13. The Eater is Brahman

Adhyaya 1 Pada 2 - AdhikaraNa 2


The Eater is Brahman


Introduction by shrIla Baladeva VidyAbhUShaNa


ViShaya: The KaTha UpaniShad (1.2.25) says:

yasya brahma ca kShAtraM ca
ubhe bhavataH odanaH
mR^ityur yasyopasecanaM
ka itthA veda yatra saH


"There is a person for whom the brAhmaNas and kShatriyas are food and death is the sauce. Who knows where this person is?"


SaMshaya: Here the words odana (food) and upasecana (sauce) indicate an eater. Who is the eater? Is it fire, the jIva, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead?

PUrvapakSha: Because there is nothing specific to show that of these three fire is not the eater, and because the questions and answers in this passage seem to indicate fire, and because the BR^ihad-AraNyaka UpaniShad (1.4.6) declares agnir annAdaH (Fire is the eater), therefore fire is the eater in this passage.

Or perhaps the jIva is the eater here because eating is an action and the jIva performs actions although the Supreme does not perform any actions. This is also confirmed by the shruti-shAstra (MuNDaka UpaniShad 3.1.1 and KaTha UpaniShad 3.1) which describes an eater accompanied by a non-eater who simply looks: tayor anyaH pappalam (Two friendly birds sit on a tree. One eats the pippala fruit and the other does not eat but only looks). From all this it may be understood that the eater here is the jIva.

SiddhAnta: The proper understanding follows.


SUtra 9

attA carAcara-grahaNAt


attA—the eater; cara—the moving; acara—and the non-moving; grahaNAt—because of taking.


The eater (is Brahman) because He takes the moving and non-moving (as His food).


Purport by shrIla Baladeva VidyAbhUShaNa


The eater is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Why? Because of the words carAcara-grahaNAt (Because He takes the moving and non-moving as His food). In this passage (KaTha UpaniShad 1.2.25) the words brahma kShAtram indicate the entire universe, which is then sprinkled with the sauce of death and eaten. This passage must refer to the Supreme Personality of Godhead for no one other than He can eat the entire universe. A sauce is something which, while being eaten itself is the cause of other things being eaten also. The eating of the entire universe sprinkled with the sauce of death must refer to the periodic destruction of the material universes. In this way it is proved that the eater of the universes here is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is not refuted by the statement of UpaniShads (na caAshnan) that He does not eat. The Supreme Personality of Godhead does not eat the results of karma, but He has His own transcendental eating.


SUtra 10

prakaraNAt—because of the context; ca—also.



This is also confirmed by the context.

Purport by shrIla Baladeva VidyAbhUShaNa


That this passage refers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead is also confirmed by the following statement of KaTha UpaniShad (1.2.20):

aNor aNIyAn mahato mahIyAn


"The Supreme Personality of Godhead is smaller than the smallest and greater than the greatest."*


This is also confirmed by the following words of smR^iti-shAstra:


atAsi lokasya carAcarasya


"You are the eater of this complete cosmic manifestation, of the moving and the non-moving."