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10-Dialog Between Prajaapati and Indra

The following story is taken from Chhaandogya Upanishad. It is the dialog between Prajaapati and Dev Raaj Indra.

Prajaapati said - "One must search out and must try to understand the Self or Aatmaa which is free from sin, old age, death, grief, hunger and thirst, with true desires (Sat-Kaam), and true will (Sat-Sankalp). Then only he will obtain eternal bliss and immortality."
Indra said - "O Venerable Lord, I want to know the Aatmaa. Please instruct me."
Prajaapati said - "Adorn yourself well; dress yourself well; clean yourself well and then look
at yourself in the basin of water." Indra did so.
Prajapati said- "O Indra, What do you see?"
He replied - "I behold myself in the basin of water well-adorned, well-dressed and clean.
Prajaapati said - "That is the Self, the Immortal, the Fearless that is Brahm."

Indra was not satisfied with this instruction. He reflected within himself, "The Aatmaan also will be blind, if the body is blind; lame, if the body is lame; one-eyed, if the body is one-eyed; crippled, if the body is crippled; and will perish if the body perishes. Therefore I see no good in this doctrine." So he again went to Prajaapati.
Prajapati said - "The Self that dreams is the Immortal, Fearless, Brahm."

Indra was not satisfied with this doctrine also. He reflected again, "Though the dream self is not blind when the body is blind, not one-eyed when the body is one-eyed, is not destroyed when the body is destroyed yet it becomes conscious of pain and sheds tears even in dream. Therefore I see no good in this doctrine too. So he again went to Prajaapati.
Prajapati said - "The Self that enjoys deep sleep is the Immortal, Fearless, Brahm."

Indra again reflected, "In deep sleep there is utter annihilation. I do not get any intuitional
knowledge, I see no good in this doctrine also." So he again went to Prajaapati.
Prajaapati said - "O Indra, This body is mortal. The embodied Self is subject to pleasure and
pain. The eye is the instrument of seeing. The nose is the instrument of smelling. The ear is the instrument of hearing; but the Aatmaa or Brahm is the silent witness (Saakshee). He is immortal, fearless. He is distinct from the three bodies, the three Avasthaa or states of consciousness the mind, body and senses."

Indra meditated on Brahm and attained Eternal Bliss and Immortality through Brahm-Gyaan or knowledge of the Brahm.

 

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