Isha's Peace Invocation Prayer-Om pUrNamadah pUrNamidam...

Peace Invocation

  

                            ॐ

 पूर्णमदः पूर्णमादाय पूर्णात् पूर्णमुदच्यते

                                                            

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवाशिष्यतेII

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ।

Om pUrNamadah pUrNamidaM pUrNAt pUrNamudacyate

PUrNasya pUrNamAdAya pUrNamEvAvashiSyate

“That is Whole, this is Whole; from the Whole, the Whole becomes manifest. From the Whole, when the Whole is negated, what remains is again the Whole.”

‘The invisible (Brahman) is the Full; the visible (the world) too is the Full. From the Full (Brahman), the Full (the visible) universe has come. The Full (Brahman) remains the same, even after the Full (the visible universe) has come out of the Full (Brahman).’

The above Vedic verse (the ‘Peace invocation’), precedes the Isha Upanishad .This is an innocuous looking verse for which someone once said: "Let all the Upanisads disappear from the face of the earth - I don’t mind so long as this one verse remains." Isha's text begins with this SantipAta    prayer "Om pUrNamadah pUrNamidaM...", which is of very profound  significance, as it concentrates within a few lines the entire thought of the Upanishads. It reveals at once the grasp, the sweep, the scope of that thought: Purnamadah Purnamidam - ‘That is the Full or Whole; this is the Full or Whole.’ In the Vedanta, the words ‘that’ and ‘this’ have special meanings. Idam, this, is a demonstrative pronoun, involving an effort to point out something, which is within the grasp of sense experience. It stands for this manifested universe of space time and change. As soon as the human mind becomes aware of the world around it, it becomes also seized with the question as to what is the world that so surrounds it. What is this world that impinges on us all the time? The human mind constantly receives information about it through five senses; it is intrigued with this data and wants to know all about them; and it formulates to itself the question  clearly, ‘What is this world of our everyday experience’? This question marks the beginning of all knowledge. In the words of William James, to a new-born baby the world is a ‘buzzing booming confusion’. That the child  tries to understand, little by little, first in a rudimentary way and later, as a youth as a man, in a clearer way by logical scientific analysis and synthesis. This totality of the external world in its impact upon the human mind is what is meant by the word idam. How, then, shall we answer this questioning of the mind? Suppose we may answer by saying that this world is a transformation of Nature, of some primordial energy constituting Nature, or, as the British astronomer Fred Hoyle tells us, of some cosmic dust. These very answers are to be found in the Upanishads also. But the Upanishads treat them as preliminary answers, or better still, as limited answers, pradeshamātram, given purely from a limited external point of view.  

Idam, This;PurNam, the single noun in the verse, is a beautiful Sanskrit word   which means completely filled - a filledness of  which  is wholeness itself, absolute fullness lacking  nothing whatsoever. Adah, which means ’that’, and idam, which means ’this’, are two pronouns each of which, at the same time, refers to the single noun, pUrNam; PUrNam adah - completeness is that, 

PUrNam idam - completeness is this. Adah, that, refers to something which is remote , not available for direct knowledge. Adah,  refers to a jnEyavastu,a thing to be known, but remains to be  known upon destruction of the remoteness.

Idam, this, refers to something not remote but present, here and now, immediately available for perception, something directly known or knowable. Traditionally, however, idam has come to have a much broader meaning. Idam indicates all driSya, all seen or known things. All adah,  called ’that’ become ’this’ as soon as their thatness, their remoteness in time, place or knowledge is destroyed. It is in this sense that the SantipAta "pUrNamadah." uses idam.

This verse makes clear that idam is used in the traditional sense of all driSya, all known or knowable things:. IshAvAsyaidam sarvam yat kinca jagatyAm jagat ;. all this, whatsoever, changing in this changing world...So when the verse says pUrNam idam, "completeness is this", what is being said is that all that one knows or is able to know is pUrNam, which means completeness, absolute fullness, wholeness.. If pUrNam is total fullness which leaves nothing out, then ’this’ cannot be used to describe pUrNam because ’this’ leaves something out. What? The subject. ’This’ leaves out aham, I, the subject,  because "I"  is left out .

