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The Philosophy of the Upanishads c10.s3.t2: 2. Return of Individuals into Brahman

The Philosophy of the Upanishads c10.s3.t2

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2. Return of Individuals into Brahman

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The first starting-point of the conception of Brahman as destroyer of the universe is formed probably by the fact of death, which presents itself as the result of experience, and engages attention at all times, and therefore also as early as that ancient period. After men had become accustomed to see in Brahman the power which as *prâṇa* brings forth and sustains life, it was an easy step to restore it to the same power "when it wearies of bearing the burden," and to see in Brahman as *prâṇa* "the cause of death and of life."⁴ Therefore as early as S'atap. Brâh. 11. 3. 3. 1 we find it said:—"Brahman handed over the creatures to death"; and in S'atap. Brâh. 13. 7. 1. 1 again:—"He sacrificed himself in all beings, and all beings in himself." This thought is further expanded by the Upanishads. In Bṛih. 1. 2. 1 "death and hunger" (*mṛityur, as'anâyâ*) figure as creators of the universe:—"all that he created he resolved to devour;

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⁴ Taitt. Âr. 3. 14. 1-2, Atharvav. 11. 4. 11.

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because he devours (ad) everything, therefore is he the Aditi (the infinite).” And in Bṛih. 1. 5. 3 Prajâpati creates the all-embracing principles, manas, speech and prâṇa, as food for himself. In the words of Kâṭh. 2. 25 :—

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He consumes both the Brâhman and the warrior,
As though they were bread soaked in the sauce of death,

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a poetical echo of passages of this kind seems to be before us. In Chând. 1. 9. 1 it is said of the âkâś'a (ether, space, as the symbol of Brahman) :—“It is the âkâś'a whence all these creatures proceed, and into which they again descend.” And in Taitt. 3. 1 a distinctive mark of Brahman is given :—“That in truth out of which these beings arise, by which they when they have arisen live, into which they at death again enter, that seek to know, that is Brahman.” In all these passages the reference is solely to the descent of individual beings into Brahman, not to that of the universe. So also in Muṇḍ. 1. 1. 7, where Brahman is compared to the spider, which sends forth the threads and draws them in again; and in Muṇḍ. 2. 1. 1, where living beings in their numerous kinds issue forth from the imperishable and enter into him again. In the same sense it is said of the âtman in Mâṇḍ. 1. 6 :—“He is the cradle of the universe, for he is the creation and the end of living beings”; and in Nârây. 1 of Nârâyaṇa :—“All gods, all ṛishis, all metres, and all creatures originate solely from Nârâyaṇa, and are lost in Nârâyaṇa.” We may compare also the beautiful verses of C'ûlikâ 17–18 :—

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In him in whom this universe is interwoven,
Whatever moves or is motionless,
In Brahman everything is lost,
Like bubbles in the ocean.
In him in whom the living creatures of the universe
Emptying themselves become invisible,
They disappear and come to light again
As bubbles rise to the surface.

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To these passages also the doctrine of the disappearance of the universe in Brahman appears to be still unfamiliar. And therefore we must hesitate to find it with S'ankara in the mystical name *Tajjalân*,¹ discussed above;² since this idea is still foreign to all the rest of the Upanishads, and the conception of Brahman as the cause of the rise, continuance and disappearance of individual beings is sufficient to explain the term. Still less can we refer the words of Vâj. Samh. 32. 8,

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¹ Chând. 3. 14. 1.

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² p. 180 f.

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*tasmin idam sam- c'a vi- c'a eti sarvam,*

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to a dissolution and re-creation of the universe. Judging from the entire context, they signify only that the vein is "the centre and circumference of the universe."³ The case stands otherwise with the repetition of these words in S'vet. 4. 11.⁴ Here from their relation to the other passages of the S'vet. Up. they gain a new significance, which we now proceed to discuss.

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³ cp. the translation, *Allgemeine Einleitung u. Philosophie des Veda*, p. 294.

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⁴ And in Mahânâr. 1. 2, which is dependent upon it.

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