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The Philosophy of the Upanishads c9.s5.t1: 1. Sole Reality of Brahman

The Philosophy of the Upanishads c9.s5.t1

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1. Sole Reality of Brahman

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Brahman is the âtman, "the self," is that in men and in all the objects of the universe which remains over when we abstract from them everything in them that is not-self, alien or different. There is however in the whole universe, alike in heaven and on earth, nothing besides the âtman:—"There is no second outside of him, no other distinct from him."¹ "There is here no plurality at all,"² and consequently there can be no question of anything existing outside of the âtman, of a universe in the proper sense of the term. With the knowledge of the âtman therefore everything is known:—"In truth, he who has seen, heard, comprehended and known the âtman, by him is this entire universe known,"³ just as with the sounding of the drum, the conch-horn or the lyre, all the notes, as it were, of these instruments are already coincidently sounded.⁴ The doctrine of the âtman is that very instruction, which was asked for in Chând. 6. 1. 2:—"by which (even) the unheard becomes (already) heard, the uncomprehended comprehended, the unknown known"; the âtman is "that with the knowledge of which this entire universe becomes known."⁵ As from a lump of clay all that consists of clay is known, from an ingot of copper all that consists of copper, from a pair of nail-scissors all that consists of iron,—"the change is a mere matter of words, nothing but a name,"—so with the knowledge of the âtman all is known.¹ The distinguishing essence of the fire, the sun, the moon and the lightning has vanished, the change is a mere matter of words, nothing but a name.² This was recognised by the ancient seers when they said:—"No longer now can anyone bring before us anything which we have not (already) heard, understood and known."³ Therefore for him who knows the âtman the unknown is only "as it were" (iva) unknown;⁴ there is only "as it were" a duality,⁵ "as it were" another,⁶ "as it were" a plurality,⁷ and it happens only "as it were" that the âtman imagines an object or is moved towards it.⁸ Strictly speaking, such an "as it were" or iva should be supplied to every page and every line in which the Upanishads are concerned with something other than the âtman. It is however very easily understood that this is not always done. And just as Parmenides and Plato, without thereby involving themselves in self-contradiction, regard the very universe, whose reality they deny, from that standpoint of experience which is natural to us all as though it were real; so we are not to discover a contradiction when the teachers of the Upanishads occasionally regard and treat the universe as real from the standpoint of realism, of avidyâ, where indeed we all begin and on which all practical living is based, so long as in the background of consciousness the conviction remains unmoved of the sole reality of the âtman, and thence determines, even if only tacitly, all the thoughts. Probably however a contradiction was introduced when and in proportion as the realistic view implanted in us all by the nature of our intellect so completely gained the upper hand that the fundamental conception of the Vedânta of the sole reality of the âtman became obscured by it. Wherever this occurs in the Upanishads the original standpoint of the Vedânta is abandoned, and another standpoint prevails, that of the later Sânkhya system, whose primary origin we shall have to look for in that realistic tendency of the mental constitution of man which can never be entirely suppressed, and whose origin and gradual accession of strength within the sphere of the Upanishad doctrine itself we shall have to consider and trace out in a later connection.

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¹ Bṛih. 4. 3. 23-30.

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² na iha nânâ asti kiñc'ana, Bṛih. 4. 4. 19, Kâṭh. 4. 10-11.

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³ Bṛih. 2. 4. 5.

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⁴ Bṛih. 2. 4. 7-9.

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⁵ Muṇḍ. 1. 1. 3.

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¹ Chând. 6. 1. 3–5.

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² Chând. 6. 4. 1–4.

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³ Chând. 6. 4. 5.

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⁴ Chând. 6. 4. 7.

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⁵ dvaitam iva, Bṛih. 2. 4. 14.

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⁶ Bṛih. 4. 3. 31.

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⁷ nânâ iva, Bṛih. 4. 4. 19, Kâṭh. 4. 10, 11.

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⁸ dhyáyati iva, leláyati iva, Bṛih. 4. 3. 7.

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For the moment however we turn aside from this, and hold fast to the pure and original Upanishad doctrine, that it is the standpoint of avidyâ which we take up when we proceed now to consider Brahman in his relations to the universe, (1) as the cosmical principle, (2) as the psychical principle, and (3) as a personal god (îśvara).

Cites (4)