Section 3.12 (twelfth khaṇḍa) (nine texts)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

Inasmuch as this Science of Brahman is conducive to such excellent results, it is right that it should be expounded in another manner also; hence the Text begins the next section with the words. ‘Gāyatrī va’—‘Gāyatrī indeed is’; and this science is expounded through the Gāyatrī, because directly by itself Brahman is hard to comprehend, being, as it is, devoid of differentiating qualifications, and comprehensible only through such negation of qualifications as contained in the Vedic text ‘Not this, not that’.—Even though there are several metres, yet it is the Gāyatrī that has been chosen as the vehicle of the teaching of Brahman, because it is the most important of all the metres; and this importance of the Gāyatrī at the sacrificial performance is proved by (a) the fact that it was the Gāyatrī that carried the Soma (to the deities), (b) the fact that it has absorbed the syllabus of all other metres and as such pervades over them all, and (c) the fact that it pervades over all ‘extractions’. Further, inasmuch as the Gāyatrī is the.very essence of the Brāhmaṇa, the above-described Brahman itsself regards the Gāyatrī as its mother and never has recourse to anything more important than that; specially as the supreme importance of the Gāyatrī is universally recognised.—It is for these reasons that Brahman is expounded through the Gāyatrī itself as the vehicle.

Upaniṣad text:

Gāyatrī indeed is all this, whatever exists. Speech indeed is Gāyatrī; speech indeed sings out and protects all this that exists.—(1)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

Gāyatrī vai;—the particle ‘vai’, ‘indeed’, is meant to indicate emphasis.—All this, whatever—living being —exists—animate as well as inanimate,—all this indeed is Gāyatrī itself.—Feeling that Gāyatrī being a mere metrical concatenation of syllables, it is not possible for it to be everything, the Text proceeds to represent the Gāyatrī as Speech itself, which is the origin of the Gāyatrī;—Speech indeed is Gāyatrī; and Speech is everything; because Speech, in the form of word, sings out all that exists;—i.e., represents everything in words, as ‘that is the cow’, ‘this is the horse,—and also protects all that exists;—everyone is protected from all dangers by means of such words as—‘Do not fear; what danger has presented itself?’ and so on.—Inasmuch as Speech sings out and protects all that exists,—it is Gāyatrī itself that sings it out and protects it; as Gāyatrī is the same as Speech; and the Gāyatrī is called ‘Gāyatrī’, because it sings out (Gāyati) and protects (Trāyati).—(1)

Upaniṣad text:

Verily, that which is Gāyatrī is indeed this Earth; it is on this that all that exists, rests and it does not go beyond this.—(2)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

That which is the Gāyatrī, described above as constituting all things,—is indeed this that is known as the Earth.—

“In what way is this Earth Gayātrī?”—

Answer: Because of its connection with all that exists.—

“In what way is it connected with all that exists?”—

Because all that exists—animate as well as inanimate,—rests upon this Earth; it does not go beyond this;—that is, it has no existence apart from it. Just as the connection of the Gāyatrī with all things is due to its singing and protecting, in the same manner the Earth is connected with all things, because all things rest upon it; in this way Gāyatrī is the Earth.—(2)

Upaniṣad text:

That which is Earth is verily that which is the Body in Man; it is on this that the Vital Airs rest and they do not go beyond it.—(3)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

That which is the Earth—and Gāyatrī—is that—What is it?—It is that which, in living man,—as representing an aggregate of causes and effects—is the body; this Body being constituted of Earth.—

“In what way is the Body, the Gāyatrī?”—

Answer: It is on this that rest all these Vital Airs—known by the name ‘Bhūta’ ‘Beings.—Thus, inasmuch as, like the Earth, the Body is the resting place of Vital Airs called by the name ‘Beings’,—the Body is the Gāyatrī also, because these Vital Airs do not go beyond this Body.—(3)

Upaniṣad text:

That which is the Body in Man is that which is the Heart within the Man. Because it is therein that the Vital Airs rest; and they do not go beyond it.—(4)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

That which is the Body in man—which is Gāyatrī,—is that which, within the Man, is the Heart, known by the name of ‘Puṇḍarīka’, ‘white lotus’; and this is Gāyatrī.—“How”?”—Because it is therein that the Vital Airs rest; hence like the Body, the Heart, is Gāyatrī, and this it is beyond which the Vital Airs do not go.—That the Vital Airs are meant to be denoted by the term ‘Bhūta’, ‘being’, is indicated by such Vedic Texts as—‘The Vital Air is father, the Vital Air is mother’,—‘Not injuring any beings’ etc.—(4)

