bhūtādi-pāda-vyapadeśopapatteś - The key for understanding the passage
The previous sūtra argued against the idea of the gāyatrī metric being the object of the passage. The current sūtra establishes the correct understanding of Gāyatrī.
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Sūtra 1.1.26 - The key for understanding the passage
bhūtādi-pāda-vyapadeśopapatteś caivam
bhūta: the word bhūta (living entities); ādi: beginning with; pada: feet, quarter, part; vyapadeśa: designation, statement, mention; upapatteḥ: because of the propriety, reasonableness; ca: also; evam: thus, in this way.
Because the passage beginning with “bhūta” defines Gāyatrī as divided into four parts (all living beings, the universe, body, and heart) that only Brahman can have, Gāyatrī in that passage must refer to Brahman.
Commentary: The previous sūtra argued against the idea of the gāyatrī metric being the object of the passage, while the current sūtra establishes the correct understanding of Gāyatrī, as the transcendental sound that is the same as Brahman and jyoti. This is proved by verses 3.12.3 and 3.12.4 of the passage, which define the four components of Gāyatrī. This declaration would be meaningless if Gāyatrī is not accepted as being the Supreme Brahman. Gāyatrī is then connected with the transcendental light (jyoti) by the relationship between verses 3.12.6 and 3.13.7, revealing the deep meaning of the passage: that Brahman is everything.
To better understand how Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa presents and sustains this conclusion, we can go through the whole passage using the key given by the current sūtra.
What is the key? bhūtādi-pāda-vyapadeśopapatteś caivam: The passage starting with the word “bhūta” (found on verse 3.12.1 of the Chāndogya Upaniṣad) should be interpreted according to the conclusion that Gāyatrī is Brahman.
Verse 3.12.1 starts with the word “gāyatrī”. Ordinarily, gāyatrī is a metric of 24 syllables. In the Ṛg Veda, the metric gāyatrī is used as a pattern of three lines of eight syllables each. Each line is called a pāda. Gāyatrī is defined in the Chāndogya Upaniṣad as catuṣpāda, with four pādas, or lines of 6 syllables each. In both cases, gāyatrī is a pattern, or metric. This would be the definition that most Vedic students would have in mind while reading the word “gāyatrī” at the start of the verse.
However, the passage immediately takes a turn, stating that the four feet of gāyatrī are not lines or syllables, but all living beings (sarva bhūta), the Earth (in the sense of the whole Universe), the body, and the heart (the seat of consciousness). Gāyatrī is also defined as vak, the transcendental sound behind everything that exists. A metric can’t have such attributes, and therefore, Gāyatrī has to be accepted not as a metric, but as the Supreme Brahman Himself.
When this conclusion is understood, the deep meaning of the passage can be unlocked. Just as in other passages of the Upaniṣads, only when the proper conclusion is known can a certain passage be properly understood. Studying the Upaniṣads without these conclusions is therefore more or less useless. That’s why the Upaniṣads should be studied together with the Vedānta-sūtra, and the Govinda-bhāṣya, which contains the proper explanations for the aphorisms, following the conclusions of Vyāsadeva in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. These conclusions are the keys to unlocking the text of the Upaniṣads.
In text 3.12.1, it is mentioned, “gāyatrī vā idam sarvam” (Gāyatrī is everything) and “vāg vai gāyatrī” (Gāyatrī is vak, transcendental sound). This shows how Brahman manifests as śabda-brahman, the transcendental sound vibration that creates the whole universe.
From this sound vibration, the whole universe, the foundation for all beings (pṛthivī), is created, together with all beings. Brahman is thus the supporter of everything (sā yeyam prṭhivy āsyām hīdam sarvam bhūtam pratiṣṭhitam).
Apart from this macrocosm, Brahman also manifests in the microcosm, inside the body of each living being, and also as the heart, the seat of consciousness, where both the soul and the Supreme Brahman Himself (as Paramātmā) are situated, together with the vital airs, as explained in verses 3.12.3 and 3.12.4.
Then, text 3.12.5 describes that gāyatrī has four parts and six functions. The four parts are all living beings and the universe (macrocosm), as well as the body (microcosm) and heart (as the seat of consciousness). The list of the six functions describes the process of creation, starting from vak, transcendental sound. From vak come sarva-bhūta (all creatures), pṛthivī (the physical manifestation), śarīra (body), hṛdaya (heart), and prāṇa (the vital air). This connection between the gāyatrī metric and the whole creation is established as a stairway for meditation, helping one to realize the Supreme Lord starting from something familiar, the gāyatrī metric.
Having connected the whole creation with Gāyatrī, the Upaniṣad shakes the perspective by stating that everything that was described up to that point (the whole creation) is just one quarter of Brahman. The other three quarters form the unmanifest spiritual world.
“Such is His greatness, but the Lord (Puruṣa) is greater still. He is greater than everything that has been described. All material universes and all living beings are just His one foot. The other three feet form the immortal and eternal spiritual world.” (3.12.6)
This points the listener to something still higher than what has been described, describing an eternal world that exists beyond everything that exists in the material creation. This spiritual sky is not only much more extensive than our limited material reality, forming three-quarters of the potency of the Lord, but it is also eternal and immortal. As in other Upaniṣads, the text of the Chāndogya Upaniṣad doesn’t proceed in directly describing this transcendental reality (this is done only in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam), but it is effective in pointing the reader to the path to freedom from material entanglement.
This is confirmed in verse 3.13.7, which confirms the previous statements. Brahman is then described as jyoti. The transcendental light that permeates all universes and planets, including the whole spiritual sky, is the same light present in the heart of all living beings. The Supreme Lord is thus present everywhere, both inside and outside.
“That light (jyoti) which shines above heaven, higher than everything in the highest worlds, beyond which there are no other worlds. That light that forms the background on which all universes and all planets—from the highest to the lowest—rest, is the same light which is within the heart of all living beings.” (3.13.7)
These two verses are thus the two ends of the same thread that holds the whole discussion together.
Text 3.12.6 mentions: “pādo ’sya sarvā bhūtāni tri-pād asyāmṛtam divīti” (All living beings and everything that exists are just His one foot. The other three feet form the immortal spiritual world).
Text 3.13.7 mentions: “atha yad ataḥ paro divo jyotir dīpyate” (That light which shines above heaven, higher than everything).
The construction of the verses makes it clear that the Gāyatrī that vibrates both in heaven and in the heart of everyone is the same light that extends beyond the material cosmos, up into the spiritual world. These two are not separated; they are both aspects of the Supreme Lord described on 3.12.6. This again reinstates that the Supreme Lord is everything, and assures that the meditation on Gāyatrī that was described in the first verses is effective in elevating one’s consciousness all the way to the spiritual world.
Verse 3.12.6 ends with tri-pād asyāmṛtam divīti (the quarters are in the transcendental sky), and 3.13.7 begins with atha yad ataḥ paro divo jyotir dīpyate (That light which shines over this transcendental sky).
This textual echo makes clear that the subject of both sentences has not changed. 3.12.6 speaks about the Supreme Lord, who is present in the spiritual world, and 3.13.7 continues to speak about this same Supreme Lord, whose potency shines over this transcendental sky.
This is a very elaborate philosophical discussion which is revealed within the commentary of Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa, but I tried to explain it as didactically as possible.
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