" A Discussion between Father and Son"

 

 

7. Sa ya esho'nima aitad atmyam-idam sarvam, tat satyam, sa atma: tattvam-
asi, svetaketo, iti; bhuya eva ma, bhagavan, vijnapayatv-iti, tatha,
saumya, iti hovaca.

 

 

 

1. O Svetaketu, my dear boy! You cannot be separated from That; you
cannot stand outside this Being. As everything has come from that, you too
have come from That. By the triplicated process of the elements your body has
been formed, and everything that you are individually is a shape taken by that
Being through the triplication of the three elements. So what you call 'yourself'
or 'myself' or anything, refers to the Self and is a shape or form taken by the
Being, and these shapes in turn cannot stand outside the Being. That is the Self
of all Beings, and therefore, naturally you too are that. You cannot stand
outside it, or external to it, or different from it. That is your Self; you yourself
are That. O Svetaketu, the great conclusion to which you come by the analysis
of the three elements is the existence of pure Being as the background of all
that exists.” So says Uddalaka.

 

 

2. Bhuya eva ma, bhagavan, vijnapayatv-iti: “This is something very
difficult to understand,” says Svetaketu. “These are things that I have not
heard of from my preceptors earlier, and I require further instruction in
greater detail about this Being, regarding which you have instructed me just
now. You have startled me by saying that I am one with Being. It is more
difficult to understand when you say that this Being includes other beings
also which you call different objects of creation. You have merged me with
other objects, and taken me into this Being, as everything is put together in a
menstruum, as it were, and melted into a pot where all beings have become
one. I require further explanation. How is it that everything becomes one in
Being, and what type of Being is this where we all go and become united?
What is this process of unification? How do all beings get together and melt,
as it were, into this Being when they reach It?” The following sections
contain Uddalaka's further explanation.

 

Chandogya Upanishad : Chapter-2, Section-8, Mantram-7.