The Mandukya Upanishad 2.4 : Swami Krishnananda

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May 05, 2019
Section 2 : The Individual and the Absolute 4.

There are said to be five characters in all existence: Nama, Rupa, Asti, Bhati and Priya. Nama and Rupa are name and form.

Asti, Bhati and Priya mean existence, illumination and the character of pleasurable ness. Existence, illumination and satisfaction seem to be permeating Nama and Rupa, whatever be the place or the time of the Nama and the Rupa. We are all constituted of Nama and Rupa, name and form. Each one of us has a name and a form. Everyone has a name and a form.

There is name-form complex and, therefore, the world is called Nama-Rupa-Prapanca, the network of names and forms. But, notwithstanding the fact that we are in a position to perceive only names and forms, and nothing beyond, we are impelled by the urge of something else beyond name and form, which fact comes into relief in our hectic activities of day-to-day life, wherein we express a desire not merely for name and form but for something more than name and form.

Why do you act, why do you think, why do you engage yourself in any kind of work?

There seems to be a purpose behind all these endeavours, and the purpose is not merely a contact with a name or form, but a utilisation of name and form for a different aim altogether. All our activities hinge upon a single objective, that is, relationship with externals, contact with objects; but for a purpose higher than the objects themselves, the putting into use or harnessing the object, including persons, for bringing about an effect which we regard as beneficial to ourselves.

This effect is the final objective, and not Nama and Rupa. You pursue in this world not some persons and things, but certain effects, consequences which you want to follow by your contact with persons and things. If these consequences do not follow, you reject the persons and things. It is not that you want persons or things; you want certain consequences to follow from the contact with persons and things.

If they do not follow, you do not want them. Your friends become enemies or at least things of indifference when the consequences desired from them do not follow, and your desires become aversions when the required consequences do not materialise. So, it is not name and form or objects as such that we long for, but a desired consequence.

What is that consequence?

To be continued ..


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