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A Constructive Survey of Upanishadic Philosophy c6.s2: II—Abnormal Psychology

A Constructive Survey of Upanishadic Philosophy c6.s2

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English

II—Abnormal Psychology

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9. We now pass on to consider the aspects of Abnormal Psychology as developed in the Upanishads. The question as to what becomes of a man's soul after the death of the body recurs time after time in the Upanishads. Not content with a discussion of man's life here below, the seers of the Upanishads make the eschatological question assume quite an extraordinary importance. The question is very often asked—what must be considered the root of human life? "The tree, if hewn down, springs anew from the previous root; what must be the root of a man's life in order that it may spring up again, even though hewn down by (the great cutter) Death" (S. 9. a). It is supposed, moreover, that eschatological knowledge is the highest kind of knowledge. Let nobody call himself wise unless he knows what becomes of a man after death. It was thus that the Sage Jaivali accosted Śvetaketu, the son of Aruṇi, and proved to him that even though he reckoned himself wise, he was after all merely an ignoramus :— “ Boy, has your father instructed you ? ” “ Yes, Sir.” “ Do you know where all the creatures go to from hence ? ” “ No, Sir.” “ Do you know how they return again ? ” “ No, Sir.” “ Do you know where the path of the gods and the path of the fathers diverge ? ” “ No, Sir.” “ Do you know why that (the other) world never becomes too full ? ” “ No, Sir.” “ Then, why did you say that you had been instructed? How can a man, who does not know these (simple) things, say that he has been instructed ? ” (S. 9. b).

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10. The most important passage, however, where eschatological knowledge is regarded as the “ highest good ” occurs in the celebrated dialogue in the Kaṭha Upanishad between Nachiketas and Yama, the God of death, where Nachiketas, being offered three boons by Yama, and having chosen two already, declines to choose for the third boon anything short of the knowledge of the soul’s existence after the death of the human body:—

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N: “ There is this doubt in the case of a dead man; some say that he is, others say he is not. I would like to be instructed by thee in this matter. This do I choose for my third boon.”

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Y: “ Even the gods have formerly entertained doubt about this matter. Nor is this matter easy of comprehension, being a subtle one. Choose another boon, O Nachiketas, press me not, and let me alone on this point.”

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N: “ Verily, the gods themselves have entertained doubt about this matter; and thou hast thyself said that this matter passes comprehension. It is impossible for me to find another instructor in that subject beside thyself, nor do I find that any other boon would be equal to this.”

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Y; “ All those desires which are impossible to be satisfied in this world of mortals, ask me for them if you so wish : these damsels with chariots and musical instruments, such as are indeed impossible for men to obtain—be waited upon by these, which I shall present to you; but, Nachiketas, do not ask me about death.”

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N: “ All these, O God of death, are but ephemeral objects, and wear out the vigour of the senses. Moreover, life itself would be short (for their full enjoyment) ; keep them unto thyself—these horses, these dances, and these songs. What mortal would delight in a long life, after he has contemplated the pleasures which beauty and enjoyment afford? No. That which has become a matter of doubt and inquiry, O Death, speak to me about that great Hereafter. Nachiketas chooses no other boon than that which concerns this great secret.” (S. 9. c).

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11. After the question of the nature of death, comes the question of the nature of sleep, which is only a palliated form of death. On this subject we find very interesting theories advanced by those seers of antiquity. One passage proclaims unmistakably an explanation of the nature of sleep given by modern physiology—the ‘Fatigue’ theory of sleep: “As a falcon or any other bird, after having flown in the sky, becomes tired; and folding his wings repairs to his nest, so does this person hasten to that state where, when asleep, he desires no more desires, and dreams no more dreams.” (S. 10). But beyond

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**The problem of Sleep:** **the Fatigue and Puri-** **tat theories.**

