Preface: In this article we have tried to present the
personality of a few numbers as perceived in the Universal consciousness and
described in the various Vedas/ Upanishads. In the present article the number
‘One’, ‘Zero’ and ‘One and half’ are described along with the general meaning
of the word ‘sankhya’ (Number) and the counting process as working in the
universe.
We have a plan to describe the following numbers: Two
through Ten and other numbers in a series of articles to be published.
The Sanskrit words in italic
can be found in the Sanskrit-English Dictionary by Sir. Monier Williams
available for free in the Internet at the address http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/monier/
.
The Sanskrit words are ‘ITRANS’ version as in the above
mentioned dictionary.
This is written following the teaching of Rishi (seer) ‘Shri
Bijoy Krrishna Chattopdhyay of Howrah’ (also was called Howrah’s Thakur---The
God in Howrah) and his principal disciple Shri. Tridibnath Bandyopadhaya, the
seers who preached the Vedas.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Numbers.
The number is called ‘saMkhyaa’
in Sanskrit. It means sam + khyaa = ‘samayk’
(appropriate) + ‘khyaati’(description). Thus by the numbers anything can be
appropriately described.
The word ‘kha’
means ‘sky’, ‘void’, ‘hollow’. It is that plane in consciousness where
everything is neutralized. The word ‘khyaati’ means the title or denomination
or definition of the void. Thus ‘khyaati’
means numbering or describing what does not have any description. I am not sure
of the linguistic root of the English word ‘number’, however, one thing is
remarkable that the word ‘number’ is surprisingly similar to the combination of
two Sanskrit words---- nama (name) + ambara (sky or void).
kraanti/kramaNa
or count; meaning of the word ‘time’
The words which stand for transition and motion in a
definite path are termed as kraanti ,
kramaNa in Sanskrit. These words imply the transition in the course of
time. The word 'count' seems to be related to kraanti/ kramaNa/ kranTa.
We are naturally synchronized with many events which are
happening in the nature. Like we are synchronized with the motion of earth and
thus with the rise and set of the sun and with the seasons. Our sense of time is generally the ‘sense of
synchronization’. Thus in Sanskrit, time is called ‘samaya’ meaning sama
(same) + ayana (path or orbit). But
the other term for time in Sanskrit is ‘kaala’
which implies the control or action that brings about the changes. kaala is same as ‘kaama’. kaama means
desire. It is the ‘desire’ of Universal Consciousness that makes everything
moving and changing. Thus ‘kaama’ can
be termed as ‘feeling or desire inside’ and ‘kaala’ as the ‘consequent action
outside’.
Process of counting, ‘a’,’an’ and ‘aNa’
The active form or personality of Consciousness is called ‘praaNa’ which is ‘pra +aNa(ana)’ or ‘prime
animation’.
Activity of Consciousness is naturally ‘animation’ or ‘ana’. This activity or praaNa introduces change which is felt
as time. Action of praaNa or action
of time consists of three distinct phases which are (i) beginning, (ii)
existence (iii) termination. Probably the word ‘one’ is related to the word ‘ana’ or ‘an’ which also means the ‘praaNa’
or ‘god of animation’; thus the words ‘a’ and ‘an’ stand for a single entity or
individual or for anything which is created from praaNa.
praaNa also means
/ implies ‘kaala’ or time. Activities
of Consciousness are from the desire (kaama).
Thus the activity of Consciousness or ‘praaNa’
is ‘kaama’ or desire and also ‘kaala’ or time that changes everything.
So, with ‘praaNa’ the counting
starts; the moments, the days and
nights, the weeks and months, the seasons, cycles and periods etc. all
originate from praaNa.
Thus Veda has said ‘sah
(HE) akamayata (desired) ditIyah(dual)
mae aatmaa ( of my soul) jayate (be generated)----HE (the creator) desired: ‘ let duality be created out of me’.
(Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, First Chapter, second BramhaNa?Part, Fourth Hymn.)
akShara & kShara;
Number One and Zero
The Universal Soul or the Universal One who is in the
beginning (of creation), is called ‘akShara’.
‘akShara’ means who does not decay.
So, this word simultaneously creates the sense of ‘decay’ also. The creation
from ‘akShara’ is called ‘kShara’ and it means who has been
created by the decay of ‘akShara’.
