Ranade: The Doctrine of Maya in the Upanishads

A Constructive Survey Of Upanishadic Philosophy: Being An Introduction To The Thought Of The Upanishads by R.D. Ranade. This is from p 163-165. Here is a link.

As we have said, we shall examine the ideas instead of words in the Upanishads, and see whether the traces of Maya doctrine cannot be found in them. The Isopanishad tells us that truth is veiled in this universe by a vessel of gold, and it invokes the grace of God to lift up the golden vessel and allow the truth to be seen [Is. 15]. The veil that covers the truth is here described as golden, as being so rich, gaudy, and dazzling that it takes away the mind of the observer from the inner contents, the rivets it upon itself. Let us not be dazzled by the appearance of gold, says the Upanishad, everything that glitters is not gold. Let us penetrate deeper and see the reality that lies ensconced in it. We have thus, first, the conception of a veil which prevents the truth from being seen at first glance. Then, again, we have another image in the Kathopanishad of how people living in ignorance, and thinking themselves to be wise, move about wandering, like blind men following the blind, in search of reality, which they would have easily seen had they lodged themselves in knowledge instead of ignorance [Ka 1.2(4,5)]. We have here the conception of blindfoldness, and we are told that we deliberately shut our eyes to the truth before us. Then, thirdly, ignorance is compared in the Mundakopanishad to a knot which a man has to untie before he gets possesstion of the Self in the recess of his heart [Mu. 2.1.10]. Fourthly, the Chandogyopanishad tells us how knowledge is power, and ignorance is impotence [Ch. 1.1.10]. We, who are moving in this world without having attained to the knowledge of the Atman, are exhibiting at every stage the power of impotence that lies in us. Not unless we have attained to the knowledge of Atman can we be said to have attained power. Then, fifthly, the famous prayer in the Brihadaranyaka, in which a devotee is praying to God to carry him from Not-Being to Being, from Darkness to Light, from Death to Immortality, merely voices the sentiment of the spiritual aspirant who wishes to rid himself of the power of Evil over him. Unreality is here compared to Non-being, to Darkness, or to Death [Br. 1.3.28]. The Kathopanishad declares that Sages never find reality and certainty in the unrealities and uncertainties of this world [Ka. 2.4.2]. Maya is described as an adhurava -- an unreality, or an Uncertainty. The Changogya again tells us that a cover of Untruth hides the ultimate Truth from us, just as the surface of the earth hides from us the golden treasure that is hidden inside it. We, who unconsciously move to the region of Truth, day after day, do yet labour under the power of Untruth for we do not know the Atman. This Atman is verily inside the hearts. It is only he, who reaches Him everyday, that is able to transcend the phenomenal world [Ch. 8.3(1-3)]. Maya is here compared to an untruth, an "anrita". Then again, the Prashnopanishad tells us that we cannot reach the world of Brahman unless we have shaken off the crookedness in us, the falsehood in us, the illusion (Maya) in us [Pr. 1.16]. It is important to remember that the word Maya is directly used in this passage, and almost in the sense of illusion. In the same sense is the word maya used in Svetasvarata where we are told that it only by meditation upon God, by union with Him, and by entering into He being, that at the end there there is the cessation of the great world-illusion [Sh. 1.10]. Here again, as before, the word Maya can mean nothing but ilusion. It must be remembered, however, that the word Maya was used so far back as at the time of the Rigveda in a passage, which is quoted by the Brihadaranyaka, where Indra is declared to have assumed many shapes by his Maya [Br. 2.5.19 and RV. 6.47.18]. There apparently, the word Maya meant "power" instead of "illusion" -- a sense in which Shvetashvatara later uses it, when it describes its God as a Mayin, a magician, a powerful Being who creates this world by his powers while the other, namely, the individual soul is bound again by Maya [Sh. 4.9]. Here is must be remembered that there is yet no distinction drawn, as in later Vedantic philosophy, between Maya that envelops Ishvara and the Avidya that envelops Jiva: for both, the generic word Maya is used, and in the passage under consideration, it means only "power", almost in the same sense which Kuno Fisher gives to the "attributes" of Spinoza. Then again, in the Shvetashvatara, Maya is once more identified with Prakriti [Sh. 4.10], a usage which prevailed very much later, as may be seen from the way in which even the author of Kusumanjali had no objection in in identifying the two even for his theistic purpose. The Shvetashvatara also contains passages which describe the Godhead as spreading his meshes and making them manifold that he catches all the beings of the universe in them, and rules over them [Sh. 3.1, Sh. 5.3]. Here we have the conception of a net of meshes inside which all beings are entangled. Then again, a famous passage from Brihadaranyaka, which we have already considered, which speaks of "as if there were duality", implying thereby that there really is no duality, signifies the identification of Maya with a semblance, as-it-were, an appearance [Br. 2.4.14]. Finally, in that celebrated conversation between Shetaketu and Aruni which we have also had the occasion to consider, we are told that everything besides the Atman is merely a word, a mode and a name [Ch. 6.1.4]. We thus see from an examination of various passages in the Upanishads that even though the word Maya may not have been used for many times in the Upanishads, still the conception that underlies Maya is already present there and even though we do not find there the full-fledged doctrine of illusion in its philosophical aspects as in Gaudapada and later writers, still we do find in the Upanishads all the material that may have easily led Shankara to elaborate a theory of Maya out of it. When we consider that we have the conceptions of a veil, of blind-foldness, of a knot, of ignorance, of not-being, of darkness, of death, of unreality and uncertainty, of untruth, of crookedness, and falsehood and illusion, of the power of God, of this power as identical with nature, of meshes, of semblance, an as-it-were an appearance, and finally, of a word, a mode and a name, let no man stand up and say that we do not find the traces of the doctrine of Maya in the Upanishads!


