________________
Brabman, masculine and neuter...
233
unequivocally replaced life in the world of Brahaman for a long time as to the end of the path leading to the gods.
This same episode, in which Pravāhana Jaivali instructs Gautama Āruni appears again in the Chāndogya Upanişad. The instructions in the latter occur with the following variation :
From the months [ they pass ] into the year, from the year into the sun, from the sun into the moon, and from the moon into lightoing. Then a non-human being leads them to Brahman (neuter ). This is called the path
which leads to the gods. (Cha. 5.10.2) This highly informative variation shows that in this context Brahman (neuter) and the world of Brahman Brahmaloka are interchangeable as the end of the path which leads to the gods.
In the earliest Upanisads both Brahman (neuter) and the world of Brahman (Brahmaloka) are associated with immortality. Yājñavalkya quotes the following verse with regard to Brahman (neuter) in the Bịhadāraṇyaka Upanişad :
When all desires contained in the heart are given up, A mortal becomes immortal,
In which case he attains Brahman (neuter]. (Bịh. 4.4.7.) In the Chāndogya Upanişad the following is said with regard to the world of Brahman :
Now, that which is the self is a boundary. It divides the worlds in order to keep them distinct. Day and night do not cross this boundary, nor do old age, death, sorrow, wrong action or right action. All evils turn away from there, for the world of Brahman (Brahmaloka) is free from evil, (Cha. 8.4.1.)
Swami Nikhilananda understands the self of the first sentence to mean that which creates all diversity and limitation (Nikhilananda, 1959, p. 368). He equates this self with the world of Brahman. Though the self, or the world of Brahman has created diversity and limitation, it itself is SP-30
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
