It is ironical that the jivatma’s possessions like wealth, health, and even good deeds get exhausted in due course, except his ‘karma’ which alone seems to multiply manifold to make his future births a certainty. Out of compassion to this pitiable jivatma, who is devoid of judgment and unable or unwilling to discriminate and is hopelessly caught in the cycle of birth, the Upanishads emphasise the path to salvation through knowledge of the Supreme Brahman and of the imperishable Self in him, pointed out Sri Mani Dravid Sastrigal in a lecture.
In the Brihadharanyaka Upanishad, Gargi asks Yagnyavalkya about the Supreme Brahman. She is specific and wishes to know what pervades the whole cosmos and whatever is, was, and shall be. Yagnyavalkya answers that it is the unmanifested ether. She further wishes to know what pervades this unmanifested ether. Yagnyavalkya’s reply explains the glory of the Brahman that is immutable, neither gross nor minute, neither short nor long, neither shadow nor darkness, neither air nor ether. The Sun, the Moon and the different worlds are all under the supreme control of this Brahman. He adds that whoever departs from this world without knowing this infinite Brahman will have to move in the endless cycle of birth. This Brahman is the self within all creation and is the cause of it, but also transcends it in its unique state. This unmanifested unique state also pervades ether.
The Mundaka Upanishad teaches the need to meditate on the mystic syllable ‘Om’ which alone can help us to cross the sea of darkness.
