"The Self" is Everything.

THE SELF IS EVERYTHING

  We give here some interesting dialogues between the teacher and the students in the gurukula as cited in the upanishads. This will help us to know the reality of our existence. If the Vedic and Upanishad verses are incomplete, one can look into the main Text.

 The father said, "Now, that which is the subtle essence-in it all that exists has its self. That is the True. That is the Self. “That thou art”, Svetaketu." 

  Please, venerable Sir, give me further instruction, said the son. "So be it, my dear", the father replied. [Sama Veda, Chan. Upa. VI, XII – The Birth of the Gross from the Subtle, 1 – 3]

    Place this salt in water and then come to me in the morning. The son did as he was told. The father said to him: "My son, bring me the salt which you placed in the water last night. Looking for it, the son did not find it, for it was completely dissolved."

    The father said: "My son, take a sip of water from the surface. How is it? It is salt. Take a sip from the middle. How is it? It is salt. Take a sip from the bottom. How is it? It is salt. Throw it away and come to me. The son did as he was told, saying: The salt was there all the time. Then the father said: Here also, my dear, in this body you do not perceive Sat (Being); but It is indeed there.

   Now, that which is the subtle essence-in it all that exists has its self. That is the True. That is the Self That thou art, Svetaketu. Please, venerable Sir, give me further instruction, said the son. So be it, my dear, the father replied." [Sama Veda, Chandogya Upanishad VI, XIII – The Invisibility of an Existent Object, 1- 3]

   Just as someone, my dear, might lead a person, with his eyes covered, away from the country of the Gandharas and leave him in a place where there were no human beings; and just as that person would turn toward the east, or the north, or the south, or the west, shouting: ‘I have been brought here with my eyes covered, I have been left here with my eyes covered!’ [Sama Veda, Chan. Upa. VI, XIV – The Means of Self-Knowledge, 1]

   What is infinity, O Yajnavalkya?

    It is the quarters, Your Majesty, said Yajnavalkya. Verily, Your Majesty, to whatever quarter (direction) one may go, one never reaches its end. Hence the quarters are infinite. The quarters, O Emperor, are the ear and the ear, O Emperor, is the Supreme Brahman. The ear never deserts him who, knowing this, meditates upon it; all beings eagerly approach him; and being a god, he attains the gods. I give you a thousand cows with a bull as large as an elephant, said Emperor Janaka. Yajnavalkya replied: My father was of the opinion that one should not accept gifts from a disciple without fully instructing him.

   Yajnavalkya said: Let me hear what anyone among your teachers may have told you. Satyakama, the son of Jabala, told me that the mind is Brahman. As anyone who had the benefit of being taught by a good mother, father and teacher should say, so did the son of Jaa say that the mind is Brahman; for what can be attained by a person who has no mind? But did he tell you about its abode and support? No, he did not. This Brahman is only one-footed, Your Majesty. Then you tell us, O Yajnavalkya. Themind is its abode and the akasa is its support. It should be meditated upon as bliss.

   What is bliss, O Yajnavalkya?

    It is the mind, Your Majesty, said Yajnavdkya. Verily, Your Majesty, with the mind a man desires and woos a woman; then a son resembling him is born of her and he is the cause of bliss. The mind, O Emperor, is the Supreme Brahman. The mind never deserts him who, knowing this, meditates upon it; all beings eagerly approach him; and being a god, he attains the gods. I give you a thousand cows with a bull as large as an elephant, said Emperor Janaka. Yajnavalkya replied: My father was of the opinion that one should not accept gifts from a disciple without fully instructing him.

   Yajnavalkya said: "Let me hear what anyone among your teachers may have told you. Vidaghdha, the son of Sakala, told me that the heart is Brahman. As anyone who had the benefit of being taught by a good mother, father and teacher should say, so did the son of Sakala say that the heart is Brahman; for what can be attained by a person who is without a heart? But did he tell you about its abode and support? No, he did not. This Brahman is only one-footed, Your Majesty. Then you tell us, O Yajnavalkya. The heart is its abode and the akasa is its support. It should be meditated upon as stability."

   What is stability, O Yajnavalkya?

    "It is the heart, said Yajnavalkya. Verily, Your Majesty, the heart is the abode of all beings and the heart, Your Majesty, is the support of all beings. The heart, O Emperor, is the Supreme Brahman. The heart never deserts him who, knowing this, meditates upon it; all beings eagerly approach him; and being a god, he attains the gods. I give you a thousand cows with a bull as large as an elephant, said Emperor Janaka. Yajnavalkya replied: My father was of the opinion that one should not accept gifts from a disciple without fully instructing him." [Yajur Veda, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad IV, I-Partial Definitions of Brahman, 1 – 7].

    "If, my dear, someone were to strike at the root of this large tree here, it would bleed but live. If he were to strike at the middle, it would bleed but live. If he were to strike at the top, it would bleed but live. Pervaded by the living self, that tree stands firm, drinking in again and again its nourishment and rejoicing."

   "But if the life (i.e. living self) leaves one of its branches, that branch withers; if it leaves a second, that branch withers; if it leaves a third, that branch withers. If it leaves the whole tree, the whole three withers. In exactly the same manner, my dear, said he, know this: This body dies, bereft of the living self; but the living self dies not. Now, that which is the subtle essence-in it all that exists has its self. That is the True. That is the Self. That thou art, Svetaketu. Please, venerable Sir, give me further instruction, said the son. So be it, my dear, the father replied." [Sama Veda, Chandogya Upanishad VI, XI – The Indestructibility of the Jiva, 1 -3].