Sanatana Dharma - Aka Hinduism (3rd Bin)

[Husky]

Post 2/3



Some excerpts from Shvetaashvatara Upanishad (Shv.U) - translated by traditional Hindus - that are relevant to the previous post:

(Some comments interspersed. The italicised shlokas and translation are mostly lifted, but some of the bracketed text in the translations is my own insertion, often a backreference to the original word used, or to clarify a reference.)





te dhyAnayogAnugatA apashyan devAtmashaktiM svaguNair-nigUDhAm | yaH kAraNAni nikhilAni tAni kAlAtma-yuktAnyadhitiShThatyekaH || 1.3



By practising dhyaanayoga ("meditation"), they [presumably the Vaidika yogins] realised the power of the Deva Himself [=his devaatmashakti], hidden by it own effects,--the Deva ("yaH") who, alone, rules all those sources associated with (i.e. including) Time and the individual aatmas.



This is tied back to 4.10**. Note the deva is specifically named throughout the Upanishad: Hara, Rudra, Shiva, Ishaana, Maheshwara, plus entire shlokas from the Sri Rudram (often naming him again: "Giritra", "Girishanta"). =All names of Shiva. [<- Pre-emptively, so Abrahamics/Adamics can't try to encroach.] Plus the cosmology is Hindoo onlee.



kSharam pradhAnam-amR^itAkSharaM haraH kSharAtmAnAvIshate deva ekaH |

tasyAbhi-dhyAnAd-yojanAt-tattva-bhAvAt bhUshchAnte vishvamAyA-nivR^ittiH || 1.10



Nature is mutable, Hara [that other famous name of Rudra/Shiva aka Maheshwara] is immortal and immutable.

This ekadeva [the undivided primordial Tao I mean Parameshwara=Paramashiva] rules the mutable and the soul.

And from the repeated meditation on Him, union with ["yojanAt"] and contemplation on Reality ["bhAvAt-tattva"], there comes about, at the end, the cessation of MAyA in the form of the universe.



=> Note how in the above, yoga is *union* with Hara. Since the Reality spoken of is the Kosmos of Hindoo=heathen cosmology, and is repeatedly explained as Hara/of Hara/emerging from Hara too in other shlokas.



j~nAtvA devaM sarvapAshApahAniH kShINaiH kleshair-janma-mR^ityu-prahANiH |

tasyAbhidhyAnAt-tR^itIyaM dehabhede vishvaishvaryaM kevala AptakAmaH || 1.11



By knowing the Devam (the Deva under discussion, i.e. Hara), comes the snaping of all bondages; on the attenuation of kleshaH (the pain-bearing obstructions like ignorance etc, which are like fetters) comes the eradication of birth and death. From meditation on Him ("abhidhyAnAt tasya") there accrues, on the fall of the body, the third, the full divine power. (And) he* becomes absolute ["kevalaH"] and self-fulfilled [AptakAmaH].

(* I.e. the yogi who - by means of yoga - is in union with the Deva Hara residing in his own self.)



1.13 and 1.14 discuss OM's irreplaceable relevance in the context of dhyanayoga:



svadeham-araNiM kR^itvA praNavaM chottarAraNim | dhyAna-nirmathanAbhyAsAd-devaM pashyen-nigUdhavat || 1.14



1.14 Making one's own body the (lower) araNi and OM [praNava mantram] the upper araNi, one should, through the practice of dhyAna that is analogous* to rubbing, realise the Devam, which is hidden as it were.



The above is tied back to 1.13, the shloka that ends with "praNavena dehe", which used an analogy involving araNim to conclude that "(similarly, the Self is realised) in the body with the help of OM."



