The Sheath of Bliss

   The sheath of bliss (anandamayakosha) is the modification of avidya in the form of the happiness which is experienced in the waking and dream states. In these two states the happiness arises on the attainment of some desired object. This sheath is fully manifested in the state of deep sleep. But even this sheath is not the Atma because it is also a modification of avidya.  

  When all the five sheaths are thus eliminated one by one, what remains is pure consciousness, which is the Atma.

   The Atma which is self-effulgent, distinct from the five sheaths, the unchanging witness of the states of waking, dream and deep sleep, which is always of the nature of bliss, and is not tainted by the defects of the sheaths, is to be realized as one�s self.

   The disciple now raises a doubt-- when all the five sheaths are eliminated there appears to be only void. So what is there to be realized as the self?

   The guru answers that there is an entity that is the witness of the presence as well as the absence of these sheaths and their modifications. This witness is the self.

   The self or Atma shines in the states of waking, dream and deep sleep. It is behind the awareness as �I�. It is the witness of the ego-sense and of the functioning of all the organs. It is self-effulgent, eternal and bliss itself.

   A person of dull intellect thinks that the reflection of the sun in a pot of water is the sun itself. Similarly, human beings, being deluded by avidya (nescience), think that the reflection of pure consciousness in the mind is the Atma. A wise man knows that the sun in the sky is different from the pot, the water in the pot and the reflection, and that the sun illumines all the three of them. Similarly the Atma is different from the mind and the reflection of consciousness in it and it illumines them. The Atma has therefore to be realized as different from the body, mind and organs, as self-luminous, eternal, infinite, extremely subtle, and identical with Brahman. On this realization the person becomes liberated from transmigratory existence. The realization of one�s real nature as Brahman is the only means to liberation.The unreal (mithya) nature of the universe

  

   Brahman is absolute existence and pure consciousness. It is infinite, pure, supreme, self-luminous, of the nature of eternal bliss, non-different from the indwelling self, and without parts.

It is the only reality. The universe which is superimposed on it is not different from it, just as the illusory snake is not different from the rope on which it appears. A pot made of clay is not different from the clay. There is no separate entity as pot apart from clay. The pot is only a name given to clay in a particular shape. When the same clay is given another shape it is given the name �plate�. So what really exists is only clay, and names such as pot are imaginary. The Chandogya upanishad, 6.1.4 says, �All modification (of clay) is nothing but name based on words; the clay alone is real�. Similarly everything that is the effect of Brahman is nothing but Brahman. The appearance of the universe as an entity separate from Brahman is due only to delusion caused by nescience. The Mundaka upanishad declares that this universe is nothing but the supreme Brahman. If the universe were real, the statement in the srutis that Brahman is infinite would become invalid, the Vedas would lose their authority and Isvara�s words would become untrue. Such a result is not acceptable. If the world is real it should appear in dreamless sleep also. As it is not at all perceived in dreamless sleep, it is unreal like objects seen in dream. Therefore it is clear that the universe does not exist apart from Brahman.

   Therefore the supreme Brahman is the only reality. It is pure consciousness, without beginning or end, and devoid of any activity. It is pure eternal bliss. It is free from all differences brought about by Maya. It is eternal, unchanging, pure, beyond the faculty of reasoning, formless, subtle, and self-effulgent. It is beyond the trichotomy of knower, knowledge and known. It is beyond mind and speech.

   The explanation of the mahavakya �That thou art� will be taken up in the next article. 

sanskrit documnts