Adah, That Since idam, this, has been used in its traditional sense of all knowable objects, here or there, presently known or unknown, the only meaning left for ’that’ is to indicate the subject. Idam, this, stands for everything available for objectification. What is not available for objectification? The objectifier -  the subject. The subject, aham,I, is the only thing not available for objectification. So, the real meaning of adah, that, as used here in contrast to idam,this, is aham, I. If that is so, how can adah, that, mean aham, I? Am I  rmote? I am certainly not remote in terms of time or place. I am always here right now. But perhaps I may be remote in terms of knowledge. If in fact I do not know the true nature of myself I could be a jnEyavastu, a to-be-known, in terms of knowledge. Because  it is only through the revelation of shruti (scripture functioning as means of knowledge) that I can gain knowledge of my true nature, it can be said that in general the truth of aham is remote in terms of knowledge - something that is yet to be known.’That’ so used as ’I" means AtmA, the content of truth of the first person singular, a jnEya-vastu, a to-be-known, in terms of knowledge.When that knowledge is gained, I will recognize that I, AtmA, am identical with limitless Brahman - all pervasive, formless and considered the cause of the world of formful objects.

PUrNam adah - completeness is 'I', the subject AtmA, whose truth is Brahman, formless, limitlessness, considered creation’s cause;PUrNam idam - completeness is all objects, all things known or knowable, all formful effects, comprising creation. pUrNam, completeness, brooks no exclusion whatsoever. The  nature of pUrNam is wholeness, completeness,limitlessness. There cannot be pUrNam plus something or pUrNam minus  something. It is not possible to add or to take away from  limitlessness. The nature of pUrnam being what is, ’that’ pUrNam must include ’this’ pUrNam; ’this’ pUrNam must include ’that’ pUrNam.Therefore, when it is said that aham, I, am pUrnam and idam, this,is pUrNam, what is really being said is that there is only pUrNam.

Aham, I, and idam, this, traditionally represent the two basic categories into one or the other of which everything fits. There is no third category. So if aham and idam, represent everything and each is pUrNam , then everything is pUrNam. Aham, I is pUrNam which includes the world. Idam this, is pUrNam which include me. The seeming differences of aham and idam are swallowed by pUrnam - that limitless fullness which shruti (scripture) calls Brahman.

 However, my every day experience is  that  I am a distinct entity separate and different from idam jagat, (  this world of objects )which I perceive. My experience is that I see myself as not the same at all as idam, this. When I hold a rose in my hand and look at it, I, aham, am one thing and idam, this rose Isee, is quite another. In no way is it my experience that I and the rose are the same. We seem quite distinct and separate. Because shruti tells me that I, aham, and the rose, idam, both are limitless fullness, pUrNam.  Furthermore, it is not my experience that either I or the rose are, in any measure, pUrNam, completeness - limitless fullness. I seem to me to be totally apUrNah, unfull, incomplete, inadequate, limited  in  all sides by my fellow beings, by the elements of nature, by the lacks and deficiencies of my own body and mind. My place and space are very small; time forever crowds me; sorrow dogs my path. I can find no limitless fullness in me. No more does there seem to be limitless fullness in this rose even now wilting in my hand, pressed by time, relinquishing its space; even in its prime smaller and less sturdy than the sunflowers growing outside my window. It is my constant experience that I, aham, and all I perceive, idam, are ceaselessly mutually limiting one another. Thus, PurNam, completeness, absolute fullness, must necessarily be formless. PurNam cannot have a form because it has to include everything. Any kind of form means some kind of boundary; any kind of boundary means that something is left out - something is on the   other side of the boundary. Absolute completeness requires formlessness. Sastra (scripture) reveals that what is limitless and formless is Brahman, the cause of creation, the content of aham, I. Therefore, given the nature of Brahman by shruti, I can see that pUrNam is another way for shruti to say Brahman. Brahman and pUrnam  have to be identical; there can only be one limitlessness and that  One is formelss pUrNam Brahman.Thus, the verse is telling me that everything is pUrNam. PurNam has to be limit less, formless Brahman.                                                                                                                                      

The Personality of Godhead is perfect and complete, and because He is completely perfect, all emanations from Him, such as this phenomenal world, are perfectly equipped as complete wholes. Whatever is produced of the Complete Whole is also complete in itself. Because He is the Complete Whole, even though so many complete units emanate from Him, He remains the complete  lance.

