« The Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad: An in-depth study
The nature of the soul
Both the Lord and the jiva reside inside the heart, but they are not the same. One is infinite and the other infinitesimal, one is the whole and the other the part. The individual soul is thus meant to serve the Lord. There are many eternals, but the Lord is the chief.
The soul is present inside the body as consciousness, but not as a physical particle. It can't be detected or measured by experimental means, it is transcendental and escapes material comprehension. This pure soul is however covered by the false ego, followed by all material coverings, and thus becomes lost in the inverted three of this material world.
During the day, when awake, we become immersed in all sorts of activities, but at night, when in deep sleep, our consciousness retracts to the cave of the heart, where we meet the Lord, just as in liberation.
In all scriptures, many qualities of the Lord are mentioned, which make it impossible to negate His personality. Thus, both the Lord and the jiva are separated individuals and they are so eternally. It is exactly the individuality of the Lord and the soul that makes the eternal relationship between them possible.
Text 2.2.1
āviḥ sannihitam guhācaram nāma
mahat-padam atraitat samarpitam
ejat prāṇan nimiṣac ca yad etat jānatha
sad-asad vareṇyam param vijñānād yad variṣṭham prajānām
The Lord resides near the soul, inside the heart. He has a transcendental form and manifests Himself to the yogis. He is known as the highest goal, and He is attained by everyone, both in deep sleep and in liberation. All beings in this universe, moving or unmoving, awake or in deep sleep are maintained by Him. He is beyond all types of material duality. He is the ultimate knowledge and the highest truth, the supreme object of worship for all beings.
Commentary: The previous chapter described the Lord as the universal form, as the source and support of all material manifestations. Now, the relationship of the Lord and the jiva is described in more detail. Both reside inside the cavity of the heart. Both are immortal and transcendental, but they are not the same. The Lord is the maintainer of everyone and everything. The Lord is infinitely big, while the soul is infinitely small, the Lord is the whole, while the soul is the part. The part is meant to serve the whole, and similarly, the soul is meant to serve the Lord in a loving relationship.
A similar verse is found in the Srimad Bhagavatam (SB 7.7.19-20), where Prahlada Maharaja instructs his schoolmates:
"Ātmā refers to the Supreme Lord or the living entities. Both of them are spiritual, free from birth and death, free from deterioration and free from material contamination. They are individual, they are the knowers of the external body, and they are the foundation or shelter of everything. They are free from material change, they are self-illuminated, they are the cause of all causes, and they are all-pervading. They have nothing to do with the material body, and therefore they are always uncovered. With these transcendental qualities, one who is actually learned must give up the illusory conception of life, in which one thinks, “I am this material body, and everything in relationship with this body is mine."
In the purport of this verse, Prabhupada mentions:
"In the Vedas it is said, nityo nityānām cetanaś cetanānām: the Lord is the chief individual living entity, the leader of the subordinate living entities. Because the living entities are parts or samples of God, their qualities are not different from those of the Supreme Lord. The living entities have the same qualities as the Lord, just as a drop of sea water is composed of the same chemicals as the great sea itself. Thus there is oneness in quality but a difference in quantity. One can understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead by understanding the sample, the living entity, because all the qualities of God exist in a minute quantity in the living entities. There is oneness, but God is great whereas the living entities are extremely small. Aṇor aṇīyān mahato mahīyān (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 1.2.20). The living entities are smaller than the atom, but God is greater than the greatest. Our conception of greatness may be represented by the sky because we think of the sky as being unlimitedly big, but God is bigger than the sky. Similarly, we have knowledge that the living entities are smaller than atoms, being one ten-thousandth the size of the tip of a hair, yet the quality of being the supreme cause of all causes exists in the living entity as well as in the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Indeed, it is due to the presence of the living entity that the body exists and bodily changes take place. Similarly, it is because the Supreme Lord is within this universe that the changes dictated by the material laws occur."
The soul is not a material particle, and therefore it can't be found by experimental means. Whatever is the smallest particle one is capable of measuring using whatever instruments one has at his disposal, the soul is still smaller. With the naked eye, the tip of a hair is the smallest particle one can see. However, if one has an electron microscope, he will see that ultimately the tip of the hair is a single atom. In both cases, the soul is still smaller, and thus always escapes the understanding of the materialist.
The reference mentioned by Srila Prabhupada is the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (5.9): keśāgra-śata-bhāgasya, śatāmśaḥ sādṛśātmakaḥ, jīvaḥ sūkṣma-svarūpo ’yam, sankhyātīto hi cit-kaṇaḥ.
