Dimension Of Knowing – In Gita Verse 15.1 The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: It is said that there is an imperishable banyan tree that has its roots upward and its branches down and whose leaves are the Vedic hymns. One who knows this tree is the knower of the Vedas.
In the profound allegory presented by Krishna, the imperishable banyan tree of material existence stretches its roots upwards, fixed in the boundless skies of ignorance, while its branches descend, intertwining with the fleeting dance of life. Those who partake of its fruits become ensnared within an infinite labyrinth of branches, caught in the perpetual cycle of birth and rebirth, with liberation seeming just out of reach.
Amidst this grand illusion, there is nourishment for the soul – the leaves of this banyan tree are the hallowed Vedic hymns. These hymns are akin to leaves absorbing sunlight, synthesising spiritual sustenance, and bestowing upon the seeker the essence of divine wisdom, propelling them from the superficial into the profound planes of self-realisation.
The Vedas extend beyond a compilation of sacred texts; they are the life force of the wisdom tree. Each verse resonates with the infinite, a delicate vibratory nourishment for the spirit caught in the material web. These hymns vibrate with an undying echo of truth, a serene symphony transcribed to harmonise the soul with the cosmos’s eternal laws.
Engaging with the Vedas prompts the soul’s ascendancy up a celestial ladder, with each chant signifying a profound truth unveiled, and each articulation echoing deeper revelation. The ascent through Vedic wisdom corresponds to a gentle awakening, where the transient adornments of the banyan fall away to unveil the robust, perennial core of our spiritual essence.
The Vedas, resplendent in their poetic depth, function as a transformative force. Upon recitation, the illusory ties that shackle the soul unravel, thread by thread. The mantras reverberate within the heart’s recesses, reverberating with the primordial call to freedom, arousing the atman – the soul – from its dormant state.
This divine wisdom, personified, not only illuminates the seeker’s path but also serves as a guiding staff for the pilgrim journeying inward. The verses act as guide, inspiration, and empowerer, shepherding through the fog of maya towards the everlasting glow of sat-chit-ananda – existence, consciousness, bliss.
In meditative depths, the invocation of these hymns instils in one a profound synergy with the cosmic pulse, the eternal interplay of creation and dissolution that pervades all. This wisdom is not a mere acquisition but an intrinsic revelation, as instinctual and essential to our being as the very act of breathing.
Through the Vedas, the soul meets with the deathless, the constant. It speaks to our inner divinity, assuring us that dwell beyond the fleeting shadows of the temporal realm is a boundless spiritual domain – a haven of serenity, purity, and celestial joy. Enveloped in the ultimate reality, the soul discovers its sanctuary, its divine dwelling, and at last returns to the origin of its infinite journey. This is the profound vow of the Vedas – a vow of reuniting with the infinite, with the primal essence of all existence.
For the self-actualised, the sage who knows the Vedas, wisdom surmounts the limits of text. It converges the knower, the known, and the act of knowing into one indiscernible whole. Here, “Veda” signifies not only knowledge but the experience of unity, in which the knower begets the known, and both are intertwined with knowing – a unified sphere of self-awareness.
The self is a luminous entity, self-illuminating and irrefutable, comparable to a lamp that by its own radiance makes itself known. Left alone, all else may recede into oblivion, but the self stands immutable – self-affirmed, autonomous, beyond question.
This cornerstone of existence, the self, eludes the spectre of doubt. It remains the definitive truth amidst Descartes’ deep sea of scepticism, the firm reality that even in doubting pronounces its own existence – “I am,” thereby its essence is unquestionable.
Nagarjuna’s expansive denials ensnare every notion except the self. The self persists as the perpetual witness, immovably rooted in its immortal core – incessantly perceptive, never detained.
Thus, echoing Krishna’s lucid wisdom, the Vedas are not simply scriptures but are the portals to awakened consciousness. They beckon the seeker to an epiphany where the knower, the knowledge, and that which is known merge into a harmonious state of self-symphony – the quintessential truth of oneness, the spirit of divine wisdom.
Tags: Dimension Of Knowing
