Like many other Upanishads, Chandogya Upanishad describes and defines the Brahman! It should be meditated upon as the form from which man has come forth! His very breath is Brahman and he has to return to It finally! Man is what he meditates asserts the Upanishad! According to what man meditates in the world he becomes one departing from the world. “ Brahmavith brahmaiva bhavathi” says the Taittiriya Upanishad. One who knows the Brahman becomes the Brahman itself! Brahman is the mind while life is his body. The form of Brahman is light. Truth is his will and space his Soul! He is a combination of all activities, desires, smell and taste. He is all pervading, silent and unmoved! “Ekah paratma bahudeha varti” Brahman is one and manifests in different bodies!
The Upanishad declares that the Brahman is the Self within the heart of man. He is smaller than a grain of rice or barley or a mustard seed or a grain of millet or even the kernel of the grain of millet! Kathopanishad describes the Brahman as “ anoraniyan mahatmahiyanathmasya jantor nihito guhayam tamakrartuh pasyathi vita soko dhatu prasadan mahimanamatmanaha” Smaller than the small and greater than the great, the Self is hidden in the heart of every creature. A man, free from desires beholds the glory of the Self through the tranquility of his mind and senses and becomes free from sorrow. Chandogya Upanishad Says that the Brahman is the Self within the heart, greater than the earth, the sky, heaven and all these worlds!
Once again the Upanishad stresses the all pervading nature of the Brahman! With Him man will be united on departing from here! One who has this faith shall be rid of all doubts! Katha Upanishad gives a clear view of the Self. “ ajo nityaha saswatoyam purano na hanyate hanya mane sareere”-It is unborn, eternal, everlasting, and primeval. It is not slain when the body is slain! According to the Kathopanishad, the Self, though sitting still travels far; though lying down He goes everywhere. He is bodiless within the bodies, unchanging among changing things!
This is called Sandilya Vidya, one of the many forms of meditation recommended in the Upanishads. It asserts the oneness of the Individual Soul and the Supreme Brahman! The formula “tajjalan” is explained as that form from which the universe is born, into which it will return and in which it continues to live! Thus at all periods of time the universe remains one with Brahman!
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