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BrhadAranyaka Upanishad - Summary upto Sloka 1.4.5

Summary till now

In the last blog, we saw 'iccha' or 'desire' as unstable energy level. In this blog, let me describe what we learnt till now, in a more 'scientific' parlance.

Atma tore apart Purusha and Stri due to 'desire' or 'iccha' to enjoy (rame) and not due to fear. Of these purusha does not have desire to manifest. Stri becomes filled in vacuum or empty space. All matter and beings are born from Stri. Manifestation from Stri occurs in pairs.


Tearing apart, Inflation


"sa imam eva Atmānaṃ dvedha āpātayat".

"That this Atma into two flies off/tore apart/expands fast". The word used for what I described as 'tore apart' is 'apAtayat'. apAtayat can be described as flying off, expanded greatly, inflation, falling off etc (essentially moving away fast).

What happens due to this tearing apart or that fast expansion..?

"tasmāt idam ardhabṛgalam iva svaḥ iti ha smāha yājñavalkyaḥ".

Thereafter (tasmAt) svar (iva svah) is like (iva) this (idam) half-piece (ardha brgalam) indeed (sma) says (aha) yajnjavalkya".

When that inflated into being a two-fold, the Svar, the interstellar space, became like the half-piece. It got established, literally quite fast, just like a pea split or torn into two halves. ardha-brgalam could also be translated as a half-split pea.

Svah - Heavens, AkAsha - Space, Vacuity

Svar is translated as 'Heavens'. It is actually the interstellar space that we see in the vast cosmic ocean. Svar-ga, means going to or leading to the interstellar space. Svarga are the celestial bodies that exist in the svar, the inter-stellar space. PrabhupAda translates svarga as heavenly planets.

Due to the tearing apart or inflation that happened, the 'svar' (interstellar space of Universe) get established like a pea torn apart. This Svar, the inter-stellar space that got established was just 'AkAsha' or empty space or vacuum.

"tasmād ayam ākāśaḥ striyā pūryata eva"

The Stri fills up the Akasha or the empty space. AkAza is open space or vacuum. The 'Svar' the inter-stellar space was essentially the 'AkAza' the empty space or vacuum, when Atma tore it apart and created it. But it got filled with Stri.

All the Universe arises from this stri in pairs.

Pair Production

How does manifestation occur from 'Stri'. It occurs in 'mithuna' or 'pairs. From minutest to largest of matter and beings in Universe arise from the pair production that arises in Stri.

Knowledge (Veda) and desire (iccha)

Knowledge and desire seem un-related to the naked eye. But they are two different manifestations of the same.

For eg., in human parlance, 'touch' is to know (aveta). Embrace is to desire (icchat). But touch and embrace are two different manifestations of the same. Touch is about the 'information' dimension. Embrace is about the 'energy' dimension.

Knowledge (veda) is the information content. Desire (iccha) is the energy content.

mantha - Oscillations

In something that is standstill, there is no information. If that standstill is at a ground level with zero energy, it has no energy also.

In something that is oscillating, there is information. In something that is oscillating there is definitely energy also. Thus oscillations (mantha) are the fundamental form of information/knowledge (Veda) and energy/desire (iccha).

mantha is translated as stirring around. Actually it is oscillation or fluctuation. Anything that is oscillating (manthAt) has 'information' and 'energy' in it.

From information perspective, oscillation could be seen as 'Signaling'. From thermodynamics perspective, oscillation could be seen as 'Energy to perform some work'.

Entropy and Enthalpy

Information in oscillations (mantha) associated with in-animate matter parlance is called entropy. In animate beings, it is called knowledge (Veda).


Amount of energy in oscillations associated with in-animate matter parlance is called enthalpy. In animate beings, it is called desire (iccha), which propels the animate beings to perform actions.

-TBT
 
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