The wisdom of how a Jiva is born and where the Jiva
ends up after death are enshrined in Hindu Thought. Two texts that speak about
this are Chandogya
Upanishad and Brahma Sutras. However Chandogya
Upanishad is the source of further deliberation of this topic in the Brahma
Sutras. In this article, let me delve on how or the process by which the Jiva
is born as a human being. Though I have written about it in different contexts
in nearly a dozen blogs so far, what provoked me to write this as an exclusive
topic now is an article in the Speaking Tree of Times of India published on 19th
July 2016 (reproduced at the end of this blog). In my opinion that article
missed out the important idea of birth of a Jiva that Chandogya Upanishad
explains through a process which also addressed the question of why births in
other forms such as plants, animals and even insignificant creatures such as
virus and bacteria happen.
This process of birth of a Jiva is known as Panchagni Vidya (Knowledge of Five-fires). Till the
time of Svetaketu, this knowledge was known only
kshatriyas (warrior class) and not to others. It was only when Svetaketu was
confronted with questions on what happens to the Jiva after death, what region
/ realm the Jiva reaches after death and why that realm is never full, the
first ever teaching of that knowledge to someone outside the warrior class was
made and through that to the entire mankind of all times to come.
The curious question here is why the warrior class
had known it in the first place. It may be due to the reason that embracing
death in the process of discharging Kula dharma / swa dharma as warriors had necessitated
them to seek the knowledge about death and after death. The knowledge of after
death helped in understanding the reverse process namely knowledge of ‘before
birth’.
The discussion in Chandogya Upanishad takes this
route only – that of tracing what happens after death after espousing the Knowledge
of the Fire and then reversing it to show how the Jiva takes birth.
Panchagni Vidya.
Everything in Nature works in a chain process of one
begetting the other. When one is offered to the other, that is ‘yajna’ which
returns the thing offered in some other way. The popular version of Water cycle
is a series of Yajna which Shri Krishna explains
in Gita in the sloka starting as “Annaath Bhavanthi Bhoothaani parjanyaath
anna sambhavaha....” (Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 3- verses 14 & 15).
When every act is done as an offering to the other, that is the ultimate way of
acquiring knowledge that releases one from suffering and rebirths.
It is in the spirit of Yajna, creation of a birth of
a human being is facilitated by the higher realms of the cosmos identified as the
Sun, the foremost Fire / Agni. What is born is
Moon, the mind (of the Jiva) that helps in defining / discerning thought and
then action. Now the Jiva driven by mind is ready to go the next level.
The next and the 2nd level is Parjanya, the rains. The rain is an Agni because water
is considered as Agni. As water is capable of dousing fire, it is said to
absorb heat and therefore it is Agni / fire. The Moon / Mind (of / and the Jiva)
is offered as an oblation in rains / parjanya. What results is that earth absorbs the rain
and also the Jiva.
The earth is the 3rd
level in this chain and earth is known as Agni as it traps heat. The rain water
(as also the Jiva) is the oblation given to earth and the result is food that is
formed in a variety of plants.
The food is consumed by man in whom the food and the
Jiva enter the semen. The Man is the 4th
Agni in the chain of Panchagni (Five fires). In the semen, the man creates his
own replica as sperm.
It can be said that this man himself becomes the 5th oblation when he offers the food / Jiva
that entered him through this process from the Sun, to the woman. The Woman is the 5th agni when she receives the
oblation that finds a physical form in her womb.
Throughout the process of Panchagni, some element of
Nature enters into another at each level and undergoes successive
transformation and evolution until it becomes suitable to form the basic elements
of human body. In all this the Jiva is a passive traveller to whom the elements
cling or who clings to the elements. Once the ultimate seed of human body is
reached, the Jiva starts reacting – propelled by karma and vasanas (attitudes
and attributes acquired from previous experiences in previous births) it is carrying.
The human body that grows within the 5th Agni is designed and
defined by Karma and vasanas carried by the Jiva.
The 5th Agni is the woman / MOTHER who is
the ultimate Homa kunda in the process of Creation as her body does the
wonderful job of the Creator in giving a shape and sheath to the Jiva. The
Mother is therefore apt to be called as the Prathyaksha
Deiva – the visible God. She is just one step below the Creator God and
no wonder Thirumangai Alwar recognises this in
his verse “Pettra thaayinum aayina seyyum” Narayana!
Narayana, the Creator God can do what one’s mother can’t do. By this the Alwar
brings mother closer to God and that only God can do what a mother can’t do.
This is the knowledge of Panchagni.
Those who had the knowledge of this understood the
vanity of births and suffering and therefore aimed to reach a state of no return
through this Panchagni. Their level of awareness and the subsequent care in not
accumulating karma and vasanas led them to the ultimate Brahman.