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this proper physiological explanation of sleep, we find very curious theories held on this point by the sages of the Upanishads. The seer of the Praśna Upanishad holds that sleep is caused by the senses being absorbed in that highest ‘sensorium,’ the mind: “as all the rays of the Sun, O Gārgya, become collected into the bright disc at the time of sunset, and emerge again from it at the time of sunrise, so do all the senses become collected into that highest sensorium—the mind: that is the reason why (in deep sleep) man is not able to hear, nor to see, nor to smell. People say about him that he has slept.” (S. II. a). This same seer qualifies his statement a little further, and says that the reason of the deep sleep is that the mind is merged into an ocean of light: “and when he is overpowered by light, then does this god (Soul) see no dreams, and at that time great happiness arises in the body.” (S. II. b). Another theory which is advanced in the Chhāndogya Upanishad is, that sleep is caused by the soul getting lodgment in the arteries: “When a man is fast asleep, and being happy knows no dreams, then his soul has moved in the arteries.” (S. II. c). This same idea is elaborated in the Bṛihadāraṇyaka Upanishad, where a physiological explanation, which in the light of modern science appears almost a mythological explanation, is offered according to the ancient ideas. It was imagined that the heart sent forth about 72,000 arteries to the ‘Purītat’, which Deussen translates as ‘perikardium’, and which Max Müller, following the commentator, wrongly translates by ‘the surrounding body’. This Purītat corresponds to the pineal gland of Descartes, so far as function is concerned; but it differs from it in its anatomical location. The Purītat must be considered as meaning a kind of membraneous sac round the heart. It was imagined by those ancient seers, that in deep sleep the soul moved from the heart by means of the arteries and got lodgment inside the Purītat, whence sleep followed. This same idea was later developed in the Nyāya philosophy where sleep was explained as being due to the moving of the soul right inside the Purītat, the state of dream being explained as due to the soul's position just on the threshold of the Purītat—the soul knocking for entrance inside it,—while it was imagined that during the waking state the soul kept moving from the heart to the Purītat. The origin of this doctrine in the Nyāya philosophy is to be traced to the passage in the Bṛihadāraṇyaka which we are at present discussing: "When a man is fast asleep and when he is not conscious of anything, his soul moves by means of the arteries, called Hitāḥ, which are 72,000 in number, and which are spread from the heart to the Purītat; there he sleeps like a youth, or a great king, or a great Brahmin who has reached the summit of happiness." (S. II. d).

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12. Another explanation of the phenomenon of sleep is offered by the seer of the Chhāndogya Upanishad when he says that sleep occurs when the mind is merged in Prāṇa, that is breath or energy: "As a bird when tied by a string flies first in every direction, and finding no rest anywhere, settles down at last on the very spot where it is fastened, exactly in the same manner, my Son, the mind, after flying in every direction, and finding no rest anywhere, settles down on breath; for indeed, my Son, mind is fastened to breath" (S. II. e). The next explanation of sleep occurs in the Bṛihadāraṇyaka Upanishad where we are told

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**The problem of sleep:** **the Prana and Brah-** **man theories.**

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that sleep occurs when the soul goes to rest in the ‘space’ inside the heart. In order to prove this to Gārgya an experimental inquiry was undertaken by Ajātaśatru. He took Gārgya by the hand and came to a place where a man was sleeping. He then called out to him by these names, “Thou, Great one, clad in white raiment, Soma, King of all”, and (yet) he did not rise. Then he rubbed him with his hand, (struck him with a stick—Kau.,) and he got up. Then said Ajātaśatru “when this man was asleep, where then was this Person full of intelligence, and from whence did he return?” Gārgya did not know the answer. Thereupon, Ajātaśatru said “when this man was asleep, then the Person full of intelligence (i.e. the Soul) lay in the space which is in the heart.” (S. II. f). The last explanation offered of the phenomenon of sleep is the very curious explanation, that, in deep sleep, the Soul is at one with Brahman! This is like saying that when one has no explanation to give, one might excuse himself with the Absolute! A passage from the Praśna Upanishad, again, tells us that in deep sleep “the mind, which is the sacrificer, is carried every day to Brahman,” which is corroborated by another passage from the Chhāndogya, which says “when a man sleeps, then, my dear son, he becomes united with the True, he is gone to his own (Self). Therefore they say, ‘svapiti’, he sleeps, because he is gone (apīta) to his own (sva).” (S. II. g). The idea was that in deep sleep the Soul was at one with Brahman, and thus deep sleep was likened to the state of ecstasy. There is, in fact, as much likeness, or as little, between sleep and ecstasy, as there is, as Spinoza would have said, between God and Dog : the same letters, but what an important difference! It seems that this difference was later appreciated even in the Upanishads when it was said that even though the soul was at one with Brahman in deep sleep, it still did not know this, was not cognisant of it: "as people, who do not know a field, walk again and again over a golden treasure that is hidden somewhere in the earth, and yet are not able to discover it, thus do all these creatures day after day become merged in Brahman, and yet do not discover it, because they are carried away by untruth." (S. 11. h).