The first two lines, keśāgra-śata-bhāgasya śatāmśaḥ sādṛśātmakaḥ describe that when the tip of the hair (keśāgra) is divided into one hundred parts (śata-bhāgasya) and each part is again divided into one hundred parts (śatāmśaḥ), each part is similar in size to measurement of the soul. The verse then continues, explaining that in reality, the soul has no material form, being extremely subtle (jīvaḥ sūkṣma-svarūpo). This soul is beyond measurement (ayam sankhyātīto), being a particle of consciousness (cit-kaṇaḥ). This last word is especially significant for understanding the nature of the soul.
In the 15th chapter of the Bhagavad-gita, Krsna explains the material world as a gigantic tree that is upside down. In other words, the tree of the material world is like a reflection of the real three in the spiritual world. A reflection is not false, it exists, but it is just an ephemeral projection of the real object. Due to the properties of light, a reflection is also always inverted or upside down. In Bg 2.16, Krsna defines everything that is material as asat, and everything spiritual as sat. All material objects are just a reflection of some real object in the spiritual world. Everything that exists here also exists there in its original, eternal form.
In the 3rd canto of Srimad Bhagavatam (3.27), Lord Kapila goes deep into this example, giving the example of the sun reflected in a pot of water in a dark room, and from there illuminating on the walls of the room to explain both the presence of the Lord and the soul in this material world. The Lord never enters directly in contact with the material nature, but at the same time, He is present everywhere as Paramatma. Maha-Vishnu is like the sun, Gabodakasayi Vishnu is like the reflection of the pot of water, and Paramatma is like the reflection on the walls. In this way, the Lord becomes present in the material world, while simultaneously away from it. This same example is mentioned in the Vedanta-sutra to explain the same point.
What about the soul? The soul is just like the Lord (tat tvam asi). The Lord is like the sun, and the soul is like a ray of the sun or like a small sun. Sometimes it is also described as the Lord being like the moon and the souls being like stars, conveying the same idea. They are qualitatively one, but quantitatively distinct.
The infinite Lord can simultaneously permeate all material universes, while the infinitesimal soul can permeate just a single material body. Just like the Lord doesn't come in contact with the material energy, the soul also doesn't, although the consciousness of the soul somehow becomes entrapped here. Lord Kapila explains this point on verse 3.27.13: evam trivṛd-ahankāro, bhūtendriya-manomayaiḥ, svābhāsair lakṣito ’nena, sad-ābhāsena satya-dṛk.
There are two meanings in this verse. One is that the soul is reflected in the false ego, and then in the body, senses, and mind, and another is that the Supreme Brahman, the Lord, is reflected in the material elements and is thus present everywhere. Prabhupada translates it as "The self-realized soul is thus reflected first in the threefold ego and then in the body, senses and mind." and then explains also the other meaning in his purport. A pure devotee can see the Lord present everywhere by His reflection in the material energy, understanding that everything should be used in His service.
Just as the Lord is present in the material world as a reflection, the pure devotee can see himself also present as a reflection. The consciousness of the soul is first reflected in the three divisions of the false ego (in goodness, passion, and ignorance) and from there permeates the body, senses, and mind, just like the sun first reflected in the water and then in the walls. In this way, the big sun permeates all material universes, while the small sun permeates just a particular body, but both are eternally situated in the sky.
Lord Kapila also explains (on SB 3.26) that material consciousness is created at the beginning of the material creation as a reflection of the original, spiritual consciousness of the soul. In this way, the soul who is transcendental, always pure and immovable, becomes manifested inside the material creation as a reflection, just like the Lord. This reflection is then covered by the seven coverings (the false ego, mind, intelligence, senses, vital airs, gross body, and the organs of the senses). This explains the idea of the soul being a particle of consciousness (cit-kaṇaḥ) from Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad. Extra confirmation is given in SB 2.9.1, where Sukadeva Goswami mentions that "there is no meaning to the relationship of the pure soul in pure consciousness with the material body. That relationship is just like a dreamer’s seeing his own body working."
Another interesting concept is hidden in the words guhācaram nāma mahat-padam of the original verse. In this passage, the heart is compared to a cave (guha) where the Lord dwells (chara). During the day, in the awakened state, our consciousness is immersed in the external world, experiencing it through the senses. However, at night, when we enter into deep sleep, our consciousness returns to the cave of the heart, where we stay with the Supreme Lord. In this way, we meet with Him every day, but we fail to recognize Him. This mystery is described in the Chāndogya Upaniṣad (8.3.2):
yathā hiraṇya-nidhim nihitam akṣetrajñā upari
sañcaranto ‘pi na vidus tathemāḥ sarvāḥ prajā ahar ahar
gacchantya enam brahmalokam na vidanty anṛtena hi pratyūḍhāḥ
"Just as ignorant people moving around a treasure of gold fail to see it, so too do all living beings, day after day, go to the realm of Brahman where they meet the Supreme Lord. Being obstructed by illusion, however, they fail to recognize Him."
