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The System of the Vedanta according to Badarayana's Brahma-Sutras and Cankara's Commentary c10.s5: XXXIX. The Passing of the Pious to Brahman

The System of the Vedânta according to Bâdarâyana's Brahma-Sûtras and Çankara's Commentary c10.s5

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XXXIX. The Passing of the Pious to Brahman

1. The Characteristics of the Pious

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In the Doctrine of the Five Fires (chapter XXX), a distinction is drawn between those who perform pious works and thereby are led along the *Pitṛyâna* to their reward in the beyond and then to a new life upon earth, and those "who know this, and those others who in the forest practise Faith and Penance (Brih.: Truth);" these latter ascend upward upon the *Devayâna* and enter into Brahman, whence there is no return (above p. 363).—Obviously, in the belief of the original authors of the doctrine entering into Brahman was the highest goal of man. This it could no longer remain when once on the basis of passages like Brih. 4, 4. 6 (above p. 427) which from their position appear older and from their stage of development more recent than the doctrine of the five fires, the esoteric doctrine had been reached, according to which Brahman is without attributes (*nirguṇam*), empirical reality together with *Saṃsâra* an illusion, and the individual soul is completely identical with the highest. From this standpoint there could no longer be any question of a passing of the soul into Brahman, but only a knowledge of its identity therewith, in which knowledge, as we saw, liberation consists. In contrast with this liberation in the strict esoteric sense of the word, there now appeared, as a lower form, the exoteric union with the attribute-possessing (*saguṇam*) Brahman, attainable upon the *Devayâna* by entering into Brahman, and it was therefore termed *Kramamukti*, that is, "progressive liberation" or "gradual liberation" (above p. 398); as the former, esoteric liberation is the fruit of the *Paravidyâ*, that is, of Samyagdarçanam, so Kramamukti forms the reward of the Aparavidyâ, that is, of the knowledge of saguṇam brahma, of Brahman as, clothed with attributes, it usually appears personified as God (īçvara) and is accordingly the object of worship (upâsanâ) for the pious.

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“The passing [to Brahman],” says Çaṅkara, p. 909, 7, “has a purpose only in the worship through attributes, as for instance in the teaching concerning the throne (Kaush. 1), in which the ascent to the throne, the conversation with Brahman seated on the throne, the attainment of various sweet odours etc., is described, in short, various rewards, which imply motion in space. Here a passing is in place; but no such goal can be admitted in the case of Samyagdarçanam. For there is nothing more to expect for those who, knowing their unity with Âtman, have already obtained their desire here and have burnt up the seed of all troubles without leaving a residue, except the consumption of the sum of works whose retribution has already begun, and thus a passing is purposeless, just as in life the traveller, on arriving in a village, enquires about his further journey [but not one who has reached his journey’s end, and as the sick man has recourse to medicine] but not he who has attained health. And so a passing has its purpose in the Saguṇâ Vidyâḥ, but none in the Nirguṇâ Paramâtma-vidyâ.”

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It is true, it is said further, that the Devayâna is only mentioned in certain Saguṇâ Vidyâḥ, as in the Paryaṅkavidyâ (Kaush. 1), Pañcâgnividyâ (Bṛih. 6, 2. Chând. 5, 3—10, above p. 362), Upakosalavidyâ (Chând. 4, 10—15, above p. 166), Daharavidyâ (Chând. 8, 1—6, above p. 162); in others again not, as in the Madhuvidyâ (Bṛih. 2, 5 or Chând. 3, 1—11), Çâṇḍilyavidyâ (Chând. 3, 14, above p. 152), Shoḍaçakulavidyâ (Praçna 6, above p. 429), Vaiçvânaravidyâ (Chând. 5, 11—24, above p. 156); “yet the path named Devayâna is equally valid in all the Saguṇâ Vidyâḥ, as they have as their fruit the attainment of ascent.¹³⁸

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¹³⁸ abhyudaya, which therefore here (p. 911, 3) denotes the Kramamukti on the Devayâna path, while in all other passages where the word occurs (p. 26, 2. 112, 5. 203, 5. 352, 4. 396, 7. 754, 1. 858, 4. 7. 1073, 11.

