The Mundaka Upanishad : Post-8. Swami Krishnananda.

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Tuesday, May 31, 2022. 19:00

Chapter-1. Section-1. Mantram-8.

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Mantram-8.

Tapasa ciyate brahma tato'nnam abhijāyate, 

Annat prano manah satyam lokah karmasu camrtam (1.1.8). 

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In one mantram, the whole of creation is described. Brahman, the Supreme Absolute, distends, swells—becomes large, as it were—by tapas. Tapas means concentration. Brahman's concentration is the will to create. It becomes extended in the form of the contemplated shape of creation, as it were. When we think something, the mind takes the form of that thing which we think. Now, the Supreme Absolute thinks, wills, concentrates itself on the shape which creation has to take, and that is the swelling, or the extending, or the becoming large of Brahman in tapas. The swelling, or the extension of being in tapas, also means the increase in the potentiality of the one that concentrates. In the case of Brahman, it would mean the contemplation of the form of the world which has to be created in the future. In the case of people like us, tapas would mean the intensity of heat generated inside by the concentration of the mind and the prana.

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Tapasā cīyate brahma tato'nnam abhijāyate. Very mystical are these words. The meanings of these terms in the Upanishads are not to be taken in a dictionary sense. They are highly connotative. Here it is mentioned that when Brahman concentrates itself in tapas, anna is created. From the point of view of ordinary linguistic exposition, anna means food, anything that is eaten. But in the Upanishads, anna does not mean just what we eat. It is something more than that. The material content of consciousness is called anna. The content of the consciousness which takes the shape of the content in the act of concentration creates an anna for it. The object of thought is the food of thought. Anything that we think is the diet of the psychic process. And here, in the case of Brahman, the potential material, the matrix of all creation, is called Mula Prakriti in the language of Sankhya and Vedanta, etc. There must be some stuff which has to manifest itself in the form of creation. The concretisation of the will itself is the stuff; or rather, anna may be taken in the sense of the substantiation of the will of God. It has to take effect. The implementation of the ideation of the Absolute is the food, the content, the shape or the form of this tapas. Anna is produced in this manner. Cosmic potentiality is created by the concentrating act of Brahman as tapas. That is the meaning of tapasā cīyate brahma tato'nnam abhijāyate. When this potential in the form of a concrete substantiality of will wields itself, it immediately vibrates into the form of the future shape in a more distinct form: the creation of space.

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In the Panchadasi we have a very clear-cut description of how this kind of manifestation takes place. Brahman is like a canvas on which somebody paints a picture. It is the background of everything. If we invoke some consciousness into a canvas, we may imagine that in order to paint on it, the canvas has to concentrate itself on the thickening process that has to take place by applying starch on it, because painting cannot be done on ordinary cloth. There should not be pores in the canvas. So in order to paint a picture, the cloth of the canvas is stiffened with starch. This stiffening is the process of the will, and it is the anna that is spoken of here.

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Then there is prana, the vibration. The painter's mind vibrates in the form of the outline of the picture that he is intending to draw. But we do not bring the question of the painter in the case of Brahman, because Brahman itself is the painter here; Brahman itself visualises, in the form of the vibratory process of its will, the outline of the creation that is to take place. After the outline is drawn, it is filled with ink. Then the creation is complete. Likewise, there is, first of all, a will or an idea wherein the painter—or Brahman, in the case of this verse—has the idea of what it has to become, and then it stiffens itself into the will by tapas, concentration, as a painter would concentrate on the painting that has to be done, and then there is a vibratory force of prana. Here the word ‘prana' indicates the cosmic prana, or Hiranyagarbha tattva. Hiranyagarbha is prana, the cosmic vibration of the energy of Brahman through the manifested stuff called anna, or potentiality. Then there is a further diversification of this concentrated universal prana in the form of thinking. We may compare this manas, or thinking of Brahman, to the Virat Svarupa, which has emanated from the outline of the creative process available in Hiranyagarbha. In the cosmic mind, which is Virat, everything is clear. It is the ink-filled picture, as it were.

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Satyaṁ—the words are all very intricate. Their meanings cannot be understood superficially. We have to go deep into the subject with the help of commentaries. Satya is the order and law of the universe that comes together with the manifestation of Hiranyagarbha and Virat. The law and order of the universe is also created simultaneously. The unified integration of the cosmic prana, Hiranyagarbha or Virat, is the principle behind the law and order that has to operate in the manifested universe, just as in a constitution of a government it is an integrated thought of the central law authority that manifests itself as diversified forms in various departments, until it goes to the lowest level of administration. Then the world is created—lokāḥ: the fourteen worlds, which are made up of the five elements of earth, water, fire, air and ether. Karmasu cāmṛtam: Then action proceeds. That is to say, individuals emerge from this cosmic manifestation of the five elements—earth, water, fire, air and ether. Then comes āmṛta, the fruit of actions.

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Thus, how many things are there? 

Firstly, there is the Supreme Absolute. 

Secondly, there is anna, or the potential for the future manifestation in the form of tapas. 

Thirdly, there is Hiranyagarbha, the vibratory cosmic prana. 

Fourthly, there is thinking, which is the cosmic thought identifiable with Virat. 

Fifthly, there is law and order. 

Sixthly, there is the manifestation of the fourteen worlds. 

Seventhly, there is individuality, the individuals or jivas, who are propelled towards action, karma. 

Eighthly, there is the fruit of action. 

So there are eight degrees: Brahman, anna, prana, manas, satya, loka, karma, amrita. 

Look at this wonderful mantram. 

It is like a sutra, one thirty-two lettered mantram giving us the whole scheme of creation from Brahman to dust. 

Look at the power of the composer of this mantra. 

Great thing indeed! 

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Mantram-8.

Tapasa ciyate brahma tato'nnam abhijāyate, 

Annat prano manah satyam lokah karmasu camrtam (1.1.8). —a very difficult Mantram.

Next - Mantram-9.

To be continued .....

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