Also, must read is this article, titled "Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads" (posted by Shri Ram Chandranji). Read the rest of this entry >>

Dhyana Gita 12: Lord's Assurance

1. Crossing the ocean of calamities: If you firmly fix your mind in Me you will, through My grace, be saved from all calamities [18(57,58)].
   
   
2. Compulsion of Nature: Nature will overpower you and compel you to perform action, in spite of your wish to the contrary [18(59,60)].
   
   
3. Whirling of God's wheel of illusion: Submit with all your being to the Lord, who resides in all beings and whirls them all with his mysterious power [18(61,62)].
   
   
4. Self-surrender: If you surrender all your duties and seek refuge in Me, with all your being, I shall free you from all sins [18(65,66)].
   
   
5. Devotion in the form of imparting the supreme spirit: If you import this Supreme Secret to My devotees, you will be the dearest of all, both in the past as well as in the present [18(68,69)].
   
   
6. Submission of Arjuna: Arjuna's promise to act up to the advise of Sri Krishna [18(72,73)].
   
   
7. A thrilling dialogue: Who will not be filled with wonder and joy, by hearing this thrilling dialogue and seeing this supremely marvelous Form of God? [18(74,76,77)].
   
   
8. Attainment of Victory and Prosperity: Victory and prosperity will surely be there where Krishna -- the Lord of Yoga and Arjuna -- the great archer are present [18(78)].
   
   

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Dhyana Gita 11: Cosmic Vision

1. Longing for the Vision of the Form: Arjuna's longing to see the real form of God [11(3-4)].
   
   
2. Gift of divine vision: God's form cannot be seen without divine vision [11(5-8)].
   
   
3. Vision of the divine form: Supremely wonderful and Lustrous Universal form of God [11(9-12)].
   
   
4. Terrible and marvelous sentiment: The description of the Cosmic form made by Arjuna, full of terrible and marvelous sentiment [11(15-31)].
   
   
5. Slain already: God is all-powerful; He has slain the heroes of the enemy already [11(32-34)].
   
   
6. Mingling of joy and fear: Mingling of joy and fear in the heart of Arjuna [11(45)].
   
   
7. Entrance into the universal form: It is only through single-minded devotion that devotees like Arjuna can enter into the Universal Form of the Lord [11(47,48), 11(53,54)].
   
   

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Dhyana Gita 10: Yoga of Devotion

1. Nature of worship:
   
   
   
   1. The worship of the unmanifested is very troublesome [12(1-5)].
      
   2. Those who work for me and meditate on Me with single-minded devotion will soon be taken by Me across the ocean of worldly existence [12(6,7)].
      
   
   
   
2. Crossing the cosmic illusion:
   
   
   
   1. Absolute surrender to Me alone is the means of crossing my Maya (Illusion) consisting of three Gunas [7(13,14)].
      
   2. Several persons have become one with Me till now, by giving up passion, fear, and anger, by purifying themselves through the penance of knowledge and by taking refuge in Me [4(10)].
      