Upaniṣad text:

This Gāyatrī is four-footed and sixfold;—this has been thus declared in the following verse.—(5)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

This Gāyatrī, in the form of the metre, being four-footed,—each of the four feet consisting of six letters,—is sixfold; i.e., it becomes sixfold,—in the form of (1) Speech, (2) Being, (3) Earth, (4) Body, (5) Heart and (6) Vital Airs. Though Speech and Vital Airs have been spoken of as something else, yet these also are forms of Gāyatrī; otherwise the number six would not be completed.—This same idea,—that the Brahman named ‘Gāyatrī’ is represented by the Gāyatrī—which has been just expounded through the Gāyatrī,—has also been declared—expressed,—in the following verse—Mantra-Text.—(5)

Upaniṣad text:

‘Such is His Greatness; greater than that is Puruṣa (the Ensouling Entity); all beings are His foot; He is the three-footed immortal, in its Heaven.—(6)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

Of the whole Brahman named Gāyatrī, such is the greatness—majesty, extensive grandeur; i.e., the greatness that has been described by the mention of the fact that Gāyatrī is the ‘Foot’ of Brahman evolving out of Brahman, four-footed and six-fold.—Greater than that,—i.e. vaster than the said named ‘Gāyatrī’, which is a mere product of Speech, is the Puruṣa, which is essentially real and unchangeable; this Puruṣa being so called because He fills (i.e.: pervades) all (Pūraṇāt) and because He lies within the body (Puri śayanāt);—of this latter, all beings are the foot,— all such beings as light, water, food and the rest, both animate and inanimate.—He is the three-footed,—that which has three feet,—is immortal—called ‘Puruṣa’—in its Heaven,—resting in the Heaven of what forms the entire Gāyatrī; it is called ‘Heaven’—‘dyaus’—because it is resplendent.—The meaning is that it rests within itself.—(6)

Upaniṣad text:

That which is that Brahman, this indeed is that which is the Ākāśa outside the Puruṣa;—the Ākāśa, outside the Puruṣa.—(7)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

That Brahman which is the three-footed immortal—which has been described through the Gāyatrī,—is indeed this, which is known as the Ākāśa outside the Puruṣa,—i.e. the elemental substance Ākāśa which lies outside the Puruśa.—(7)

Upaniṣad text:

This indeed is that Ākāśa which lies within the Puruṣa,—that Ākāśa which lies within the Puruṣa.— (8)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

This indeed is that Ākāśa which lies within the Puruṣa,—i.e., inside the body,—that Ākāśa which lies within the Puruṣa.—(8)

Upaniṣad text:

This indeed is that Ākāśa which is in the heart; this is complete, unmoving; one who knows thus obtains complete and unmoving prosperity.—(9) '

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

This indeed is that Ākāśa which is in the heart,—in the lotus of the heart.

Question:—“How can Ākāśa, which is one only, have three divisions (as described in the last three texts.)?”

Answer:—(a) In that Ākāśa which is perceptible by the external sense-organ (ear), and is the sphere of waking consciousness, we find an excess of suffering and pain.—(b) Slightly less than this amount of suffering and pain is the amount of pain found in the Ākāśa within the body, which is the sphere of Dream—cognition, while the man is going through the dream-experiences.—(c) In that Ākāśa which lies within the heart one does not desire any desires, and does not dream any dreams; hence this Ākāśa, which represents the cessation of all suffering and pain, constitutes the sphere of deep sleep.—In its way, it is only right that one and the same Ākāśa should be described in three forms.

Beginning with the Ākāśa outside the Puruṣa, the Text has gradually contracted the sphere of the Ākāśa to within the Heart,—for the purpose of eulogising the spot on which the mind is to be concentrated; just as we find in such texts as—‘In all the three regions Kurukṣetra is marked out as the best place, half of it is Kurukṣetra and half is Pṛthūdaka’.

This Brahman, known as ‘the Ākāśa in the Heart’ is complete,—i.e. it should be regarded as omnipresent, not limited within the Heart, though it is true that the Mind is concentrated in the Heart;—it is unmoving;—i.e. by its very nature it is incapable of moving anywhere or under any influence; i.e. by its nature it is unperishable. As a matter of fact, Ākāśa in the Heart is not limited and perishable as the other elemental substances are.

He obtains complete and unmoving—imperishable—prosperity, glory, as the visible reward of his qualification, who knows the said Brahman complete and unmoving; that is, even during this very life, he becomes merged in that Brahman.—(9)

End of Section (12) of Discourse III.