Philosophy and Religion / J. C. Chatterji: Hindu Realism

Jagadish Chandra Chatterji

Hindu Realism

B—The Synthetic Aspect

Necessity of Realising Truth.

This Freedom Gained Only by Realisation of Truth, i.e., True Nature of Things by Direct Experience

14. And this freedom or Moksha can be had only if the Atman is freed from activity (karma) of the kind which leads to worth and thereby to some specific form of existence—as existence as a member in the universal hierarchy may be called.¹

But, how is a man going to free himself from activity? Not surely by being idle. For that would mean simply not doing the duties of his position and will lead him in the end, not to freedom but to a specific existence of a very undesirable sort and perhaps to a stone like state. He may not, without disastrous, consequences, shirk the duties of a position, once he has found himself in it. For, no living creature can live and yet be absolutely idle, and man can be no exception to this rule.² And if a man, while living, cannot be absolutely idle, that is to say, if he must be doing something, and yet if he does not do his duties, he cannot but produce some Adrishtas by those activities of his which he would be performing as a matter of necessity. These Adrishtas are bound to be of a lower nature and therefore drag him down. Such activities are bound to produce a lower Adrishta because they will be done only with a view to self-gratification of some sort or other without any redeeming feature in them. He must, therefore, do what really are his duties in the situation; and, at the same time, he must seek Wisdom, that is, true and direct knowledge of the nature of things as they really are: that is to say, he must realise that aspect of the Veda which consists of such Wisdom.³ For it is only by knowing, that is, realising by direct experience, the truth of things as they really are, that he can make himself absolutely free from activity that, will produce Adrishta and therefore existence in a specific form.

That nothing but realisation of truth can make one free in this way will be evident from the following considerations. It is activity with a motive to improve our body and situation, i.e., to gain advantage to oneself or even one’s race or country, as opposed to other individuals, races or countries, and their interests, that leads to worth and specific existence.⁴ But such activity is possible only so long as men feel and think of things as their own special possessions, and not as belonging generally to all, and think of their special interests as opposed to the interests of others. And this mode of thinking and feeling again is due only to ignorance—ignorance of the true nature of things.

For one thing, it is ignorance of the true nature of things and beings in so far as the perceptible forms of these are concerned. These things and beings, as compounded and organic wholes, look so pretty and beautiful or so hideous and repulsive.⁵ Appearing thus, they give rise in our nature to likes and dislikes; to desires to possess them, or to aversion. And these in their turn lead to activities with a view to gain some advantage.

But if we really know, i.e., realise by direct experience (and not merely as an intellectual conviction produced by reasoning), the true nature of these, they no longer have such powers over us. For then we realise them to be but shapeless and formless Paramanus, all alike, and therefore incapable of distinction as hideous or attractive.

Then again, it is the ignorance in regard to the true nature of the Atman. This ignorance, for one thing, makes a being regard, of the particular body or form with which the Atman happens to be related, as itself or himself. With this feeling it clings to it, longs to perpetuate it. And when it breaks up and the Atman is reborn in some other form, it clings to that form again and thus it goes on for ever and ever. And as it clings to these forms or embodiments, and thinks of one of them, at a time as itself, it is led to activities with a view to securing advantages to that particular embodiment in opposition to the interests and advantages of other beings in other embodiments.

But if the true nature of the Atman is realised, and a man can feel by direct experience that he himself is the Atman, then there can be no clinging to any form and no fear that the form being destroyed, the Atman will perish. A man who has realised himself as not the embodiments but the Atman, can never work with a view to any advantage whatsoever to himself in opposition to others. Such advantages or disadvantages belong, it is obvious, only to the specific forms of existence which are different from one another but not to the Atmans as such. For the Atmans are all alike. Nor can he work with a view to gaining advantage for one particular race or people as opposed to other peoples and races. For no race is his, or rather all races are his. He is the Atman and as such does not belong to any race. It is the body that belongs to a particular race.

Thus realising the true nature of the Atman, all motive for working with a view to gaining for himself any advantage in any form, as opposed to the interests and advantages of others, that is, other individuals and races, altogether ceases. And the motive ceasing, such activities cease; and activities of this character being absent, no potential worth is produced; and when there is no potential worth there can be no birth into any specific form of existence.

Thus with the ceasing of ignorance, both with regard to the essential character of things and in regard to the Atman, and with the realisation of their true nature, all causes of births in specific forms are removed and the Atman is really free.

Wisdom therefore, that is to say, the realisation by direct experience of the true nature of things, is the only means of getting out of all specific forms of existence and of realising true freedom.

Footnotes

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