   3. The wicked cannot surrender to Me [7(15)].
      
   4. Only those in whose sin has vanished is born devotion for Me [7(28)].
      
   5. Even a vile man endowed with intense devotion and right resolve, can become Sage [9(30,31)].
      
   6. My devotees belonging to any race, caste, class and class, are equally dear to Me [9(32,33)].
      
   7. Persons desperately calling on Me for liberation from old-age and death, can alone realize Me [7(29)].
      
   
   
   
3. Joy from glorification of God:
   
   
   
   1. Those persons are the great souls, who know Me to be the source of all beings and constantly glorify Me with an undistracted mind [9(13,14)].
      
   2. He who always meditates on Me with an undivided mind, can attain Me quite easily [8(14)].
      
   3. Knowing that I am the origin of all, they are filled with devotion and with their minds fixed on Me, they are absorbed in one anothers' bliss [10(8-9)].
      
   
   
   
4. Union of God and devotee:
   
   
   
   1. To such a devout Yogi I show the path of intellect -- I give a particular bent to his intellect and volition and with the object of showing compassion, enkindle the lamp of Atman before him [10(10,11)].
      
   2. I bear the burden of acquisition and preservation of those who worship Me with constancy and single-mindedness [9(12)].
      
   
   
   
5. The devotee is the crest-jewel of the wise:
   
   
   
   1. Of the four types of devotees, the realized devotee who worships Me with one-pointed devotion, is the best [7(16-18)].
      
   2. The realized devotee visualizes the whole world as God [7(19)].
      
   
   
   
6. Entrance into God:
   
   
   
   1. If you place your mind and intellect in Me, you will have residence in Me alone [12(8)].
      
   2. After the seeker realizes My nature through intense morality, meditation and supreme devotion, he can get entrance into Me [18(51-55)].
      
   
   
   

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Dhyana Gita 9: Yoga of Meditation

1. Synthesis of the four paths: Meditation, Knowledge, Action and Devotion -- these are the four paths leading to God [13(24-25)].
   
   
2. Steadiness of Posture: The Yogi who sits in a steady posture in solitude and worships Me with a fixed mind, attains the supreme peace and bliss of Mine [6(10),6(11-15)].
   
   
3. Restraints and regulations:
   
   
   
   1. Practice and dispassion: Restraint of the supremely fickle mind is impossible without practice of dispassion [6(33-36)].
      
   2. The fire of self-control: Some offer the objects as oblations in the fire of senses and others offer senses and oblations in the fire of self-control [4(26,27)].
      
   3. Temperate food, sleep and recreation: He alone who is temperate in his food , sleep and recreation, can accomplish Yoga [6(16,17)].
      
   4. Equality of happiness and sorrow: The yogi who regards cold and heat, pleasure and pain, friend and foe alike, finds God to be quite in his vicinity [6(7-9)].
      
   5. Disgust: Let your mind feel disgusted for what is heard (or seen) and what is to be heard (or seen), and remains steady in Samadhi [2(52-53)].
      
   
   
   
4. Equality of inhalation and exhalation: A steady gaze at the middle of the eye-brows, equality of Prana and Apana, Restraints and Regulations, and Passionate devotion for the Lord -- these are the means of Liberation [5(27-28)].
   
   
5. Withdrawal, concentration and meditation: Through utter disgust (for the world) we should gradually turn our mind away from desires and make it steady in the Atman [6(23-26)].
   
   
6. The Lamp of Samadhi: He may be called a Yogi, whose mind remains steady in the Atman like a lamp undisturbed by the wind [6(19)].
   
   
7. Vision of the Atman: Realization of the Atman [6(20)].
   
   
8. Bliss is Brahman:
   
   
   
   1. The supreme bliss which a Yogi attains through the vision of the Atman, cannot be dislodged from him even by a stupendous sorrow [6(21,22)].
      
   2. The supreme Bliss enjoyed by a Yogi means Self-realization [6(27,28)].
      
   
   
   
9. Attainment of the bliss of Brahman everywhere: Brahman hovers about one who has experienced the bliss of Aman within [5(24-26)].
   
   
10. Vision of God everywhere: Such a Yogi experiences the Vision of Equality in both the ways [6(29-32)].
    
    
11. Combination of Yoga and Devotion: A yogi is superior to a man of knowledge as well a man of action; and a Yogi full of devotion is superior to all other Yogis [6(46,47)].
    

