the jivanmukta purusha, the great realised soul, can actually, visibly, see God pervading all things. There is no necessity to argue about the existence of God. There is no necessity to go on investigating into the nature of Existence as different from space. The knower, jnani purusha, directly beholds Pure Existence as an inundating Universality, and he will not see space at all. He will see light and radiance flooding itself everywhere, and never see dimension, distance, etc.

There is no distance between things. Millions and millions of light years do not make any difference to Pure Existence, which connects all things together. In one second we can contact even the stars, though they may appear to be so far away, physically speaking. Physical distance is only an illusion created by the so-called dimension called space. So we must go deep into this matter and not get caught up in the illusion of there being such things called dimension and distance, which really are not there.

Vāsanāyaṁ pravṛddhāyāṁ viyat satyatva vādinam, sanmātrā bodha yuktaṁ ca dṛṣṭvā vismayate budhaḥ (76). The wise ones laugh at these people who go on arguing about the existence of space and name and form of the world, etc., again and again. Just as mature persons smile at the ignorant prattle of little babies, people endowed with the wisdom of the world smile at the ignorant statements made by the people of the world who see only the form and not the substance.

The child sees an elephant made of sugar. It is the mature mind that knows that it is only sugar; there is no elephant there. We can have a railway train, a fish, a biscuit or an elephant made of sugar. But the little child says, “I want elephant, I want biscuit, I want toy,” not knowing that there is no such thing as a toy, electric train, etc. It's substance is just sugar. A mature father or mother pays no attention to the prattle of the child who says, “I want elephant,” because they know there is no such thing as elephant; there is only sugar.

So too, the wise sage smiles at the prattle of ignorant people in the world who say, “We want this, we want that,” in the same way that children want toys made of sugar. Yet sugar is the Pure Existence out of which all those things are made; and whenever we ask for things, we are actually asking for the shape that Pure Existence has taken, not knowing that all the shapes are Existence only, and it is immaterial whether we get this or that. All things are equal in this world. Sanmātrā bodha yuktaṁ ca dṛṣṭvā vismayate budhaḥ: Wise people laugh at ignorant persons.

Evamā kāśa mithyātve sat sat yatve ca vāsite, nyāye nānena vāyvādeḥ sadvastu pravi vicyatām (77). Having finally ascertained the non-existence of space by this yukti or logic and investigating method, we have to apply this very same investigation, this method of argument, to arguing the other elements like vayu, air, fire, water, earth, etc. These solid elements, which are before us and seem to be threatening  and frightening us every moment, really do not exist, and are like a lion made of sugar which is terrifying us with its long teeth and claws made of sugar. So is this terrific world of earth, water, fire, air and ether appearing to be solid and existing in front of us, contacting us. Really we are not contacting any one of these things. We are contacting Pure Existence even when we are contacting the earth.

When we worship the five elements or worship anything whatsoever as a divinity, and prostrate ourselves before an asvattha tree or a holy stone or a temple or anything whatsoever which we regard as sacred, actually what is intended behind this religious instruction is that we are prostrating ourselves before the substance of that form before which we actually offer our prostrations. We do not worship idols, just as we do not take into consideration the lion aspect of sugar. It is only the sugar aspect that we are taking into consideration.

So the wisdom of the sage tells us that all the world is worth adoring. Everything is divine. The whole world of name and form is scintillating Pure Existence and we can worship anything whatsoever, right from a pinhead to the solar system. It is all the same thing, just as different items made of one substance do not actually make a difference because of the uniformity of substance.

When we see the form, we cannot see the substance. When we see the substance, we cannot see the form. There is an ancient philosopher called Tirumulan; in his great poem he says, “Embrace the tree.” His instruction to students is, “Embrace the tree.” What is meant by this statement? He means to say, “Come in contact with the wood and not the furniture made by it.”

Another sage said, “When there is dog, there is no stone; when there is stone, there is no dog.” This is an enigmatic statement which is a spiritual instruction. The dog is actually a dog made of stone. That is what the sage says. When the stone is seen there, the dog is not there. When the dog is seen, the stone is not there. That is the meaning of saying that when there is dog, there is no stone and when there is stone, there is no dog. Or, embrace the tree; see the wood and not the furniture. See the gold and not the ornament. See the substance and not the quality. See Pure Existence and not the five elements. That is the analysis.