Chandogya Upanishad speaks of the oneness of the world and the immanent reality of man. All souls are inter connected and one. In most, the essence is the same.The whole world is one Truth, one Reality, one Soul! Living beings are similar to rivers flowing in different directions, joining the ocean and becoming the ocean itself! “ Akasath patitam toyam yatha gacchati sagaram” Every river loses its individuality and merges into the ocean. They realize their oneness with the ocean. Uddalaka tells Swetaketu that the subtle essence is the soul of this world! That is also the Reality and the Self. Swetaketu is that eternal Self and Reality! The more Uddalaka explains the more Swetaketu wants to learn! A fruit of the Nyagrodha tree is brought and broken. Swetaketu observes extremely fine seeds inside the fruit. When one of the seeds is broken Swetaketu finds nothing. Uddalaka says that the subtle essence which he does not see is the cause for the Nyagrodha tree! That is the Self and Swetaketu is nothing but that!
Soul and the body are compared to salt and water! After asking Swetaketu to dissolve some salt in water, Uddalaka wants him to take out salt! It is dissolved but water is salty to taste throughout. The inference is that though you do not see the pure Being, it is always there! That is the Reality! That is the Self! Swetaketu is nothing but that! The Sat is for ever. This Sat is the soul, the essence, it exists, it is true! When a person, covering up his eyes, is led away from his place into a forest area he is much agitated. When someone removes the cover and directs him to his place, he readily arrives at his place! The teacher is the person who removes the cover and imparts knowledge!
The symbolism can be explained thus. The home is Sat, Truth, Reality, Brahma, Atma! The forest is the empirical world of existence! Eye cover represents impulsiveness of desires! Removal of eye cover indicates a search for meaning of life and an introspective turn to within! Those giving directions are spiritual teachers and guides! A sick man recognizes his relatives so long as his breath is not merged with the warmth of his body and the warmth in the Highest Being! But when his breath is merged in the warmth of his body and in the Highest Being, he cannot recognize his kith and kin. In the same way, a thief given to untruth has to suffer whereas one who speaks truth is likely to get reduced punishment or released! Finally Uddalaka’s exposition of Reality, and Self satisfied Swetaketu and he understood it. It is in this manner that Swetaketu understood the instruction by which ”We hear what cannot be heard, perceive what cannot be perceived and know what cannot be known”!
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