Many people come across a question as to what/who exactly is “god” in Hinduism. Let’s answer that and many more questions to understand the gist of Advaita Vedānta. According to Vedānta, the closest term to “God” is brahman. This word comes from the root bṛh which means “to expand”. This phrase is from the Taittirya Upaniṣad. explains it very encapsulates the whole of Vedanta: ब्रह्मविदाप्नोति परम् which means “The knower of Brahman reaches the Supreme”.
In Hinduism, Brahman connotes the highest universal principle, the ultimate reality in the universe. In major schools of Hindu philosophy, it is the material, efficient, formal and final cause of all that exists. It is the all-pervasive, infinite, eternal truth and bliss which does not change, yet is the cause of all changes. In the Advaita Vedānta tradition, the Self Ātman and Brahman are identical.
So what is brahman? The subsequent phrases answer this, सत्यं ज्ञानमनन्तं ब्रह्म, which means “Truth, Consciousness, Infinite is Brahman”. So what do you attain by brahmavidya (knowledge of brahman)? सोऽश्नुते सर्वान् कामान्सह, this enlightened person attains all desires together.
Let’s get deeper into the phrase सत्यं ज्ञानमनन्तं ब्रह्म. Brahman means the vast. Vastness without any qualities or limits means it is infinite (anantaṃ). What can be the limits/constrictions to something? Deśa (space), Kāla (time) and Vastu (object).
Deśa Pariccheda Sunyam — No limits in terms of space (Sarvavyāpin or Omnipresent)
All prepositions refer to constriction in space. Everything has a limit in space. When something has no limit in space, you cannot say it is here and not there, no limit in space means there is no place where it is not. It is omnipresent
Kāla Pariccheda Sunyam — No limits in terms of time (Nityam or Eternal).
The second kind of limit is the limit of time (kāla). A limit in time means something exists after its creation and before its destruction. In Bhagavad Gītā Śrī Kṛṣṇa says जातस्य हि ध्रुवो मृत्यु, “death is certain for one who has been born”, there are limits in time. Since brahman is anantaṃ, it is Kāla Pariccheda, which means there is no time about which we can say “before this brahman did not exist or after it brahman will not exist”, it is eternal.
Vastu Pariccheda Sunyam — No limits in terms of object-ness or terms of its relation to other objects (advaitam or non-dual).
The third type of limitation is the limitation of object-ness (Vastu). Limitation of object-ness means anything within this limitation is itself and nothing else and nobody else. Since something with this object limitation is only itself and nothing else, something with no such limitation means nothing in the universe is different from it, it is advaitam (non-dual).
This short term “anantaṃ” packs so much meaning. It has given us these three results: brahman is Sarvavyāpin or Omnipresent, it is Nityam or Eternal and it is advaitam or non-dual. There is no space where Brahman is not, there is no time when it does not exist and there is nothing apart from it. This brings us to one of the Mahāvākyas from the Chandogya Upaniṣad, एकमेवाद्वितीयं, “one without a second” (6.2.1).
From these characteristics, we can deduce that if there exists such a thing which is omnipresent, eternal and non-dual, it must be present everywhere at all times. Satyaṃ in saṃskṛtam means truth/reality so brahman is truth, knowledge and infinite (सत्यं ज्ञानमनन्तं ब्रह्म). This implies whatever is real is brahman. But here arises a huge problem, we defined brahman as no limit in space, time and object-ness. Now let’s take an example of the device on which you’re reading this, is it real? You might say yes, but does it have limits? Certainly, it is where you are, it had a point of creation and will be destroyed someday and it is only what it is. It is limited in space, time and object, then how can it be brahman?
Here we see a contradiction between satyaṃ and anantaṃ. To clear this contradiction, we must take an implied meaning (लक्ष्यार्थ/Lakṣyārtha). A sentence has two meanings:
• The literal meaning (vācyārtha):
Each word is literally understood and put together as a sentence to give us a particular meaning. For example, ‘The dog barks’.