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Dhyana Gita 8: Yoga of Knowledge

1. Annihilation of Action:
   
   
   
   1. What is the highest knowledge? Sri Bhagavan said: I shall fully explain to you both knowledge of the Self and of the Cosmos by learning which nothing more shall remain to be known here [7(2)].
      
   2. Sacrifice in the form of knowledge is superior to all other sacrifices, for all actions culminate in knowledge [4(33)].
      
   3. The fire of knowledge burns all fuel of actions [4(37)].
      
   4. He alone deserves the epithet of a sage, who has burnt all his actions with the fire of knowledge [4(19)].
      
   5. Since doubt is the cause of ruin, he who attains Self-knowledge beyond doubt, is alone free from bonds of action [4(40-41)].
      
   
   
   
2. Self-knowledge, very difficult for man:
   
   
   
   1. The river of Yoga disappears and appears again after a lapse of time [4(2,3)].
      
   2. Rare is the man who has realized God [7(3)].
      
   3. Time is required for acheiving perfection in Yoga as well as for the complete assimilation of that all-purifying Self-knowledge [4(38)].
      
   
   
   
3. Initiation in Knowledge: You can know the path of Knowledge from the realized seers, through humble service [4(34)].
   
   
4. The beginning of knowledge: [Even the beginning of this Yoga will put an end to grear fear.] When once we begin to tread the Path of Knowledge, it will enable us to reach perfection -- our goal -- without any obstacles [2(40)].
   
   
5. Attainment of the supreme person:
   
   
   
   1. Through one-pointed devotion it is possible to attain the all-pervading Almighty God [8(21-22)].
      
   2. He alone merges in God, who realizes that God is the source and abode of all things [8(30)].
      
   3. That knowledge will remove the darkness of your delusion and will enable you to perceive all the beings in the Atman [4(35)].
      
   4. The night of the common people is the day for the wise [2(69)].
      
   
   
   
6. Vision of equality: He who attains equality in the vision of God, can alone be entitled to the epithet of a realized Seer [13(27-28)].
   
   
7. Attainment of supermoralism:
   
   
   
   1. Even if you are the foremost of all the sinners, you will cross over all the sins by the raft of divine knowledge [4(36)].
      
   2. Unlimited is the merit in the form of this knowledge [8(28)].
      
   
   
   

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Dhyana Gita 7: Yoga of Action

1. Transcendence of actions:
   
   
   
   1. Renunciation of fruits and attachment: We must perform all actions with an equanimous mind, by giving up the desire for fruit as well as attachment [2(47,48)].
      
   2. Equanimity in success in failure: He who remains satisfied with whatever he gets by chance and who treats success and failure alike is not affected by actions [4(22)].
      
   3. Holy actions: We must give up attachment and fruits even while performing holy actions [18(5-6)].
      
   4. Bodily actions (permission as an only expectation): If we perform bodily actions alone without any expectation, we will not be affected by their sins [4(21)].
      
   5. We cannot completely abandon our actions, so long as we possess our body [18(11)].
      
   6. If we practise the Yoga of action like King Janaka, we contribute to the social welfare as well [3(20-21)].
      
   7. Attainment of actionlesssness: Renunciation brings about the attachment of actionlessness [18(49)].
      
   
   
   
2. The Vedic teaching confined to three Gunas Only:
   
   
   
   1. The lovers of Vedas attached to enjoyment and splendor, cannot keep their intellects in steady contemplation [2(42-44)].
      
   2. As the Vedas are confined to the three Gunas, he who is eager to attain the state of actionless, should give up the desire for acquisition and preservation, and fix his mind on the Atman [2(45)].
      
   3. The Vedas are like a well, while Atman is like an ocean enveloping it [2(46)].
      
   
   
   
3. Keep the wheel of sacrifice moving:
   
   
   
   1. Sacrifice is free from bonds of action [3(9)].
      
   2. Even though sacrifice is a Cow of plenty, we must first offer to God, and what He has granted us, and accept only what is left over [3(10-13)].
      
   3. To taste the nectar of the remains of a sacrifice means attachment of the Absolute [4(31)].
      
   4. Sinful is the person who will not push forward this wheel moving from times immemorial [3(16)].
      
   5. As all the five items of sacrifice partake of the nature of the absolute, sacrifice is free from the bonds of the action [4(23), 4(24)].
      