Note that the Self in the body, in all bodies - i.e. all jeevaatmas - are specifically said to be Shiva in shloka 4.16, who is hidden in each being.*** But the shlokas preceding 4.16 (and IIRC in a couple of other chapters) already explained how the primordial undivided Shiva is the origin of the entirety of the universe and into whom it will return; they state that Rudra-Shiva is the "All-Encompassing Entity", and that there really is nothing else. That Shiva is all there is and all who is - the whole Kosmos and all consciousness in it too - is explained much better at



kamakoti.org/kamakoti/kurmapurana/bookview.php?chapnum=17

Kurmapurana: "17 Unfolding of Ishwara ‘Vibhutis’ (faculties) and concepts of Pashu-Paasha-Pashupati "

(Translation of KoormapurAna shlokas

I am Parameshwara who is the Maya among Paashaas or the hard rope strings, Kaala or the Mrityu among the destroyers and among the Pathways am the destination of Mukti; You should realise that the Most Lustrous and the Mightiest ‘Satwa Padaartha’ or the Virtuous Entity is myself and am the highest powerful provocator of actions among all of the Pashus or Jeevaas / Beings in the Univese is myself; as the Beings in Srishti are Pashus, I am indeed the Pashupati. I tie up the Pashus with Paashaas for fun; Vedagnaas seek to help release the Pashus from the ‘Samsaara Paashaas’ and are called the facilitating ‘Mochakaas’ or Helping Liberators as I tie them all with the strong strings from their birth to death. Let it be made clear that there could be none else that might liberate from these Paashaas excepting Paamatma the Eternal.



(Notes that the link then provides)

The twenty four Tatwaas, Maya, Karma and Tri- Gunas all put together hold the Jeevas or Pashus as ‘Paaashas’are enforced by Pashupati. The Tatwas are Manas or Mind, Buddhi or thought , Ahamkara or Ego, Prithvi, Jala, Vaayu and Akasaha; Ear, Skin, Eyes, Tongue, Nose, the two Marmendriyas, hands, feet, voice, shabda, sparsha, Rupa, Rasa, and Gandha which are all a part of Prakriti and the rest are all Vikaras or aberrations. There are two kinds of Paashaas viz. Dharma and Adharma besides the Karma bandhana; Avidya, Asmitaa or Ego, Raaga , Dwesha, Abhinivesha or attachment –these Five are constant Paashaas called Taatvika bandhanas. Maya is stated to be the root of these bandhanas. Mula Prakriti, Pradhaana, Purusha, Mahat, Ahamkaaran are all manifestations of Sanatana Deva; he is the one creating bandhanaas; he is the Paasha-Pashu-and in the final analysis, he is the Pashupati!

Further, basic intro explanations of Kashmiri Shaivam show KS repeating the same knowledge of the Vedam - seen echoed in Puranas too as above - by recognising every jeevaatma as Shiva=PuruSha, the Rudra-Shiva=Ishwara (who, as per ShvetAshvatara Upanishad) is the sole/single Consciousness that IS the universe - and all in it - and from which the universe emerges and into which it dissolves.



Predictably, the very next page is

kamakoti.org/kamakoti/kurmapurana/bookview.php?chapnum=18

Rudiments of Yoga Practice, Yoga Mahima and re-emphasis on the Oneness of Shiva-Narayana



Back to the Shvetaashvatara Upanishad:



The practise of Yoga is seen in 2.2, alluded to in 2.3, seen again in 2.8, 2.9 (prAnAyama), 2.10 is about what constitutes a good place to perform dhyanayoga. 2.11-2.13 specifically refers to all the aforementioned practice as "yoga": 2.11 are the signs of progress to a practitioner, 2.12 are the outward signs of a yogi to an observer.

Then 2.15 speaks again about the Yogi and what exactly he has actually attained:



yadAtma-tattvena tu brahmatattvaM dIpopameneha yuktaH prapashyet | ajraM dhruvaM sarva-tattvair-vishuddham j~nAtvA devaM muchyate sarvapashaiH || 2.15



When the yogI [=the translation given for "yuktaH", note] realises here the reality of Brahman - which is birthless, unchanging and untouched by all the categories - as the very reality of his own Self [Atma] that is comparable to a lamp, then he becomes free of all bondages by knowing the Devam.