So, ‘akShara’ means who decays to
become ‘kShara ‘ but still remains
‘same’ or ‘as it is’. Thus the entire creation is ‘kShara’ with the immutable, eternal ‘akShara’ as the origin.
In us we can feel ‘akShara’
as the ‘assertion-less self or soul’ as explained later in this article. When
seen in individual or in micro, akShara
is also called ‘puruSha’ (individual
entity).
The ‘praaNa’ as
described in the previous section above is the activity of akShara or active form of ‘akShara’.
‘akShara’ splits in ‘kShara’ and akShara as praaNa controls the kShara and brings them back in the origin or in HIM (akShara).
In Geeta, Krishna, has mentioned about ‘akShara’ and ‘kShara’ as
two entities or individual. It is as below:
Davimou(these two) purushou (individuals) loke(in the
universe) kShara cha akShara cha (kShara and akShara)
There are two
individuals in the universe, called kShara and akShara.
kShara(kShara)
sarvaNi(is all) bhUtani(those created)
kShara is all those
who are created
kUtostha(who is in the peak or who is the root) akShara(akShara) uchhate(is called)
The one who is above
all (above all kShara) is called akShara.
( In Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, the seer Yajnavalka have
described ‘akShara’ in the third
chapter, eighth BramhaNa/part, while answering the questions of the seer Gargi.)
So, akShara is
‘ONE and only ONE’. This is the plane of ‘singularity’. There is no ‘krama’or ‘succession’ or ‘sequence’
here. Time and space is in singularity here. kShara is ‘many’ and this ‘many’
is also part of ‘ONE’ and so ‘many’ is ‘ONE’. This is why ‘akShara’ has been described as ‘asa~Nga’ or ‘who never gets attached, touched or influenced by anyone
else’. So, anything which is created from ‘akShara’
there will be a gap or void or space. If you remember above, we have mentioned
‘kha’ which means ‘hollow‘, ’sky’, ’void.
It this void or gap which keeps ‘akShara’
isolated. At the same time, this void is not ‘void’, it is full of ‘praaNa’ or in this void the actions of
Consciousness or ‘akShara’ acts to
control the ‘kShara’. As long as we
do not know this, ‘void’ remains as ‘inane’.
The word, ‘asa~Nga’ has
another meaning. If everything is ONE, then who will touch whom, who will get
attached to whom?
This control, the praaNa, which control ‘kShara’ is also the conduit or the
thread between the two. So, praaNa is
called ‘sUtrataatmaa’ means sUtra
(thread) + aatman (soul) and also ‘vaayu’. vaayu
means ‘air’ and connected with the root word ‘vaya’ meaning weaver; thus ‘praaNa’
has woven the network to connect evey one with everyone else.
Here is an extract from Brihadaranyakya:
(Gargi asking Yajnavalkya)
saa(she) ha ubacha
(then said), “ yat(what is) Urdhvam(above) yajnavalkya(yajnavalkya)
divah(the divinity) yat(what is also) avak(below) prithivya(the earth),
yat(what) antaraa(inside) dyava(divinitiy) pRithivI(and
earth) ime(this), yat(who is)
bhUtam(the past) cha(and) bhavt(is the present) cha (and) bhaviShyat(future) cha(and) iti achakShate (is addressed),kasmin(where in) tat(that) otam
cha protam cha (one is impregnated)?
Then she (Gargi) said:
Yajnavalkya, the one who is above the heaven and below the earth, the one who
is inside both the earth and the heaven, the one who is known as the past,
present and future, do you know where this one is impregnated?
(Yajnavalky answering Gargi)
“……..aakaash (sky) aeva(is
certainly) tat otam cha protam cha (that
thing is impregnated)
The one is impregnated
in the sky.
The word ‘sky’ is not the exact word for aakaash. Etymologically it means ‘aa
(spread) + kash(radiance)’ ---so it means the all-pervading and radiating
Consciousness.
‘Sky’ or ‘void’ means
where all the ‘directions are in equilibrium. This is why, it is described that
sky is above the heaven and below the
earth and inside both the heaven and earth. Thus all spatial distribution or
space is held in singularity in the sky or void. The origin of all dimensions is the ‘directions’. The sky or void
is the plane where all directions are in equilibrium. What we call ‘direction’
in the physical space is ‘inclination’ in our personality. These ‘directions’
are ‘directions or inclination’ of ‘praaNa’.
