Thus Spake the Divine - Hunter is King : Jeevan is Brahmam

Thus Spake the Divine

Hunter is King : Jeevan is Brahmam

Acharya and his successors have mentioned Dravidacharya in their texts. Acharya mentions him in Chapter 3 and 4 of his Bhashyam on Chandogya Upanishad, while explaining the concepts of Maduvidya and Samvarga Vidya.

It is only in the Chandogya Upanishad that we see the most vital statement (Mahavakyam) appearing for nine times as “Tat-Tvam-Asi”, which means “You are that” (Brahmam). This statement is also repeated to Shvetaketu by his father and Guru Utthalaka Aaruni, again for nine times.

“Tat” is the Brahmam who is the Paramatma. “Tvam” is Jeevatma. (Here it is addressed to Shvetaketu). “Asi” means – You exist. The Father-Cum-Guru preaches “You are that Brahmam”. This does not mean that “Shvetaketu” will turn into Brahmam after undergoing rigorous practices (sadhana), nor will he transform to be so at a future date. He is the Brahmam now and ever; everything and everybody is Brahmam now and ever!

Then, why should we do sadhana to become a Brahmam? This is because though being Brahmam ourselves, we are not aware that we are the Brahmam! Had we realised that we are the Brahmam, there would have been no need for so much of lamenting, lust, anger and fear within us! Had we known that we are Brahmam ourselves, wouldn’t we have been fi lled with absolute bliss and turned a silent ocean without any scope even for waves? We are living in a state of ignorance in which we are not even conscious that such a state does exist within us! In such a state of mind, how would one ever accept that “You are the Brahmam?”

It is only to make us accept this reality that Dravidacharya tells us the story of the Hunter-Boy-Turned-Prince. Acharya quotes this story in his Bhashyam on Brihadaranya Upanishad while substantiating the absolute truth that the entire Cosmos has emerged only from the Atma. He gives several examples to substantiate this point of view. Spider spins its net only with the fluid it emits from its own body; fi re emits sparks from its own self. Similarly, the entire Cosmos has emerged only from the Atma.

Acharya does not name Dravidacharya directly in his quotes. He just says, “There is a story narrated by a welllearned Acharya”. It is Anandagiri who further expanded the Bhashyam and quoted the name of Dravidacharya. In the story I narrated earlier, was there a physical metamorphosis of the hunter-boy into a Prince? Even while thinking that he was a hunter-boy, in reality, was he not the son of a King? He was not aware of the truth before; so he lived the life of a hunter.

Once he came to know the truth of having been a Prince all along, he started to live in reality the life of a Prince. There were no two individuals; one did not transform into another. It was only one individual who did not know his status till he himself understood it later. In an ignorant state, he lived the life of a hunter at a lower economic level. And, on realisation of the reality, he turned into the Prince and went on to become an Emperor! We are also in a similar state.

As the Prince was in the guise of a hunter, we too are in the guise of Jeevatma, ignorant that we have been tied by worldly bindings. In reality, we are only Brahmam. Irrespective of the guise, the being within us is Paramatma forever. Driven by our own sensory desires, we are all running around hunting for substances to quench our desires. We should become aware that we are the Brahmam. Even if we become aware of this reality, we must know that our senses will still drive and prevent us from experiencing the Brahmam.

In our story, even though being the Prince, in order to attain the status of kingship, he had to learn warfare skills, fight with enemies and become the Emperor. Similarly, though being Brahmam, we do not realize this reality. So, we should also engage ourselves in the process of realising that reality. We must start performing our Karma, engage in Bhakti, take up the path of Jnyana, and triumph over our own internal confl icts to become the Emperor of our own Atma.

These are the sadhanas that one should perform to realise the true state of Brahmam within us. The Upanishad calls an enlightened, self-realised person (Atma Jnyani) as an Emperor of Atma (samrat). Both ice and sphatika (crystal) look identical externally. However, only ice melts and turns into water, but not the crystal, which remains as it is. This is because only that which was earlier in the form of water and takes the guise of frozen ice melts to again take its erstwhile original form of water. Similarly, Brahmam has frozen into the form of Jeevatma; when the Jeevatma melts, it will turn into Brahmam.

The irony is ice melts on its own; we don’t! Tayumanavar sings fervently on our behalf as follows: “At least even a stone will melt at some point, but my stoneheart does not melt!” We need a stimulant to melt ourselves. In the story, there was a Minister to transform the hunter-boy into a Prince. Likewise, we should have some guidance and help to explore our ‘real identity’. Initially, the hunter-boy stubbornly refused to go with the Minister. But the Minister forcefully brought him into the realised state of a Prince.

Similarly, when we stubbornly refuse to take the spiritual path (Para Marga), we need an external force that will push us on that path. Is there anything or anyone like that, who will show us our own identity? Yes! There is!! Metaphorically, it was the Minister who told the hunter-boy that “You are a Prince”, taught him warfare skills and pursued harder than the Prince himself to make him realise his own real self. Like the Minister in case of Prince, in our case, it is the Guru. It is the Guru who preaches that supreme philosophy to us and then makes us do the sadhana to experientially realise the state of Brahmam. For this purpose, Guru is the one who undertakes rigorous penance on our behalf to extinguish our erstwhile karma and thus helps us reach our Brahmam within.

This article is a snippet from the Book Thus Spake the Divine, is available online at www.giri.in and across Giri Trading Agency Private Limited, A chain of Speciality Stores dealing in all kinds of products needed in Indian Culture and Tradition.