Swami Krishnananda-Vaishvanara Vidya, en
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VAISHVANARA VIDYA
by
Swami Krishnananda
The Divine Life Society
Sivananda Ashram, Rishikesh, India
(
Internet Edition: For free distribution only
)
Website: www.swami-krishnananda.org
CONTENTS
Publishers’ Note
3
I. The Panchagni Vidya
4
The Course Of The Soul After Death
5
II. Vaishvanara, The Universal Self
26
The Heaven As The Head Of The Universal Self
28
The Sun As The Eye Of The Universal Self
29
Air As The Breath Of The Universal Self
30
Space As The Body Of The Universal Self
30
Water As The Lower Belly Of The Universal Self
31
The Earth As The Feet Of The Universal Self
31
III. The Self As The Universal Whole
32
Prana
35
Vyana
35
Apana
36
Samana
36
Udana
36
The Need For Knowledge Is Stressed
37
IV. Conclusion
39
Vaishvanara Vidya by Swami Krishnananda
1
PUBLISHERS’ NOTE
The Vaishvanara Vidya is the famous doctrine of the Cosmic Meditation described in the
Fifth Chapter of the Chhandogya Upanishad. It is proceeded by an enunciation of
another process of meditation known as the Panchagni Vidya. Though the two sections
form independent themes and one can be studied and practised without reference to the
other, it is in fact held by exponents of the Upanishads that the Vaishvanara Vidya is the
panacea prescribed for the ills of life consequent upon the transmigratory process to
which individuals are subject, a theme which is the central point that issues from a
consideration of the Panchagni Vidya. This work consists of the lectures delivered by the
author on this subject, and herein are reproduced these expositions dilating upon the
two doctrines mentioned.
—THE DIVINE LIFE SOCIETY
Vaishvanara Vidya by Swami Krishnananda
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THE PANCHAGNI VIDYA
The Upanishads are mainly meditations intended to act as correctives to the binding
effects that are produced by the phenomena of natural processes. While what we call a
natural process subjects us to its own laws, these laws can be overcome and their
imposition upon the individual can be counteracted by techniques of meditation. The
philosophy of the Upanishads is that it is an ignorance of the way in which the Universe
works that binds the individual to samsara—the series of births and deaths. Our sorrows
are, in a way, created by our own selves, because they follow as a consequence of our not
abiding by the law of the universe. The affirmation of a reality independent of what
really is, is called the ego. That is the centre of personality. This affirmation of
individuality, jivatva, personality, or something separate from the organic structure of
creation, is the cause of the sorrow or the suffering of the jiva, the individual manifested
due to the affirmation of the ego. Births and deaths are the punishments, as it were,
meted out to the individual in order that it may be reformed in the field of experience of
the world for the purpose of enabling it to return to the normal state of consciousness
which is universality of being, of which it is deprived at present due to the ignorance of
its connection with the universe and a false notion that it has about its own self that it
has an independence of its own.
The sections of the Chhandogya Upanishad, which we are going to study, are a
gradational ascent of knowledge for the purpose of meditations which lift us above the
phenomena of ordinary experience, such as birth and death and bondage of every kind,
and point to the methods of transcending all sorrow, whatever be its nature, and
regaining the originality of being. The various sections that follow are a systematic
teaching on what we may call Adhyatma-Vidya, or Atma-Vidya, a knowledge of the
ultimate Self, which is the only remedy for the malady of empirical existence.
This section which we are about to commence, is a treatise on a particular method of
meditation called Panchagni-Vidya, the knowledge of the Five Fires, by which the
Upanishad means the various processes of manifestation, or, we may say, evolution, it
being one's bondage and the way in which the cycle of transmigration revolves. There is
a coming and going, descending and ascending in this samsara-chakra, or the revolving
wheel of bondage. How it happens, and how one can be free from it, what are the
methods to be employed for the purpose of freeing oneself from the clutches of this
involuntary law that imposes itself upon us and binds us to its own mandate so that we
do not seem to have any say in the matter of births and deaths or even the experiences
that we have to pass through—these are our themes. The law of the universe is so vastly
spread in its magnitude that it weighs heavy upon us when it is not followed. This
question of the bondage of the soul brought about by its own ignorance, and the various
remedies therefore, are discussed in the various sections.
While the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad is more transcendent in its approach and provides
techniques of meditation which are mostly above the reaches of the ordinary mind, the
Chhandogya Upanishad takes us along the path of ordinary experience, and then,
finally, lifts us above into the empyrean of supreme transcendence. Often, scholars have
held the opinion that the Brihadaranyaka is aprapancha in its view and the Chhandogya
is saprapancha, which means to say that the Brihadaranyaka concerns itself with the
Vaishvanara Vidya by Swami Krishnananda
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ultimate Absolute and every solution is from the point of view of the Absolute only. So, it
has taken the final step in setting about finding a remedy for the problems of life, while
the normal man has also been taken into consideration in the Chhandogya, though the
ultimate aim is the same, here also. Thus, the Brihadaranyaka and the Chhandogya
form, in a way, complementary aspects of a single study.
THE COURSE OF THE SOUL AFTER DEATH
The Panchagni-Vidya, to which reference has been made, is a particular type of
knowledge, or meditation, which is introduced to know the inner meaning of the
common phenomenon of birth and death. What we experience in normal life is only the
effect of certain causes which are invisible to the eyes. We see people being born and
people dying, but we do not know why people are born and why people die. The causes
are unknown to us. What is it that compels a person to be born and what is it that forces
him to die? We know very well, we have no say in either of these ways. We cannot say
this or that in respect of these processes. Nor is there any adequate knowledge of the
secret of one's own experiences. Birth, death and the experiences in life are apparently
effects produced upon us by causes of which we seem to have no knowledge. The
Upanishad, in these meditations, tries to introduce us into a new type of knowledge
which is the solution to the sorrows that are incumbent upon being subject to the laws of
this natural phenomenon.
In this connection, the Upanishad commences with a story. There was a student named
Svetaketu who was the son of sage Uddalaka. This student was well-read and finely
educated. He was so confident about his knowledge that he used to parade his learning
and calibre in the midst of all learned people, have discussions in courts of kings etc.,
and was very reputed for his great educational gift. This boy went, by chance, to the
court of the king called Pravahana Jaivali, a noble emperor. The moment the boy arrived
at the court, the king received him with respect, and after offering him the requisite
hospitality becoming of a Brahmin boy well-versed in the Vedas and all the branches of
learning, the king put a question to the boy.
“Are you well educated? Have you studied? Is your education complete? Has your father
instructed you?” The boy said, “Yes, my education is over, and I am well-read.”
Then the king put some questions. “Naturally, you are a well-informed person so as to
be able to answer any pose. You are proficient in every branch of learning.” That the boy
professed to be, that he would be able to answer any question. Then the king posed five
questions.
The first question was: “Do you know where people go after they depart from this
world? When people die, where do they go? Do you know the answer to this question,
my dear boy?” The boy said, “I do not know. I cannot answer this question.” Then the
king asked another question, “Do you know wherefrom people come when they are
reborn into this world?” The boy said, “I do not know this also.” “Do you know, have you
any idea of the paths along which the soul ascends, the paths being known as the
devayana and the pitriyana? Do you know the difference between these two paths? Why
is the one distinct from the other?” The boy said, “I do not know the answer to this
Vaishvanara Vidya by Swami Krishnananda
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