Virāt and viśva oneness

Topic of hiraṇyagarbha continues.

yā prāṇena saṃbhavatyaditirdevatāmayī |

guhām praviśya tiṣṭhantīm yā bhūtebhirvyajāyata |

etadvai tat ||2.1.7||

(He knows ātmā to be) goddess Aditi, who is the embodiment of all deities, who is

born in the form of hiraṇyāgarbha, who is born along with the elements, (and)

having entered the heart, who resides there. This is indeed that.

Mantra 6, 7 and 9 discuss the subtle universe - sūkṣma prapañca is not different from the

subtle body - sūkṣma śarīram, which consists of 17 components: five sense organs of knowledge, five organs of action, five prāṇa, the mind and the intellect. Each of these components is presided by a deity (mentioned in Tattva Bodha).

Pañcajñānēndriyāṇi - five instruments of knowledge, consist of:

FACULTY                                              PRESIDING DEITY     CORRESPONDING OBJECT                 

1. Śrōtram - organ of hearing (ears)      dik devatā                  śabda (sound)

2. Tvak - organ of touch (skin)              vāyuh devatā              sparśa (touch)

3. Cakṣū - organ of sight (eye)              sūryah devatā            rūpa (form)

4. Rasanā - organ of taste (tongue)       varunah devatā         rasa (taste)

5. Ghrāṇam - organ of smell (nose)       aśvinau devatā          gandha (smell)

Pañcakarmēndriyāṇi - five organs of actions , consist of:

FACULTY                                              PRESIDING DEITY     CORRESPONDING OBJECT

1. Vāk - organ of speach (mouth)         vahnih devatā              bhāsanam (speach)

2. Pānih - organ of grasp (hands)         indrah devatā              vastu (object)

3. Pādah - organ of movement (legs)   visnuh devatā              gamanam (movement)

4. Pāyuh - organ of excretion             mrtyuh devatā             malam (waste)

5. Upastah - organs of reproduction    prajāpathih devatā      ānandah (descendent)

Pañcaprāṇādayaḥ - five forms of energy, consist of:

ENERGY         RESPONSIBLE FOR    PRESIDING DEITY

1. Prāna          respiratory system sūrya / āditya (sun)

2. Apāna         excretory system varuņa

3. Vyāna          circulatory system indra

4. Samāna      digestive system agni (fire)

5. Udāna         evacuatory system vāyu (wind)

Mind, which is the doubting faculty and the emotional faculty, presided by candra (the moon). Intellect, which is the rational faculty, where the decisions are made, is presided by brahmā.

Senses are at the individual level, but the devatā represents the total of senses of all individuals; and hiraṇyagarbha is the total of all the devatā. Therefore, śruti says that these devatās are born out of hiraṇyagarbha. Hiraṇyagarbha is referred to as prāṇa devatā in this verse because prāṇa is considered as the most important among all presiding deities in individual body. We can manage without the function of any organ, but cannot survive without the function of prāṇa. In deep sleep, all the organs resolve into the person except for prāṇa, which never stop working during a person’s life.

In a story from Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, the organs of the body—speech, eye, ear, mind, etc. begin to dispute among themselves about which one is the most important. To test this, each organ leaves the body one by one: when speech departs, the person becomes mute but remains alive. When sight departs, the person becomes blind but survives. When hearing departs, the person becomes deaf but lives. When the mind departs, awareness is impaired, yet life continues. Each organ realizes that the body can still function without it. Finally, when prāṇa (the vital life-breath) prepares to depart, everything about to collapse, the other organs lose their power, and the person’s very life is endangered. Seeing this, the other organs acknowledge prāṇa’s supremacy and ask it to stay.

The macro hiraṇyagarbha is present in the micro individual (taijasa) who is referred to as guhā in this verse. This taijasa experiences the world through the mind and the sense organs (aditiḥ - the one who consumes through the sense organs). This taijasa-hiraṇyagarbha pair is none other than the consciousness that naciketa asked for - etadvai tat.

The next mantra discusses the last pair: virāt and viśva.

araṇyornihito jātavedā garbha iva subhṛto garbhiṇībhiḥ |

dive dive īḍyo jāgṛvadbhirhaviṣmadbhirmanuṣyebhiragniḥ |

etadvai tat ||2.1.8||

The fire which is present in the two pieces of araṇi-wood is carefully maintained

just as the foetus (is maintained) by pregnant women. (That) fire is daily worshipped by those who are meditators, ritualists and human beings. This is indeed that.

Virāt is consciousness expressed through the tangible and visible universe (sthūla prapañca). In this mantra as well as several other places, virāt is represented by the fire principle (agni-tattvam). Agni (fire) was the first element that became visible (space and air that preceded agni are not visible). The gross universe (virāt) is visible and therefore, śruti symbolized it with agni. That same fire principle is inside our body as well as the digestive fire that enlivens the physical body. This digestive fire represents viśva - the gross individual body and the external fire represents virāt - the cosmic universe.

araṇyornihito jātavedā - virāt referred to as jātavedaḥ (ritualistic fire) in this mantra, is present in the two araṇi (two logs) and becomes manifest when they are rubbed together for the ritualistic fire. This fire is well protected, just as foetus is carefully protected in the womb by pregnant women - garbha iva subhṛto garbhiṇībhiḥ.

dive dive agniḥ īḍyo haviṣmadbhiḥ - the ritualistic people worship virāt agni daily, offering oblations for agni who carries offerings to the devatā (cosmic forces like rain, sun, wind). These forces, in return, sustain life (food, seasons, energy).

This is clearly stated in the Bhagavad Gītā 3.14:

“From food, all beings come into existence; from rain, food is produced. Rain is produced by sacrifice (yajna); sacrifice is born from prescribed duty (karma)."  It is shown that performing yajña isn't just ritualistic; it is the prescribed duties in the form of spiritual action that sustain the balance of natural phenomena for the cosmic cycle to continue. Therefore, this fire is to be protected for the harmony of the universe, just like a pregnant woman protects her foetus in the womb by consuming nutritious food.

To protect the harmony of the universe is not the duty of the ritualist only, but of all humanity, therefore every human being needs to perform our respective duties - dive dive agniḥ īḍyo manuṣyebhih. And for the meditators, agni/virāt upāsana is done - dive dive agniḥ īḍyo jāgṛvadbhiḥ, which is mentioned in mantra 1.1.14.

This virāt - viśva pair is none other than ātmā consciousness that naciketa wanted to know - etadvai tat.