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If we look at the connection of our system as a whole, without letting ourselves be misled by isolated contradictions, we have, as is well known, in the first place two doctrines of Brahman, the esoteric, philosophical (*paravidyâ*) and the exoteric, theological (*aparavidyâ*); and, corresponding to these, two paths to liberation; the one, upon which the Sage, possessing *Samyagdarçanam*, attains the goal, we have already become acquainted with; it consists in the consciousness of identity with Brahman and in the unreality of all plurality; the other, exoteric path of *Kramamukti* is for all such as, while they do not cling to the service of works belonging to the old Vedic gods but to the doctrine of Brahman, are yet unable to see through this unreality of the phenomenal world; and consequently know Brahman, not as the Self within themselves, but as the Godhead opposed to themselves and accordingly worship Brahman in pious meditation. (By worship is in general to be understood "that which produces an "increase of faith accompanied by awe;" p. 1071, 4. 10: *upâsanam nâma sa-mâna-pratyaya-pravâha-karaṇam*). Still all worship of the conditioned Brahman has not *Kramamukti* as its fruit, but according to p. 112, 5 part *Kramamukti* part *Abhyudaya* (note 138), part the success of sacrifice; according to p. 815, 5 part *Kramamukti*, part *Aiçvaryam* (note 138), part annihilation of sins; according to 4, 1, 4, p. 1061, the

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1099, 1), the temporary felicity of the *Pitṛyâna* is to be understood by it, either with certainty or probability in all. With similar inconsistency it is maintained on p. 148, 5, that the fruit of the *Saguṇa Vidyâḥ* is limited to *Saṃsâra*; and similarly on p. 1133, 14 that *Aiçvaryam* (*Chând*. 8, 2, 1) is a *saṃsâragocaram eva phalam*, just as on p. 815, 5 this very *Aiçvaryam* is opposed to the *Kramamukti*, of which, as we shall see in chapter XI., it forms an integral part.—The same inconsistency, depending upon imperfect revision, of the entire *Kramamukti* of the *Devayâna* expresses itself finally in the fact that exoteric knowledge is sometimes reckoned as *Vidyâ*, and sometimes as *Avidyâ*. Thus the exoteric knower is repeatedly called, in the description of the *Devayâna*, "vidvân" (p. 1095, 11. 1134, 11), while on p. 1095, 15 it is said of him, that he has not completely burnt up *Avidyâ*; p. 1133, 15: *anivartitatvâd avidyâyâḥ*; p. 804, 1: the *Upâdhis* through which Brahman becomes *saguṇam brahma* are said to be *avidyâ-pratyupasthâpita*.

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worship of Brahman under any symbol (pratīkam), for example, as Manas, Âkâça, Sun, Name, etc., does not lead to the knowledge of Âtman, and according to 4, 3, 15—16 these worshippers of symbols do not attain the world of Brahman (p. 1135, 1), but receive as recompense the reward attributed to each symbol in Chând. 7, 2, 14. With the exception of these worshippers of symbols, all worshippers of the lower Brahman enter into Him upon the Devayâna, according to Bâdarâyaṇa, whose authority is here expressly invoked (p. 1134, 9. 1135, 1).

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Besides these exoteric possessors of knowledge and worshippers occupy a middle position between the possessors of perfect knowledge and the performers of works; according to p. 1082, 11 they have not as yet passed beyond the sphere of actions and are therefore further bound to works; according to p. 1047, 10 their worship admits of a more and a less and thereby conditions various fruits; according to p. 1077, 8 the law (vidhânam) still subsists for them, and as reward for its fulfilment, lordship [of the world of Brahman] awaits them and freedom from evil.—

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A more sharply defined conception of the nature of the worshipper of the lower Brahman is not to be obtained from the available materials. We now turn to the consideration of the fate which awaits him after death.

