3.4: Īkṣati-karmādhikaraṇam - The person seen
This sūtra brings the conclusion of a passage from the Praśna Upaniṣad. The person seen is the Lord, because the qualities described can be applied to Him only.
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Topic 4: Īkṣati-karmādhikaraṇam - The person seen
The person seen in brahma-loka is not the demigod.
īkṣati-karma vyapadeśāt saḥ
“The person seen is the Lord, because the qualities described can be applied to Him only.”
Sūtra 1.3.13 - Brahma-loka means the abode of the Lord
īkṣati-karma vyapadeśāt saḥ
īkṣati: seeing; karma: object of action; vyapadeśāt: because of the description; saḥ: He.
The person seen is the Lord, because the qualities described can be applied to Him only.
Commentary: This sūtra brings the conclusion of a passage from the Praśna Upaniṣad. This book consists of six praśnas, or questions posed by six learned brāhmanas (Bharadvaja, Satyakāma, Gargya, Asvalayana, Vaidarbhi, and Katyanana), along with the respective answers provided by Pippalāda. The passage relevant to the discussion is his answer to the 5th question.
Satyakāma asked him what is the destination of one who meditates on the Omkāra until the end of his life. What exactly does he conquer by that? Pippalāda’s answer describes the process of meditation that enables a soul to reach the Supreme abode of Vaikuṇṭha and meet Lord Vishnu. The passage mentions different stages of meditation, by which a soul can reach different destinations.
One who attains the first level of meditation on the Omkāra attains, after death, a higher birth on earth by the grace of the devas of the Ṛg Veda, where one is endowed with qualities such as austerity, celibacy, and faith. By continuing his spiritual practice in this favorable environment, he continues to advance in spiritual realization.
One who attains the second level of meditation is carried after death by the mantras of the Yajur Veda to the celestial planets in the antarikṣa, up to the moon. One enjoys there for many years, but eventually returns to Earth to take another human birth and continue one’s journey.
A yogi who attains the third level of meditation, on the other hand, passes through the sun, where one becomes completely freed from all his sins. Being thus purified, one is carried up by the mantras of the Sāma Veda up to the Vaikuṇṭha planets (Brahma-loka), a place that is completely peaceful, eternal, free from fear, and supreme. Having reached this supreme destination, one directly sees the Supreme Soul, the Supreme Puruṣa, Lord Viṣnu.
The verse mentions:
sa sāmabhir unnīyate brahma-lokam
sa etasmāj jīva-ghanāt parāt-param puriśayam puruṣam īkṣateCompletely free of sin, he is led upwards by the Sāma-mantras to brahma-loka. There, he sees that person who lives in that resplendent world, far beyond this mass of embodied existence.” (Praśna Upaniṣad 5.5)
The question that arises when studying this verse is about the meaning of the words “brahma-loka” and the identity of the person whom the yogi meets there. Is Brahma-loka the planet of Brahmā, where the yogi meets the creator of the universe, or is Brahma-loka the spiritual Vaikuṇṭha planets where the yogi meets Lord Viṣnu?
To this, Vyāsadeva concludes: īkṣati-karma vyapadeśāt saḥ. The person described is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and not the demigod Brahmā, because in this passage, the description of the qualities of the īkṣati-karma (the object of vision) fits the Supreme Person, and not Brahmā.
Which qualities are these? They are described two verses later in the same passage:
tam onkāreṇa ivāyatanena anveti vidvān
yat tac chāntam ajaram amṛtam abhayam param ca iti“By reciting the omkāra, the wise attain the supremely peaceful, ageless, eternal, fearless Supreme, the ultimate goal of life.” (Praśna Upaniṣad 5.7)
Although Satyaloka, the planet of Lord Brahmā, is the highest planet in this universe, it is not eternal, existing only for the duration of the life of Brahmā. It is thus also not free from fear, since everyone who lives there, even Lord Brahmā himself, eventually has to die. Therefore, this description of the Praśna Upaniṣad can be applied only to Vaikuṇṭhaloka, the Supreme abode, where perfect transcendentalists can directly meet the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
This point is reinforced in Bg 8.16, where Kṛṣṇa mentions: “From the highest planet in the material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place. But one who attains to My abode, O son of Kuntī, never takes birth again.”
In his commentary, Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa concludes that according to the principle nisada-sthapaty-adhikarana-nyaya, the words “brahma-loka” in this passage mean “The world which is Brahman” (in other words, the spiritual abode of Viṣnu) and not “the world of Brahma”, just like the expression “niśāda-sthapati” means the leader who is a Niṣāda, and not the leader of the Niṣādas.