That Supreme Brahman is infinite, 
and this conditioned Brahman is infinite. 
The infinite proceeds from infinite. 
Then through knowledge, 
realizing the infinitude of infinite, 
it remains as the Infinite alone.

That (world) is a complete whole. This (world) too is a complete whole. From the complete whole only, the (other) complete whole rose. Even after removing the complete whole from the(other) complete whole, still the complete whole remains unaltered and undisturbed.

The Complete Whole, or the Supreme Absolute Truth, is the complete Personality of Godhead. Realizationof impersonal Brahman or of Paramatma, the Supersoul, is incomplete realization of the Absolute Complete. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is sac-cid-ananda-vigraha [Bs. 5.1]. Realization of impersonal Brahman is realization of His sat feature, or His aspect of eternity, and Paramatma realization is realization of His sat and cit features, His aspects of eternity and knowledge. But realization of the Personality of Godhead is realization of all the  transcendental features -- sat, cit and ananda, bliss. When one realizes the Supreme Person, he realizes these aspects of the Absolute Truth in their completeness. Vigraha means "form." Thus the Complete Whole is not formless. If He were formless, or if He were less than His creation in any other way, He could not be complete. The Complete 

Whole must contain everything both within and beyond our experience; otherwise He cannot be complete.The Complete Whole, the Personality of Godhead, has immense potencies, all of which are as complete as He is. Thus this phenomenal world is also complete in itself. The twenty-four elements of which this material universe is a temporary manifestation are arranged to produce everything necessary for the maintenance and subsistence of this universe. No other unit in the universe need make an extraneous effort to try to maintain the universe. The universe functions on its own time scale, which is fixed by the energy of the Complete Whole, and when that schedule is completed, this temporary manifestation will be annihilated by the complete arrangement of the Complete Whole.

All facilities are given to the small complete units (namely the living beings) to enable them to realize the Complete  Whole. All forms of incompleteness are experienced due to incomplete knowledge of the Complete Whole. The human form of life is a complete manifestation of the consciousness of the living being, and it is obtained after evolving through 8,400,000 species of life in the cycle of birth and death. If in this human life of full consciousness the living entity does not realize his completeness in relation to the Complete Whole, he loses the chance to realize his completeness and is again put into the evolutionary cycle by the law of material nature.Because we do not know that there is a complete arrangement in nature for our maintenance, we make efforts to utilize the resources of nature to create a so-called complete life of sense enjoyment. Because the living entity cannot enjoy the life of the senses without being dovetailed with the Complete Whole, the misleading life of sense enjoyment is illusion. The hand of a body is a complete unit only as long as it is attached to the complete body. When the hand is severed from the body, it may appear like a hand, but it actually has none of the potencies of a hand. Similarly, living beings are part and parcel of the Complete Whole, and if they are severed from the Complete Whole, the illusory representation of completeness cannot fully satisfy them.

The completeness of human life can be realized only when one engages in the service of the Complete Whole. All services in this world -- whether social, political, communal, international or even interplanetary -- will remain incomplete until they are dovetailed with the Complete Whole. When everything is dovetailed with the Complete Whole, the attached parts and parcels also become complete in themselves.

( This  article  being  research-based has  been attempted on  Sri Aurovindo's  writings  on  the Ishopanisad)

vedaprakasha

www.ethicalvaluesiniishopanisad.blogspot.com

Source: http://ethicalvaluesinishopanisad.blogspot.com/2010/08/ishas-peace-invocation-prayer-om.html