The way Consciousness or praaNa is
inclined correspondingly the physical space is made. Similarly, in the sky, all
dimensions of ‘time’ are in a singularity. This is what has been stated in the
above extract from ‘Brihadaranyaka Upanishad’. So, this is the ‘kha’ (sky) in the word ‘saMkhyaa’ (number).
(Gargi asking Yajnavalkya)
“…….kasmin nu khalu aakaashah otah cha protoh cha iti”----- in whom the sky is impregnated?
(Yajnavalkya answering Gargi)
“ sah (he) ha(then) ubacha(replied) :
aeat(this is) vai (certainly) tat (that) akSharam( akShara) gargi”---- He then replied:” Gargi, this
is certainly that akShara”.
Yajnavalkya further described ‘akShara’ as beyond all the qualities which we sense in our
perception. The words used to describe this aspect are significant. akShara is described by words like,
‘not coarse’, ‘not atomic’, ‘not short’, ‘not long’ etc. meaning that all the
qualities likes ‘coarse’, ‘atomic’, ‘short’, ‘long ’etc. are there but not
active in ‘akShara’. Here in akShara everyone, everything is there
but they are in negativity; they are there but as ‘ONE’, as ‘akShara’, as Universal Soul and not in
any way with separate identity. Thus it is zero and one both. Zero, because no
one is active; One because it is One and no one else.
The number of praaNa
, the number one & half (1.5)
The Universal consciousness as ‘akShara’ has split as different entities or ‘kShara’ and holds each entity as His/ Her own part/form. This
aspect of holding and controlling is called ‘praaNa’. ‘ONE’ is holding the dissected One (second) in Oneness.
This is 1+ ½ (dissected ONE) or One and half (1.5).
The word ‘ardha’
in Sanskrit stands for the word ‘half’. This word ardha is from the root word ‘Ridh’
which means to grow. It implies the growing of ONE and thus denoted by ½, i.e.
ONE grown or split into duality. The number ‘one and half’ conveys something
more. This number in Sanskrit is called ‘adhyardha’
which means ‘adhi (over and above,
additional) + ardha (half). praaNa has been described in Veda
(Brihadarnyaka Upanishad) by this number with the explanation that praaNa is the deity (revealing
personality of Consciousness) who while remaining One still grows i.e. who
remains ONE as well as splits into many and grows. It also implies that though akShara as praaNa splits into many as different entities, still ‘akshara’ remains as ONE. This universe is expansion of the Universal
Soul or ONE and who remains ONE in all the sense of ONE though becoming many
simultaneously. ONE sees ‘many’ as ‘ONE’ only as they are made of ‘ONE’ and
created by ‘ONE’.
The description in Brihadaranyaka is as below:
katamah (who is) adhyardhah (one and half)?
Who is ‘one and half’?
yah(who) ayam(this) pavate(flows)
The very one who flows
.
Tat(that) ahuh(say)
However it is said
that
yat (that) ayam(like) aeka(one) iva(as if) pavate (flows)
‘It flows as if it is
one’.
atha katahm (then how) adhyardhah (one and half)
Then how it is one and
half?
Yat (since) asmin(in it) idam(these) sarvam(all) adhi
ardhanat (grows) ten (by that) adhyardhah
(one and half)
By the fact that all these
grow in/within it, it is called ‘one and half’.
katam (who is) aekah (one) aeva (so) ?
So who is the ‘one’?
praaNa, sah(he is)
brahma(who is expanding as everything), tyat(that) iti achakShate (he is
addressed).
‘One’ is praaNa, expanding
as everything and he is thus addressed as ‘brahma’. (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, third chapter, ninth hymn.)
The word ‘brahma’ is
from the root word ‘bRih’ meaning ‘to
expand’ or ‘to grow’. The word ‘brahma’ means
‘who has grown into everything’ or ‘who is growing into everything’
Assertion of ‘ONE’ and association
The word ‘aeka’
means one and consists of the vowel ‘ae’
which is used to express association like ‘aeShah gandhah’ (this fragrance) or
aetani (all) sarvani(these) etc. ‘oi’
is the vowel in the Sanskrit alphabet series which is next to the vowel ‘ae’.
