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Enquiry into the Truth

CHENNAI: This universe is a magnificent creation. How was it created? By whom was this exquisite finish fashioned? Who is responsible for all the varied objects and beings that function with their distinctive features and qualities? Where did the Creator sit and create? The Upanishads initiate the enquiry into this knowledge involving the Supreme Brahman, the universe and the Atma in the form of debates, seminars, questions, assumptions, logic, etc and they state that gaining this Knowledge liberates one from the cycle of birth. For instance, using the idea of a maker (a potter, goldsmith) who fashions objects (pots or gold ornaments) with materials (clay, gold) creation is shown to be the work of the Supreme Brahman; but He inheres in Himself the role of the maker and the material objects as well. Energy cannot be separated from matter just as heat cannot be seen apart from fire or brilliance from sun’s rays.

In all these discussions, the Upanishads warn us not to mistake the reflection for the real, or the signpost for the destination, said Sri R. Krishnamurthy Sastrigal in a lecture. The Taittiriya Upanishad reveals the capacity of the mind as a faculty of perception to recognise the external objects. At the intellectual level, when proofs are inadequate, the truth is recognised only by inner conviction. Brighu, son of Varuna, sought to know the truth from the essential constituents of an individual being — the external body (Annamaya), vital energy (Pranamaya), mind (Manomaya), intellect (Vijnanamaya) and bliss (Anandamaya). The Supreme Brahman is something beyond all these and is the embodiment of bliss. A person with discrimination, like a swan that has the unique capacity to take only milk from a mixture of milk and water, learns to reject the worldly objects and focusses on the inner Self to attain realisation.

Though the Supreme Brahman is all pervading, He is too subtle to be recognised in gross aspects. His truth remains beyond the grasp of the senses and their reach and can be recognised only when the human mind transcends its limitations and seeks the Self within. It will be seen that the senses function because of the power of the Self.

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