The commentator, Shankaracharya (the Adi Shankaracharya or a subsequent one) then states as intro to 2.16:

"It has been said that the Supreme Self [DevAtma] is to be known as one's own Self [jIvAtma]. Now the upanishad shows how this is possible:"



Where 2.16 explains that the Deva (see also a few paras up) is what exists in all beings, that the Deva is the one that is born and to be born etc. <- That is, all jeevaatmas are merely the Deva. Since the All is the Deva onlee.



2.17 is a variation on a mantram from the Sri Rudram and uses "Deva" in place of Rudra (though his identification had already been made early on, when the Deva was called Hara=Shiva). But then 'Chapter' 3 - which explains who the Deva (already previously identified as Hara) is and what his nature is (i.e. how Maya is associated with him, how he uses it to create the All and become the All) - continues to name the Deva by his other personal names like Rudra, and continues to quote entire shlokas straight from the Sri Rudram.



E.g. a shloka from Chapter 3 that identifies him by name again:



eko hi rudro na dvitIyAya tasthur-ya imA.NllokAnIshata IshAnIbhiH |

pratyA~N janAMstiShThati sa~nchukochAntakAle saMsR^ija vishvA bhuvanAni gopAH || 3.2



Since Rudra--who rules these worlds through His Divine Powers, who resides within every being, who after projecting all the worlds and becoming the protector, withdraws them during dissolution--is eka, therefore they did not wait in anticipation of a second.



3.4 then refers to Deva as Rudra again.



3.5, 3.6 are direct quotes of shlokas from the Sri Rudram (YV): 3.5 Refers to the Deva by name as Rudra (and Aghora) and Girishanta, 3.6 refers to Rudra as Girishanta and Giritra. <- All personal names of Rudra=Shiva.



3.7 once again establishes him, the Parameshwara (=name and identity of Shiva), as the ultimate origin of the All, by being the origin of the Hiranyagarbha (also in 3.4, where "Rudra....projected Hiranyagarbha in the beginning"; can compare with Taoist cosmology). 3.7's translation says Rudra is the "one all-encompassing Entity of the universe".* <- What Hindoo cosmology knows as the ParamapuruSha, the Parameshwara: the only 'Entity' that is/that exists, all that is. (* Sort of like the Tao, though the Tao is not an ...'entity' in its primordial state, it is all there is/can ever be and All derives from it. On the other hand, if, like the primordial Parameshwara, the Tao is conscious too by nature - since the Taoist Gods derive from it - maybe the Tao also falls under the 'entity' descriptive?)



Subsequent shlokas then explain how this Purusha - the ParamaPurusha - is present throughout the All (being the All), and is the *Purusha* in every jeevaatma. 3.13 again explains that the Purusha is in each jeeva as the aatma. The translation of 'Purusha' for 3.13: "The PuruSha, so called because of His fullness or existence within the city (of the heart), who exists as the antarAtmA, the indwelling Self of all" (which is known to all Hindoos since they were ye high), 3.14 then proceeds to show that this same PuruSha pervades the entire Universe, being in fact the ParamapuruSha=Parameshwara. (Ishwara/Parameshwara.)

Note that this definition of Shiva=Ishwara as the Purusha, as indeed the definition of *all* Purusha, is naturally/consequently also seen in the MBh. That is because this is the original, theistic Sankhyam - the pre-classical Sankhyam. The origins of Sankhyam-and-Yoga are firmly tied to Hindoo (= a theistic) cosmology. Shvetaashvatara upanishad discusses Sankhya and Yoga, though it does namedrop them as well. See 6.13 etc. Though even if the text hadn't named sankhya and yoga, the descriptions of the Hindoo cosmological view/realisation* and the practices to know/unite with the HindOO Devam - i.e. yoga - are way too obvious to be misidentified as anything else.