Those who fail to realise the chain process of the
birth through these fires, are re-born. Here the Upanishad explains the route
of birth for the Jiva.
Birth of Jiva through
Panchagni process.
"Having dwelt there in the lunar world till
their good works are consumed, they return again the same way they came.
They first reach the akasa and from the akasa the air. Having become air,
they become smoke; having become smoke, they become mist;
"Having become mist, they become cloud; having become cloud, they fall as rain−water.
Then they are born as rice and barley, herbs and trees, sesamum and beans.
Thence the exit
is most difficult; for whoever capable of
begetting children eats that food and injects semen, they become like unto him.” (Chand- Part 5 -10
Verses 5 & 6)
Brahma Sutras
(part 3) give further elaboration of this passage from Chandogya
Upanishad.
From clouds to rain to earth, the Jiva travels down.
Once it enters the earth, the reversal or return to previous location is
difficult. That means if the Jiva does not want to be born when it is in the
previous states, it is possible to go back. But once it has entered the earth through
the rain water, it cannot go back. It has to necessarily pass through the chain
till it reaches the 5th agni, the woman’s womb.
The idea of the Jiva passing through the clouds and
rains finds resonance in modern day's experiments on after-life experiences and
hypnotic regression. Many people who have had hypnotic regression have recounted
that they were floating with the cloud and were fused with the cloud. They could
not remember what happened after mixing with the cloud. A kind of trance sets
in once the process of descent begins.
Once inside the earth, the Jiva gets into the plants
along with the water and gets fixated in the fruits / edible parts some of
which the Upanishad mentions – as rice, barley, sesame, herbs etc. In all this,
the Jiva is not attached to the plants nor does it undergo any karma on account
of that.
This information from the Upanishad is an important
one as Plants become an
important carrier for the Jiva to take birth. Further movement of the
Jiva into a man’s body cannot happen without the man eating the edible part of
the plant. This is something the
non- vegetarian lovers must take into account before finding fault with
vegetarian food as being violent (himsa). The plant having its own Jiva is not
killed. Only the edible part of the planet which will be ultimately shed by the
plant carries the Jiva. Man has to eat that part to facilitate the movement of
the Jiva into his body and to settle down in a sperm.
Elsewhere in the same Upanishad a dialogue comes on
where Atman / Jiva resides. If someone strikes at the root of a large tree, water
oozes out, but the tree continues to live on. If the middle part is struck,
then also the tree survives as only water oozes out. If the top of the tree is
struck then also the tree would continue to live. Because it is pervaded by the
Jiva, the tree continues to live by drinking water. But if a branch is cut off,
the Jiva of the tree leaves the branch but continues to live in the tree. The
tree does not suffer death. (Chand- 6 -11-1)
In the same way, the edible part housing the Jiva (many
times not housing the Jiva), when plucked off, the tree / planet does not suffer
death. There is no himsa to the tree / plant when the edible parts are cut for
consumption. Therefore it is absolutely ridiculous on the part of the
non-vegetarian lovers to accuse vegetarianism as subscribing to himsa. In the
case of non-vegetarianism, the jiva of the animal is made to leave the body
forcefully by the act of killing the animal for human consumption.
The above passage from Chandogya Upanishad also
shows how plants are an integral part of not only the
food chain of man but also the birth chain of the Jiva.
This is the same Upanishad and the only sruti text
that says that Himsa (violence) is allowed only for the purpose of Vedic
austerity. When we read these passages
in the light of Panchangni Vidya, we understand why the Upanishad has
incorporated both the ideas - on Jiva of the tree and the exception clause on
himsa to Jiva.
Continuing with the passage on Panchagni Vidya, the
Upanishad says that those with good conduct will be born in good families /
people etc. Those having bad conduct will be born as animals. There is a
discussion on ‘good conduct’ of this passage in the Brahma sutras. What is being
talked here - good karma or good conduct? There is a difference of opinion
between sages Krishnajina and Baadari. In real
life we find that even people of good conduct / nature suffer a lot due to
their bad Prarabdha karma. By their good conduct they overcome the bad karma in
the right spirit (of sthitha prajna etal) and continue to rise in their
spiritually evolving ladder. Therefore good conduct / good thought is a must
for getting birth in good wombs / or being born to exalted parents.
The Upanishad continues to say that
“Those who neither practise meditation nor
perform rituals do not follow either of these ways. They become those
insignificant creatures which are continually revolving and about which it may
be said: ‘Live and die.’ This is the third place. "Therefore that world
never becomes full. Let a man despise this course.”
