Atman is
Sat-Chit-Ananda
Atman is Sat. That
which exists in the past, present and future, which has no beginning, middle
and end, which is unchanging, which is not conditioned in time, space and
causation, which exists during Jagrat, Svapna and Sushupti (waking, dream and deep sleep state), which is of the
nature of one homogeneous essence (Sada Ekarasa, Sada Ekarupa) is Sat. This is
found in Atman. Srutis emphatically declare: Sat only was prior to the
evolution of this universe.
Our common
experience, rather innate inherent feeling, that we never were not and that we
never will cease to be, even though our physical bodies may disappear, clearly
proves that Atman always exists. In reply to the question whether we are in
this world or not, it is said by all men: We are here. Do we possess body or
not? Yes, we have bodies. Whence came this body? There must be some cause for
our getting these bodies, for otherwise it cannot be a cause. That cause is
Karma. It is only our Karma that gives birth to this body. The Karma which
generated this body in the previous birth ought to have been performed in a
birth anterior to that and so on backwards ad infinitum. Thus, on enquiry, we
find that Karma and body are beginningless, of the nature of an unceasing
flood, the source of which is unknown. Karma and body form an ever-receding
chain. Therefore it is certain that Atman which subsists and forms the
substratum for this chain must also be beginningless by virtue of its nature.
Thus it is proved now through inference that Atman is Sat during the past and
present periods.
Why can we not say
that this body is generated by the works performed in this birth? Just as the
seed which can generate a tree cannot generate that tree which is the cause for
its own birth, so also the works performed by this body will produce a new body
in the next birth but cannot generate this body. Therefore we cannot say that
this body has been produced by works done in this birth.
Then another point
is, does that Karma which generates the body belong to us or to others?
Certainly it is ours. We cannot enjoy in heaven through the Karma of another.
If Mr. Krishna does an evil act, he will have to suffer. It cannot affect Mr.
Sadasiva. Virtue brings its own reward for the person who does the virtuous
action. That is the immutable law of Nature. If one were to go to heaven
through the Karma of another man, a servant also should attain heaven through
the performance of a sacrifice by a learned Brahmin. All should have attained
liberation through the Nirvikalpa Samadhi of Sri Sankara or Dattatreya. But
this is not the case. Therefore it is quite obvious that it is only one’s own
Karma which generates one’s own body.
The Karma that we
perform now in this birth will not go in vain. Actions are indestructible. They
will generate fresh bodies in the future. We will do fresh Karmas with these
new bodies which will form the seed for still future bodies and so on forwards
ad infinitum. The current of Karma and body will never have an end in the
future, but there is an end to Karma through Knowledge of the Self. Karma is
completely annihilated by the dawn of Brahma-Jnana. Then comes a cessation of
body. Even if Karma is destroyed and future births come to an end, the Atman
does not perish. It is ever existent. It is eternal. Karma is of the nature of
Avidya. When Karma is destroyed, all causes of pain vanish. Jivahood
disappears. The Jiva enjoys the supreme bliss of the Self. Atman always is. It
exists in the three periods of time. The world may come and go, but Atman
always remains. Pralaya or dissolution is only for this phenomenal universe but
not for the changeless, self-existent Atman. The deluge and fire may destroy
the illusory names and forms but they cannot touch the imperishable Atman. You
can thus clearly understand that Atman is Sat.
Atman Is Chit
Atman Is Chit
Atman is Chit for it shines by itself unaided by any other light and illumines
the whole universe by its own light. It may be asked, how can we be said to
illumine the whole universe when we are ignorant? The universe is of two kinds,
viz., the external and the internal. The external universe embraces the five
elements and their properties, sound, touch, form, taste and odour and their combinations
of various sorts, various names and forms, qualities, properties, the
quintuplicated elements, Brahma’s egg, the four kinds of beings, viz., the
oviparous or egg-born, the sweat-born, the seed-born and the womb-born. The
external universe, however varied and big it may be, is after all only inert
matter. It cannot be the object of our perception unless we throw upon it the
flood of our consciousness light; it can never know us. It is illuminated by us
only. It can never illuminate us.