The dialogue of Satyakāma and Pippalāda from the Praśna Upaniṣad
This is the complete passage with dialogue of Satyakāma and Pippalāda describing the results of the process of meditation on the sacred syllable Om according to the level of realization of practitioner:
sa yaḥ ha vai manuṣyeṣu prāyaṇāntam oṃkāram abhidhyāyīta;
katamaṃ vāva sa tena lokaṃ jayatīti.
“Satyakāma asked: Dear sir, if a man dedicates himself to meditating on the Omkāra until his final breath, which realm of existence does he conquer?” (Praśna Upaniṣad 5.1)
tasmai sa hovāca
etad vai satyakāma, param cāparam ca brahma yad onkāraḥ
tasmād etenaivāyatanenaikataram svena vetti
“Pippalāda answered: That sacred syllable Om, O Satyakāma, is truly everything. It is both the unmanifest Brahman and the manifest Brahman. By taking shelter on this sacred syllable Om, a person can, according to his understanding and practice, come to know either aspect of Brahman.” (Praśna Upaniṣad 5.2)
sa yad ekamātram abhidyāyīta sa tenaiva saṃveditastūrṇam eva
jagatyām abhisampadyate, tam u ca manuṣyalokam upanayante
sa tatra tapasā brahmacaryeṇa śraddhayā saṃpannaḥ
mahimānam anu bhavati
“If one devotes himself to meditation on a single mātrā of the sacred syllable, he is reborn in the human realm, endowed with auspicious qualities. There, possessing a natural propensity for austerity, celibacy, and faith, he continues his practice and attains spiritual realization.” (Praśna Upaniṣad 5.3)
atha yadi dvimātreṇa manasi saṃdadhyeta
sodyutāriśiṃ yajurbhir īyate somalokam
sa somaloke vibhūtiman anubhuya punar āvartate
“If, however, the meditator is capable of realizing the first two mātrās, he is elevated by the yajur mantras to the world of Soma (the celestial moon), ascending splendidly like a fiery arrow. After enjoying great glory in that celestial sphere, he is eventually reborn on earth.” (Praśna Upaniṣad 5.4)
yaḥ punar etam trimātreṇaiva om ity etenaivākṣareṇa
param puruṣam abhidhyāyīta, sa tejasi sūrye sampannaḥ
yathā pādodaras tvacā vinirmucyata
evam ha vai sa pāpmanā vinirmuktaḥ
sa sāmabhir unnīyate brahma-lokam
sa etasmāj jīva-ghanāt parāt-param puriśayam puruṣam īkṣate
But one who realizes all three mātrās of the sacred syllable Om, firmly meditating on the Supreme Person, attains the solar globe. There, he becomes free from all contamination, just as a snake sheds its old skin. Completely free of sin, he is led upwards by the Sāma-mantras to Brahma-loka (the world of Brahman). There, he sees that person who lives in that resplendent world, far beyond this mass of embodied existence.” (Praśna Upaniṣad 5.5)
tisraḥ mātrāḥ mṛtyumatyāḥ prayuktā, anyonyasaktāḥ anaviprayuktāḥ
kriyāsu bāhyābhyantara-madhyamāsu, samyak-prayuktāsu na kampate jñaḥ
“When the three imperishable letters A-U-M are uttered as an indivisible whole, never split apart, and are rightly integrated into the external vocal recitation, the deep internal meditation, and the subtle intermediate meditation, the enlightened knower remains firmly fixed in realization.” (Praśna Upaniṣad 5.6)
tam onkāreṇa ivāyatanena anveti vidvān
yat tac chāntam ajaram amṛtam abhayam param ca iti
“By reciting the omkāra, the wise attain the supremely peaceful, ageless, eternal, fearless Supreme, the ultimate goal of life.” (Praśna Upaniṣad 5.7)
What does it mean? The verses speak about the three mātrās of the Omkāra. The syllable Om is composed of three distinct sounds, A, U, and M, which are also called mātrās or letters. However, when the verse speaks about meditating on just one or two of the mātrās, this doesn’t directly refer to the letters, but to one’s level of realization of the mantra. This topic is better explained in the Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad, which connects each of the three letters with one aspect of the Supreme Lord. These are the relevant verses:
viśvasyāttva-vivakṣāyām ādi-sāmānya-utkatam
mātrā-sampratipattau tu prāpti-sāmānyam eva ca“By meditating on the position of Viśva, the waking self as the beginning, the letter ‘A’, one becomes fully aware of the cosmic manifestation, like Him. The worshiper acquires His quality of āpṭi (attainment) and becomes capable of satisfying the desires of others.” (Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad, Karika 3.5)
taijasasyo’ttvavijñāne utkarṣo dṛśyate sphuṭam
mātrāsampratipattau syād ubhayātvam tathāvidham“By meditating on Taijasa in the middle, as the letter ‘U’, one develops the quality of utkarsa, becoming capable of drawing everyone towards him, just like the Lord. Similarly, he obtains the quality of ubhayatva, developing unbroken consciousness.” (Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad, Karika 3.6)
makārabhāve prājñasya māna-sāmānya-utkatam
mātrāsampratipattau tu layasāmānyam eva ca“By contemplating the position of Prājña at the end, represented by makāra, the letter “M”, one develops māna-sāmanya, developing resonance with the state of prājña. By fully immersing into the syllable, one develops laya-sāmanya, absorption in the Supreme Self.” (Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad, Karika 3.7)
The letter A is thus connected with Viśva, the universal aspect of the Lord, connected with the cosmic manifestation. The letter U is connected with Taijasa, the subtle cosmic manifestation of mental activity, while the letter M is connected with Prājña, the Lord inside the heart, manifested as Paramātmā.