   
   
   
4. Attainment of God:
   
   
   
   1. We can even attain God if we perform our actions without attachment [3(19)].
      
   2. By depositing all your actions in Me, you can even carry on your fight with an attitude of detachment [3(30)].
      
   3. With the flowers of action, we should worship the Lord from whom all the beings proceed and multiply [18(46)].
      
   4. Work with the hands and meditate upon the Lord Hari [5(8-10)].
      
   5. What remains for one who enjoys the bliss of the Atman [3(17)].
      
   
   
   

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Dhyana Gita 6: Bunch of Virtues

1. Individual virtues:
   
   
   
   1. Self-control: One's self alone is one's brother. One's self alone is one's enemy [6(5-6)].
      
   2. Single-mindedness: The reason of the resolute is one-pointed, while that of the irresolute branches out in many ways [2(41)].
      
   3. Endurance: Cold and heat, pleasure and pain are fleeting. Therefore, they should be endured [2(14-15)].
      
   4. Non-lamentation: [2(28)].
      
   5. Equality of vision: [5(18,19)].
      
   
   
   
2. Social virtues:
   
   
   
   1. Triple penance: Penance of the body speech and mind [17(14-16)].
      
   2. Devotion to duty: The duties enjoined upon the four varnas according to their Gunas [18(41-45)].
      
   3. We must perform our own duty even at the cost of our life [3(35)].
      
   4. Divine heritage: The characteristic of the divine heritage [16(1-3)].
      
   5. Demoniac heritage: The characteristics of the demonaic heritage [16(4)].
      
   6. Detailed description of the persons belonging to the demoniac heritage [16(7-20)].
      
   7. Liberation and bondage: Divine heritage leads to liberation and demoniac heritage to bondage [16(5)].
      
   8. Virtue is Knowledge: Concourse of virtue itself is Knowledge [13(7-11)].
      
   9. Culmination of virtues in devotion: Fix the gems of virtues in the socket of Devotion [12(13-19)].
      
   
   
   
3. Characteristics of an equanimous man:
   
   
   
   1. Steady intellect: He alone is equanimous man who is engrossed in the bliss of the Atman, by abandoning passion, fear and wrath [2(54-57)].
      
   2. The state of the tortoise: He alone is an equanimous man who withdraws his senses and mind like a tortoise and steadily stays in Me [2(58-60)].
      
   3. Control of a boat: He alone is an equanimous man who stabilizes his mind-boat floating headlong along with the rushing current of the senses [2(67-68)].
      
   4. The poise of an ocean: The mental ocean of the wise does not overflow with the inflow of the streams of desire [2(70)].
      
   
   

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Dhyana Gita 5: Destruction of the Arch-Enemy

1. The amnion of desire: The enemy of desire envelops knowledge and impels even the wise to commit sin [3(36-39)].
   
   
2. Seats of desire: Let the mind wander but not the body [3(40-41)].
   
   
3. Hypocrisy: Mentally brooding over the objects of sense, by controlling the senses, is also a sin [3(6)].
   
   
4. Sorties of passions: The chains of evils arising from the unrestrained musing on the objects of sense [2(62-63)].
   
   
5. The supreme transcendence of the Atman: This enemy of desire cannot be destroyed except through self-knowledge [3(42-43)].
   
   
6. Disappearance of relish: Even though the sense objects turn away, the relish for them remains; it cannot be destroyed without the vision of God [2(59)].
   
   
7. The joy of clear vision: Self control lends a clear vision which in its turn grants peace and peace brings bliss [2(64-66)].
   
   
8. The supreme goal: A man who is freed from desire (lust), anger and avarice, achieves his spiritual welfare and attains the Highest Ideal [16(21-22)].
   

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Dhyana Gita 4: Transcendence of the Three Gunas

1. The bond of the Gunas: The nature of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas and their bondage [14(5-8)].
   
   
2. The growth of the Gunas: The growth of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas and its results [14(11-13),14(18)].
   