‘oi’ is the expansion of ‘ae’
and used to ‘direct’ or used to specify ‘direction’. Thus, in Consciousness, before
any activity, first comes the ‘sense of one with assertion’. This is expressed
as ‘aham’ or ‘I am’. Once, the ‘ONE’
asserts as ‘I’, the next thing that happens in Consciousness is ‘association’
and then ‘fixing direction’ or ‘determination’.
aham or ‘I am’ is the first step or the first personality of
the Consciousness in the process of the
assertion of Soul (or assertion-less One) or ‘akShara’. The immediate expression of this assertion is ‘aham’ or ‘I am’. Like we say ‘I am the
one….’ or ‘I saw a flower’. Thus ‘I’ always gets associated with duality. The
sense of ‘One’ is always associated with the sense of ‘duality’. ‘One cannot exist
without the other or without a ‘second one’.
Hence, ‘akShara’
is zero and one; praaNa is one and
half.
Expression of self and the rise of the sun
This also happens every day when we get up from the sleep.
First we get back our-‘selves’ and then we get the rest of the world. The
assertive ‘I’ loses its assertion as it sleeps. ‘I’ vanishes in its ‘assertion
less form also called ‘soul’ or ‘aatmaan’
or ‘immutable soul’. Everyday morning, we get up, asserting as ‘I am’. The
immutable soul does not sleep, does not change and does not die. Though we do
not have the feeling of existence or non-existence during the sleep, still we
say ‘I have slept well’. This is because the ‘soul’ remains as ‘I’ disappears
in the soul during our sleep. Same thing happens during death. The subject of
sleep, dream, wakefulness and of immutable soul have been dealt in great detail
in Brihadaranyaka Upanishad.
Thus as the word ‘aham’ is the rise of ‘I’ or ‘I am’. The
same rise of Consciousness in the external world is called ‘aha’ meaning ‘day’.
aham/ I am and the universe
The word ‘aham’ signifies the permutations and
combinations of all the alphabets, starting from the first vowel ‘a’ and ending with the last consonant ‘ha’. The expressions of Consciousness
are the ‘words’. Anything, any being and the physical world is made of the
‘words’ of Consciousness. Similarly, our expressions are the ‘words’. Our
feelings are made of ‘words’ and expressed by ‘words’. Thus the expression ‘aham’ signifies that ‘I am the entire
Universe’. ‘I am’ all that can be created by the permutations and combinations
of all the alphabets from the first vowel ‘a’
to the last consonant ‘ha’. The alphabet ‘a’ denotes beginning thus the word ‘adya’ means ‘today’. The alphabet ‘ha’ denotes end or annihilation and thus the word ‘han’ means ‘to put to death’. So, ‘aham’ or ‘I am’ is everything from the
beginning to the end. 'I am everything in the universe'. As the alphabets or
the Consciousness as the ‘building elements’ make the word or the world, so the
alphabets are also called ‘akShara’
in Sanskrit.
The divine ‘I’ and the ‘eye’-----indra the observer.
In the Upanishads, the ‘entity’ or the ‘being’ or the
‘individual’ has been stated to be located in the ‘right eye’ and is called ‘indra’. indra means ‘idam’ (it) + dra (observer)’. So, indra
is the one who is knowing or
observing everything. So, each of us as a conscious being is indra. The Vedas and mythology have mentioned about indra with thousands of wounds and indra with thousands of shining eyes. We
are of course indra with thousands of
wounds inflicted due to our vision mingled with senses of duality. Observing
duality means observing everything else without knowing the ‘observer’ or the
real self. Real self is the immutable soul or assertion less ‘self’ resting on
whom the ‘act of observation’ happens. In
all our observations, we get coloured and tainted by what we observe but at the
same time we remain ‘unchanged and untainted’ as the immutable soul in our
core. This immutable soul is indra without
wounds and is our root. The wounds are
the ‘effects’ of time which is the
action of Consciousness and due to which we feel, we see, we hear……. We call
them ‘wounds’ because our life leads us to the death because whatever we get or
know we feel them as ‘different’. The fear stems from duality (dvitIyat vai
bhoyam bhavati-----Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, First chapter, Fourth BraahmaNa,
Second hymn); death is due to ‘knowing the world as different from self or
Soul’. If there is ONE and ONLY ONE
where we will lose ourselves and who will scare whom! Here is a quote from
Upanishad:
manasa aeva (by the mind) idam (it) aptavyam (is achievable)
By the mind it is
achievable.
na iha (not here) nana(difference) asti (exists) kinchana(at
all)
No ‘difference’ exists
here at all.
mRityoh (from the death / difference) sa(he) mRityum(death)
gachati(goes)
From the death (or
from the state of experiencing duality)he goes into death.