• The indicative meaning (lakṣyārtha): Herein the literal meaning is rejected and the implied meaning is understood. For example, ‘He is a lion’. This sentence does not mean that the man is a lion but that he is brave like a lion. The statement ‘That thou art’, should not be taken literally but in its implied sense.
Let's go through this again. The Upaniṣads define brahman as सत्यं ज्ञानमनन्तं. We know that whatever we see is limited in space, time and object. We say “the phone is”, “the book is”, and “the table is”, this is-ness of any object implies its existence. The Upaniṣads tell us to imagine a huge ocean of existence and all the objects as waves in that ocean. All waves are different from each other. Now apply the infinite to this existence, anywhere you think about things exist. Even at the border of the universe, something exists. So existence is without any barrier, omnipresent. Layman says that ‘Pen’ exists whereas Vedānta says that existence appears in the form of a pen.
Now, you may see how beautifully it fits the context.
• Existence is Infinite, anything apart from existence becomes Non-Existent. As Śrī Kṛṣṇa said in the śrīmadbhagavadgītā
नासतो विद्यते भावो नाभावो विद्यते सत: |
उभयोरपि दृष्टोऽन्तस्त्वनयोस्तत्त्वदर्शिभि: ||
(“The unreal has no existence; the real never ceases to be. The truth about both has been realized by the seers.”)[SBG 2.16]
• Existence is not limited to space and time, all that happened before were existent and all that will happen in future will be existent.
• Existence is not limited to an object as all objects exist thus is Non-dual.
If we remove existence from the ‘Pen’ then it will only remain in the name
(words) and not in reality. It will just become non-existent.
Now a question may arise isn’t existence a property of the object?
It can be understood well by the statement given by British philosopher Bertrand Russell (theory of description). For defining a property we can say
“There exists x such that x is _____ (object) and x is _____ (property)”.
Now let us fill in the blanks and see what happens:
“There exists x such that x is a pen and x is blue”.
This sentence looks completely correct with no errors. Now let's try to use “existence” as a property:
“There exists x such that x is a pen and x is existing”
Can you notice something strange? It’s amusing to see that we are repeating the statement. “There exists a pen such that it’s existing” makes no sense. Thus existence cannot be a property, Vedānta says existence is the reality that appears as a Pen which is blue (property).
Q:- What is Jñānam?
Answer:- Jñānam (knowledge) = Vṛtti (mental modification)+ Chaitanya [Consciousness (witness)]
We have the knowledge of many things:
• chair knowledge
• table knowledge
• laptop knowledge
• house knowledge
• earth knowledge
• universe knowledge
Here also we find a contradiction of it being limited within the three limitations of space, time and duality of objects. So we take the implied meaning, taking that which is common. What is common in all various kinds of Knowledge you have? The underlying awareness/consciousness is the witness of it.
Now, see how this Witness Consciousness fits in the context and is devoid of all limitations.
• Witness Consciousness is Infinite in all spaces of experience. There cannot be any experience apart from consciousness.
• Witness Consciousness is not limited in time. All modifications of the body and the mind are due to time but you being the witness consciousness, remain the same witnessing all stages of your life; childhood, youth and old age.
We come to the understanding that the definition of Brahman according to the Upanishads is Sat Chit Anantam — unlimited Existence and unlimited Consciousness. At this point, one must also consider, ananda, bliss. It is common to speak of Brahman as Sat-Chit-Ananda — Existence-Consciousness-Bliss. The Taittiriya Upanishad has separately considered the question of Brahman as ananda in some detail, so ananda is not explicitly mentioned in this definition. However, we may note that anantam is itself ananda — limitlessness, infinitude, beyond suffering, is real bliss.
I see myself in all beings and I see all beings in me. If I am Existence and Consciousness, I must be there in everything. It has to be true otherwise these things would not exist. I am there in every experience. I become one with the universe. This is the fulfilment of all human goals and aspirations. This is the attainment of supreme bliss and transcendence of suffering.
