Indra - Virochana and Prajapati
(Chhandogya Upanishad) PRAJAPATI, the Lord and Creator, once declared himself
thus: "The Self is the sinless, ageless and
deathless One; it has no sorrow nor hunger and thirst. The goal of all its
desire is the Truth, Truth is the one thing worthy of its resolve. It is this
Self that has to be sought after, it alone one should seek to know. And one who
seeks after the Self and knows it, gains possession of all the worlds, wins all
that is desirable." The message of the Lord reached both the
gods and the demons. They discussed it among themselves. "If the Self is
such a thing as can win all the worlds and every object of desire, then, come,
let us go and seek it." The gods sent Indra as their representative, the
Asuras chose Virochana. The two of them came to Prajapati separately and
unknown to each other, carrying fuel in their hands in token of their offering.
Both lived as disciples taking the vow of chastity, for a period of thirty-two
years. This was their first period of trial. At the end of this period, Prajapati said to them both, "You have stayed here for thirty-two years, but what has been your aim?" Both gave the same reply: "We have heard this message of the Lord, that the Self is sinless, ageless, and immortal; it has no sorrow nor hunger and thirst; its aim is the Truth, Truth is the one thing worthy of its resolve; that it is this Self that has to be sought after and known, one who seeks and knows this Self gains all the worlds, wins everything desirable.
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To know this Self has been the sole object of our stay
here." Thereupon the Creator made reply,
"Behold, the Self dwells in the eye, one can see it there. That verily is
the Self that is immortal and fearless, and that is the ultimate Reality."
Both of them asked the same question: "Who is that person whom the eye
sees reflected in water, within a mirror?" To this the Creator replied,
"In all this the Self has been manifested." The language here used by Prajapati nearly
borders on a riddle; it is the language of symbol or metaphor. What He means to
say is that the Self (God or Supreme Reality) dwells in the eye because That
can be seen by the eye, though not by this physical eye but by another kind of
vision. But both Indra and Virochana gathered from this that because the Self
dwells in the eye, in one's own eye, and one cannot see one's own eye, the
reference here must be to the reflected image. They thought they were being
very clever and had got the sense of Prajapati's words very well. But Prajapati
added to the riddle and said, "Verily, this Self dwells in all" "You look at yourself," He
continued, "in a vessel full of water. Then if there is anything you do
not understand about the Self, come and ask me." They saw their own image
in the water and approched Him once again. Prajapati asked, "What is it
you saw?" Both came out simultaneously with an eager reply, "Lord, we
saw the whole of the Self, from the top of the hair to the tip of the toes. We
saw the true form of the Self." Then Prajapati said, "Very well. Now
you look into the water again after getting yourselves beautifully adorned and
dressed." They acted accordingly: they tidied themselves up, adorned their
bodies with fine ornaments and dresses and looked at their forms in the water.
Prajapati asked them, "What did you see now?" Both gave answer in the
same enthusiastic way, "We saw the Self, but this time we found him
beautifully adorned and
Page-153 dressed." Prajapati seemed satisfied. He said, "Very well, it
is just as you say. You have seen no other than the Self that is Immortality,
Fearlessness, the Supreme Reality." When the two had
taken leave and departed, Prajapati said to Himself, "O the unfortunate
ones! They left without a knowledge of the Self. If either of them should imagine
that the body is the supreme reality, that this is the sacred lore, the
knowledge of the Truth, then he is doomed to perdition." Virochana did in
fact return to his people, happy and satisfied. He imparted to the Asuras this
teaching as supreme secret, "This
body that you see, this alone is the Self. You should glorify this body as the
true form of Self, you should serve this body alone. By glorifying the body
which is the Self, by serving it well, both the worlds are won, this world and
the world beyond." That is the
reason why those of little faith, who make no gifts, do no sacrifice, are
described as Asuras. This is the Asuras' gospel, that the body has to be
pampered by luxurious living, adorned with fine ornaments and cloth thus can
the worlds be conquered; this is what the Asuras imagine. Indra on the
other ha d as he was going back home beg to ponder. "By making the body
beautiful, its reflected image too grows beautiful; by adorning it the other
also gets adorned; by cleaning the one the other too looks clean. But if it
becomes blind, its reflection too will look blind; this becomes lame, the other
also will limp; if it loses" limb, that also will lose the same limb.
Whatever happens to the body, the same is reflected in its image. If that be
so, then I do not see where is the gain." So he came
back again, with fuel in his hands. On seeing it him back, Prajapati inquired,
"You departed along with Virochana, seemingly happy and contented. What no
brings you back?" Indra replied, "Lord, I have perceived
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on adorning this body, its image reflects the adornment; on dressing it up, the
other looks dressed.. Not only that,
but when the one becomes blind the other too looks blind, when it becomes lame,
the other also limps, when it loses a limb the same happens to the other. I do
not see any advantage in all this." Prajapati said, "It is as you say. But
I shall explain to you more fully again. You live with me for another
thirty-two years." Indra stayed with Prajapati for the next thirty-two
years and then approached Him once again. Prajapati gave a fuller explanation
this time. "I have already told you," He said, "about the waking
self. But the person that moves about in the dream-state is the one to be
glorified. He is the Self, He is the Immortal, the Fearless, the Supreme
Reality." Indra was satisfied and he started going
back again, his doubts set at rest. But a fresh doubt arose as he was wending
his way. "Granted," he thought, "any harm done in the waking
state to the physical body does no hurt indeed to the dream-self, it does not
reflect any flaws of the other. But one does feel during sleep, in the
dream-state as if someone is coming to attack, one does feel that one is being
pursued. If the dream-self too feels sorrow and affliction, then where is the
gain, what makes it worth while?" Indra went
back to Prajapati, related to Him his experience. And once again Prajapati
said, "What you say is right. I shall speak about it in more detail, if
you can wait for another thirty-two years." At the end of the thirty-two
years, Prajapati spoke again about still more fundamental things. Beyond dream
is the state of dreamless sleep, in which the entire consciousness becomes calm
and still, where there is no sense of movement, The Person in this state of
dreamless sleep is the Self, the Immortal, the Fearless, the Supreme Reality. Indra now left for home, satisfied as
before. But again a doubt arose in his mind. He began to think, "In this
state of sleep there is no consciousness or thought, there is no sense
Page-155 of I-ness. Even if the I remains, the world does not exist, nothing
exists, all becomes non-existent. I do not see the utility of this kind of
experience." Again he came back to Prajapati, and as on
the previous occasions, Prajapati said once again, "What you feel is true.
But if you stay with me for another five years, I shall give you my final
instructions and you will have the realisation." Indra spent another five
years with Prajapati, making in all a stay of thrice thirty-two plus five, that
is a hundred and one years. Thereafter, Indra was initiated by Prajapati
into the last secret, he was told about the All-Conscious Self or Reality that
stands as on a peak above the states of waking, dream or deep sleep. This
fourth or supreme status of the Self is the Reality that abides beyond all
Ignorance, on the other The Asura had remained contented with the first steps of the true Knowledge. Their strength is the strength of the body, to them the strength of arms is the one source of strength. Quick is their gain and early their victory. The effort of the gods is long. Their desire is for the true Truth, the integral Truth, not any half-truths or anything that masquerades as the Truth. Their victory is in the end, they have to wait for it long. What they have to acquire is not the mere strength of body, but the power of the Self in its integrity. And why this insistence on a hundred and one years? A hundred denotes perfection; one added to it makes the perfection perfect. The mystery of the other figures remains still a mystery.
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