by Sri Bimal Mohanty
VOL No. 32
October. 2003

ATTEMPTS TO DESCRIBE BRAMHAN - Part 6

"Based on the lectures by Sri Bimal Mohanty"

Isa which refers to Bramhan or The Lord is the envelope of everything that this creation or jagat is all about. He dwells or exists within all that is known as the jagat. Bramhan is not only the source, support, and transforming agent of everyone and all, as said in The Bramhasutras, but He is also the envelope or the very field itself within which all these activities of creation, existence and mutation takes place. So one of the definitions or identification of Bramhan is that He is in all that is in and around. There is nothing else which is not pervaded by Bramhan or not Bramhan. We are all Bramhan. All around us is Bramhan. All that constitutes us is Bramhan. If I desire to see Bramhan, I open my senses, mind and intellect towards outside and see Bramhan. I open them inside and also see Bramhan.

Nothing exists beyond Bramhan and Bramhan is manifested in everything that there is.

To understand this concept a little clearer, we might take the assistance of another beautiful sloka from our scriptures.

One of our universal prayers says

Purnamadah, purnamidam, purnaat purnam udacyate. . ‘That’ is purnam or the entirity, all these around us are also purnam or equal in essence to that entirity, because they have all come out from that entirity or purnam.

Now what is purnam? What is everything? It is the Bramhan. Only Bramhan is purnam. So if we simply switch the word purnam with Bramhan it becomes simple.

Bramhan adah, Bramhamidam, Bramhat Bramha udacyate. Everything is Bramhan and nothing else but Bramhan.

The sloka also establishes simultaneously another truth,which is, that this phenomenon of manifestation of Bramhan is not His permanent nature as the human mind thinks it to be. It is Jagat meaning jayate, gaccati ca. It comes to be, or comes to visible existence, in an ever continuous stream (jayate) and is also ever changing and going away (gaccati) in the next moment. It is only the presence of Bramhan at the core of all things which is the permanent thing. That only Na jayate na gacchati va, - neither comes to being nor ceases to exist.