Ya(who) iha(here)
nana(different) iva(as) pashyti(sees)
Who here sees
everything as different (from each other). (KaTha Upanishad, Second
chapter, First part, eleventh hymn).
At one end the time is ‘moving’ at the other end we remain
unchanged, immutable; there the time is ‘still’. This is why the term for eye
in Sanskrit is ‘akShi’ which also
means ‘axis’ (akSha in Sanskrit). Eye
is the centre of the orbit and the One at the centre is fixed and immutable.
Eye is the centre of time and vision. It is same as the sun in the external sky
as the centre of vision (or light) as well as time. But the events, i.e. whatever
we know or feel, obscure the immutable self or soul also called ‘aatmaan’ or ‘aatmabodh’ or ‘nijabodh’. Thus we feel only the events and not the
obvious, always present ‘assertion less self’ or immutable soul beyond every
association of ‘I’ or ‘self’ with the feelings or events.
Thus this central personality is the ‘I’ (Eye) or the
‘observer’. It is the ‘first’ person.
Here is an extract from Brihadaranyaka Upanishad on ‘indra’ and the eye:
indha (indha—one who
is flagrant) ha vai (is certainly)
naama (name) yah (who) ayam (in this) daKshiNe (right)
akShamaN (eye) puruShah(entity or person); tam vai aetam (that he) indha santam(though being indha) indra iti (as indra) aachakShate (is called)----indha (one who is flagrant) is the name of the entity/person who is in the
right eye; though he is indha (radiant or who produces light or vision) , still
he is called as indra (who perceives what is produced as vision or who sees).(Brihadaranyaka
Upanishad, fourth chapter, second Brahmin, second hymn.)
atma stouti---The Self praising hymns of the Universal
Soul
Here is an extract from the hymns of Rik Veda on ‘Universal
I am or aham’ sang by the goddess ‘vaak’ (see below for ‘vaak’):
aham (Iam) raShtrI
(the one reigning)
I am the one reigning!
sangamanI (I act inside
the) vasunaam (vasu)
I function inside the
vasu ( vasu are the gods dominating on the stability; thus ‘vastu’ means object and ‘vasu’ also
means wealth).
chikituShi (I kindle the consciousness in all) pratham(so I am the first) yaj~nianam(who is
worshipped; activity of Consciousness is yaj~na)
I kindle the
consciousness in all, so I am the first among those who is worshipped!
taam(those)
ma(me) devah(deities) vyadadhuh
(spread me) purutra (severally)
Those deities have
been my dispersed forms everywhere
bhuristhatram (staying in multiple places) bhuri aveshayantim
(pervading many)
I am present
numerously everywhere, I am pervading everyone numerously.
maya (by me) so (that) annam (food) atti (one eats)
It is by me one eats
the food
Yo (who) vipashyati (sees)
It is by me one sees
yah(who) praNiti (breathes)
It is by me one breathes
yah(who) im(only)
shriNoti(hears) uktam (spoken words)
It is by me only one
can hear the spoken words
amantavah (Those who do not know) mam(me) te(they)
upakShianti (live on me)
Those who do not
perceive me they also live on me
shrudhi (listen) shruta(deserving listener) shrdhivam (on
what you can rely/ which provides shelter) te (to you) vadami (I am speaking)
Listen, you deserving
listeners, these words those provide you the shelter and which I myself am
speaking to you.
The above are parts of the hymns of ‘vaak’ (see below for vaak) and also known as ‘aatma stuti’---self praising hymns. These are part of Rik veda.
(If you wish you may read the all the hymns related to this
divine ‘I’ speaking, you may read it in the following link:
(debkumar.lahiri@gmail.com)
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