Ancient Indians – Satya Samhita

In the Isa Vasya Upanishad, which is the last part of the Sukla Yajur Veda,  Yajnavalkya says,

Sah : He (the Tat) .. (the Atman, the Purusha, the Brahman, the Vaisvanara)

pari agaat : has gone in all directions

s’ukram : white, pure.. luminous

akAyam : bodiless

avraNam : (akshatam) : unbroken

asnAviragm or asnAviram : (the g is prnounced because this is yajur veda) : snAva is a tendon , sinew , muscle , nerve acc to Monier Williams.. and s’ira or head according to s’ankarAcharya : so asnAvira is something without a head/nerves/muscles..

so putting akAyam and  asnAviram together we understand that “He” has neither head nor trunk, ie does not possess a body or form. Thats why in Indian Devotional movies a little lamp flame is shown as representing the Atman.

apApaviddham : sinless : The Atman of the Is’A upanishad as explained by Yajnavalkya is sinless. Vivekananda said  ”no man is a sinner, it is a sin to call a man so“. The Atman is beyond dharma and adharma. Dharma is the first human goal and it leads to Atmagnyanam or knowledge of the Self. But the Atman is beyond “trivial” human ethics that vary with time and place. 

kavih : one who sees all (in modern languages this is applied rather grandly to mere poets.). Monier Williams says gifted with insight , intelligent , knowing , enlightened , wise , sensible , prudent , skilful , cunning ; a thinker , intelligent man , man of understanding , leader ; a wise man , sage , seer , prophet ; a singer , bard , poet. Sankaracharya says it means krAntadars’I which in turn means one who knows the past.. he then says that should be interpreted as sarvadruk or one who sees all.

manISI : the one who controls minds as per his wish, Is’vara. (it means ‘person’ in modern Indian languages)

paribhUh : one who exists beyond all

svayambhUh : self-caused

yAthAtathyatah : yathA- tathA : means –  in which way-in that way : the essence or bhAva of yathA-tathA is yAthAtathya and yAthAtathyatah is He who possesses that quality by virtue of his all-knowingness.. according to s’ankarAcharya.

arthAn vyadadhAt : distributed the arthAs (wealth, goals, meanings..)

s’As’vatIbhyah : to those which are eternal

samAbhyah : to the years

Sankaracharya  added  :

That those who are eternal are the prajapatis and Is’vara gives them their duties.

What I think : 

I think Yajgnyavalkya is telling us that the Atman goes beyond and exists beyond (all this) and is white/luminous , bodiless and sinless, unbroken (or whole and therefore does not die or get hurt as Krishna clearly says in the second chapter of the Gita), IT is all knowing (or at least it knows the entire past), IT is the ‘wisher’ or controller or the possessor of the mind, it is as it is, and gives meaning/purpose to the years – ie to eternal time!

IMG_0054 : North East India : Photo Credit : Son and Friends : All Rights Reserved : Satya Sarada Kandula

A person I travelled with a bhumihaar brahmin (these are different from other brahmins.. not sure how), asked me about ghosts. A paryagaat or sarvagata Atman which is pure and sinless and does not have a brain with which to think evil thoughts, which is all knowing and gives meaning to time is simply not a ghost. For this reason I differ with all the people I have ever met who insist that ghosts exist. THAT which outlasts the body is One in All and All are in That.

I subsequently learned that not all people have access to/interest in/value for Upanishadic truths. I believe the Upanishads as a person super strongly influenced by Vivekananda, Sankaracharya and Veda Vyasa. You are likely (and welcome) to be influenced by others. However there is at least one section of Hindus like me.. who think that ghosts as shown in Ram Gopal Varma’s movies don’t exist.

Finally I asked that young man if he believed in Bhagavad Gita and he said yes. So I said there are no ghosts as per Gita please read at least chapter two. Gita Press will give you word by word translation in very many Indian languages and it costs Rs 30/- He was a train friend so I never saw him again.. and I don’t know what happened later, but at Omkareswar I did see people getting “treated” for ghosts.. so clearly some Hindus believe in them.

Authorship and Copyright Notice : All Rights Reserved : Satya Sarada Kandula