The Esoteric Significance of the Kathopanishad : 4.6 - Swami Krishnananda

-
==================================================================


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, June 03, 2020.
Chapter 4: Overcoming the Limitations of Space and Time -6. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.

#Yoga is a miracle: ascaryavat pasyati (Gita 2.29). 

People speak of yoga, that it is a miracle. It is a miracle because it is not a physical object that can be seen or experimented upon with instruments. 

##Says the Kathopanishad : 

*Atmanam rathinam viddhi, sariram ratham eva tu: 
buddhim tu saradhim viddhi, manah pragraham eva ca; (Katha 1.3.-3) #

*Indriyani hayan ahur visayams teshu gocaran, 
atmendriya-mano-yuktam bhoktety ahur manishinah. (Katha 1.3.- 4) #

We are moving towards the goal through the process of the evolution of the universe. Our participation in this cosmic movement is yoga. We are driving a vehicle in this direction of the great purpose of the cosmos. 

This vehicle is this personality of ours. This individuality of ours is a chariot, a vehicle, a ratha, and this body moves like the vehicle in the desired direction. 

As there is a driver for a motorcar and a charioteer for a chariot, and the vehicle does not move of its own accord but is directed by an intelligence, the reason in us is the charioteer.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


2.

The chariot is yoked to the horses, which pull the chariot in the desired direction. These horses are the senses, and the horses are controlled by reins. The charioteer controls the movement of the horses by the reins he holds in his hands. The mind is the reins; the senses are the horses. This body is the chariot, and the intellect is the charioteer. 

The objects of the senses are the roads along which the chariot is driven towards the destination of what is called in the Upanishad :

#  "tad visnoh paramam padam" (Katha 1.3.9): the abode of the Supreme Being.
---------------------------------------------------------
3.

If the charioteer is drunk or he has taken a sleeping pill, if he is not concentrated in the attention which he has to give for the movement of the chariot, he will find the chariot in the ditch. The motorcar will go down the precipice. 

#If our reason is not properly directed, our personality can go amok due to the restive horses which have not been properly controlled by this reason through the reins of the mind.
----------------------------------------------------------------
To be continued ...


===============================================================

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Esoteric Significance of the Kathopanishad : 2-3

-
Image
30/10/2018 The Esoteric Significance of the Kathopanishad : 2-3 Chapter 2: Nachiketas’ First Two Boons : 3. In a reverse process, we can dissolve everything into space. Earth can become water, water can become fire, fire can become air, and air can become space. So space, which is apparent emptiness before us, is capable of containing within itself the entire physical cosmos. Therefore, space is not non-material. It is nothing but material substance. For one reason, it is an object of perception. We can see space. Anything that is visualised or capable of being contacted by any sense organ is physical, and space is such. Hence, the final condition of the world seems to be only space-time. We are using two words, ‘space’ and ‘time’, for want of better expression. Actually, space and time are not two things. It is one peculiar, indescribable something which is, for want of better words, called a space-time complex. It is better to call it a compound because it is an indivisible
Read more
-
Image
Chapter-1. Section-1. Mantram-13. 1. In this mantram Nachiketas is asking Lord of Death, the second of his boons. 2. Naciketas is now asking Lord of Death, to give the secret knowledge regarding the karma that is to be done by a mortal in the world, 3. So that, as a result of its reactions he would come come to gain the Elysian pleasures of the Heavans. 4. Naciketas is requesting Lord of Death, to initiate him into the secret of the rituals by which the performer can reach immortality.  
Read more

The Secret of the Katha Upanishad : 4.3. Swami Krishnananda.

-
Image
======================================================================= Wednesday, February  01, 2023. 06:00 Discourse - 4.3. Post -22. ======================================================================== Our soul within may be compared to the Lord seated in a chariot. This body of ours, this individuality, this personality, may be regarded as a chariot in which is seated the soul- consciousness. The chariot is driven by a charioteer, a driver. The intellect in us is the charioteer. The reins are the operations of the mind. The horses which pull or drag this chariot are the senses—the eyes, ears, etc. The roads along which this chariot is driven by the charioteer with the help of the horses are the objects of the senses. All this is made possible by a joint activity of the Atman, the senses and the mind. This is a very concise and beautiful description, symbolic, dramatic, full of meaning and profundity. This chariot is to be driven right to the Abode of Vishnu—tad vishnoh paramam
Read more