pros tra tion and my sleep med i ta tion upon Mother; and when I take my food, I

think that I am of fer ing an ob la tion to Mother Shyama. Af ter this, when the
Taittiriya Upanishad pro laimed the man tra !M"t#de$obha$a,pit# de % $o bha$a,
atithide$o bha$a; May you be one to whom mother is &od, fa ther is &od, the guest
is &od, it was easy for Swami 'i$eka nan da to tune in with daridrade$o bha$a
(may you be one to whom the poor is &od) and so on. This is the ul mi na tion of
the think ing of the Upanishads and is a most up%to%date pre srip % tion of spiri t ual
prat ie well within the bounds of Ad$aita 'edanta. *ut e$en this ould not bring
peae to the mind of 'i$ekananda. The line of think ing whih e+ tended so far in
the Upanishadi age an not pos si bly term i nate at this point; its mo % men tum
an not re main ar rested here. If we pene t rate into its heart, then we would ha$e
to pro eed fur ther, muh furt her ahead. The Sh$etash$ at ara Upanishad on tains
the $erse T$a, str- t$a, pum"n asi t$a, kum"rauta$"kum"r-; T$a,
.-r/oda/0ena$a1asi t$a, ."to bha$asi$i2$atomukha3. !4ou are the woman, 4ou are
the man, 4ou are the youth, and the maiden too; 4ou are the aged man who tott ers
along leani ng on the sta5; 4ou, be ing born, as sume $ar i ous forms.6 This idea
must not rem ain on 7ned to the srip tures; we need to e+ pe ri ene it in e$ ery%
day life and rea l i8e it in pra tie. 9e ha$e to om pre hend the in teg ral $iew of
*rah man be % yond Its in di $id u ated man i fes ta tion, whih is de sribed in the
:urushaSukta and the Sh$et% ash$at ara Upanishad. Thus the man tra says;
Sahasra2-r<" puru<a3 sahasr"k<a3sahasrap"t; Sabh=mi, $i2$ato $#t$" tyati<>had
da2"?gulam. !That per fet *eing has in 7 nitely many heads, in 7 nitely many eyes,
inf i nitely many feet; al though per $ad ing the en tire uni $erse, It
situ a tes Its elf in the heart at a dist ane of ten 7n ger%breadths abo$e the na $el.@
Sar$ata3p"/ip"dastat sar$atok<i2iromukham; Sar$ata32rutimalloke
sar$am"$#tyati<>hati. !The hands and feet of all rea tures rea lly bel ong to *rah
man; so do the eyes, heads, and mouths of all li$ ing bei ngs; so also the ears of all
rea tures. That per$ ades e$ eryt hing and e+ ists in the bod ies of all li$ ing bei ngs
as the prat yag" tman.A This in di $id ual and ol le ti$e man i fes ta % tion of the In
7 nite is not to rem ain an ob .et of med i tat ion or an e+ press ion of truth alone; it
must be made an ob. et of wor ship in the pra% ti al world. It is des ira ble to do
away with the hi a tus rea ted be tween life and the on ept of *rah man. That is
why 'i$ekananda wrote; Brom highest *rahman to the yonder worm, And to the
$ery minutest atom, C$erywhere is the same &od, the All%Do$e; Briend,
o5er mind, soul, and body, at their feet. These are Eis manifold forms before thee,
Fe.eting them, where seekest thou for &odG 9ho lo$es all beings without
distintion, Ee indeed is worshipping best his &od.H (To be onluded)
Feferenes I. *haga$adgita, J.A. K. Anandagiris gloss on Shankaraharyas om%
men tary on Mundaka Upanishad, L.K.M. L. Shankaraharya, Shatpadi, L. M.
*haga$ata, I.@.IN. J. Ohandogya Upanishad, L.IM.I. 6. Sh$etash$atara Upanishad,
M.L. @. :urusha Sukta, I. A. Sh$etash$atara Upanishad, L.I6. H. The Oomp lete
9orks of Swami 'i$ekananda, H $ols.(Oal utta; Ad$aita Ashrama, I%A, IHAH; H,
IHH@), M.MH6.
KH