2. The Departure of the Soul of the Pious

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Just as in the case of the performer of works, so too in that of the pious, when he dies, the Indriyas enter into Manas, Manas into Prâṇa, Prâṇa into the individual Soul, which, clothed in the subtle body, withdraws itself into the heart, the point of which becomes luminous, to light up the road. But now comes the parting of the ways; of the 101 chief arteries of the body, 100 serve to lead forth the souls of the performers of works from the body in all directions and to cause them to enter upon the Pitṛiyâna; the (exoteric) knower, on the contrary, rises by the 101st artery (note 130) to the head, whence he enters upon the Devayâna. (For details see above chapter XXXI, 2, 3, 5.)

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For this artery and the Sun are according to Chând. 8, 6, 2. (above p. 162), constantly connected by a ray (raçmi), “as “two villages are by a road” and by this the knower ascends (p. 1105, 12). Whether it is day or night when he dies, is all the same, since this connection of the artery with the ray persists as long as the body (p. 1106, 7). And that this ray is present even at night, can be perceived by the fact that in summer it is warm at night also; at other seasons it is less noticeable because the rays are too weak (p. 1106, 12). Were the ray not present at night one would have to assume either that the knower can ascend even without a ray,—in that case the ray would be altogether superfluous,—or that some of the knowers, those, namely, who die at night time, do not ascend at all, whereby the fruit of knowledge would become conditional (pâkshika); which cannot be admitted (p. 1107, 1. 4). And further it cannot be assumed that he who dies at night awaits the return of day, because by then, as the body is burnt in the meanwhile, there may no longer be any body capable of connection with the ray (p. 1107, 6; whence it seems to follow that the burning of bodies followed quickly upon the occurrence of death; cf. the note above p. 352).

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On the same grounds (because waiting is impossible, because the fruit of knowledge cannot be conditional, and because the time of death is not determined) we must assume, that the knower, even if he dies during the period when the days are decreasing, reaches the goal; and when the Smriti (Bhagavadgîtâ 8, 23 ff.) teaches that only those who die in the daytime and in the half-year in which the days increase, do not return, it is to be noted that this refers only to the followers of Yoga (above p. 19), and, since it rests only on the Smriti, this has no validity in a doctrine founded on the Çruti (p. 1108, 13).

3. Stages on the Path of the Gods

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The Devayâna, which leads the pious after death to Brahman, has a series of stages, which are differently given in the different accounts. Thus in Chând. 8, 6, 5 (above p. 162) all that is said is that the Soul ascends from the artery to the sun by a ray (raçmi), while on the other hand Chând. 5, 10, 1 (above p. 362) as also previously Chând. 4, 15, 5 (above p. 166) the following stages are given: 1. Flame (arcis), 2. the Day, 3. the half-month in which the moon increases, 4. the half-year in which the days increase, 5. the Year, 6. the Sun, 7. the Moon, 8. Lightning, 9. Brahman.—With this agrees the parallel passage Bṛih. 6, 2, 15 (above p. 363), only that no. 5 is not "the year" but "the world of the Gods," and no. 7 "the moon" is wanting.—On the other hand we find Kaush. 1, 3, as stages of the Devayâna quite different ones named: 1. Agniloka, 2. Vâyuloka, 3. Varuṇaloka, 4. Indraloka, 5. Prajâpatiloka, 6. Brahmaloka.

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In view of these contradictions Çaṅkara (p. 1110 ff.) insists on the fact that there is only one Devayâna, and consequently that one must combine the different accounts. How in so doing he pictures the relation between the "ray," which in Chând. 8, 6, 5 connects the artery and the sun, and the stages 1—5, which according to Chând. 5, 10, 1 lead to the sun, is not clear from his remark p. 1112, 7, that both are not mutually exclusive; he further identifies "the Flame" Chând. 5, 10, 1 with Agniloka Kaush. 1, 3, inserts Vâyuloka Kaush. 1, 3 between "Year" and "Sun" Chând. 5, 10, 1, and then again Devaloka Bṛih. 6, 2, 15 between "Year" and Vâyuloka, and likewise finally Varuṇaloka, Indraloka, Prajâpatiloka from Kaush. 1, 3 between "Lightning" and "Brahman" Chând. 5, 10 (p. 1113 ff.). We thus get the following order of the stages of the Devayâna: 1. The Flame = Agniloka, 2. the Day, 3. the Fortnight in which the moon increases, 4. the Half-year in which the days increase, 5. the Year, 6. the World of the Gods, 7. Vâyuloka, 8. the Sun, 9. the Moon, 10. Lightning, 11. Varuṇaloka, 12. Indraloka, 13. Prajâpatiloka, 14. Brahman.

