Even as the teacher has been unfolding this truth, Asvalayana, who is already in deep Dhyana Yoga, finds Himself totally released from all bondages, and recognizes his identity with Brahman. That is the process of contemplation called ‘churning out the fire of wisdom in one’s mind’. The wisdom is direct and immediate recognition of oneself as Brahman. The result is total release from all bondages. Such release is indeed gaining Liberation; Jiva becoming ONE with Brahman. Thus Asvalayana has now gained Moksha and has now become ONE with Brahman.
18-24. Asvalayana, having absorbed all the teachings of his Teacher, finds himself naturally and spontaneously released from all bondages, and he recognizes himself as Brahman. Having gained that wisdom, he now contemplates within himself on his extraordinary Self-discovery as a Self-recognized Jiva, as The Pure continuous, undivided, ever-existent, Unchanging Conscious Being, the Purushottama.
He now recognizes himself as:
chinmatro’ham - I am that objectless infinite unchanging conscious Being, which illumines all the objects of awareness everywhere. I am That Pure Consciousness.
aham sadasivah - I am, at all times, The Ever-auspicious, Absolute Happiness, Absolute Fullness, Absolute Reality behind this entire creation
trishu dhamasu - In all the three states of existence and experience, namely The waking, The dreaming and The deep-sleep states, and also in all the three in-between states of existence and experience
yadbhogyam yadbhavet - whatever is, or whatever can be the kind of experience
yadbhoktaa yadbhavet - whatever is, or whatever can be, the role played by the experiencer
yadbhogascha yadbhavet - whatever is, or whatever can be the object of experience in all of them, I remain as That Pure Infinite, Unchanging Consciousness.
At The same time
tebhyah vilakshanah aham - I, as That Pure Consciousness, am uniquely distinct from, and totally independent of all kinds of experiences, all kinds of experiencers, and all kinds of objects of experience. I, as Pure Consciousness, transcend all of them.
saakshee aham - as That Pure Conscious Being, I am The Ever-present Witness in all states of existence, for all forms of experience.
Further
mayyeva sakalam jaatam - This entire creation is born of ME, The Pure Infinite Consciousness alone
mayi sarvam pratishthitam - This entire creation and everything in it, have their being in ME, The Pure Infinite Consciousness, I am
mayi sarvam layam yaati - This entire creation and everything in it ultimately resolve into ME, The Pure Infinite Consciousness that I am
tad advayam brahma aham asmi - I am That Brahman which is The ONE without a second, ONE which is all-inclusive, all-pervasive. I am Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva all in ONE.
Further
anoh aneeyan tadvat aham eva - That which is smaller than the smallest particle of matter one can think of, That is what I am. At the same time
mahaan aham asmi - I am great without qualification, which means I am bigger than The biggest one can think of. I am smaller than the smallest, and at the same time, bigger than the biggest that one can think of, which means that I have no dimensions.
visvam aham vichitram - This entire amazingly variegated Universe that is what I am. puraatanah aham asmi - I am ancient at all times. I am Eternal. There is no date of birth for me, I am unborn.
purushoham asmi - I am That Paratpara Purusha, The Poorna Purusha, The Purushottama. I am The Whole, All-inclusive, All-pervasive, Undivided and Indivisible Being.
eeshah aham asmi - I am The Lord of everything.
hiranmaya aham asmi - I am The Totality of All-knowledge
siva roopam asmi - I am The very manifestation of Lord Shiva, Ever-auspicious Absolute Happiness, The Absolute Reality behind all existence, That is what I am.
Further,
All these hands, legs, eyes, ears, mind, intellect etc., they all belong to this body. I am not the body. I am That Pure objectless Infinite Unchanging Consciousness. Being so without hands and legs, I am Limitless Power beyond comprehension. Without eyes I, as Pure Consciousness, see all that is to see, and without ears, I hear all that is to hear. I am Formless, but, as Pure Consciousness, illuminate all the varieties of forms in this creation. I am The Knower of all forms in this creation. I am The Knower of all forms in all details, but there is no one who knows Me, My true nature.
I am not an object of knowledge for any one at all times, I remain as The Pure Objectless, All-pervasive, manifest and unmanifest Consciousness Itself.
Further
By The study of all The Vedas and The Upanishads, I alone am The ONE to be known, understood, appreciated and recognized. All The Devatas mentioned in The Vedas and all the rituals described in The Vedas are all meant to gain knowledge about myself only. Not only that I am the author of all The Vedas and The Upanishads. I am The ONE who is the initiator of the tradition of teaching the meaning of the Vedas and the Upanishads, which means, I am Sri Narayana, the author and the Original Teacher of all the Vedas and The Upanishads. Naturally, I am The ONE who knows the meaning of all the Vedas and The Upanishads. The ONE who gains the Knowledge of the Vedas and the Upanishads is also Myself, because, as the Upanishad says the Knower of Brahman becomes Brahman.
To ME, There is neither merit nor demerit. I have no actions or results of actions. Hence I have no vasanas either. There is no death or destruction for ME. I am Immortal. There is no birth, body, organs of perception and action, mind, etc. for ME. I have no body vehicle. I am The Pure Conscious Being, The Pure Consciousness.
The five great elements are the constituents of this subtle and gross body. I am not any of them. I am not the subtle body, or the gross body. I am The Pure Infinite Consciousness, The Universal SELF.
For ME,
There is no earth independent of Me
There is no water independent of Me
There is no fire independent of Me
There is no air independent of Me
Also, there is no space independent of Me
All These five great elements have their being in ME, and I exist independent of all of them. As Paramatma, the Universal SELF, the Pure Infinite Consciousness, there exist only ONE SELF and that is The SELF “I”.
Thus recognizing the true nature of oneself, as Paramatma, one gains Self-realization and Self-recognition. That is how Asvalayana recognizes himself now, as a SELF-Realized, SELF-Recognized Pure Jiva, The Paramatma..
Conclusion
25 & 26. Although here ends Asvalayana’s contemplation on himself, on his discovery of the SELF in himself, by himself, as himself, two more mantras are found in this Upanishad. They are of psychological encouragements provided to the students who even after intellectually appreciating The Kaivalyopanishad, are hesitant to live its philosophy and get its experience.
One mantra says that those who practice this Upanishad get the same divinity as they will by chanting the famous Sata Rudriyam of Taittiriya Samhita of The Yajur Veda while the other one says that one gets the knowledge that destroys the endless experience of repeated transmigration thereby attaining the fruit of liberation - Kaivalya .
HARIH OM TAT SAT
Reference:
1.Kaivalyopanishad - Swami Chinmayananda
2.Kaivalya Upanishad
3.Sri Rudra Prasna or Satarudriya
Also read:
1.Mundaka Upanishad
2.Kena Upanishad
3.Isha Upanishad
4.Suryopanishad