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13. The next question to consider is the analysis which the Upanishadic philosophers make of the dream-state of consciousness in reference to the state of sleep. A famous passage in the Bṛihadāraṇyaka Upanishad tells us how, at the end of sleep, the soul "moves away from his nest" wherever he likes; "guarding with breath the lower nest, the immortal one moves away from his nest, to where he can roam at will—That golden person, the lovely bird! Going hither and thither at the end of sleep, the God creates manifold forms for himself, either rejoicing with women, or eating, or seeing terrible sights." (S. 12. a). The same passage tells us how the states of sleep and dream constitute an intermediate state between consciousness and unconsciousness: "there are two states for that person, the one here in this world, the other in the other world, and there is an intermediate third state (which we may call the twilight state of consciousness), consisting of the states of dream and sleep; remaining in this third state, he sees both those states which belong to this and the other world." We are also told how the soul in this state resembles a fish moving from bank to bank: "as a large fish moves along both the banks, the nearer and the farther, so does this person move along both these states, the state of sleeping and the state of waking.” And it is also said how the soul puts forth a great deal of creative activity in this state: “And there are no chariots, nor horses, nor any roads, but he himself creates the chariots and the horses and the roads; there are no joys, nor pleasures, nor any blessings, but he creates the joys and the pleasures and the blessings; there are no ponds, or lakes, or rivers, but he creates the ponds and the lakes and the rivers—because he is indeed the Maker.” We see here what a great stress is laid on the constructive activity of the soul in the state of dream. Finally, we are told in a passage of the Praśna Upanishad, how dreams, even though they are usually a mere replica of actual waking experience, also occasionally involve absolutely novel construction; “There that god experiences greatness in sleep. What is seen over and over again, he sees once more (in the dream); what is heard over and over again, he hears once again (in the dream)...... ...What is seen and not seen, what is heard and not heard, what is enjoyed and not enjoyed, he experiences all, because he is the All.” (S. 12. b). This must indeed be regarded as a very subtle analysis of dream-experience.

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14. As the Upanishadic philosophers made this acute study of the sleeping and dreaming states of consciousness, they were not slow to take into account the aberrations of consciousness as manifested especially in the phenomena of mediumships and possessions. If we might say so, they conducted their own psychical research, however rudimentary, and however noiseless, it might have been. We have a definite illustration of this kind to show that the problem of psychical research had attracted their

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Early psychical research.

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attention even in those old days. For example, we are informed in a passage of the Bṛihadāraṇyaka Upanishad (S. 13) how the sage Bhujyu, the son of Lāhyāyana, in his student days, went to the Madra country and came to the house of Patañchala, the son of Kapi. This Patañchala had a daughter who was possessed by a Gandharva, an aerial spirit, and who thus served as a medium. Bhujyu asked the spirit who he (the spirit) was, and received the answer that he was Sudhanvan, the son of Aṅgiras. On knowing this, Bhujyu asked the spirit two more questions: one was as to the actual extent of the world, and the other as to where the sons of Parīkshit were, who, by the bye, at that time, must have been regarded as historical personages. What answer Bhujyu received to these questions we are not told; but we see definitely how Bhujyu must, on account of these questions, be regarded as an occultist who worked according to his own lights in his days on the lines of modern Psychical Research.

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15. Finally, we must notice the very great stress that is laid in various passages of the Upanishads on what the New Psychology calls "Thought-power". "He who knows and meditates on the foot of Brahman, consisting of the four quarters as resplendent, becomes (himself) endowed with splendour in this world;" "he who meditates on the Brahman as lustre becomes himself illustrious, reaches the illustrious and bright worlds;" "when the Sun was born, all sorts of shouts rose round about him......; he who knows this, and meditates on the Sun as Brahman, him shall reach pleasant shouts from all sides, and shall continue, yea, shall continue;" "if one meditates on Brahman as support, he himself will find support; if as greatness, he himself will become great ; if as mind, he himself will receive honour ; if as the *parimara* of Brahman, round about (*pari*) him shall die (*mṛi*) all the enemies who hate him ”; and lastly “ he who meditates on Brahman as Not-Being, shall himself cease to exist ; he, on the other hand, who will meditate on Brahman as Being shall (always) exist ; this is what they know” (S. 14). We recommend these passages to all those who believe in the thaumaturgy of thought.

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