Skip to main content

Aham Brahmasmi


The Atman cries out to the Brahman “Who am I?” Not hearing a response, he cries out again “Why am I here?” Baffled by the silence of the Brahman, the Atman proclaims “I am the supreme manifestation of reality.” To which he hears no argument but what stirs within him is an unexplained restlessness. He is angered by his mute spectator. “Your silence only tells a story of ignorance”, he reluctantly exclaims, half in anger, half in despair. “I will figure this out on my own”, he says determinedly and sets out. 

He travels far and wide. He consults with magicians. He consults with ascetics. He asks the winds and the rain. He asks the swift sand about her maker. “Who made you?” she retorts sarcastically. Stamping her into the earth with a hurt ego, he sets out further. He speaks to the mountains, he speaks to the snow. “Shouldn’t you aim to climb up once in a while?” he asks the snow over Mount Kailash. “Your descent is your end- as you melt and trickle down the plains only to end in obscurity in the seas where no one knows you from the others.” “My descent is your life. And my end is the beginning of bliss”, the snow calmly replies. Baffled, he moves on- enraged at first by her audacity, confused after a while by her cryptic reply. He smells the flowers and hears the bird coo. 

Weary, he sits down. “My mind is tired, I should rest it”, he decides. And he does. He lets the fight go- “for just a bit”, he decides.  “Here I am.” She suddenly proclaims. His eyes open wide as he looks within. “I descend into a life of anonomy – where there is no “I”. I descend to a life bereft of an identity only to ascend to a larger reality.” The snow melts. The Atman looks up, hoping to see her. And then realizes that he can’t strain to look up, neither can he stoop to look down.  He looks nowhere for he knows now “Aham Brahmasmi”. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Secularism, Chauvinism, but Objective Hindu-ism?

In recent times I have realised that several people feel obliged to apologise; apologise for being Hindu, apologise for a ‘Hindu’ party winning the elections, updating status messages on facebook or tweeting that while they may be called Hindu, they should not be mistaken to be fundamentalists. ‘I am not a religious Hindu. I am secular!’ I was raised in a Tamil Brahmin household. I remember spending my afternoons hearing tales from the Siva Puranam, the Ramayana and the Mahabharatha from my grandmother. I remember learning to draw a 18-pulli Kolam , making strings of mango leaves for festivals, learning Carnatic music and bharathanatyam, making a compulsory visit to the puja room after a bath every morning. As a young child, the stories of Parvati or Rama were fascinating, festivals were a lot of fun, rituals were intriguing and practices were just that- a way of living. In my growing up years I asked a lot of questions- why do we do this? How will it matter if I don’t do thi...

MY ALONE

A few days ago, my daughter walked off to a birthday party saying "I will go my alone." MY ALONE was her new English phrase for the week meaning 'all by myself'. Not just 'myself', "ALL BY MYSELF"! And as I watched her walk down the hallway to the neighbour's house, I felt a funny feeling in the pit of my tummy. Of all the funny-feelings-in-tummy motherhood brings you, this one was new. WAS MY BABY GROWING UP? You see, mothers are usually programmed to be blind to any of these so-called hints of growing up. So obviously it surprised me that I was thinking this at all! Growing up in Mommy language usually refers to other things like: 1. Baby Being toilet trained after months of cleaning up and mopping up and coercing and making sssss sounds while the bored baby sits on the Potty. 2. Baby Being able to chew food -accompanied by a lot of "CHEW CHEW CHEW" and nudging the food stuck in the cheek. 3. Baby Giving up the feeding bott...

Grateful and Complaining?!

Daddy J recently commented, "I wish I was ambidextrous." "Why", I asked, bewildered. "With one good hand, it's almost impossible to change her diaper without messing up the place. Plus it would be easier to get that rice into her. I wonder how you hold her in one hand and stuff that food in with the other." "So how did you manage when I went out for 3 hours?" "I gave her milk."- with a triumphant smile!!!! Everyone warned me that crawling days and walking days would bring along new and challenging exercise routines. And thanks to it, the old pair of jeans seem to fit again- yipie! And compare notes, we must! With new mommies: -My son won't sit in one place for more than 10 seconds. Half the time, I am just hunting for him under tables and chairs. -Mine broke a vase the other day and had the most 'paavam' look on her face. I didn't know whether to cry or scold her! -He wants to pull everything- including peopl...