Other passages of the Chāndogya Upaniṣad also describe this daily journey of the soul: satā saumya tadā sampanno bhavati, “O gentle one, the living entities are again and again in contact with the Supreme.” and: ya eṣo ‘ntar hṛdaya ākāśas tasmin śete, “Entering the sky of the heart, the soul sleeps.”
How can we understand that the soul goes to the Lord at the end of each day? How can we regularly go to the Lord and return to this material world after it? And how do we not remember these encounters?
This is connected with the souls merging into the body of Maha-Vishnu which happens at the end of each universal cycle. Prabhupada explains it on his purport to SB 1.10.21:
"The merging of the living beings into the body of Mahā-Viṣṇu takes place automatically at the end of Brahmā’s one hundred years. But that does not mean that the individual living being loses his identity. The identity is there, and as soon as there is another creation by the supreme will of the Lord, all the sleeping, inactive living beings are again let loose to begin their activities in the continuation of past different spheres of life. It is called suptotthita-nyāya, or awakening from sleep and again engaging in one’s respective continuous duty. When a man is asleep at night, he forgets himself, what he is, what his duty is, and everything of his waking state. But as soon as he awakens from slumber, he remembers all that he has to do and thus engages himself again in his prescribed activities. The living beings also remain merged in the body of Mahā-Viṣṇu during the period of annihilation, but as soon as there is another creation they arise to take up their unfinished work. This is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā (8.18-19)."
Just like the souls merge into the body of Lord Maha-Vishnu at the end of each day of Brahma, and also after the final dissolution of the universe, the soul meets the Lord (as Paramatma) at the end of each day, during deep sleep. Being the eternal part and parcel of the Lord, the soul can't remain separated from the Lord. Thus, at the end of each cycle of material activity (at the end of each day, at the end of each day of Brahma, and after each final devastation of the universe), the soul merges into the body of the Lord.
What makes this merging different from liberation is that during this daily encounter with the Lord in the conditioned state, the soul is forgetful of his eternal relationship with Him, and still contaminated by the false ego and material desires. The soul thus doesn't associate with the Lord during these encounters, but just remains in an unconscious state, in a kind of deep slumber. When the soul wakes up at the beginning of the next cycle, the soul remembers his material desires and thus becomes again busy performing different material activities to try to satisfy them. The conditioned soul is thus compared with a foolish person who fails to find a hidden treasure even though regularly passing by it.
Going back to Godhead, on the other hand, means that the soul not only becomes free from all material desires as well as the false ego, but is able to awaken his real spiritual nature, including his spiritual body and senses, with which he can enter the spiritual planets and personally associate with the Lord.
Text 2.2.2
yad arcimad yad aṇubhyo ’ṇu ca
tasmiṇ lokā nihitā lokinaś ca
tad etad akṣaram brahma sa prāṇas tad u vān manaḥ
tad etat satyam tad amṛtam tad veddhavyam saumya viddhi
He is radiant, subtler than the subtler, smaller than the smallest, and all the words and their inhabitants are contained in Him. He is the imperishable Brahman, the creator, revealer of transcendental knowledge, and omniscient. Know this true Lord beyond death by the concentrated mind, O gentle one!
Commentary: This verse reveals more about the qualities of the Lord. Although the description appears to describe the impersonal aspect, the personal qualities of the Lord are hinted at. As in other verses of the Upanisads, the understanding depends on the philosophical conclusions of the student. To an impersonalist, the verse appears to describe only the impersonal aspect, while a devotee can see that the personal characteristics of the Lord are described.
The word "arcimad" indicates that the Lord is radiant and beautiful. The Isopanisad, mantra fifteen describes: hiraṇmayena pātreṇa, satyasyāpihitam mukham, tat tvam pūṣann apāvṛṇu, satya-dharmāya dṛṣṭaye, "O my Lord, sustainer of all that lives, Your real face is covered by Your dazzling effulgence. Kindly remove that covering and exhibit Yourself to Your pure devotee."
The effulgence of the Lord is so powerful that it engulfs all spiritual planets and even pierces through the coverings of the universe, being reflected by the sun and through it illuminating the whole universe. However, behind this dazzling effulgence is the personal form of the Lord, who performs transcendental pastimes with His eternal associates in the imperishable spiritual planets. To see beyond this covering, however, one has to have his eyes purified by transcendental love (premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena). Without this salve of love that destroys all material suffering and gives one transcendental vision, one can't see beyond the impersonal aspect.