[* Goes without saying that the Shv.U. - which seems to me to be an Upanishad that goes with the Sri Rudram, but in any case the Shv U factually belongs to the KYV - discusses what's already inherent in the Sri Rudram itself: Hindoo cosmology. E.g. Shv U 3.2 and Chapter 4.]





4.7 once more connects the jeevAtman with the paramAtman, Sri Rudra. 4.9 explains how the Kosmos is projected by Sri Rudra by means of his Maya -devAtmashakti, AmbaaL -, which is the start of being bound 'as a separate entity' (and an apparent multiplicity).



Then comes 4.10 and subsequent shlokas, which refer to the Deva spoken of throughout by some of his other personal names: as Maheshwara, Shiva, Ishana, and Rudra again. All Rudra-Shiva's names.



** mAyAM tu prakR^itim vidyAnmAyinaM cha maheshvaram | tasyAvayava-bhUtaistu vyAptaM sarvamidaM jagat || 4.10



One should know that Nature is surely Maya, and Maheshwara (Shiva) is the ruler of Maya to be sure. This whole universe is verily pervaded by what are his limbs.



yo yoniM yonimadhitiShThatyeko yasminnidam saM cha vi chaiti sarvam | tam-IshAnam varadaM devamIDyaM nichAyyemAM shAntimatyantameti || 4.11



By realising that undivided IshAna [=Shiva's name],

the controller who exists as the ruler in every Prakriti, into whom this universe enters and (from whom) it emerges diversely, who is benevolent, effulgent and adorable,

one attains this Peace absolutely.



4.12 then refers to Maheshwara/Ishana by his other name as Rudra, 4.13 looks to me like it's a vedasamhita mantram, but I could be totally wrong, in any case it mentions offering "haviShA" to said Devam.



4.14 refers to him by his other famous name, Shiva:



4.14: "One attains the acme of Peace by realising Shiva as subtler than the subtle, as existing in the midst of the inscrutable and the impenetrable (nescience), as the creator of the universe [as per Hindoo cosmology onlee, hence not to be confused with missionising religions], as having multifarious forms, and as the one all-encompassing Entity of the universe."



4.15 continues speaking of him as the one that the brahmarishis attained yuktam (union/translated as "identity"*) with, who is the one who "destroys the fetters of death", which is just an explication/repeat of the Sri Rudram.

[* Reminiscent of how "saMyuktam" is used, e.g. in ShAL, where traditional Hindoos IIRC translated it as meaning "oneness with" Shiva.]



4.16 Knowing Shiva as hidden in all beings like the very fine film that rises to the surface of clarified butter, and knowing the Devam who is the one all-encompassing Entity of the universe, one becomes free from all bondages:



dhR^itAt paraM maNDamivAti-sUkShmaM j~nAtvA shivaM sarvabhUteShu gUDham |

vishvasyaikaM pariveShTitAraM j~nAtvA devaM muchyate sarvapAshaiH || 4.16

[Basically, Shiva - the Devam who encompasses the Kosmos/All - exists in all as their very Self and by realising this AND by knowing ParamaShiva, one achieves mokSha.]



4.17 This self-effulgent Devam (the Hindoo Devam under discussion, i.e. Shiva aka Maheshwara aka Ishaana aka Rudra) whose work is the universe ("vishvakarma") and who is all pervasive, is revealed as the Witness through discriminating intelligence and through the knowledge of unity. Those who know this become immortal.



[I.e. ^that's *shruti* saying "need to realise the Hindoo Devam - Rudra - to become immortal" (and the Sri Rudram in the samhita part already said it, e.g. tryambaka mantram requests Rudra confer immortality and so does the final namaskaaram to Rudra in the Sri Rudram). Again, from the same authority, the Devam, Rudra aka Ishwara, is the purpose of sankhya-yoga, also seen in 6.13 - i.e. as per this pre-classical-Sankhya and pre-Buddhism/pre-Jainism, Vedic text on Yoga. It is also pre-Patanjali, though the question concerning Patanjali's Yogasutras is different: the question there is whether his YS is of the same tradition and views as this upaniShad=Veda or independent.]