   
3. The function of the three Gunas:
   
   
   
   1. Knowledge: Three kinds of Knowledge [18(20-22)].
      
   2. Happiness: Three kinds of happiness [18(37-39)].
      
   3. Intellect: Three kinds of intellect [18(30-32)].
      
   4. Doer: Three kinds of doer [18(26-28)].
      
   5. Food: Three kinds of food [17(8-10)].
      
   6. Penance: Three kinds of penance [17(17-19)].
      
   7. Charity: Three kinds of charity [17(20-22)].
      
   8. Renunciation: Three kinds of renunciation [18(7-9)].
      
   
   
   
4. Predominance of Gunas:
   
   
   
   1. Even wise men are required to behave in conformity with nature only [3(33)].
      
   2. There is no object in these three worlds, which is not caught up in the three Gunas [18(40)].
      
   
   
   
5. Transcendence of the triple Gunas: This transcendence can be attained only through unswerving Yoga of Devotion [14(20), 14(24-26)].
   
   

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Dhyana Gita 3: Nature of the Self

1. Stay and departure:
   
   
   
   1. I am Myself assuming the form of the Self in this world, with a single spark of Mine [15(7)].
      
   2. The stay and departure of the Self is directly visualized by the wise sages and the yogis [15(8-11)].
      
   
   
   
2. Memory of past births: You don't remember the past births while I do [4(5)].
   
   
3. Death is a mere change:
   
   
   
   1. Like childhood, youth and old-age death also is a change in the body [2(11-13)].
      
   2. The soul abandons the old bodies and puts on new ones [2(22)].
      
   
   
   
4. Thought determines the future:
   
   
   
   1. He who meditates on God with undivided mind as a result of constant practise, at the time of death, reaches the form Divine [8(8-10), 8(12,13)].
      
   2. The last thoughts decide the next birth [8(6)].
      
   
   
   
5. Non-return:
   
   
   
   1. There is no further worldly existence for those who are solely attached and devoted to God [5(17)].
      
   2. The sages who attain My likeness as a result of this superior wisdom, are not caught in the whirl of creation and dissolution [14(2)].
      
   3. None can return to this miserable worldly existence when once they merge in Me [8(15)].
      
   4. He who remains in this state of God-realization at the time of death alone attains Divine-bliss [2(72)].
      
   
   
   
6. Perfection through many lives: He who has faith but cannot put forth requisite effort, can attain perfection by taking right birth [6(37,38), 6(40-45)].
   

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Dhyana Gita 2: Nature of the Absolute

1. Imperishable:
   
   
   
   1. The Reality is imperishable - immortal; It has brought forth all this extension (universe) [2(16,17)].
      
   2. The Atman is not born; neither does He kill, nor die [2(19,20)].
      
   3. The Atman is neither cut by the weapons, nor burnt by fire [2(23,24)].
      
   
   
   
2. Uncontaminated: Atman is uncontaminated like ether [13(32)].
   
   
3. Illuminating: The Atman illuminates all the objects like the sun [13(33)].
   
   
4. Non-doer:
   
   
   
   1. The Atman transcends the five senses of action; He is absolute and non-doer [18(13-16)].
      
   2. The Lord does not connect actions with their fruits; not does he accept the merit and sin (of the people) [5(14,15)].
      
   3. Non-enjoyer: The supreme person, who is a witness and sustainer, but not an enjoyer, may be called the supreme person [13(22)].
      
   4. Unknowable: That which is far and near, within and without, which has its eyes and ears everywhere -- that alone is the highest object of knowledge [13(12-17)].
      
   5. The greatest wonder of all wonders: Who has known God who is all wonder? [2(29)].
      
   
   

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Dhyana Gita 1: Nature of God

1. Supreme Person:
   
   
   
   1. We should cut down the Ashvatta (tree of creation) with the sword of detachment and begin our search for the supreme person [15(1-4)].
      
   2. The Perishable, the Imperishable and the Supreme Person [15(16-18)].
      
   
   
   
2. The Thread: I am the Thread passing through all the existences and souls. [7(4-7)].
   
   
3. Mellifluous Essence (rasa) (taste, essence and bliss): Universal immanence of God in the form of qualities and seed [7(8-12)].
   
   
4. The Highest Individual and Supreme Spirit: I am the individual and the supreme spirit, immanent in all existences and it is I who illumine the sun and the moon [15(12-14)].
   
   
5. The Sacrifice: I am sacrifice and the sacrificer; I am the father and the mother; I am the abode and the goal; I am the goal and the Giver and remover of things [9(16-19)].
   
