It's is surprising to note that the Upanishads try to establish the Brahman or the infinite through dialogue between the guru and the disciple! Chandogya Upanishad does the same! The wonder is that the great sage Narada approaches another illustrious Maharshi Sanatkumara and requests him to teach! It is not that they do not know the Brahman or the infinite. But to educate the layman about the infinite, these two sages put on the guise of teacher and student to describe what the Infinite or the Self is! At the outset Sanatkumara questions Narada about what he knows. Then only he can explain to Narada what he does not know. Sage Narada rolls out the various branches of mundane knowledge, of the Vedas, grammar, numerology, rules for the propitiation of the Pitrus, sciences of time, logic, ethics, and politics! He knows scriptural studies, the science of weapons, stars, snake charming and fine arts! Having said this, Narada is sad that in spite of his phenomenal knowledge he is not blessed with the knowledge of the Self! One who knows the Self shall surely cross the world of sorrow! Narada maintains that he is in sorrow and requests the helping hand of sage Sanatkumara to cross the ocean of sorrow!
Observing that what Narada has known and mastered is only in name, sage Sanatkumara points out that the infinite is the embodiment of happiness! There is no happiness in anything that is Finite. Infinite can never be approached without a burning desire to understand it. Infinite can never be seen, heard, or understood! Whatever we see, hear or understand can be called Finite. The Infinite is eternal, immortal while the Finite is transitory and mortal! Narada asks Sanatkumara the base on which the Infinite rests. Sanatkumara replies that the Infinite rests on its own greatness or not even in greatness! The Infinite is all pervading. It is below, above and behind! It is in front, to the south and to the north! It is all this indeed! Kathopanishad declares the same truth.
“ Though sitting still He travels far, though lying down He goes everywhere. Who except myself, is able to know that God who is both joyful and joyless?” Is there any distinction between the Infinite and the Self? The Upanishad says that the individual who perceives, thinks and understands this becomes the lover of Self and rejoices in it! He transforms himself into Self-ruler and has uninhibited freedom! Persons who think differently are always not rulers but the ruled! They have no freedom and exist in perishable worlds! For him who understands this ‘ life, hope, and memory spring from the Self. Not only this, space, fire, water, food, power, understanding, meditation, thought, will, speech, name, sacred hymns and rites -the entire world springs from the Self!
The Upanishad quotes a verse that explains the consequence of the perception and understanding of the Self. Such a person has no death! He becomes free from illness and sorrow! He can see everything and obtain everything everywhere! He is one before creation! He multiplies himself into three, five, seven nine, eleven, a hundred and eleven as well as a thousand and twenty says the Upanishad!! Taking in purity purifies one's nature! His memory becomes firm as the ties of the heart are loosened! Sanatkumara, who is called Skanda in the Upanishad thus teaches sage Narada and clears his doubts regarding the Infinite, Finite and the Self!
It is interesting to note that a number of Upanishads echo the same idea regarding the Self and its nature and dynamism! Says the Isavasya Upanishad on Self: “ it moves and moves not; It is far and likewise near; it is inside of all this and it is outside of all this. And he who sees all beings in the Self, and the Self in all beings --he never turns away from it.The Self is unmoving, indivisible; it is swifter than thought. The senses never reach it, as it is ever ahead of them. Though standing still, it out strips those who run. And in it does the moving spirit support the activities of man”
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