"Aṇubhyaḥ aṇu ca" indicates that the Lord is subtler than the subtle and can thus permeate everything. The most subtle material element is ether (nabhas or ākāśa). The Lord is behind this all-pervading ether and is still subtler than it. The element ether pervades everything, but the Lord is so subtle that He pervades even the ether. The Lord is thus everywhere and there is nothing separate from Him, even inside this material universe. Pure devotees who understand this can see the Lord everywhere.
The words "lokāḥ nihitāḥ" explain that not only the Lord is everywhere, but everything rests on Him. In the Bhagavad-gita (9.4) Krsna declares "By Me, in My unmanifested form, this entire universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me, but I am not in them." The Lord is avyakta (unmanifested) because He has no material form, as already defined by the word aṇubhyaḥ. Everything is a part of the Lord and is contained in the Lord, but the inverse is not true, just like a finger is part of the body, but the body is not part of the finger. This reinforces the supreme position of the Lord.
Being omnipresent, however, is just one of the characteristics of the Lord. Another is that He is "akṣaram", imperishable and immutable. Nāsato vidyate bhāvo: everything that is material is subjected to change and is thus temporary. The qualities of eternality and unchangeability are interdependent, as nothing can be eternal without also being unchanging. The Lord is not just unlimited, but without beginning and without an end, the ultimate reality (brahman) beyond the darkness of this material world.
The Lord is also described as prāṇa, vān, manaḥ, satyam and amṛtam. He is prāṇa because He is the source of life, the creator. He also presides over the vital airs as antaryamin (Paramatma) and is the leader of all (prāṇayetṛ). Vān indicates speech but in the highest form. The Lord is the revealer of the Vedas and He presides over the deity of speech. In an ordinary sense, manaḥ means the mind, but in the context, it indicates the Lord as the all-knowing omniscient and as the guide of all (mantṛ). Just as Krsna was guiding Arjuna during the battle of Kurukshetra, He can guide us, provided we are open to His instructions. Satyam means the Lord is the Supreme Truth, not subject to anyone else, and thus supremely independent. There are many relative truths in this world, but they are all subordinate to the Supreme Lord. Satyam also indicates that He is the controller of all (the word “satyam” can be broken into “sata”, “ti”, and “ya”), whether conditioned or liberated. Amṛtam indicates not only that the Lord is immortal, but that He is the very source of immortality. The ones who attain the Lord also become immortal (amṛtam). In this way, both the immortal Lord and the immortal perfect souls enjoy loving exchanges in the transcendental abodes of the spiritual sky.
The verse is then concluded with "tad veddhavyam saumya viddhi", meaning that this Supreme Brahman should be meditated upon with a focused mind (manana) by the student of transcendental science.
Another important point is that we can see that, in the verse, words such as avyakta, prāṇa, vān, manaḥ, satyam, and amṛtam are used to address and describe the Lord. This is one of the keys to understanding Vedic knowledge, especially when we speak about the knowledge of the Upanisads. All words can be used to describe the Lord, and this is their primary meaning. The same words have other meanings, such as "unmanifest", "vital air", "speech", "mind", "truth", "immortal", etc. but these meanings are actually secondary. Primarily, all words of the Vedas describe the Lord.
This is a point exhaustively discussed in the Vedanta-sutra, where Vyasadeva goes to great lengths to prove how words such as ākāśa (ether), atmā (soul) as well as names such as Indra, Surya, Vayu, Shiva, etc. primarily describe the Lord, and how this understanding is essential to unlock the real knowledge hidden in the verses of the scriptures.
The Bhālvaveya-śruti explains:
nāmāni viśvāni na santi loke, yad āvirāsīt puruṣasya sarvam
nāmāni sarvāṇi yam āviśanti, tam vai viṣṇum paramam udāharanti
"The names of this world are not different from Him. All names in this world are names of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. All names refer to Him, Lord Viṣṇu, whom the wise declare is the Supreme Personality of Godhead."
The Skanda Purāṇa also explains: śrī-nārāyaṇādīni nāmāni vinānyāni rudrādibhyo harir dattavān, "Except for Nārāyaṇa and some other names, Lord Hari gave away His names to Lord Śiva and the other demigods."
All names come originally from the Lord. These names which belong to the Lord are just loaned to demigods and other beings. Therefore, primarily all names refer to the Lord, and only secondarily they refer to demigods and other entities.
Vyasadeva thus concludes (Vedanta-sutra 1.4.28): etena sarve vyākhyātā vyākhyātāḥ, "The Supreme Lord is the original cause of everything. All words of the scriptures should be interpreted according to this explanation."
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