The internal
universe embraces the five Koshas; the three bodies, viz., gross, subtle and
causal; the six changes, the six waves, viz., birth, death, hunger, thirst,
grief and delusion; the five organs of knowledge; the five organs of actions;
the five Pranas; the fourfold Antahkarana, Sankalpa-vikalpa, determination,
self-arrogation and enquiry; the three states of consciousness, Jagrat, Svapna
and Sushupti; the activities of the Avasthas, Visva, Taijasa, Prajna; Samadhi
and fainting; mind, speech and body; friendliness, mercy, complacency and
indifference; Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana andSamadhi; the eight kinds of proofs; hatred, jealousy, lust, anger, pride,
hypocrisy; Sattva, Rajas and Tamas; pleasure and pain; the four means of salvation (Sadhana Chatushtaya) (C;
the three kinds of pain; thoughts, feelings, emotions, sentiments. This entire
inside world is also inert and cannot be the object of our perception unless we
turn upon it our consciousness. We only can know it; it can never know us. The
mind is finite and inert. It has no independent intelligence. It is not
self-luminous. It shines by borrowing the Light from the source. It is subject
to various limitations and changes. It is only an inert product of subtle
matter. Atman only is the source of Chit. Mind also is perceived by the Chit.
Mind has a beginning and an end.
Gold shines with
splendour when molten by fire in a crucible. Whence is this lustre? The fire
does not impart this glitter in the gold. It is only an instrument in removing
the dross from the gold. When the impurities in the gold are removed by fire,
the gold shines in its real state. Even so when the purified mind dispels
Ajnana, the Atman shines in its native glory and pristine splendour. The
dispelling power of the mind is borrowed from the Atman. It does not belong to
the inert mind. It is generally said that a lamp dispels the darkness of a room
but the mere lamp-vessel, the oil or the wick have no power in themselves to
remove darkness. Nor is Agni (fire) able in itself without the help of the
wick, oil and lamp-vessel to dispel darkness. It is only when the fire and the
three other materials join together that there arises the name, The light of
the lamp, which light destroys darkness. Even so in this lamp of body filled
with oil of Karma, the fire of Atman igniting the wick called mind acquires the
name of Jiva and removes the darkness of Ajnana. This power is really in Atman
and not in others. It is thus clearly proved that Atman is of the nature of
Chit.
Atman Is Ananda
Ananda is that
bliss which is eternal, uncaused and unexcelled. It is the real nature of
Atman. The pleasure derived from objects such as flowers, scents, woman,
fruits, sweetmeats and others is temporary and subject to Upadhi or vehicle and
degree and so it cannot be called the bliss of Atman. We experience the bliss
of Atman every day in deep sleep. It is not mere absence of pain that we
experience there. It is undoubtedly positive happiness, for we remember on
waking up that we slept happily. This indicates the fact of the existence of
bliss to Atman in that state. Other objects which make us happy in waking state
and in dream are entirely absent in deep sleep. The bliss in deep sleep state
is Upadhiless. The bliss of deep sleep is unexcelled, because we eagerly long
for it above all pleasures and we dislike those people who stand in the way of
our enjoying the happiness from sleep. We prepare soft beds, soft pillows to
enjoy this happiness. There are eleven degrees of bliss from that of man to
that of Hiranyagarbha. Each of these degrees of bliss is a hundredfold greater
than that which precedes it. But the Supreme Bliss of Brahman is degreeless. It
is infinite or illimitable as there is nothing superior to it. The bliss of
deep sleep is degreeless.
It must not be
argued that the bliss of deep sleep cannot be eternal as we do not feel it in
waking state or dream. There is that bliss existing in the waking and the
dreaming states also. But it is not enjoyed clearly in these states, being
veiled by the actions of the internal organs. The experience of the passing,
finite sensual pleasures obscures the ever-shining bliss of the Self. Although
the smoke produced by the fire obscures the fire, though the fog veils the sun
behind it, yet the wise do know that the fire or the sun can never be obscured
by them. They see beyond the ashes and the fog, the fire and the sun. Similarly
the knower of the Self fully knows that though the finite sensual pleasurescaused by flowers, fruits, women and the like seem to veil the inherent
infinite bliss of the Atman, they really owe their origin to the latter. They
are fully aware that the infinite bliss of Atman shines unobscured and
unlimited during all the three periods of time and all the three states of
experience. The bliss of Brahman cannot be adequately expressed in words. It
has to be felt and realised through direct Self-realisation. Though we
experience it, it is not an experience like the enjoyment of an object, because
you are then an embodiment of bliss itself. Therefore it is clear that the
bliss of the Atman and that of deep sleep, which is no other than the former,
are eternal.