The insignificant creatures mentioned here are life
at lower level of evolution such as insects and micro organisms that keep
forming and dying endlessly. There is no 5th oblation in them. Man
is the 5th oblation according to this Upanishad. The lowly life
forms end up with food produced by earth. They follow the birth chain of 4
fires – until earth and food.
It is in the context of births like this (of those
who have not lived righteous lives and not done austerities) Brahma Sutras
speak about the seven hells. (3-1-15).
These beings are under the sway of Yama. Their abode is identified as “the third place” by the Upanishad (quoted above). The
first two places are Devayana and Pitruyana. The former is the solar path /
light achieved by the knowledgeable ones who are engaged in meditation and
austerity and who never return to earth for rebirth. The latter is the lunar
path / smoke which is attained by people who are aware of good and bad and try
to engage in austerities.
The third place is attained by evil doers who cause
sufferings to others and do not follow the path of dharma. They don’t get the 5th
oblation, which means they don’t get a body that can feel pain and pleasure.
Their evolution stops at the food level of the 4th Agni. The births
they take are supposed to be in the 7 hells. For example there is a kind of
bacteria living under the ground in an environment of very hot temperatures.
The heat of that environment is harmful for man but these organisms thrive in
those temperatures. They are like hell but they thrive – to work out the effect
of the evil karma.
Millions of other life forms are undergoing the effect of
hells described in scriptures. Most of them are killed or skinned alive or
roasted alive in the way the scriptures describe hellish experiences. All this
is being done by wanton act of man to satiate his appetite or just in blind
faith. Let those who consume such life forms after subjecting them to hellish experience,
think about themselves what is in store for them in future - in the third place
or in the other places.
The same verse also replies the query faced by
Svetaketu why the ‘that world’ (Devayana) is never full. It is because the evil-doers do not ascend from
the world of the Moon to the Sun but instead move within the lower fires of
rain and earth. They also do not depend on the 5th oblation which is
Man to get a body through which they can know about austerities and what is
good and what is bad. The Brahma sutras
further elaborate this point and say that getting a body is possible in plant
life, viviparous and oviparous life and from moisture. But there is the absence
of 5th oblation (Man) in their births which makes them belong to ‘the
third place’.
In this context, the Brahma sutras analyse the karmic
effect of killing animals in yajna and uphold the Chandogya Upanishad statement
of exemption only for Vedic purpose. In the current age of Kali, even that is
not sanctioned as there is none capable of austerities and meditation of the
kind that can hold such Yajnas in the highest order.
Given below is the relevant passage from Chandogya Upanishad on Panchagni Vidya.
Chapter IV − The Five Fires (I)
1 "Yonder world is the sacrificial fire, O
Gautama, the sun the fuel, the rays the smoke, daytime the flame, the moon the
embers and the stars the sparks.
2 "In this fire the gods offer faith as
libation. Out of that offering King Moon is born."
Chapter V − The Five Fires (II)
1 "Parjanya (the god of rain), O Gautama, is
the fire, the air the fuel, the cloud the smoke, lightning the flame, the
thunderbolt the embers and thunderings the sparks.
2 "In this fire the gods offer King Moon as
libation. Out of that offering rain is born."
Chapter VI− The Five Fires (III)
1 "The earth, O Gautama, is the fire, the year
the fuel, the akasa the smoke, the night the flame, the quarters the embers and
the intermediate quarters the sparks.
2 "In this fire the gods offer rain as
libation. Out of that offering food is born."
Chapter VII− The Five Fires (IV)
1 O Gautama, is the fire, speech is the fuel, the
prana the smoke, the tongue the flame, the eye the embers and the ear the
sparks.
2 "In this fire the gods offer food as
libation. Out of that offering semen produced."
Chapter VIII − The Five Fires (V)
1 "Woman, O Gautama, is the fire, her sexual
organ is the fuel, what invites is the smoke, the vulva is the flame, what is
done inside is the embers, the pleasures are the sparks.
2 "In this fire the gods offer semen as
libation. Out of that offering the foetus is formed."
Chapter IX − Birth and Death
1 "Thus in the fifth libation water comes to be
called man. The foetus enclosed in the membrane, having lain inside for ten or
nine months, or more or less, is born.
2 "Having been born, he lives whatever the
length of his life may be. When he is dead, they carry him to the fire of the funeral
pyre whence he came, whence he arose."
Chapter X − The Various Paths followed
after Death
1−2 "Those who know this and those who,
dwelling in the forest, practise faith and austerities go to light, from light
to day, from day to the bright half of the moon, from the bright half of the
moon to the six months during which the sun goes to the north, from those
months to the year, from the year to the sun, from the sun to the moon, from
the moon to lightning. There a person who is not a human being meets him and
leads him to Brahman. This is the Path of the Gods (Devayana).
