Parables from the Upanishads

Satyakama and Upakoshala

(I)

Satyakama was now a Rishi, a brahmarṣi, a sage and seer who had realised the Truth. He was himself a teacher now, had his own Ashrama where the seekers and aspirants came to receive his instruction and guidance. Today I shall tell you something of the aim and method of Satyakama's work as teacher.

Upakoshala Kamalayana, the son of Kamala, resided with Satyakama as a student of sacred lore for twelve years, tending his fires. What this tending of the fires really meant we shall learn as we proceed. There were other resident pupils along with Upakoshala; and after they had finished their twelve-year course, they were permitted to return home, samāvartana, with the final words of instruction and blessings from the master. But Satyakama would not let Upakoshala leave.

On behalf of the pupil a representation was made to the teacher by Satyakama's wife — how and when Satyakama had obtained a wife and what she was called I have not been able to discover. The wife said, "My lord, the pupil has been at pains to perform his austerities, he has been tending the fires with diligence and care. Lest the fires should place the blame on you, he should now be permitted to leave for his home with your blessings." But the teacher kept quiet and left on a journey without saying a word on the point.

In the grief of his heart Upakoshala undertook a fast. It seems that even in those days ordinary people and aspirants

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too were apt to fast unto death to get their wishes fulfilled. The good lady did her best to make the boy understand. "Why don't you eat, my dear child?" she said, "Do take something, at least for my sake." Upakoshala explained that his fast was not from any anger with the master, but with himself and his own shortcomings. Here was then a difference between the olden times and now! He said, "My lady, this body of mine is filled with disease. Therefore I shall not eat."

Thereupon the three household Fires had consultations among themselves. "See how diligently this boy has been attending on us", they said, "Come, let us instruct him ourselves."

We might recall here that Satyakama too had attained the knowledge of Brahman in this manner. The teacher had left him free to wander at will and knowledge had flashed upon him spontaneously. He was now trying the same method with his own disciple. Words gleaned from an external source and received from the mouth of another do not give the full knowledge. Knowledge implanted from without does not enter one who is not inwardly clarified and ready; for knowledge blossoms forth from within. The teacher is there to give an occult help, but there is needed a capacity to receive the teacher's help. That is how Upakoshala could hear in his awakened consciousness the conversation of the Fires.

They were saying, "Life-force verily is the Reality. Ka is the Reality, kha is the Reality." And Upakoshala asked, "There is proof that life-force is the Reality. But what is ka and what kha ?"

The Fires replied, "What is ka is kha, what is kha is ka."

Both are terms that express the ether pervading life. Ka is the ether of the inner consciousness, kha the ether pervading physical space. Space represents the extension of the life-force. Fire is power, the power that achieves by force of austerity; and life-energy is the expression of that power

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as force of action. That explains the Fire's emphasis on life-force.

(2)

The Fires are three in number. The Katha Upanishad also speaks of Nachiketa learning the method of worshipping the three Fires; he thereby conquers death and comes to possess the three worlds, trilokamāptim. Her too it is the same story.

The first of the three Fires is Lord of the House, gārha-patya. He manifested Himself to. Upakoshala and said, "Behold this earth and the fire, food and the yonder sun. The Supreme Person you see in the sun, that Person is myself and no other. He who knows That, the Supreme Reality, in this wise and worships It thus, of him all sinful acts are destroyed, in all the worlds he finds his station, he reaches the full span of life, becomes immortal. His progeny is not cut short; we enjoy him (take our delight in him), in this world and in that, him who knows and worships the Reality thus."

Next appeared the second of the three Fires, the Fire of the Right, dakṣiṇāgni. He said, "Upakoshala, behold the waters, the four quarters, the stars and the moon. He who knows them and worships them finds all his sins destroyed. He becomes possessed of all the worlds, he has the full span of life, becomes immortal. His progeny decays not. We enjoy him, in this world and in that, him who knows It thus and worships."

And last there came the Fire of the Gall, āhavanīya. He said, "Behold my body which is the life-breath, the sky and heaven and the lightning. The Person that is seen within the lightning is none other than myself, verily it is me. He who abides in Brahman firm in this thought finds all his evil

acts dispelled. He becomes a dweller in all the worlds. He gains the full span of his life, becomes immortal."

