The swaroop of atma

Let me tell you a little story of creation. At a time, there was nothing— only one vibrant light and lot of smaller lights (energies) revolving around it. They had no desire at this stage, no thought — the state of absolute bliss. Then suddenly, among the cluster of lights, one small light got a thought — “I want” and it set out on a search. As it went, few more lights joined it. These lights then reached a place abounding in natural beauty, but they were unable to experience it. The main light then gave each of those lights a special suit. Wearing these suits, the lights could experience so many sights, sense of touch, taste... So enamoured were they that they didn’t even realise that their glow was now covered by the suit, to which they were bound. Slowly, they forgot all about the main light and the state of bliss they were in. Now they were a body, no more a point of light.

As time passed, more and more lights came to join them, the space and resources became less and less and so, clashes began. Then one group of lights broke the suits of another group, as without suits they would not have been able to experience, and would be forced to leave. Looking at them, others also started doing the same. Clashes became severe such that the place for which they were fighting started getting destroyed. The lights however keep returning, adorning newer suits.

The lights are the swaroop of atma (soul). To experience the senses and that the divine has created, the swaroop of soul is insufficient. It needs a special suit — the body. As it attaches itself to the body, it gets limited and forgets that it was once unlimited. It even forgets its actual swaroop and keeps changing and destroying suits, paving way for its destruction.

Sant Ashtavakr had pointed out that while shastra (weapon) brings a civilisation to its end, shaastra (scriptures) make a civilisation. The distance between death and immortality is just the difference of “a”. To quote the Bhagavad Gita:

Nainam chindanti sastrani nainam dahati pavakah
Na chainam kledayanty aapo na sosayati marutah
— Chapter 2, Verse 23

That is: weapons cannot destroy it, fire cannot burn it, water cannot moisten it nor can wind wither it away. Such is the swaroop of atma. When this gyan dawns upon a being, shastra (arms) become ineffective, and he moves from death to immortality.

Our ancestors were no ordinary beings. They gave us this gyan 5,000 years ago. 5,000 years back they documented the Shanti Path in the Rig Veda, a concept which is alien to even the most learned men of today. We need to realise what we have come to become... we cannot even accept the basic ability of truth over violence, which the Vedic rishis had experienced.

Asato ma sadgamay, tamso ma jyotirgamaya, mrityor ma amritam gamaya (From unreal to real, from darkness to light, then from death to immortality).

Yogi Ashwini, the guiding light of Dhyan Foundation, is an authority on yoga, tantra and the Vedic sciences. His recent book is Sanatan Kriya, The Ageless Dimension. Contact him at dhyan@dhyanfoundation.com