3 "But those who, living in the village,
perform sacrifices, undertake works of public utility and give alms go to
smoke, from smoke to night, from night to the dark half of the moon, from the
dark half of the moon to the six months during which the sun goes to the south.
But they do not reach the year.
4 "From those months they go to the World of
the Manes, from the world of the Manes to the akasa, from the akasa to the
moon. This is King Soma. They are the food of the gods. Them the gods eat.
5−6 "Having dwelt there in the lunar world till
their good works are consumed, they return again the same way they came. They
first reach the akasa and from the akasa the air. Having become air, they
become smoke; having become smoke, they become mist; "Having become mist,
they become cloud; having become cloud, they fall as rain−water. Then they are
born as rice and barley, herbs and trees, sesamum and beans. Thence the exit is
most difficult; for whoever capable of begetting children eats that food and
injects semen, they become like unto him.
7 "Those whose conduct here on earth has been
good will quickly attain some good birth−birth as a brahmin, birth as a
kshatriya, or birth as a vaisya. But those whose conduct here has been evil
will quickly attain some evil birth−birth as a dog, birth as a pig, or birth as
a chandala.
8 "Those who neither practise meditation nor
perform rituals do not follow either of these ways. They become those insignificant
creatures which are continually revolving and about which it may be said: ‘Live
and die.’ This is the third place. "Therefore that world never becomes
full. Let a man despise this course. To this end there is the following verse:
9 ‘ "A man who steals the gold of a brahmin, he
(i.e. a brahmin) who drinks liquor, he who dishonours his teacher’s bed and he
who kills a brahmin−these four fall, as also a fifth who associates with them.’
"
10 "But he who knows these Five Fires is not
stained by sin even though associating with Part 5 48 them. He becomes pure and
clean and obtains the world of the blessed−he who knows this, yea, he who knows
this."
******************
From
Jul
19 2016 : The Times of India (Chennai)
The
speaking tree
A King Becomes Guru To The Brahmin-Sage
The
Chhandogya Upanishad lays down a unique template which maps out each activity
in the universe through the prism of chants. The term `chandogya' is
etymologically derived from chhanda, poetic metre. Even as it presents a
five-to-seven fold chant structure, through which all human and natural
phenomena are seen, the Chhandogya, at another level, goes deep into the
metaphysical dimension of the empirical world. The Chhandogya posits the
Panchagni Vidya, the theory of the Five Fires, central to the understanding
of the laws of the universe.
The
doctrine of Panchagni is presented through the story of Svetaketu, the highly
learned and educated son of Sage Uddalaka, who, in the course of his travels,
turns up at the court of King Pravahana Jaivali. Having welcomed the learned
young man, the King poses some questions to Svetaketu to comprehend how much
the young man has learned.
His
first question, “Do you know where mortals go to after death?“ perplexes
Svetaketu, who is at a loss for words. The second question, “Do you know from
where people come when they are reborn?“ confuses Svetaketu. The third and
fourth question, “Are you aware of the two paths through which the soul
ascends?“ and “What is the reason this world is able to contain so many
people, yet not overflow?“ further stumps the young scholar.
The
last question, “Are you aware of the five oblations that are offered, and how
the fifth as water liquid becomes a human?“ leaves Svetaketu at his wit's
end. He realises that there are fundamental principles of which he is
unaware, despite his learning and scholarship. He turns back to his father,
but Uddalaka too has no insight into such matters. Uddalaka turns to the King
for answers.
The
King initiates Uddalaka into the principle of the Five Fires, in which the
cosmos sky is in itself metaphorically seen as a great altar, into which the
fuel of the burning sun is offered, from which rises the moon. The Upanishad
lays down this as the first Fire, stating that all existence follows this
cycle of fire. The next altar is of clouds, where the fuel is the air from
which arises rain.
The
third altar is Earth, where the fuel is time, from which arises food. The
fourth man, where the fuel is food, from altar is man, where the fuel is
food, from which arises semen, seed. The fifth and last altar is woman, to
who the seed is offered as oblation, and from whence arises the foetus.
The
Chhandogya views Creation at all levels as a sort of yajna, sacrifice, where
every activity is interconnected. The birth of a child is not just a simple
outcome between man and woman. The Chhandogya states that a child is
conceived from every cell of the universe. The notion of “my child“ and “your
child“ is a misunderstanding of the basic laws of the universe. The Upanishad
states that the interconnectedness of the universe and contemplation of this
principle through the theory of the Five Fires, is true meditation into the essence
of things. It prompts us to look beyond the obvious, to delve deep into the
fundamentals of whatever we see, hear or touch.
Tat
Tvam Asi is the grand chant of the Chhandogya, the Mahavakya that each of us
comes from, and are that Self, the Atman, nothing less.
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