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Now what meaning have these stages for the ascending Soul? Are they sign-posts or places of enjoyment? To this must be answered: they are neither one nor the other, but guides who conduct the Soul to Brahman. For after the Soul has reached the Lightning, it is said (above pp. 166. 363) "there indeed is a man (spirit), who is not as a human being, “he leads it to Brahman;” whence it is to be inferred that the preceding spirits: Flame etc. are of human nature (p. 1117, 6). For the Soul, in this condition, when all its organs are drawn in, is in need of guidance, somewhat like a drunken man or one whose senses are confused; this guidance is undertaken by the Flame, the Day etc.; wherefore we must understand by them not the natural phenomena which serve as signposts, for they would be incapable of leading him, but the Gods presiding over them; and also for the reason that Flame, Day, etc., are not always present, and waiting is impossible, as we saw (above p. 440). For the same reason too the stages named are not places of enjoyment for the Soul, as the designation *Loka* (world, place of enjoyment) might seem to indicate; to other Souls which dwell in them, they may serve as such places of enjoyment, but the Soul which is ascending through them is deprived of its organs and hence not capable of enjoying (p. 1118). After the Soul has come to the Lightning, it is led onwards by the “man who is not like a human “being” into Brahman, through *Varuṇaloka*, *Indraloka*, *Prajāpatiloka*; these are in some way or other helpful, either by removing obstacles, or by some other assistance (p. 1119).

4. Brahman as Goal of the Path

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After the description of the *Devayāna* in *Bṛh.* 6, 2, it is said in conclusion: “there in the worlds of Brahman they “dwell far away; for such there is no return.” – Which Brahman are we to understand here, the real uncreated, highest Brahman as such, or the created (*kāryam*), lower, attribute-possessing Brahman (p. 1119, 10)?

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To this *Bādari* replies that the highest Brahman cannot be meant, because an entering into it is impossible, since it is omnipresent and is the inner Soul of him who goes (p. 1120, 1), because the plural “the worlds of Brahman” indicates plurality, which does not pertain to the highest Brahman, and because the expression “World” (*loka*) denotes a place of enjoyment, into which one enters, and therefore something changeable (p. 1120, 7). But this place is termed Brahman because of its near relationship to Brahman; "for the highest Brahman becomes the lower Brahman (p. 1121, 2), through association with pure determinations (*viçuddha-upādhi-sambandhāt*), when one conceives of it, for the purpose of worship, as connected with certain qualities of the created Brahman as 'Manas is its substance'" (*Chând*. 3, 14, 2, above p. 152) etc. (p. 1121, 2). Like all that is created, the world of the lower Brahman perishes at last, but by then its inhabitants have attained *Samyagdarçanam*, and thus they then enter, together with *Hiranyagarbha*, the ruler of the world of Brahman, into the highest, perfectly pure (*pariçuddha*) Brahman, "that highest seat of *Vishnu*" (*Kâth*. 3, 9); this is the *Krama-mukti*, of which the *Smriti* says:—

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"After the world's deliverance has come,
"And with it God's; in union with him,
"All pious folk, attaining Selfhood go
"With him into the fields of perfect bliss."

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With this interpretation of *Bādari* is contrasted, in what follows (p. 4, 3, 12—14) that of *Jaimini*, who insists that not the lower, but the higher Brahman is to be understood, whence it seems to follow that he did not go beyond the doctrine of the Five Fires and hence did not recognise at all the esoteric metaphysics of the Vedânta. "Several" adhered according to p. 1124, 9 to this view of *Jaimini*, among them probably the compiler of the *Brahmasûtras* (above p. 24) as he otherwise would probably not have left to *Jaimini* the last word on a question so vitally important for the system. This deviation on the fact of a portion of the Vedânta school gives *Çankara* occasion for the beautiful digression p. 1124—1134, which we have translated in full above p. 109—115 and in which the esoteric metaphysics of the Vedânta find clearer expression than anywhere else.

Cites (6)