What Is Brahman?
Brahman
or the Supreme Self is beyond time and space, causation. He is
limitless. He is tranquil. He shines with equal effulgence in all
bodies. He cannot be any particular thing. He is Chaitanya or pure
consciousness. He is Vastu, Atman or Brahman or the Supreme Self is the
hidden treasure. It is the jewel of jewels. It is gem of gems. It is the
imperishable, inexhaustible supreme wealth, which no dacoit can rob. It
is Chintamani of Chintamanis that will give man whatever he wishes.
Who
Himself sees all, Whom no one beholds, Who illumines the intellect,
etc., but Whom they cannot illumine-that is Brahman. That is Atman.
The
self-shining pure being, Who is the support of this universe, Who is
consciousness itself, Who is Bliss Absolute, Who is changeless is
Brahman.
A supreme principle exists. It is Atman. It is Para
Brahman. It is imperishable, unborn, undecaying and undying. It is
ancient. It is one. It is a mass of wisdom and bliss.
Brahman is
the biggest ocean of Satchidananda. Brahman is surrounded by an ocean of
mind, an ocean of Prana and an ocean of ether and Tanmatras.
That unheard hearer, that unseen seer, that unthought thinker, that unknown knower is Brahman.
That unborn, undecaying, undying, immortal, fearless (Ajam, Ajaram, Amritam, Abhayam) essence is Brahman.
That from which this world has come out, That in which this world exists, That in which it gets dissolved is Brahman.
Atman
is eternal (Nitya). It is unchanging (Nirvikara). It is one mass of
knowledge (Prajnana Ghana, Chidghana, Vijnanaghana). It is imperishable
(Akshara).
Atman or the pure spirit is timeless, spaceless,
placeless and endless. It is full of Jnana (Jnana Maya). It is Santa and
self-luminous (Svayam Jyoti). It is Jyotirmaya (full of light). All
students of Vedanta seek this Atman to get Brahmanubhava. It is called
Parama Vastu (supreme thing). It gives immortality.
That in which
there is neither East nor West, neither light nor darkness, neither
pleasure nor pain, neither hunger nor thirst, neither Harsha nor Soka,
neither gain nor loss is Brahman.
Atman is Niravayava (without
limbs, without hands and feet). So He is Akarta (Akriya, Nishkriya). How
can you attribute agency to Niravayava Atman?
The Atman has no
body. It is Atanu, Nirakara. How can there be then Jara (old age) and
death for Atman? Atman is Ajara, Amara, Avinasi (undecaying, immortal
and indestructible).
The Soul (Atman) is not a product like mind,
body or sugar-candy. Eternal intelligence constitutes its very nature.
The individual soul is identical with the Highest Self (Brahman).
Atman
(Highest Self) is always the witnessing subject in all cognition,
because it is infinite and self-luminous. It is not manifested either by
itself or by anything else. It is known or revealed through direct
perception or immediate intuitional knowledge, Aparokshatvat.
The
intellect can conceive of Brahman as Sat-Chit-Ananda. That is the
reason why these attributes are ascribed to Him. But Brahman is
different from Satchidananda also. This does not mean that Brahman is
non-entity or zero, a negative concept or metaphysical abstraction. He
is the only Reality or living Truth. He is Being. He is essence.
Mind
always runs after pleasure because it is born of Ananda (Brahman). You
love a mango because it affords you pleasure. Amongst all things, you
love your own Self most. This love of the Self gives the clue to the
fact that Ananda or bliss must be the nature of the Self.
That
secondless Supreme Being who resides in the chambers of your hearts as
Antaryamin or Inner Ruler or controller or Sutradhara or Sakshi (silent
witness), Antaratma (inner Self) who has no beginning, middle or end,
who is the source for this world, Vedas, body, mind, Indriyas and
Pranas, who is All-pervading, who is unchanging, who is the One
homogeneous Essence (Ekarasa), who exists in the past, present and
future, who is Self-existent Svayambhu, who is Svatantra (independent)
and who is self-luminous (Svayam Jyoti) is God or Atman or Brahman or
Purusha or Chaitanya or Purushottama.
Atman is different from the
knowable. He is beyond the unknowable also. He is incomprehensible.
This does not mean that he is a non-entity or void or a negative concept
or a metaphysical abstraction. He is a mass of knowledge or pure
consciousness. Consciousness is more dense than stone or platinum or
gold. He is the only real, living entity, the substratum for everything.
Atman
is the immortal substance or essence in man. Atman is the origin of
thoughts, desires, reasonings. Atman is spiritual because it is beyond
matter and mind. It must be immortal, because it is beyond time, space
and causation, it is beginningless, endless and causeless and infinite.
Soul
or Supreme Self or Atman or Brahman is that abiding, constantly
existing and imperishable entity which is the basis for this world,
which is indivisible self-luminous, unchanging and all-pervading, which
is the silent witness or Sakshi of the three states viz., waking,
dreaming and deep sleep. The knower of this Soul or Atman attains
immortality and enters the abode of bliss and nectar.
Brahman is
known also by the names Atman or Purusha. Purusha is so-called because
of His lying in the body, or because He is full in Himself, or because
all that we see is pervaded by Him.
Atman or the Self is the
ultimate Reality. It is the ultimate philosophical principle. It is the
substratum for everything. It is the only living Truth. It is the
Brahman of the Upanishads. It is the support of this world. It is the
prop of this body and Prana. It is the Impersonal, Absolute.
Brahman
or Atman or the Supreme Self is self-luminous. Brahman cannot be
manifested anything else. Brahman manifests everything. The doctrine of
self-luminosity is one of the foundational tenets on which the entire
edifice of Vedanta is constructed. Atman gives light to the sun, the
moon, the stars, the lightning, the fire, the intellect and the senses.
By the light of Atman all these shine but they cannot illumine Atman.
Atman
alone exists. It appears as the objects which we cognise just as a rope
appears as a serpent. Atman puts on the appearance of these phenomenal
objects. It shines by itself. It is self-luminous. All the objects shine
after them i.e., they borrow their light from the self-effulgent Atman.
Brahman
is the soul or Atman of man. He is the soul of the Universe. Brahman
alone is the Infinite. There cannot be two infinities. If there are two
infinities, there will be fighting among the infinities themselves. One
Infinite will be creating something, another Infinite will be destroying
something. There can be only one Infinite. This Atman is the one
Infinite Brahman. Everything else is its manifestation or expression.
Brahman
is unborn, undying, changeless, bodiless, immortal and fearless. He has
neither name nor form. He has neither contraction nor expansion,
neither beauty nor ugliness. Verily, Brahman is fearless. He who knows
Brahman becomes immortal and fearless.
The eye cannot perceive Him. The mind cannot reach Him. The gross worldly
intellect cannot grasp Him. The speech cannot describe Him. The speech
returns back along with the mind, as it is not able to describe Him in
adequate terms. Sages declare, "We are baffled in our efforts to
describe Him. His glory is indescribable. To describe Him is to deny
Him." How can a finite mind grasp the infinite? But He can be directly
realised by that aspirant who is equipped with the four means of
salvation, who does constant meditation, who has sharp, subtle and pure
intellect.
Look within. Within is the
fountain of bliss. That is the real life. What is the real 'I'. That is
soul. That is Atman. That is Brahman. That is pure consciousness.
