BY: SUN STAFF
Jan 20, CANADA (SUN) —
Tattva Sandarbha
by Srila Jiva Goswami
SECTION FIFTY-FOUR
To explain the changeless nature of the soul he (Pippalayana) further expands the example of the life air by the example of the senses merging (SB.11.3.39):
As the life air in various forms follows all creatures born of an egg, the womb, earth, or heat, so in the state of deep sleep the soul remains free from any external experiences, because the senses and the false ego become inactive. But when the soul awakes from deep sleep the recollection comes.
Here the terms andeshu, pesishu, tarushu, and avinisciteshu refer to those "born of eggs", " born of the womb", "born of the earth", and " born of sweat or heat" respectively. Upadhavati means pursues. In this analogy, by showing no change in the life air, Sage Pippalayana demonstrates the changeless nature of the soul. How is it? The soul appears to be changing either when he is connected with the senses in the wakeful state, or when connected with the false ego, during the dream state, which consist of the impressions from the wakeful state. But when the soul is in deep sleep, the senses and the false ego become merged (sanna) and only the changeless (kutasthah) soul remains. In which way? Asayamrite--without the designation of the subtle body. That is to say free from the limiting adjuncts which cause him to appear as changing.
But if everything up to the false ego is merged, then only void will remain. Why is it said that the changeless soul exists? In answer he says, "We remember that". Upon awakening, we, the observers, remember the soul (ourselves) as a witness to the deep sleep. We say, "I slept happily for so long and I was not aware of anything". No one can remember that which he has not experienced. The soul must have had such an experience, although the experience is not very distinct, due to lack of any relation with the sense objects.
Therefore, it is concluded that the soul is a self-luminous object. It has the power of knowing, which exists in it's own self, just as self-luminous objects like the sun, have the power of illumination.
So it is said in the sruti, "He certainly does not see. Although seeing, he does not see the visible objects, since it is not possible to take away the seeing capacity of the seer". (Br.A.U.4.3.23).
This is the third argument, based on the distinction between the witness and the objects witnessed. One should also assimilate the fourth argument, based on the distinction between the sufferer and the object of love.
Sri Jiva Toshani Commentary
In the previous section, with reference to the Srimad Bhagavatam, the example of the life air was used to show the changeless nature of the soul. The same example is further developed in the next verse of the Srimad Bhagavatam. Sage Pippalayana explains that the life air is always following the soul into the different species of life, which can be grouped into four categories based on the source of birth. The life air goes into the various bodies, but it remains unchanged although it seems to have changed. For example, the life air of an ant and that of an elephant appears to be of different sizes but is constitutionally the same. Similarly, the soul, although changeless, appears to undergo changes based on the various states and shapes of the bodies.
There are three states of existence in the body, the wakeful state, the dreaming state, and the dreamless, or deep sleep state. During the wakeful state, the jiva is conscious of the gross body, the senses, and the mind and his consciousness seems divided by the senses. In the dreaming state the senses become inactive, or to be more precise, they lose contact with the mind and thus the jiva is not conscious of them or the gross body. Through dreams he perceives the various impressions created in the sub-conscious mind during the wakeful state and due to his attachment to these impressions, the consciousness seems transformed. In deep sleep, or the dreamless state, the soul loses connection even with the mind and thus he is not conscious of the body --subtle or gross.
According to sruti, in the dreamless sleep state, the mind enters into the puritat nerve in the heart, "When he is fast asleep, then he does not know anything. There are seventy two thousand nerves, called hita, spreading out of the heart, the mind comes out of them and enters into the nerve called puritat, it takes rest in this puritat. As a baby or an emperor or a noble brahmana lives, having attained the supreme bliss, so does it remain". (Br.A. 2.1.19)
Feelings of happiness and distress are mental states. This is stated in Bhagavad-gita 13.7. "Desire, hatred, happiness, distress, the physical body, the life symptoms or intelligence, and convictions--all these are considered, in summary, to be the field of activities and its modifications." In deep sleep the soul becomes disconnected from the mind, he feels no material happiness or distress, no desires or hatred. He tastes only the bliss of the self. Still one should not think that the soul becomes liberated in deep sleep. He is still bound by subtle desires and therefore he returns to the dreaming and wakeful states.
From the Buddhists come an objection to the existence of the soul in deep sleep. When there is no experience of the senses or the mind, why not assume that only the "void" remains during deep sleep? The answer is "because we recollect the experience of deep sleep". After awakening from deep sleep a person may declare "I have slept happily and did not know anything". Since there cannot be any recollection without experience, the perceiver of the experience and the one having the recollection must be the same person. This proves that the happiness was experienced by the same person who recalls it upon awakening, but the recollection is hazy due to having no link with the mind or senses.
The idea is that although there is no false ego during deep sleep the real ego of the self remains. This is the true and inseperable identity of the self. So there is no question of voidness in the deep sleep state, as the Buddhists claim, nor of mere consciousness without individuality, as the Mayavadis claim.
This proves that the soul has the quality of cognition as its essential nature. It does not acquire cognition only when conditioned and remain as only consciousness in the unconditioned state. The soul, like the sun, is self-luminous and it illuminates others as well, thus it has the capacity to know itself and other objects. Help from the gross external senses is not needed to know the soul, in as much as one does not need a torch to see the sun. This quality cannot be separated from the soul in any state of existence, this being its essential nature. Even if a light bulb is covered by an opaque glass, it does not cease to emit light. The opaque covering only limits and distorts its diffusion. Of course this self-luminous nature is granted by the Lord and thus the soul should not be mistaken as being a completely independent entity.
The reference from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (4.3.23) quoted in this anuccheda states, "He certainly does not see". This refers to the soul in deep sleep. At that time there is nothing to be seen, because the soul is detached from the mind and senses, but this does not mean that his power of seeing is lost. So the verse also says, "Although seeing, he does not see the visible objects".
In the previous section, Srila Jiva Gosvami concluded that the soul is distinct from the body. He substantiated that by the analogy of the life air. Here he further concludes that the soul is distinct from the body and from Brahman or the Supersoul. The first argument is based on the witness and the witnessed. During deep sleep, when the identification with the mind and senses is slackened, the soul witnesses his own self. This experience he recollects on awakening. This proves the changeless nature of the soul, distinct from the body and the senses.
His second argument is based on the fact that it is the jiva who experiences the material troubles and tribulations and not the Supersoul, although both are in the same body. Supersoul who is the witness of the soul and the activities of the body. In this state it was said that the soul becomes alienated from the subtle and gross body, but still the body is not dead. The breathing, heartbeat, and blood circulation continues by the grace of the Supersoul, otherwise the body will die. If the soul was completely independent he would not like to revert to the material suffering. In fact he has no control, because he is in the states of material existence--wakeful, dreaming, and deep sleep. Therefore, Srila Jiva Gosvami concludes that only the Lord is the fitting object of love, being completely free from any material bondage.
In the next section Srila Jiva Gosvami summarizes these points.
Go to Section Fifty-five
Return to Section Fifty-three
