Yajnavalkya on ParaBrahman
Yājñavalkya:
Yājñavalkya(याज्ञवल्क्य) is a Hindu Vedic sage (c. 700 BCE).
Yajnavalkya debates metaphysical questions about the nature of existence, consciousness and impermanence.
Yajnavalkya describes the Atman, as different from the individual ego or Aham. Atman is eternal, is unchanging. The Atman is associated with Brahman, and obtaining moksha comes from realization of the Oneness of the Atman and Brahman. He later became a wandering ascetic. His teachings are recorded in "Shatapatha Brahmana" and "Brihadaranyaka Upanishad," which dates to about 700 B.C.E. He is mentioned in Brahma purana and Brahmanas and Aranyakas. Texts attributed to him include the Yajnavalkya Smriti, Yoga Yajnavalkya.
Who is ParaBrahman?:
*Sa hovaca, etad vai tad akṣaram, gārgi, brahmana abhivadanti, asthutam ananu, ahrasvam, adīrgham, alohitam, asneham acchayam, atamaḥ, avayv anakasam, asangam, arasam, agandham, acakṣuskam aśrotram, avak, amanaḥ, atejaskam, aprāṇam, amukham, amātram, anantaram, abāhyam; na tad aśnāti kim cana, na tad aśnāti kaś cana.*
Meaning:
Yajñāvālkya said: "That, O Gargi, the knowers of Brahman call it the Imperishable.
It is neither gross nor subtle,
neither short nor long,
neither coloured nor associated with anything;
It is light without shadow free from darkness,
neither air nor space;
It is unattached;
It is without taste or smell,
without eyes or ears, without tongue or mind;
It is non-effulgent,
without vital breath or mouth,
without measure and
without exterior or interior.
It does not consume anything, nor is It consumed by anyone.
"This Cosmic foundation is nothing but the Absolute.
Beyond that, there can be nothing. That is the immaculate Absolute,"
says Yajnavalkya.
*Etad vai tad aksaram*:
"It is imperishable. You cannot go on asking and answering questions, like this indefinitely until you get exhausted of description. That is the last resort of all thought, all speech and all definition.
*Asthulam Anaṇu*:
It is not gross, therefore, it cannot be visualised. It is not subtle, because to call it subtle would be to distinguish it from the gross. It is inseparable from that which is called the gross. Therefore, I cannot call it subtle also. It is not gross because it is not visible as an object; it is not subtle because it is not different from the gross. So it is not gross, not subtle.
*Ahrasvam, Adirgham*:
It cannot be said to be long; or short, because it is not located in space so it is not subjected to measurement. It has no distance, no dimensions and not metrics apply.
*Alohitam*:
It free from all colour, because colour is the perception of the eyes. It is an object. And it is already ruled out as being an object of any kind. So it has no colour.
*Asneham*:
It has no connection with anything. It cannot be associated with anything; it cannot be related to anything. It stands by itself. It cannot be regarded as the cause of anything, also.
*Acchayam* :
It does not cast a shadow. It is not the light, as we generally speak of. It is illumination itself.
*A-tamah*:
It is not darkness also. It is the utmost brilliance that one can think of.
*Avāyu Anākāśam*:
It is not space; it is not air; it is not water; it is not earth; it is not an object; it is not individual; it is not you; it is not me .
*Asangam*:
It has no connection to anything - It stands by itself.
*Agandham, Acakṣuskam Asrotram*:
It has no eyes; it sees everything.
It has no ears; it hears everything.
*Avak*:
It has no speech, It does not speak to anyone, it is the principle of speech itself.
*Amanah*:
It has no mind; it causes all thinking.
*Atejaskam*:
It cannot be called brilliance also, ultimately. One can call it Light of lights. The ultimate conception of Reality is light. It is not a light that shines upon something; it is a Light that stands by its own Self.
*Aprāṇam*:
It has no Prāṇa; it does not breathe. It is not an individual being.
*Amukham*:
It has no mouth. It has no organs.
*Amātram*:
It has no measure of any kind, sensory or psychological.
*Anantaram Abāhyam*:
It is not inside; it is not outside - . If you say "inside", it means that it is not "outside". If you say "outside", it means that it is not "inside". So, neither is this definition applicable to it nor that. It has no inside and outside, merely because it is not in space and not in time. It does not consume anything - and it is not consumed by anyone.
*Na tad aśnāti kiṁ cana. Na tad aśnāti kaścana*:
Neither does it want anything, nor is It an object to be acquired. Nothing is an object to it, and it is not an object to anyone.
Such a mysterious Thing is the Ultimate Reality of even that foundation; unmanifested substratum and Matrix of all existence. This is the Para Brahman; this is the Absolute; this is All."
- ✍️Dr Prema Pangi
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