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CHAPTER IX
THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE ABSOLUTE SELF
That is, “Release is not in a particular place, nor has one to go to some other town or country in order to obtain it: the destruction of the knot of Ignorance (ajnana) round our hearts is known as Release”. And this final conclusion which arises out of the philosophy of the absolute Self has been described in the words. “abhito brahmanirvanaim vartate viditatmanam” [1],i.e., “those, who have fully Realised the Atman, attain or , “yah sada mukta eva sah” [2] in the bhagavadgita, as also in the canons, “brahma veda brahmaiva bhavati” , i.e., “who has Realised the brahman has become Brahman “ [3] etc. in the Upanisads. Therefore, this state of perfection of the human atman from the point of view of Knowledge is known as the ‘brahmabhuta’ [4], or ‘the Brahmi state [5]:and the descriptions to be found elsewhere in the Bhagavadgita of the ‘sthitaprajna’ (steady-in-mind), [6]. ‘bhaktiman’ (devotee), [7] or ‘trigunatita’ (beyond the three constituents),[8] are of this state. From the term, ‘trigunatita’, one is not to draw the conclusion that the Gita looks upon Prakrti and the Purusa as independent, and the isolation (kaivalya) of the Purusa as Release, as is done by the Samkhyas; but according to the Gita, the brahmi state described in the philosophy of the Absolute Self by the words, ‘aham brahmasmi’, i.e., “I am the Brahman” [9], is obtained sometimes by the Path of devotion, sometimes by the Patanjala Yoga practice of the Control of the Mind, and sometimes by the path of the Discernment of Constituents (gunaguna-vivecana) described in Samkhya philosophy.
As the philosophy of the Absolute Self , out of these paths, is a purely rational philosophy, Devotion has been mentioned in the Gita as the easiest means for an ordinary person for qcquiring the Knowledge of the form of the Paramesvara; and I have later on, in the thirteenth chapter, fully considered this matter. Whatever may be the means employed, this muchis beyond doubt, that attaining the Knowledge of the true Paramesvara, that is, Realising the identity of the Brahman and Atman, and that there is only one Atman in all created beings, and behaving accordingly, is the climax of Spiritual Knowledge are indeed blessed and perfect ; because, as has been stated above, as organic pleasure is the same in the case of men as of animals, the purpose of a human birth or the manhood of man is fully satisfied only by the acquisition of Knowledge.
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