chapter 5 Vibrating Expressions of Cosmos to Itself🔗

Upaniṣad means just sitting. When you sit, the Truth is revealed. When the Ṛṣis (perfected sages), who 'see' the mantra, sat within them in Samādhi, their being started vibrating with the sacred Cosmic Truths. That expression is Upaniṣads.

The way they introduce you to you, the way they introduce the world to you, the way they introduce god to you, the way they introduce life to you, nothing can be compared to Upaniṣads; whether it is the purity of the substance they are delivering, or the poetry they are expressing, or the very sound, within which they have nicely embedded the vibrations of Kuṇḍalinī awakening. Upaniṣads not only have a linguistic and poetic importance, they even have a phonetic importance. The religious historians, by classifying Upaniṣads under Hinduism, have brought great respect to Hinduism. Of course, Hindus are the inheritors but we need to live It and share It with the world. It is our inheritance, but It does not belong just to us, It belongs to the whole Universe!

Upaniṣad means sitting, that's all. Just sitting. When you sit, when You sit—I am not saying when your body sits, I am saying when You sit, Truth is revealed. Upaniṣads should be taught only from the right context.

Upaniṣads! When the Ṛṣis (perfected sages) sat within them in Samādhi, their whole being started vibrating, reverberating with the sacred Truths. The Cosmos started singing and radiating through them. That expression is Upaniṣads.

That is why, in Saṃskṛit, we define a Ṛṣi as mantra-draṣṭā, ‘one who sees the mantra’; not ‘the one who writes or listens to the mantra.’ It means that when you are experiencing, even the sound will always be perceived by the eyes. If the sound is heard by the ears, you are hearing. If the sound is perceived by all five senses, you are experiencing.

So, when the sound is seen, the mantras are seen, when your eyes experience the sound, the lines you experience are called Akṣara. Our Ṛṣis experienced each sound. अ (‘a’), when they experienced that sound, what was the line through which their eyes experienced that sound, that line becomes Akṣara. They were so highly evolved, so free of worries; all their survival needs were fulfilled and they were in such high space. That is the beauty!

Gaṅgā (River Ganges) is responsible for the Upaniṣads. The way She made the Ganges Valley rich! All the basic needs, everything She provided. Fortunately, there was no war and so, no need for the Ṛṣis to fight or defend for survival. All natural energies were supporting, all needs were fulfilled. That ambience, that space created such an amazing possibility for them to ‘sit’ within themselves, with the Cosmos, with the Universe, with the Nature. Existence has started singing about Itself through them.

The background setting of each Upaniṣad is so different, but the Truths radiated by them are all so beautifully synchronized. One reveals the truth about the Universe, one reveals the truth about the humans, one reveals the truth about the death, one reveals the truth about the life. It is like all your questions are blasted, and you are there—in the cognition of the Cosmos and the whole Cosmos is there in your cognition. Cosmic Cognition! When Cosmos is in your cognition, you are in the cognition of the Cosmos.

The Cosmic Cognition! To put a human being into Cosmic Cognition whatever understanding is required, everything is beautifully presented and repeated, and all the possible doubts that can arise are answered. That is why, Upaniṣads belong to the whole Universe. We may have It, but It belongs to the whole Universe. We may own and inherit the Upaniṣads, but It belongs to the whole world. Whoever is suffering with delusion, māyā, the illusion, should be given these Upaniṣads. We should share with them.

Every sound, every letter, every word, every line of these Upaniṣads is vibrant with a powerful cognition. Powerful cognition! Still Upaniṣads keep India alive. It is Upaniṣads which are the backbone of India, the concept of Bhārat. All the spiritual aspirations and realizations we have, put together, are Upaniṣads. Upaniṣads are the embodiment of billions of people's millions of years of spiritual realization.

There is nothing left unsaid in Upaniṣads; not a single word is unnecessary. You can neither edit them nor comment on them. Commentary means something is left unexplained; you need to explain it. Editing means something extra is there which is not required. Editing is not only not possible, not permissible. Commentary is permissible but practically not possible, because there is nothing left unexplained. All bhāṣyas, commentaries, whether written by Śaṅkara, Rāmānuja, Madhvā, are the repetitions of some ideas that they wanted to highlight. Highlighting may be possible, commenting itself is not; because nothing is left unsaid in these great Upaniṣads. Commentaries on Upaniṣads are not possible. Dhārmically, it is permissible, but not possible.

Editing is neither possible nor permissible. All Ācāryas (spiritual teachers), even those who don’t accept Hinduism, had the basic ethics of ‘no editing.’ For example, Rāmānujācārya may not accept some paragraphs in Upaniṣads, but he never did editing. Same way, Cārvākas, the materialistics may not accept some of the verses; but no editing. Even Buddhists, who accept one Upaniṣad, the Mahānirvāṇa Upaniṣad, and may not accept the other Upaniṣads; never did editing. You will find that the palm leaves of Upaniṣads maintained in any Buddhist Monastery or University are as authentic as the palm leaves from the original Hindu Monasteries. Never will there be any confusion in the original text; no editing, no manipulation, no distortion. Same way, if you see the palm leave archives of the Buddhist Sūtras in the Śaṅkara Maṭhs (Hindu monasteries), they will be hundred percent Truth, exactly as it is! They may not accept Buddhism, but never will anyone dare to interpolate, manipulate or delete words.

In this great Indian culture, lifestyle and tradition, even the books that you don't accept, you do not manipulate, edit or distort. What an honesty and integrity! That is unimaginable integrity and respest to Vāṇī, Sarasvatī (goddess, energy of sacred voice)! These Upaniṣads, which are the lifeline of Vedic tradition, lifeline of Hindu tradition, lifeline of Bhārat are a joy even to remember.

Cosmic Cognition! When Cosmos is in your cognition, you are in the cognition of the Cosmos.

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