यदा भूतपृथग्भावमेकस्थमनुपश्यति |
तत एव च विस्तारं ब्रह्म सम्पद्यते तदा || 31||
yadā bhūta-pṛithag-bhāvam eka-stham anupaśhyati
tata eva cha vistāraṁ brahma sampadyate tadā
yadā—when; bhūta—living entities; pṛithak-bhāvam—diverse variety; eka-stham—situated in the same place; anupaśhyati—see; tataḥ—thereafter; eva—indeed; cha—and; vistāram—born from; brahma—Brahman; sampadyate—(they) attain; tadā—then
Translation:
When he sees that the manifold nature of beings is centred in the One and that all evolution is from that One alone, he becomes one with Brahman.
Commentary:
The manifold universe with all the crores of beings, in it, combining, separating, changing, evolving and so on, is in reality the one Supreme Brahman. In that one, these things exist with the apparent distinction of name and form. What about the waves on the bosom of the ocean? Does they exist separately from the ocean? No. It is the ocean itself, but by name and form they are projected out of the ocean. No one can look upon the wave as having a separate existence apart from the ocean. There may be millions of waves and yet in reality they are ocean, they may come out of the ocean and disappear in the ocean. The ocean exists, the waves come and go. So also, in Paramatma the whole universe appears to exist. It comes out of and merges in Paramatma. He is the Reality. He who understands this mystery attains Brahma Jnana and then becomes Brahman.
Anupasyati: The aspirant should see the Truth clearly and firmly. He should cultivate the vision of oneness in all, till it becomes habitual to him. Thus he attains the state of Brahman. It is not enough to know it as a theory. It should be practised and realised. Then whatever he sees, he discovers it as Brahman in all places and under all circumstances.
Brahma sanpadyate tada: The auspicious moment of self-realisation is declared here. There is no prescribed time limit for it. When he sees that the manifold universe is created in Paramatma and is evolving in Him, when he sees the all-pervading one, minus the name and form – that very moment he attains Brahmajnana and becomes Brahman (The Jiva is dissolved in Brahman and as the residual Reality, Brahman).
From this it follows that seeing the manifold is bondage and ignorance; seeing the One is liberation and knowledge. Therefore the aspirant should transcend name and form which is the cause of manifoldness and establish himself in the vision of the one Absolute ‘sat chit ananda’.
Sri Ramakrishna Says —
MASTER (to M.): “I was meditating inside the net. It occurred to me that meditation, after all, was nothing but the imagining of a form, and so I did not enjoy it. One gets satisfaction if God reveals Himself in a flash. Again, I said to myself, ‘Who is it that meditates, and on whom does he meditate?'”
M: “Yes, sir. You said that God Himself has become everything — the universe and all living beings. Even he who meditates is God.”
MASTER: “What is more, one cannot meditate unless God wills it. One can meditate when God makes it possible for one to do so. What do you say?”
M: “True, sir. You feel like that because there is no ‘I’ in you. When there is no ego, one feels like that.”
MASTER: “But it is good to have a trace of ego, which makes it possible for a man to feel that he is the servant of God. As long as a man thinks that it is he who is doing his duties, it is very good for him to feel that God is the Master and he God’s servant. When one is conscious of doing work, one should establish with God the relationship of servant and Master.”
M. was always reflecting on the nature of the Supreme Brahman.
MASTER (to M.): “Like the akasa, Brahman is without any modification. It has become manifold because of Sakti. Again, Brahman is like fire, which itself has no colour. The fire appears white if you throw a white substance’ into it, red if you throw a red, black it you throw a black. The three gunas — sattva, rajas, and tamas — belong to Sakti alone. Brahman Itself is beyond the three gunas. What Brahman is cannot be described. It is beyond words. That which remains after everything is eliminated by the Vedantic process of ‘Not this, not this’, and which is of the nature of Bliss, is Brahman.
“Suppose the husband of a young girl has come to his father-in-law’s house and is seated in the drawing-room with other young men of his age. The girl and her friends are looking at them through the window. Her friends do not know her husband and ask her, pointing to one young man, ‘Is that your husband?’ ‘No’, she answers, smiling. They point to another young man and ask if he is her husband. Again she answers no. They repeat the question, referring to a third, and she gives the same answer. At last they point to her husband and ask, ‘Is he the one?’ She says neither yes nor no, but only smiles and keeps quiet. Her friends realise that he is her husband.
“One becomes silent on realizing the true nature of Brahman. (Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)
Question: When does man attain Brahman?
Answer: When he knows and sees that the whole manifold universe is placed in Paramatma and is projected for Him, he realises Brahman. That is Brahma Jnana and Moksha.
(35 Verses)