Chapter VIII - Brahman the Source of Joy

To prove Brahman’s existence in yet other ways, the śruti teaches that Brahman is Bliss (Ānanda).

 

Brahman, the source of the supersensuous pleasure.

यद्वै तत् सुकृतम् । रसो वै सः । रसं ह्येवायं लब्ध्वाऽऽनन्दी भवति ॥ २ ॥ 

yadvai tat sukṛtam | raso vai saḥ | rasaṃ hyevāyaṃ labdhvā''nandī bhavati || 2 ||

2. That one, verily, called the self-cause, He is the Flavour. Flavour, indeed, this one having got, blest becomes he.

On the following ground also, Brahman exists.—On what ground?—Because He is the Flavour. Whence is Brahman known to be a Flavour? The śruti says: He who is known as the self-cause,—He is, verily, the Flavour. ‘Flavour’ in common parlance, means that which causes satisfaction, that which causes pleasure, i. e., an object which is sweet, acid, etc. Having got the Flavour, man here becomes blest or happy.

Brahman who manifests Himself as ‘the being and the beyond’ is said to be the Supreme ‘Rasa’ or Flavour in this creation which in itself is destitute of flavour. Flavour means essence, the Immortal Brahman, the Bliss, the Joy. By this Flavour it is that the universe, which in itself is flavourless, appears to be flavoury. How, it may be asked, can this supersensuous Flavour be the Bliss? The śruti answers in the words “Flavour, indeed,” etc.—(S).

In our experience no non-existent object is found to cause pleasure. Though possessing no external sources of happiness, the wise brāhmaṇas (devotees of Brahman) who do not work for happiness and who cheṛṣ no desire are found full of happiness as though they have obtained external objects of pleasure. To them, certainly, Brahman and Brahman alone is Flavour, the source of pleasure.

These pure ones, the saṇmyāsins, those who have renounced all, attain supreme Bliss, which is supersensuous. In them, certainly, there must reign that Supreme Peace which thoroughly delights their minds; in them, certainly, we find all marks of delightful minds. In those who have realised the Self we find such outward symptoms of peace as we find in a man who, diseased with itch, sits near the fire scratching his body with his mind immersed in joy. This inference of Bliss is meant for those only who have not realised the true nature of the Bliss-Self; but, for those who have realised the true nature of the Self, it is a fact of immediate experience—(S).

Therefore that One, the source of their bliss,—namely Brahman,—does exist, as flavour exists.

Brahman is Flavour, because He is the source of the sage’s happiness, of his feeling that he has achieved all, and so on. Brahman is so called because He is to be tasted with love, relished in the knowledge—the state of mind—produced by the flavoury Vedāntic teaching. Brahman is indeed approached with love by all who seek the knowledge. Love for Brahman cannot arise if He were not of the nature of bliss. Hence the word ‘flavour’ points to Brahman being the Bliss itself. Against this it may be urged that those who seek to know Dharma approach it with love, though Dharma is not the Bliss itself. We answer thus: men do not indeed love Dharma for its own sake; they love it as the means by which to attain the bliss of svarga. On the contrary, Brahman is not a means to any bliss superior to Himself; so that, as the primary object of love, Brahman is the Bliss itself. Hence it is that we find the sage who, having realised the Flavour, is filled with joy and regards himself as blest. The sage does not possess the worldly objects of pleasure, such as flowers, woman, &c. He possesses only the Self, and does not regard other things, such as flowers, as a possession at all. The scripture says “Beyond the gain of the Self, there is nothing higher.”^[1] Wherefore we should admit that Brahman exists as the Bliss which is the source of the happiness of the sage.

 

Brahman is the source of activity and sensual pleasure.