   
6. The Great Artificer: As I create around Me a camouflage,through my supernatural power of Yoga, no one is able to know me [7(24-26)].
   
   
7. Divine Incarnation: When righteousness declines and unrighteousness reigns supreme, God is required to take a birth to protect the good and destroy the wicked [4(6-8)].
   
   
8. The Absolutely Transcendent Being: Everything that is endowed with strength, glory and splendor, is the product of a spark of My lustre [10(41,42)].
   

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Ranade: Bhagavad Gita and Upanishadic references

I am reading Shri Gurudeo R.D. Ranade's classic "A Constructive Survey of Upanishadic Philosophy" (more about the book here and here). Note that the book was written in 1926! The book is very good and scholarly (if someone like me can dare use such a qualification) and has deep philosophy explained in a clear way.

On pages 142-146, Shri Ranade makes connection between Bhagavad Gita and Katha Upanishad. To students of Vedanta, it is not a new fact that there exists heavy similarity between Katha Upanishad, but Shri Ranade being the scholar-philosopher he is, makes an exact correlation which is thorough. Further, he compares the passages in Bhagavad Gita with different Upanishads. This post is a summary of the references with some excerpts and notes. Firstly, Shri Ranade make the following note:

There is an amount of truth in the famous verse that "The Upanishads are like a cow, Krishna is like a milk man, Arjuna like the calf that is sent to the udders of the cow before milking, and the Bhagavad Gita like the milk-nectar that is churned from the udders of the cow."

Here are the comparisions that Shri Ranade makes between various Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita

• Ka.Up 1.2.18 and BG 2.20 [Exact]
  
• Ka.Up 1.2.19 and BG 2.19 [Exact]
  
• Ka.Up 1.2.17 and BG 2.29 [Paraphrased and Adopted.]
  
• Ka.Up 1.2.15 and BG 8.13 [Imperishability and significance of Om. Almost word for word]
  
• Ch.Up 5.10.1-5 and BG 8.24 to 8.25 [Same concepts of Deyayana and Pithruyana. He notes that the former itself is from Vedas.]
  
• Is.Up 2 and Karma Yoga of BG:
  

  The verse from Isavashya Upanishad (IS. 2) which tells us in a spirit of apparent contradiction that "a man should spend his life-time only in doing actions, for it is only thus that he may hope to be untainted by action" has supplied Bhagavad Gita with an idea so prolific of consequences that the Bhagavad Gita has deemed to fit to erect a whole philosophy of Karmayoga upon it.
  ...
  This passage supplies us with the means as well as the goal of moral life, without giving the connection between them. As we shall see later, the principal theme of Bhagavad Gita is teach a life of activity coupled with the effects of actionlessness through the intermediate linkage of un-attachment to and indifference to the fruits of action.
  

  
  
• Mun. 2.1.4 and Cosmic vision of Arjuna in BG Chapter 11. He refers that Mundaka itself may have taken its concepts from Purusha Sukta.
  
• Ka. Up. 1.3.10-11 has the hierarchy: senses < objects < mind < intellect < Mahat < Avyakta < Purusha, with nothing being beyond Purusha. The hierarchy in BG 3.42 is senses < mind < intellect < Purusha, which he feels is crisp.
  
• Asvattha of Bhagavad Gita and Katha Upanishad: Shri Ranade sas this about the Asvattha tree example in the Ka. Up and BG.
  

  
  In one important respect, however, the Bhagavad Gita takes a position antagonistic to the position advanced in the Upanishads. In the Ka. Up 2.6.1, we are told that Asvattha tree is the Brahman itself, and that it is imperishable. On the other hand, the Bhagavad Gita in 15.1-4 (BG 15.1, BG 15.2 and BG 15.3-4) tells us the opposite. We shall not consider the contradictions that are introduced in this description, but we are concerned here only to find out how far this description from Bhagavad Gita agrees with the description of the Upanishad. It may be noted at once that there is an agreement between the Upanishad and the Bhagavad Gita so far as the Ashvattha tree is regarded as having its root upwards and its branches downwards. But, while the Upanishad teaches that the Ashvattha tree is real, and identical with the Brahman and therefore impossible to cut off, the Bhagavad Gita teaches that the Ashvattha tree must be regarded as unreal, and as unidentical with the existence, and therefore that it is necessary to cut off this tree of existence by the potent weapon of non-attachment.
  