In the description of the Praśna Upaniṣad, the first mātrā, the letter A, is connected with superficial meditation, where one just vibrates the Omkāra continuously, without being able to deepen his meditation. One’s practice in this case is just material, resulting in material piety that brings him to a better birth on this planet. The Omkāra is defined as non-different from the Mahā-mantra by Śrīla Prabhupāda, and thus a parallel can be drawn between this superficial meditation on the Omkāra and superficial, lip-deep chanting of the holy names, which is insufficient to produce love of Godhead.
The second mātrā (U) is deeper, but still in the subtle level. One is capable of fully fixing his mind on the transcendental vibration, but is not able to reach true spiritual realization. As a result, one is able to reach the celestial planets, but after enjoying there for a long time, is forced to come back to earth to be born in a pious family and continue his practice.
The third mātrā (M), however, means deep spiritual realization, where one is capable of meditating on the Lord inside the heart. Attaining this level, the yogi is capable of reaching Vaikuṇṭhaloka, where he becomes an associate of Lord Viṣnu. This is a position that far exceeds mere elevation to Satyaloka.
Exercise
Now it’s your turn. Can you answer the following arguments using the ideas from this section?
Opponent: “In the passage of the Praśna Upaniṣad in discussion, sa sāmabhir unnīyate brahma-lokam, sa etasmāj jīva-ghanāt parāt-param puriśayam puruṣam īkṣate, the words Brahma-loka must be interpreted as the planet of Brahmā (Satyaloka) and puruṣam īkṣate (the person seen) as the demigod Brahmā. Interpreting Brahma-loka as Vaikuṇṭha and the person seen as Lord Viṣnu overlooks many important details in the scriptures.
We can see all over the śāstras that the planet of a demigod is referred to starting with the deity’s name, such as in Indra-loka, Soma-loka, Yama-loka, Pitṛ-loka, etc. Similarly, the planet of Lord Viṣnu is called Viṣnu-loka or Vaikuṇṭha-loka, and the planet of Brahmā is called Brahmā-loka.
Another point is that in the passage of the Praśna Upaniṣad, we can see that Pippalāda describes the possible destinations of the meditator as being first jagatyām (earth, as described in text 5.3), then soma-lokam (the planet of Soma), and finally brahma-lokam. Interpreting brahma-lokam as Vaikuṇṭha breaks the standard progressive sequence that is employed in many passages of the scriptures.
Since Brahma-loka means the planet of Brahmā, then the words “puruṣam īkṣate” (the person seen) apply to the demigod Brahmā. The passage thus describes the intermediate stage of perfection, where the meditator attains Satyaloka and from there attains liberation at the end of the life of Brahmā.”
Description: This pūrvapakṣa represents an Advaitin (a follower of Śankaracarya). In their school, form and activity exist only in the material world; therefore, they do not believe in the existence of Vaikunta as the eternal abode. Just as they connect all references of the scriptures to the qualities, attributes, and pastimes of the Lord in reference to their theory of saguṇa Brahman, they attribute all passages that describe the spiritual world to Brahmaloka or Śvetadvīpa (which they interpret as the abode of saguṇa Brahman in this world, and not as the eternal abode). In this particular passage, according to them, the meditator goes to Satyaloka and meets Lord Brahmā there.
How can you answer this challenge? Apart from the arguments in this section, you can find a few more points in the next adhikaraṇa.
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