Further, with a view to shew that Brahman exists even as the source of our physical activity and sensual pleasure, the śruti proceeds to shew that Brahman is the cause of both:

को ह्येवान्यात्कः प्राण्यात् । यदेष आकाश आनन्दो न स्यात् । एष ह्येवाऽऽनन्दयाति ॥ ३ ॥

ko hyevānyātkaḥ prāṇyāt | yadeṣa ākāśa ānando na syāt | eṣa hyevā''nandayāti || 3 ||

3. Who indeed could live, who breathe, should not this Bliss be in ākāsa? This verily it is that bestows bliss.

For the following reason also Brahman exists.—For what reason? — Because of the breathing and other kinds of activity we see. Our body, for instance,^[2] when alive, breathes up and down by the aid of prāṇa and apāna, the vital airs; and thus we see that vital functions and sensational activities are carried on by the body and the senses combined. This conjunction in mutual dependence for the benefit of one single entity is not possible in the absense of an Intelligence outside the combination; for, it is not found possible elsewhere.^[3]

So the śruti says: If in Akaśa—in the Supreme Ether, in the cave (of the heart),—this One, the Bliss, do not exist, who indeed in the world could breathe in and who could breathe up? Therefore there exists that One, namely, Brahman, whose enjoyment, indeed all the activities of the body and the senses as well as all the vital functions subserve; and it is He who causes the pleasure of (all beings in the) world.—Why so?—For, it is this One, the Supreme Self, who makes (all beings in) tbe world happy according to their merit (Dharma). The Supreme Self is the Bliss, which is revealed only in its limited forms to sentient beings on account of their avidyā or ignorance.

This bliss, which the sentient beings in the world attain in different degrees according to their meritorious acts, reaches its culmination in the Infinite Bliss; and therefore there must be in existence that Supreme Bliss, that Flavour, which is the object of our absolute love.—(S).

Akāsa: the text may be construed also to mean “should this one, the Ākāśa, the Bliss, exist not.” For the word “Ākāśa” literally means that which shines everywhere by itself, the self-luminous One. If this Bliss, the Self, previously spoken of as the Flavour, do not exist, whence then is the agent who within this body acts through the senses and breathes? The Ātharvaṇikas teach that Ātman is the agent who acts through the eye and other sense-organs:

“He is the seer, toucher, the hearer, smeller, taster, thinker, knower, the agent, the conscious self, the Puruṣa.”^[4]

In common parlance, birth and death being found concomitant with the presence and the absence of the vital air in the body, the ignorant believe that prāṇa itself, the vital air, is the Self. Relying on this belief, Bālāki^[5] regarded prāṇa as the Self and argued with Ajātaśatru who held that Brahman was the Self. Accordingly, with a view to remove the illusion that it is prāṇa that sees and does other acts, the śruti here separates prāṇa from the real Self, in the words “who could breathe?” In the absence of the Bliss-Ātman, who is to do the act of breathing by means of prāṇa? That prāṇa is a mere instrument while the Self is the agent is also clearly taught in the Uṣasti-Brāhmaṇa:

“He who breathes by prāṇa, He is thy Self and within all”^[6]

It is true that the Bliss-Ātman who is devoid of all attachment, cannot in Himself be the agent of the acts done through 1 he senses &c.; still, He can be the agent when associated with the upādhi of the Vijñānamaya-kośa. Therefore, as the cause of all activity, Brahman does exist. It is this Bliss-Ātman, the cause of all activity, who bestows pleasure on all beings. On obtaining an object of desire, the mind withdraws its attention from the object, and, turning inwards before the rise of a desire for another object, it enjoys the Bliss of the Inner Self (Pratyagātman). This is what is usually called sensual pleasure. 'This truth is known only to the people who are endued with discrimination. Thus we should admit that Brahman exists, as the source of this sensual pleasure.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Āpastāmba-Dharmasūtrā, 1–22–2.

[2]:

as well as the bodies of the Devas or Cosmic Intelligences.

[3]:

For instance, earth, timber and other materials out of which a house is built, do not combine together without an intelligent being, quite outside them all, who is to occupy the house as its lord.

[4]:

Praśna. Up. 4-9.

[5]:

Vide. Bṛ. Up. 2-1.

[6]:

Bṛ. Up. 3-4-1.