  
  I am sure at a peripheral level, the difference are huge and bound to confuse the beginner. But I have a simple question: Is not the method of defining things using contradictions, exactly the method employed by Vedantic teachers? If we define Brahman as something, does it remain brahman anymore? If the anirvachaniya maya is tried to define as something, does it not escape that definition? Points to ponder (for me, that is!).
  

Krishna in Chandogya and Mahabharatha: Later, Shri Ranade analyses the references of Krishna, Son of Devaki and disciple of Ghora Angirasa in Chandogya (Ch. Up. 3.17.1-6) with Lord Krishna of Bhagavatha/Mahabharatha and says that they are different characters.

While no mention is made whatsoever of Ghora Angirasa who was the teacher of Krishna in Chandogya. Such a fact cannot be easily ingored in a work like Mahabharatha which is expected to give us everything about the divine warrior Krishna, and not not leave the name of the teacher unmentioned. If the Krishna of Chandogya is identified with the Krishna of Mahabharatha, for that matter why should not we identify the Harischandra of the Aitareya Brahmana who had a hundred wifes with the Harishchandra of mythology who had only one wife? Mere similarity of name proves nothing. It fills one with humour that new facile philosophy of identifications brahmana-wise should have been instituted in modern times by a host of critics of no small calibre when they would raise a huge structure of mythico-imaginary identifications by rolling together the god Vishnu of Vedic repute, Narayana the Cosmic God, Krishna the pupil of Ghora Angirasa, and Vasudeva the founder of a new religion, and thus try to prove that the sources of religion of Bhagavad Gita are found in the teaching of Ghora Angirasa! There would seem to be some meaning, however in the attempted identification of the Krishna of Chandogya with Krishna of the Bhagavad Gita when in verse 4 of the passage we are discussing [Ch. Up. 3.1-6], we are told that the gifts which such a sacrificier should make to priests are those of the following virtues: Tapas, Danam, Arjavam, Ahimsa and Satyavachanam. This list is closely similar to the list of virtues enumerated in BG16. 1-2 where the same virrtues are enumerated along with a number of other virtues, and almost the same order. But this fact proves nothing, because, as we have pointed out in the preceeding paragraphs, the Bhagavad Gita is a congeries of quotations, phrases and ideas borrowed from the Upanishads, and it is only by accident, as we may say, that the five virtues mentiones above should have been enumerated in the Upanishadic passage where Krishna, the son of Devaki is mentioned. There is a stoty about the Delphic Oracle that a number of trophies were hung round about the temple in praise of the god who had saved so many souls at different times from shipwreck in the midst of waters. A philosopher went to the temple and asked, Yea, but where are those that are drowned? Similarly we may say about the virtues in the Chandogya passage which are identical with the virtues in the passage from Bhagavad Gita. True, that the virtues enumerated in the Chandogya almost correspond to the virtues enumerated in the Bhagavad Gita: but, why, for the world, should not the essence of teachings of Ghora Angirasa have been incorporated, when the Upanishadic passage tells that at the last moments of a man's life, he should take the resort to these three thoughts: Thou art indestructible, Thou art Unchangeable, Thou art the very edge of life? Why should not the Bhagavad Gita have profited from these three expressions: Akshita, Achyuta and Pranasamsita? Why shoud it have left us merely with advise that a man should utter Om at the time of his death and meditate upon God? Finally we may say that the burden of proof of the identification of the two Krishnas falls upon those who make the assertion and so fas as their arguments have gone, we donot think that they have, in any way, proved identification at all.

He is a great scholar indeed, to point out such seeming inconsistencies with that great authority. My simple mind however, has a simple question: Doesn't Om answer the definition of Akshita, Achyuta and Pranasamsita (indestructible, unchangeable, very edge of life)? What is wrong in thinking that the concepts in Chandogya have been put more precisely in the Bhagavad Gita? If a student has already been imparted with the knowledge of the pranava, does she not immediately associate the notions of infiniteness in space and time and beyond causality, beyond life to it because all the finite characterizations are anyway meaningless when compared to it?

Note that this passage is in serious disagreement with Shri. S.Radhakrishnan's introduction to his translation of Bhagavad Gita. In particular, Shri. Radhakrishnan uses the same argument to validate the historical aspect of Krishna. That will be covered in a later post. For now, I take a deep bow at a scholar as great as Shri. Ranade. Read the rest of this entry >>