Sage Kapila's teachings: Part 2

 Hari Aum.

Let us continue to study the teachings of Sage Kapila. In my previous post on this topic, we discussed how Sage Kapila explained the meaning of true devotion-- the state of constant remembrance of God.

Having spoken about the value of the practice of bhakti yoga, the path of devotion, he now teaches his mother about the the manifestation of God as the cosmos, as everything that we see, hear, touch, smell and taste. This is known as the 'Virat Purusha' or Cosmic Being. 

And each one of us, of course, is a part of Him/Her. Like small sparks within a blazing fire, we too, are small divine sparks present within the blazing divine fire that is God. We are made up of divine essence, we are part of the cosmic body of God-- so says Sage Kapila, and this is a view shared by all God-realised Gurus.

Kapila introduces this section of His teaching as 'jnana' or wisdom related to God/the Supreme. 

He first explains that the Supreme Being is the basis of material creation and that He transcends this. He then goes on to explain the nature of the material creation in detail.

Kapila discusses the following (I am providing a succinct summary here as many of these topics have been covered in detail in previous posts related to the Gita and Upanishads):

-the three gunas of creation (namely, sattva, rajas and tamas) form the basis for material nature

-there are five great 'elements' or aspects of nature which are earth, water, air, fire and ether/space. There are deities or demi-gods who are associated with each of these five elements. Their role is to ensure that these elements in nature operate in accordance with the will of the Supreme Being or God.

-the five elements correspond to the five senses within the human being, namely smell, taste, sight, touch and sound. The demi-gods who preside over the five great elements also preside over the corresponding sense organ within the human being. 

For example, the demi-god, Varuna, is said to preside over the element of water (which includes all fluids and liquids in the universe) and the corresponding sense of taste (and thus, the tongue).

-the successive manifestation of the ego, intellect and mind

-the presence of the demi-gods within the Supreme Being (e.g. Surya, the sun-god is present within the eyes of the Supreme Being)

-Sage Kapila's final conclusion in this section is that the student aspiring to realise God should recognise His presence within one's own body (as the origin of the body, mind, intellect and ego) and meditate upon this. This combination of bhakti/devotion and jnana/wisdom is the key spiritual practice that leads to the realisation of God.

He emphasises the need to overcome the lower self or ego through the practice of yogis ethics (yamas and niyamas), the development of indifference or detachment towards worldly attainments (vairagya) and the cultivation of devotion.

Having outlined the principles of bhakti and jnana, in the next section Sage Kapila describes the technique to be used to contemplate and meditate upon God. I will discuss this soon in another post.

Om Namo Narayanaya.

Hari Aum Tat Sat.