God imparts His divine nature to His creation

CHENNAI, JUNE 28. The common refrain in many of the peace invocations in the Upanishads is a prayer to progression from darkness to light or from ignorance to knowledge. This forms the crux of all spiritual endeavour; darkness and ignorance signifying man's bondage, and light and knowledge referring to liberation from bondage. The majority wallow in ignorance even without realising their state of bondage like the cat which believes that the Sun has set when it closes its eyes.

Ignorance and knowledge or light and darkness are again relative terms used in the Upanishads to explain the states of man's existence. But, the state of realisation transcends both, which has been attested in the life of saints like Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. For the spiritual aspirant who is making a beginning it is necessary to first recognise his condition and make efforts to progress towards the goal of liberation. The Samhita section of the Vedas contains mainly prayers to various deities, the Brahmanas deal with performance of sacrifices and the Aranyaka embodies the Upanishads generally. There are exceptions to this general rule and the Isavasya Upanishad belongs to the Samhita portion of the Sukla Yajur Veda.

The peace invocation is traditionally recited at the beginning and the intention is to create the right mood in the aspirant to undertake the study of the text and reflect on the abstract truths. So these peace chants were like the different corridors around the main abode of the deity in a temple, their significance being to enable the devotee to leave their worldly preoccupations behind before entering its inner precincts, said Swami Asutoshananda in his discourse.

The Isavasya Upanishad peace invocation says, ``The invisible (Brahman) is full; the world too is full. From the Full (Brahman) the full (universe) has come. The Full (Brahman) remains the same, even after the full (universe) has come out of the Full (Brahman).'' How does one reconcile this paradoxical statement? We always make the mistake of objectifying everything which is presented to our intellect. So this statement appears puzzling on the face of it as it is not possible for any object to retain its fullness after something is taken away from it and to confound this enigma further both are mentioned as full. The sages here point to the divine nature of the Absolute which He manifests in His creation, the word ``full'' (Purna) indicating that He imparts His perfection also. The Lord has thus not fashioned this universe from outside Himself.

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