by Sri Bimal Mohanty
VOL No. 43
September. 2004

ATTEMPTS TO DESCRIBE BRAMHAN - Part 17

"Based on the lectures by Sri Bimal Mohanty"

The pursuit after Ananda which is so natural to all beings, is not only the goal (lakshya), but also provides the very motivation for remaining in sadhanA, and also influences every aspect of living.

As in a cold night, when a man keeps on walking towards a burning fire, every step that he takes nearer to the fire, makes him feel more and more of the warmth. That spurs him going further and nearer to the fire.

Same way, the beckoning of the Ananda Bramhan works upon us steadily and little by little. As the Bramhachetana or God consciousness keeps seeping into us, more and more we are filled with the taste of this Ananda. The pain of living starts changing into the joy of living, as the stifling ignorance clears for the knowledge to shine. The very character of our lives, our attitude towards everything keeps changing. It becomes the very support of life.

The Taittiriya Upanishad observes

Anandat hi eva khalu imAni bhutAni jAyante. Anandena jAtAni jivanti, Anandam prayanti abhisambishanti iti….

Ananda only indeed, is the original reason for creation of all beings. Having come to exist, they are sustained by Ananda. They continue living by Ananda and finally end in Ananda.

Thus, this aspect of Ananda or bliss in Bramhan, again becomes another of the divine mechanisms, designed for the evolution of the individual soul. The instinctive movement of the soul towards this bliss is also instinctive movement towards its final liberation, the goal of its spiritual evolution. He becomes engulfed in bliss when it unites with Bramhan. You get engulfed in light and warmth only when you walk into the sunlight.

There is also another very interesting point here about Ananda. Ananda is not an acquired attribute of Bramhan. Ananda is not in Bramhan. Bramhan is Ananda itself. Ananda is not separate from Bramhan. If Ananda or bliss were a separate element, then we have to admit that there can be something outside Bramhan. In that case Bramhan can not be everything.

So this subtle difference was also seen by our seers. Do not look for Ananda as a gift from Bramhan. But once you realize Bramhan and be one with Him, you become overwhelmed and submerged in Bramhan. You lose yourself in Ananda and become Ananda yourself. That is mukti, that is nirvana, that is liberation.

Knowing Bramhan as Ananda Bramhan, is there more to ask about Bramhan?

That is an interesting question often comes to mind. The answer to that is both ‘no’ and ‘yes’. There is really nothing more to know, because you can experience Ananda only when you experience Bramhan. And you can experience Bramhan only when you have lost yourself and become Bramhan. And when you have lost yourself in Bramhan, who remains to know whom and what?

But on the other hand as long as you exist as the individual soul or jiva, the Bramhan is yet to be known. The quest has not and must not ever end till, His Grace is bestowed upon you.

The search ends only in the union.

Until that final moment, until that moment the soul retains its individual identity, there can only be broken bliss. The anguish of the heart will never cease.

Till such time, Bramhan or bliss still remains out of sAdhaka’s reach.

The cry of the anguished soul finds words in prayers after prayers, like the one from Kaivalya Upanishad:

Achintyam avyaktam anantarupam shivam prashAntam amrtam bramhayonim

Tatha AdimadhyAnta viheenam ekam vibhum chidAnandam arupam adbhutam

Beyond comprehension, beyond description, of endless forms, epitome of auspiciousness, bliss eternal, immortal, the source of BramhA (who is the creator of all), with no beginning, no middle stage and no end, the one without a second, all pervasive, the consciousness and Ananda(bliss), the wonder of wonders. It appears almost as a desperate call from the soul: I can not fathom you at all, I can not see where you begin, where you end, where to look for you. You are beyond my mind.

Interestingly, if you notice it, to most people these adjectives given to Bramhan appear to be “out of reach” adjectives.

Many weak hearted souls will interpret it as a resigned state and fatalistic compromise. The weak soul may exclaim, if every thing is beyond me, am I doing a wild goose chase? As it were, till the soul reaches its goal there is in it terrible dissatisfaction and anguish. In a manner of speaking, prayers are nothing but anguished cries of unrealized souls. A realized soul will have no prayers. When he has become one with the Lord what remains to pray for?