The love which the
father shows towards the friend of his son is on account of his love towards
his own son. The love which the father has for the son is not on account of the
friend of his son. Therefore son is dearer than the friend of his son.
Similarly wealth and son are dear on account of one’s own self. The love which
one has for his own Atman is not on account of wealth or son. Therefore Atman
is dearer than a son or wealth.
Man loves his
wealth immensely. He crosses the seas and goes to the far off climes to earn
money. But a son is dearer than the wealth; the father spends a lot of money to
get his son out of the jail when he is locked up there for some crime.
Therefore, son is dearer than money. Body is dearer than the son; the father
even sells his son during famine for the sake of protecting his body. The
Indriyas or senses are dearer than the body, because man protects his eyes,
ears, nose, etc., when another comes to attack him. Prana or life is dearer
than the senses. If the king orders to take away the life of a criminal, the
criminal rather prefers to have one of his senses removed rather than give up
his life. Therefore life is dearer than the senses. Atman is dearer than the
life. When one is suffering from a serious incurable disease, he says: Let my
Prana depart from the body. I will be happy. Therefore Atman is dearer than the
life itself because it is an embodiment of bliss.
Satchidananda is
only a provisional definition of Atman. We see in this phenomenal universe
untruth, insentience and pain. The Atman which is distinct from Anatman is
therefore characterised for the purpose of easy understanding by us as Sat
(real) as opposed to Asat or Anrita (unreal), Chit (consciousness) as opposed
to Jada (insentience or unconsciousness) and Ananda (bliss) as opposed to
Duhkha (pain). Even these terms, therefore, do not define Atman, but only
distinguish it which is beyond definition by words. To define Brahman is to
deny Brahman only.
Sat, Chit and
Ananda are not three distinct entities. They are not different from one
another. They are coeval and coexistent with Atman. Just as water, Jal, Pani
signify one and the same thing, so also Sat-Chit-Ananda signify the one Atman.
Sat is Chit. Sat is Ananda. Chit is Sat. Chit is Ananda. Ananda is Sat. Ananda
is Chit. You cannot split up Sat-Chit-Ananda into three separate entities, just
as you cannot separate light, heat and luminosity from fire.
Limitation
(Parichheda) is of three kinds: (1) by space (Desa), (2) by time (Kala) and (3)
by things (Vastu). Body is limited by space. Atman cannot have any limitation
by space, because it is all-pervading and all-full. It transcends space. Atman
is eternal. It cannot be limited by time. This body is conditioned in time and
so it is perishable. The third kind of limitation, by things (Vastu
Parichheda), is of three kinds: (1) Sajatiya, i.e., limitation by the existence
of a similar thing, e. g., a tree is limited as a similar tree exists. (2)
Vijatiya, e. g., a tree is limited, as a dissimilar stone exists. (3) Svagata
limitation by the existence of differentiation in itself, e. g., a tree is
limited as it is differentiated into the trunk, leaves, branches, flowers,
root, fruits, etc., or a man is limited as he is differentiated into face,
trunk, hands, legs, etc. Isvara is Abhinna-nimittopadana Karana. He created
this universe out of His own body (Maya), just as the spider creates its web
out of its own saliva, and entered Himself into these names and forms.
Therefore there cannot be any Sajatiya Bheda such as Jiva-Isvara Bheda. There
is no second Atman. There are no two Sats.
This phenomenal
universe is not real. It is a mere appearance like snake in the rope or silver
in the mother-of-pearl. It has no independent existence. Therefore there cannot
be any Vijatiya Bheda.
Sat, Chit and
Ananda are one. Atman is partless and homogeneous. The three characteristics
Sat, Chit and Ananda are not distinct from one another. The tree can be
differentiated into branches, flowers, twigs, etc., for they are finite things
limited to particular part, of the tree, but Atman has no parts. Sat is present
wherever there are Chit and Ananda. Sat cannot be limited by another Sat for
there are no two Sats, nor by Asat for Asat cannot exist. If it is said that
Chit is different from Sat, then it will be Asat like the horn of a hare. This
sort of assumption will land you in a serious dilemma and confusion. All
miseries come to a termination when one realises Atman. Therefore Atman must be
an embodiment of bliss. Sat is Chit. Sat is Ananda also.
He who has
realised this Sat-Chit-Ananda Atman is a liberated sage. He has nothing more to
lern, has nothing more to do, has nothing more to gain. All his desires are
gratified. He has obtained all worlds. He is freed from the jaws of death. He
attains immortality.
Peace love harmony