The Chapter IX, is called, Dhyana Deepa, or the Lamp of Meditation.
Verse 1:- One may perchance obtain a thng by following a wrong
line by mistake. So also even by woshipping Brahman, one may
get release, the desired goal. So various ways of worship are
described in the Nrsimha Uttaratapaniya Upanishad.*
(* One of 108 Upanishads, but a minor Upanishad.)
Verse 2:- A man sees a gleam of light emitted by a gem and
another sees a gleam of light coming from a lamp. And both
imagine that they are gems, run to get there. Though, in both
the cases, the notions are wrong, the results are different.
Verse 3:- There is a lamp inside the house, its light is visible
from outside. Similarly elsewhere the light of a gem is seen,
from outside.
Verse 4:- On seeing the two gems at a distance, both the
men took them for gems and ran after them. Their notions
are equally wrong, but they took the gleams for the gems.
Verse 5:- The man who ran for the gleam of the lamp did not
find the gem, but the man who ran for the gleam of the gem
got it.
Verse 6:- Mistaking the gleam of a lamp for a gem is called
a Vismvaadi Bhrama, ' misleading error' or an error that does
not lead to the goal. Mistaking the gleam of a gem for a gem
is called a Samvaadi Bhrama, a 'leading error' or 'informative
error' though both are errors or wrong observations.
Verse 7:- On seeing a mist and mistaking it for smoke,
if a man argues the existence of fire there and goes for
getting chacoal and accidentally finds it, his mistake is
called a 'leading error' a chance coincidence.
Verse 8:- Sprinkling on himself the water of the River Godavari,
thinking it to be that of the River Ganga, if a man is actually
purified, this is 'leading error' or a chance coincidence.
Verse 9:- A man suffering from a high fever repeats 'Narayana'
in delirium and dies. He goes to heaven. This is again a 'leading
error.'
Verse 10:- In direct perception, in inference and in the application
of scriptural authority, there are innumerable instances of such
leading errors or chance coincidences.
To be contd...
Arunachala Siva.