Aside: 4.21 ~> dakShiNAmoorti. Related: see also Sri Rudram 10.10 परमे वृक्ष ... and of course 2.2. नमो वृक्षेभ्यो हरिकेशेभ्यः (पशूनां पतये नमः)



4.22 is a direct quote from Sri Rudram (YV samhita) again.



The Shv U covers the 5 defining acts of Parameshwara (Parabrahman): sriShTi, sthiti, samhAram, tirobhavam and anugraham. Specific to Hindoo cosmology.



The earlier-mentioned 6.13:

nityo nityAnAm chetanashchetanAnAmeko bahUnAM yo vidadhAti kAmAn |

tatkAraNam sA~Nkhya-yogAdhigamyaM j~NAtvA devaM muchyate sarvapAshaiH || 6.13



One becomes freed from all the bondages by knowing that Devam who is the Cause and who can be known through SA~Nkhya and Yoga, who--being the eternal among the eternal, the consciousness among the conscious--alone dispenses the desired objects to the many.



[Note again:

1. Shvetaashvatara Upanishad is Shruti. Can see how originally Sankhya and Yoga are tied to knowing that Devam (Ishwara aka Rudra);

2. Can see how Sankhya views were already common and Yoga was already practised among the theistic pre-classical Sankhyans of the Vedic religion, who adhered to Hindoo=theistic cosmology: since they weren't originally separate, not distinct darshanas.

The later, classical Sankhyans were not original, except in removing the cosmological part.]



5.13, 6.10 and especially 6.15 and 6.20 (the shlokas inbetween these last two being about Shiva and why the Hindoo/Hindoo Yogi seeks refuge in him: 6.18 literally says "sharaNam prapadye" toward the Devam=that Rudra) are about why there is no other path but through the Parameshwara that will allow one to attain immortality/bypass saMsAra and attain mokSha.* So yoga by necessity is associated with Parameshwara as per shruti (which would thus trump Patanjali were he not already an upholder of it), contrary to Elstian/alien/dabbling/new-ageist revisionism about what "IshwarapraNidhaana" can be made to mean.



* And although the same is already apparent in the Sri Rudram of the YV, this Shv upanishad - which quotes from it - explicates further on it/draws out the details, makes it all even more unavoidably apparent. (Not that Sri Rudram concealed the fact that Rudra is the Mahadeva, the Vishveshvara, Sarveshvara, the Sadaashiva, not to mention the Mrityunjaya. Which is why any HindOO who's never heard the vedam, nevertheless knows all this already, knowing the familiar personal names of his Divine Parents. Also the fact that the Sri Rudram contains namaskaaras to Rudra in the form of all the surrounding Hindoo-dom - humans, animals, plants, waters, everything - underlines the bit repeated in the Shv. U. on how Rudra is Paramaatman and Sarvaatman, in all beings.)



And 6.22 and 6.23 shows how none of Hindoo knowledge - including its practices like yoga but also its cosmological views - should be made available willy-nilly, and why they shouldn't be made available to aliens, dabblers, new-ageists incl Elst/Elstians: 'cause they will invariably subvert it. It's their thing.





This post contains shlokas and translations by traditional Hindus from the Shvetaashvatara Upanishad that is relevant to the previous post.

Except for my comments interspersed here and there, the rest of this post is actually relevant/non-spam.



Have deliberately not credited the laudable Hindoo publishers and translators of the book from which I stole the shlokas and translations above, because

1. Hindoos - who are the only ones who matter in this - will already be able to find it (or its equivalent) easily, if they don't already have such;

2. I don't care about anyone else other than Hindoos (well, making special exception for fellow heathens like Taoists, Shintos, Hellenes of ysee.gr etc)