Monday, 16 September 2019

aitareya / ऐतरेय

The Seed-Consciousness.
An Introduction to
aitareya upaishad / ऐतरेय उपनिषद्
--
(This is a verbatim translation of my own Hindi post, -posted today in this blog.)
Had a dream a short-while ago.
I was all alone in a big city, and there was not a living soul there beside me.
There were only many a small and big buildings, shops, houses and trees charred into dark black ash. The streets, roads and lanes all empty and totally forsaken.
In that dark surroundings there was only a very dim gloomy light that enabled to look the things not more than 200 feet away.
May be, there had been many people, even crowds that might have lived and roamed here a few days ago, but presently I was the only a specimen of the all those and the whole mankind.
There were no birds, animals pet or wild whatsoever.
I had a strange, bizarre feeling as if I was Vikram -the robot; standing on the surface of Moon.
Though these words came to me just at the moment.
I was there just like an animated robot.
I was though a bit aware that this was but a dream and not the Reality that was hidden from me at the time.
I had also a vague idea that this whole dream could turn into another totally quite an altogether  different a dream and no traces of this would be any more.
I was neither scared nor amazed, because I knew the fact /Reality behind this dream; that is aitareya / ऐतरेय .
I was fully aware that aitareya / ऐतरेय is the Seed-Consciousness that keeps manifesting and giving rise to the phenomenal : the apparent and the variety and multitude of all appearances.
aitareya / ऐतरेय is the One and the Unique Principle.
The text aitareya upaishad / ऐतरेय उपनिषद् beautifully explains in a fascinating way;
How aitareya / ऐतरेय is the son of itarA / इतरा .
We can take help from the Mundakopanishat / मुण्डकोपनिषद् 1/1/3 :
शौनको ह वै महाशालोऽङ्गिरसं विधिवदुपसन्नः पप्रच्छ।।3 
and; Mundakopanishat / मुण्डकोपनिषद् 1/1/4 :
तस्मै स होवाच।  द्वे विद्ये वेदितव्ये इति ह स्म यद्ब्रह्मविदो वदन्ति परा चैवापरा च।।4
I have earlier explained this in some post.
Summarily :
There are 2 kinds of knowledge.
One is perishable, another is imperishable / eternal / everlasting.
There is the one; - of mind another where-in mind is manifest, rises and dissolves again and again till it is ultimately completely dissolved so as to never return again.
itarA  / इतरा is symbolic of the 'other'. It is not surprising that 'other' is cognate of 'itar' / / इतर, and the word in German for this Sanskrit word is 'anderer' / which is again cognate of इतरम् /
itarA  / इतरा is therefore the अपरा / aparA as described above in :
 " ...परा चैवापरा च।।4 ". 
In the 'skanda-purANa / स्कन्द-पुराण', ऐतरेय / aitareya is son of itarA / इतरा.
Which indicates he is an aspirant seeking Reality / Brahman / Atman / .
There is again a parallel in BrihadAraNyaka -Upanishad / छान्दोग्य उपनिषद्;
where the sage / ऋषि / risHi याज्नवल्क्य / Yajnavalkya is said to have two wives namely :
गार्गी and मैत्रेयी।  While retiring to woods in the older age He distributes His property and wealth to both, one of them Maitreyee asks Him :
What use / value is of all these things if 'You' / my dearest and most beloved has left me.
Then the sage / ऋषि / risHi याज्नवल्क्य / Yajnavalkya teaches her the knowledge Supreme imperishable.(chapter 2, BrahmaNa -4)
However the other who was not earnest, nor even could understand the importance of this 'knowledge' engaged Him in vain discussion and in turn was admonished by the sage :
"Gargee ! if you can't understand and have no urge for the Reality, don't ask अतिप्रश्न /
an intellectual futile question which could not be answered at that level."
(Chapter 3, BrahmaNa -6)
--
This is aitareya / ऐतरेय is verily the Seed-Consciousness / ब्रह्मन् / आत्मन् that is the latent and the potential that becomes all this existence.
Some 36 years ago I knew about this text.
During the past years I have gone through 3-4 times.
Yesterday I was just sitting at my home and had nothing to do.
I thought of writing something, but the thought vanished as soon as it had appeared.
In the same or the next moment I had a question in mind that emerged from memory.
"How the Unique and the same Consciousness manifests itself in innumerable countless forms and name in all creatures and becomes 'the world' with its contents?"
And in a split second Space and Time assume significance, as if they exist independently on their own. And one / the person is so fascinated by this couple that one takes oneself an entity different and independent of them."
Like Space and Time; -this person is no entity on its own and is subject to thought only.
The thought itself creates the illusion of Space, Time and the 'person' who has but a notional, -but not 'Real' existence.
This very entity is What the aitareya upaishad / ऐतरेय उपनिषद् deals with.
The same Seed-Consciousness takes up the role of Space, Time, the apparent world and the person   
aitareya / ऐतरेय. The three states of mind namely the waking, the dream and the deep dreamless sleep are only a sequence of states that come upon aitareya / ऐतरेय repeatedly.
Again though aitareya / ऐतरेय is ever so untouched and unaffected by them He is mistaken and begins to believe he is 'some-one', is this body, mind, memory, and many such things.
Ultimately He succeeds in breaking the shell of this 'acquired knowledge' and is convinced that He is the same Unique Principle that is never born nor dies.
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