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Perhaps it is necessary to add a word of explanation here about the four locations given to each of the three Fires. But these have been described through the medium of symbols, and symbols always leave a certain amount of mystery.

The Fire that is Lord of the House, gṛhapati, has for its seat this material earth, that is, it burns. within our physical frame. It has steadiness for its quality, its flame shoots upwards, it aims at the sun - for the light that illumines earth is no other than the sun. Its form is that of the burning flame· and its field of action is gross matter. Similarly, the Fire of the Right, dakṣiṇāgni has for its dwelling the waters, which imply movement. Its form is spread out in every direction; its field is the region of the starry sky; its goal the moon of Delight, soma. Likewise, the Fire of the Call, āhavanīyāgni, has for its seat the life-breath, which gives the power to work. Its form is of the nature of extension; its field the heavenly regions of mind, the light which it seeks is like the self-luminous lightning.

After thus imparting the knowledge of the Reality, the Fires said to Upakoshala, "Upakoshala, we have given you what knowledge of the Self we possess. Your teacher when he comes will explain to you what the aim is of this knowledge, the goal to which it leads."

And now the teacher, Satyakama, was back home. And he had a look at Upakoshala, and he broke out in words identical with those which his own teacher had used in greeting when he brought back the kine from their wanderings. He said, "Your face shines like one who has realised the Truth. Who has given you the instruction?" Upakoshala felt a little embarrassed at this question. He sought to hide the true answer and said, "Who else could have taught me?" Perhaps he thought the teacher would get annoyed on learning that he had been receiving instruction from others. However, he gave a slight hint, saying, "But these Fires that you see here are of a rather unusual nature." The teacher then said to him, "So, it is these Fires who have

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taught you. What have they taught?" Then Upakoshala had to explain everything in full.

Satyakama gave reply, "The Fires have told you about the different worlds, I shall now tell you about the transcendent truths. Earth, mid-air and heaven are truths that comprise the universal aspects of Reality. But one must know the fourth or transcendent aspect of the Truth. Once you know That, you will roam at will all over the worlds, even as a drop of water on the surface of a lotus leaf, padma-patramivāmbhasā."

The Fires are three. The first has its seat in the body; it is the power of the body's upward endeavour. It is as if a coiled-up force, kuṇḍalinī. When this coiled-up force opens itself out and moves upward in a spiral curve, it goes on opening the body consciousness wider and wider in a clockwise or right-handed motion: that is the Fire of the Right, the fire of aspiration, in the inner consciousness of which mid-air is the symbol here. It is a right-handed motion because the movement is full of knowledge, instinct with the power of right discrimination, dakṣa, dakṣiṇa, between the truth and the falsehood, it is of the substance of knowledge. It merges up on high with the Fire of the Call, āhavanīya, once it gets purified and grows into a spotless Flame. This Fire of the Call is the power of austerity that has to be called down from on high by an invocation. The tongue of this Flame lies hidden in the heavenly worlds of pure mind.

The Fires spoke of the form or extension of Brahman, its manifested cosmic expansion, in time and space, inner and outer. Satyakama completes the picture by revealing the supracosmic reality of Brahman, its transcendent essence beyond manifestation. That essence, Satyakama says, in our first approach to it, appears as a twofold reality — it is a thing of light, Bhamani, and it is a thing of delight, Va-mani, it is luminous, it is delightful. We get here an early version of the later well-known formula — Sachchidananda — sat is cit and ānanda.

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However, in this Vedantic formula we miss one element of the supreme reality; Sat or Brahman is not only light and delight, it is also power, force, energy — tapas. Agni dwells not only on the three cosmic planes, the god has his own home in the supreme status. Sat, Being or Reality is Consciousness or Light; Consciousness is Delight; it is also Power, not only potential but dynamic Power, Energy. Sri Aurobindo therefore speaks of Chit-tapas.

The omission, at least in the present context, could it be the shadow of the coming Mayavada? For, Mayavada declares that Power, Shakti is Maya, Illusion.

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