[Advaita-l] 'Satyasya Satyam..' of the Upanishad explained in the Bhagavatam

[V Subrahmanian]

In the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 2.3.6 is the famous mantra, a part of which
reads:

अथात आदेशो नेति नेति न ह्येतस्मादिति नेत्यन्यत्परमस्त्यथ नामधेयं सत्यस्य
सत्यमिति प्राणा वै सत्यं तेषामेष सत्यम् ॥ ६ ॥

 Now therefore the description (of Brahman): 'Not this, not this.' Because
there is no other and more appropriate description than this 'Not this.'
Now Its name: "The Truth of truth.' The vital force is truth, and It is the
Truth of that.

The gist of the mantra is: the term 'prāṇā:' signifies the entire creation,
both at the individual level and the cosmic level. At the individual level
we have the subtle body, the sense organs, that illumine the creation
outside the body. The world outside, being insentient, get illumined by the
subtle body/organs. This two-fold categorization can be compared to the
'kṣetram' (field) of the 13th chapter of the Bh.Gita. There too in the 5th
and the 6th verses the entire kṣetram is presented as consisting of the
subtle body of the individual and the outside world. This is termed
'satyam', in its primary sense, vācyārtha. And the 'satyam' of that
('prāṇā:' - kṣetram) is Brahman, the absolute Satyam.

From the above study of the mantra, we derive the meaning: the first
'satyam' (satyasya) is the created world. This has only a
dependent/relative reality. It derives its reality from Brahman, the
Absolute Satyam.

It is interesting to note that we have a verse in the Bhagavatam that
brings out the above two levels of reality:

आत्मानमेव आत्मतया अविजानतां

तेनैव जातं निखिलं प्रपञ्चितम् ।

ज्ञानेन भूयोऽपि च तत्प्रलीयते

रज्ज्वां अहेर्भोगभवाभवौ यथा ।। 10.14.25

A person who mistakes a rope for a snake becomes fearful, but he then
gives up his fear upon realizing that the so-called snake does not exist.

Similarly, for those who fail to recognize You, Brahman, as the Supreme
Soul of all
souls, the *expansive illusory material existence arises,* but knowledge
(realization) of You (Your True Nature) at once causes it  (the variegated
world of plurality) to subside.

In the above verse we see the expression of relative reality, the world,
and the Absolute Reality, Brahman. This is exactly the teaching of the
Upanishad through the pithy statement: satyasya satyam.  The rope is the
Satyam and the snake is the satyam, in the analogy of the Bhagavatam. There
itself, the relatively real, the world, is contrasted with the Absolutely
Real, Brahman. The state of ignorance is signified by the world and the
state of realization is conveyed by the term Brahman. One can recall the
verse 2.69:

या निशा सर्वभूतानां तस्यां जागर्ति संयमी ।

यस्यां जाग्रति भूतानि सा निशा पश्यतो मुनेः ॥ ६९ ॥

2.69 The self-restrained man keeps awake during that which is night for all
creatures. That during which creatures keep awake, it is night to the
seeing sage.

Here the waking and sleep are symbolic of real and unreal: For the Jnani,
the waking means the Absolute Truth. For the ajnanis waking is to the
relative world.

The relatively real has no reality of its own and hence is only dependently
real, paratantra satyam. On the other hand, Brahman, the Absolute Reality,
does not need to acquire reality from any other source. The world needs
reality from Brahman. All this is implied by the Upanishadic statement:
satyasya satyam.

Why does the Upanishad call the vyavaharika, the world, 'satyam'?  The
Upanishad is alluding to, doing anuvāda of, the uninformed person holding
the world to be real, untaught.  This has to be corrected. Hence the
Upanishad *as though* holds the world to be satyam and goes on to teach, in
the manner of 'from the known to the unknown', and the adhyāropa-apavāda
nyāya, the truth that Brahman is indeed the absolute Satyam.

There are many such verses in the Bhagavatam that carry the Upanishadic
purport.

Om Tat Sat