28. AkAsha (2)

Adhyaya 1 - Pada 3 AdhikaraNa 10

The "AkAsha" in ChAndogya UpaniShad
8.14.1 is the Supreme Personality of Godhead


Introduction by shrIla Baladeva VidyAbhUShaNa



In the ChAndogya UpaniShad (8.14.1) is the following statement: AkAsho ha vai nAma-rUpayor nirvahitA
te yad antarA tad brahma tad amR^itaM sa AtmA (Sky is the creator of names and forms. That sky within is expanded without limit. That sky is eternal. That sky is the Self).

SaMshaya: Does the word "sky" here refer to the jIva liberated from bondage of repeated birth and death, or does "sky" here refer to the Supreme Personality of Godhead?

PUrvapakSha: The scriptures say ashva iva romANi vidhUya pApam (As a horse shakes its mane, so do I shake off all sins and become liberated). This shows that the "sky" here refers to the liberated jIva. The words yad antarA (which is within) clearly points to the liberated jIva who is free from all names and forms. This is also so because the phrase "the creator of names and forms" may refer to the jIva before he was liberated. The word AkAsha here means "effulgence." Everything therefore indicates that the "sky" here is the liberated jIva. The words tad brahma tad
amR^itam (it is expanded without limit. It is eternal)

describe the qualities the jIva attains when he becomes liberated.

SiddhAnta: The conclusion follows.


SUtra 41


AkAsho .arthAntaratvAdi-vyapadeshAt


AkAshaH - sky; artha - meaning;
antaratva - difference; Adi - beginning with;
vyapadeshAt - because of the description.



The "sky" here is the Supreme Personality of Godhead because the "sky" described here is different from the liberated jIva, and for other reasons also.


Purport by shrIla Baladeva VidyAbhUShaNa



The "sky" here is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and not the liberated jIva. Why? The sUtra says arthAntaratvAdi-vyapadeshAt (because the "sky" described here is different from the liberated jIva , and for other reasons also). The meaning is this: Because the liberated jIva cannot be the creator of names and forms, the "sky" here must be something other than him. When the jIva is not liberated but bound to the material world, he attains various names and forms by the force of his previous karma. By himself he has no power to create these names and forms. When the jIva is liberated he takes no part in the affairs of the material world, as will be described in a later sUtra (4.4.17). The Supreme Personality of Godhead, however, is described in the shruti as the creator of the material world. The ChAndogya UpaniShad therefore says anenajIvenAtmanAnupravishya nAma-rUpe vyAkaravANi (With the jIvas I will now enter the material world. Now I will create a variety of names and forms). For all these reasons the "sky" here should be understood to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

The word Adi (and for other reasons also) in the sUtra refers to the phrase brahma (expanded without limit) in the passage of the UpaniShad. This phrase cannot describe the liberated jIva, although it may very naturally describe the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In this way the word "sky" refers to a sky that is all-pervading. Because this description can properly refer only to the Supreme, the "sky" here is proved to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead.