The following is an extract from Ganapati Muni’s letter, dated 3rd June 1931, which is of interest in this context on account of the inferences that he draws from the reply of Sri Bhagavan.
Ganapati Muni
Sundara has written in his letter the explanation given by Bhagavan. By that, all our doubts here are dispelled. The saying of Bhagavan that the experience of the non-existence of the sense of limitation is the same in God and liberated souls has removed some other doubts of ours also. From this saying we have understood that there does exist Iswara, the controller of the universe, that there does also exist individuality for liberated souls and that their experience is the same only in respect of the non-existence of this sense of limitation. By this, the party which says that Bhagavan’s Sat-Darshana gives room for the theory of simultaneous creation has also been replied to. A reply to that party is in Sat-Darshana also.
Two particularly interesting points are worthy of note in this letter of Ganapati Muni:
(1) His conclusion that Bhagavan taught that liberated souls have individuality.
(2) His statement that Bhagavan’s reply is an answer to those who say that Sat-Darshana supports the theory of simultaneous creation.
With regard to the first point, the question of whether a liberated soul retains his individuality even after the destruction of the ego, was for long a point of contention among the devotees of Sri Bhagavan. The question is discussed in Talks (No. 446), Sat-Darshana Bhasya and Maha Yoga. The verdict of Sri Bhagavan on this question is given in verse 119 of the Garland of Guru’s Sayings:
The jivanmukta has attained the state of reality that shines, transcending individuality and non-individuality. If one insists that, in this experience, he still has a distinct individuality, such an assertion arises only through the limited knowledge of pandits who are bound to the false. The form of jivanmuktas is the space of consciousness which is the clean mirror that reflects whatever is placed before it. The individuality that seems to exist for these [jivanmuktas] is only the reflection of the individuality of those who love individuality.
With regard to the second point about creation, in Sri Ramana Reminiscences (pp. 100-101) by G. V. Subbaramayya, Sri Bhagavan explains the difference between the theory of gradual creation that appears to have been espoused by Ganapati Muni and the theory of simultaneous creation that was held by other devotees.
Sri Bhagavan also explained the difference between srishti-drishti vadam espoused by Sri Kavyakantha [Ganapati Muni] and drishti-srishti vadam supported by Sri K. Lakshmana Sarma and others. According to the former, the Universe is created by God, and man merges into Godhead through Jnana-Siddhi (attainment of knowledge). According to the latter, both Universe and God are the illusion of man formed by the outgoing mind. To the question ‘How can God be the outcome of man’s illusion?’ this school replies with the analogy of a dead parent or a king appearing in [a] dream and evoking at the time the sentiments of filial devotion or loyalty in the dreamer.
In conclusion Sri Bhagavan declared: ‘Without the seer, the seen, be they worlds or gods, cannot exist. All those objects of sight depend upon the seer. The purpose of all objects of sight is only to point to the seer. The purpose of all creation is verily to get at the creator.
Sri Bhagavan clearly concluded his explanation in favour of simultaneous creation by saying: ‘Without the seer, the seen, be they worlds or gods, cannot exist. All those objects of sight depend upon the seer.’
[Editorial interpolation, February 2010. At the time that Bhagavan was making these remarks, there were two published commentaries available on Ulladu Narpadu: Lakshmana Sarma’s Tamil explanation and Kapali Sastri’s Sat-Darshana Bhashya. With regard to their explanations of Bhagavan’s teachings on creation, Bhagavan is clearly siding with Lakshmana Sarma’s interpretation in this quotation.
In Living by the Words of Bhagavan (2nd ed. p. 104) it is reported that Bhagavan went to the ashram office and encouraged Chinnaswami to publish Lakshmana Sarma’s book by saying, ‘Everyone is saying that Lakshmana Sarma’s commentary on Ulladu Narpadu is the best. Nobody has studied Ulladu Narpadu the way Sarma has. Why don’t you publish his book?’]
Since this is one of the major differences between the philosophy of Ganapati Muni and that of Sri Bhagavan, it will be helpful to examine these theories in greater detail.
The debate revolves around two Sanskrit terms, srishti-drishti vada and drishti-srishti vada. Srishti-drishti vada means the theory of gradual creation, that is, the theory that God created the world and the soul. There are many different theories to explain how this took place, but the particular theory of gradual creation espoused by Ganapati Muni appears to have been the theory of transformation (parinama vada), since this is clearly supported in Sat-Darshana Bhashya, a commentary on a Sanskrit translation of Bhagavan’s forty-verse poem, Ulladu Narpadu. Though the commentary was penned by Kapali Sastri, a close disciple of Ganapati Muni, it was done under Ganapati Muni’s supervision and accurately reflects his views.
According to the theory of parinama vada, Brahman does not appear as the world and the soul, as a rope appears to be a snake, but undergoes a change and becomes them in the same way that clay becomes a pot. This theory maintains that Brahman has actually (and not merely apparently) undergone transformation and change. It also maintains that the effects, namely, the world and the soul, are as real as their cause, Brahman. Ganapati Muni believed that individuality was real and not imaginary, and that individuality survived even Self-realisation. It was for this reason that he was tempted to interpret Bhagavan’s words to mean that the soul retained its individuality after liberation. However, a close reading of this section of Bhagavan’s letter reveals that there is no mention of realised beings retaining individuality; all it says is that realised beings experience ‘the non-existence of the sense of liberation’ and that this is ‘natural to God and liberated souls’.
Drishti-srishti vada means the theory of simultaneous creation, and is also known as the theory of false appearance. According to this theory, Brahman is the sole reality that never undergoes any change, and the world, the soul and God are false appearances that rise into existence simultaneously with the seer. This theory maintains that all objects depend for their apparent existence upon the seer. Whereas in gradual creation, objects are seen because they have been created, in simultaneous creation, objects are created because they are seen.
Ganapati Muni also concludes from this letter that Sat-Darshana, which is his translation of Sri Bhagavan’s work Ulladu Narpadu, does not support the theory of simultaneous creation.
The question of which creation theory is taught in Ulladu Narpadu has been answered by Bhagavan himself in verse 83 of the Garland of Guru’s Sayings.
Through the venba verse that begins, ‘Because we perceive the world…,’ Guru Ramana – who teaches the one true beneficial attainment [jnana] that is needed by the people of the world – declared, out of his love for us, the doctrine of illusory appearance to be the truth that bestows the ultimate benefit, avoiding the consideration of other doctrines.
In this verse Bhagavan states that since he wrote Ulladu Narpadu, it is understood that he teaches only the doctrine of false appearance, or simultaneous creation, and that he has set aside all other theories. It should also be clear from reading the text of Ulladu Narpadu that Sri Bhagavan is teaching that the seer and the seen rise together.
In verse seven it states, ‘Although the world and the mind rise and set together, it is by the mind alone that the world shines’ and in verse twenty-six it states, ‘If the ego comes into existence, all else will come into existence. If the ego does not exist, all else will not exist.’
Although Bhagavan taught the theory of simultaneous creation, this theory should not be elevated to the status of an absolute truth. Sri Bhagavan’s actual experience is ajata, which is a denial of all creation theories, simultaneous or otherwise, since it is the experience that neither the world, the soul nor God has ever come into existence. Ajata is the final experience, not a theory that can be taught, for there is no room in this experience for such differences as a teacher and a person to be taught.
Bhagavan’s teachings assume that we are aware that the world rises and sets with the rising and setting of the seer. The first words of Ulladu Narpadu are ‘Because we see the world’, and this assumption that we see the world becomes the basis for this teaching on creation. If he was intending to attempt to teach ajata, he would not have admitted the existence of the world at all, and if he had intended to teach gradual creation he would have said, ‘Because the world is created’.
Although Sri Bhagavan sometimes used to speak from the standpoint of gradual creation while replying to questioners, in his main works (for example, in Who am I?, in verses 6, 7, 14, 23 and 26 of Ulladu Narpadu, and in verses 6 and 7 of Arunachala Ashtakam), he clearly teaches only the theory of simultaneous creation. As he has explained in Self Enquiry in the answer to question 10, the theory of gradual creation is taught only for immature aspirants, while the theory of simultaneous creation is taught to mature aspirants. The same idea is expressed by him in Day by Day (15th March 1946) and in Talks no. 651 where he concludes: ‘But the true seeker can be content with yugapat srishti, instantaneous creation.’
Postscript, February 2010
Though this was written almost thirty years ago, I think it has stood the test of time well enough to deserve another public airing. Going through it this morning, I can recognise many ideas (such as the section on aham-sphurana) that Michael received from Sadhu Om which I merely edited and rewrote, without being entirely in agreement with them, but overall I think it is a good commentary on Bhagavan’s letter and Ganapati Muni’s response to it.
In addition to the extra paragraphs (‘Editorial interpolation, February 2010’) I have included more modern translations of the Guru Vachaka Kovai verses and a more complete version of the quote from Sri Ramana Reminiscences, but apart from these minor additions, the article appears here as it first appeared in The Mountain Path in 1982.
In the final paragraph Michael mentioned several verses from Ulladu Narpadu and Arunachala Ashtakam which, he said, supported his contention that Bhagavan taught drishti-srishti vada, and not srishti-drishti vada. Here are the verses. The Ulladu Narpadu selection has been translated by Robert Butler, while the two Arunachala Ashtakam verses have been taken from Sri Arunachala Stuti Panchakam, Sadhu Om and Michael James’ translation of and commentary on Bhagavan’s Arunachala poems:
Ulladu Narpadu
6
The world is of the form of the five senses. It is nothing other. Those five senses are perceived through the five organs of sense. Since the mind alone perceives the world through the medium of the senses, can there be a world apart from the mind? Speak!
7
Although the world and the mind arise and subside together, it is through the mind that the world shines forth. That which is the perfection that shines without appearing or disappearing, as the place where both the world and the mind appear and disappear, is the Real.
14
If the first person [I] exists, the second and third persons [you, he, she, it and they] will also be in existence. But if, upon one’s investigation into the reality of its nature, the first person is destroyed, the second and third persons will also cease to be, and one’s own nature, shining alone, will be verily the state of the Self.
23
This body does not say ‘I’. And no one says, ‘When I am asleep I do not exist’. After the ‘I’ arises, all else arises. Investigate with a keen mind whence this ‘I’ arises.
26
If the ego arises, all else will arise. If the ego is not, nothing else will exist. The ego, truly, is all. Know that simply to enquire what it is, is to renounce everything.
Arunachala Ashtakam
6
You, the Heart, the light of consciousness, the one reality, alone exist! A wonderful sakti exists in You as not other [than You]. From [it a] series of subtle shadowy thoughts [rise and] by means of [the reflected light of] consciousness in the whirl of prarabdha are [simultaneously] seen [as] shadowy world pictures, both inside [on] the mirror of the thought-light and outside through the [five] senses such as the eyes, just like a cinema picture which exists [by being projected] through a lens. O Hill of Grace, whether they [the world pictures] stop [appearing], or whether they continue [to appear], they do not exist apart from You.
7
If the thought ‘I’ does not exist, no other thing will exist. Until that [moment when the ‘I’-thought ceases], if other thoughts rise [one should enquire] ‘To whom do they rise?’ To me. [Then, by scrutinising] what is the rising place of ‘I’, merge [within]. Diving within [in this manner], if one reaches the Heart-throne [one will become] verily the Sovereign under the shade of one umbrella. [There] the dream known as ‘inside and outside’, the two karmas, death and birth, pleasure and pain, and darkness and light, will not exist, and the limitless ocean of the light of grace, called Aruna Hill, which dances motionlessly in the court of the Heart, alone [will exist].
