NAME 107
107. Samātmā समात्मा
Sama means equal. Brahman is equal to everyone. He does not differentiate. Differentiation arises in animals and humans because of attachments and desires. These two are the products of spiritual ignorance. He remains as a soul in all the beings. Soul of a pious man is not different from the soul of a wicked man. Differentiation arises only in the human mind, afflicted with duality. To realise the Brahman, the human should be properly trained and tamed. It should get rid of all impurities.
This nāma says that He is seated as ātman, also known as individual soul in all beings. Without soul body cannot exist.
Samaatma – He has an even mind
Samaatma means ‘One who has an even mind’. As explained by Sri Adi Sankara ‘Sama Aatmaa mano yasya raagadveshaadibhih adooshitah sah samaatmaa – One whose mind is evenly balanced and unpolluted by greed or aversion’.
The alternative interpretation is ‘Sarva Bhooteshu Sama Eva Atma’ – He treats everybody equal irrespective of who they are’. He does not distinguish one from another when it comes to His thoughts on His devotees. Since He is the soul in everything, He finds no distinction between them. He is unattached to anything and sees everything and everyone as equal.
BG 13.3:
क्षेत्रज्ञं चापि मां विद्धि सर्वक्षेत्रेषु भारत |
क्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञयोर्ज्ञानं यत्तज्ज्ञानं मतं मम || 3||
kṣhetra-jñaṁ chāpi māṁ viddhi sarva-kṣhetreṣhu bhārata
kṣhetra-kṣhetrajñayor jñānaṁ yat taj jñānaṁ mataṁ mama
BG 13.3: O scion of Bharat, I am also the knower of all the individual fields of activity. The understanding of the body as the field of activities, and the soul and God as the knowers of the field, this I hold to be true knowledge.
Commentary
The soul is only the knower of the individual field of its own body. Even in this limited context, the soul’s knowledge of its field is incomplete. God is the knower of the fields of all souls, being situated as the Supreme Soul in the heart of all living beings. Further, God’s knowledge of each kṣhetra is perfect and complete. By explaining these distinctions, Shree Krishna establishes the position of the three entities vis-à-vis each other—the material body, the soul, and the Supreme Soul.
In the second part of the above verse, He gives His definition of knowledge. “Understanding of the self, the Supreme Lord, the body, and the distinction amongst these, is true knowledge.” In this light, persons with PhDs and DLitts may consider themselves to be erudite, but if they do not understand the distinction between their body, the soul, and God, then according to Shree Krishna’s definition, they are really not knowledgeable.
१०७. ॐ समात्माये नमः |
107. OM Samātmāye Namaḥ
Samaatmaa -He wbo is equally in all. In Kathopanishad we read the declaration of Lord Death to Nachiketas how the same Truth has come to express itself differently from form to form. To visualize the Paramesvara who revels equally ill all, among the perishables and imperishables, is the Vision Divine. Kauseshika Upanishad (3-9) says, “One should understand that the Self is the same-in-all”. In the Geeta also is the declaration “I am the Seer in all the fields-of-experiences everywhere” -Geeta Ch. 13, St. 3).
ॐ समात्माये नमः |
OM Samātmāye Namaḥ
INTERPRETATION GUIDED BY SANT VANI (WORDS OF SAINTS)
107. Samātmā
i. The Self which is the same in all.
ii. The one with an unchanging mind.
He whose ātma is ‘sama’ i.e. equanimous and in perfect equipoise at all times. He who is present ‘alike’ in all being and hence Samātma. He is the one ātma present in all beings.(Śaṅkara) He whose mind is equally disposed to all. As he is the one ātma in all, he sees no difference or makes no distinction among his devotees.(Parāsara Battar).
The Lord as the ātmā, does not undergo any change. It is always sama, always the same. But we see so many differences in people and situations. In fact, even in one person we see differences in moods, thoughts, body composition over days and years. We conclude we are different from each others because our focus is on the differences. Even in school examinations, one of the type of questions routinely asked was – Differentiate between two objects. Rarely do we develop an orientation to see the sameness in people. Differences means there is another different from me and the experience of difference increases our sense of duality. From the experience of duality
comes much fear, anxiety of being overwhelmed, fear of not being good enough as compared to the other. From the relative standpoint, any two people, say siblings of the same parents go through different set of experiences, perceive the same experience differently, still are basically human, have similar sets of emotions and abilities.
Atma is only one and that is ‘I’. Suppose I say, I am Mr. Or Mrs. Or Ms. So and So, working in Bangalore in a software company and have two children. The moment I say I, all these identities came up because I know no better – My identity as a male/female, professional, identity based on location, religion, nature of work, marital status and identity as a father/Mother. Atma I, when associated with one body becomes ahankara, the I notion which further is the jiva, individual. Recognising the jiva, the individual as a conscious being first, and then as satyam, as pure consciousness which is one without a second is the recognition of the Atma being the same in all. Does Consciousness have a particular location? Wherever there is a mind, consciousness is manifest. Manifest consciousness is seen as though it is a conscious being. The Atma is the basis for all beings.
What about the changes we see? Every change is a superimposition, a seeming attribute to the ātmā, while the ātmā itself does not undergo any change. It is nirvikāra. Therefore, the Lord is Samātmā. Since the ātmā is one and the same in all beings, there is no real difference between all the beings. Only attributes, forms, Sanchit and Prarabdh karmas, Sanskaaras and so on, bring about differences in the beings. Bangle, chain or ring, all of them are but gold. As the pratyagātmā, He is one and therefore, the same in all beings. Hence, He is Samātmā.
The word ātmā can also mean the mind. The Lord’s atma, mind is not affected by rāga-dveṣas, like and dislikes. Hence, He has the sameness towards all beings. There is no question of partiality. So, He is known as Samātmā. There is a lot that is said in the Gita about cultivating samatvam, which we will see in later posts.
Equanimity and Equipoise are the signs of the yogi. Also, to see every being ‘alike’ and make no distinction is the epitome of the ‘perfected-state‘ of being. That state of perfection is extremely rare and therefore it is said that he who is the master of the entire universe is in that state at all times and therefore he is Samātma. The grace of that universal being alone can give us that state of being – In order to attain to that state of equanimity and equipoise one must hand over the keys of our life to him who is the one Supreme Being. A living epitome of Samātmā is Swamiji who loves, blesses accepts and shelters all sentient beings unconditionally irrespective of whether the other person is judging him or advising him on his decisions or it’s a mere bird or insect inside a cobweb, he continues to see the same Divine in every being.
Two incidents from Sri Ramana Maharishi’s life, the first showing his equipoise and the second his ability to treat every being alike demonstrate the exalted state in which he lived:
One day a monkey king came to Skandāshramam when Bhagavan Ramana was having his lunch. Mother Azhagammal was serving food, when the monkey-king came and sat next to Ramana. He immediately offered the first morsel to the monkey-king. The monkey-king slapped Bhagavan instead of accepting the food. Ramana immediately realized his mistake, apologized to the monkey-king and asked that food be served to the monkey-king on a separate banana-leaf. The monkey-king was pleased and ate the food with great relish and went away. Bhagavan explained later to the devotees that this monkey king had to be treated in accordance with his royal status. Since he had not been given a separate leaf, he was angry with Bhagavan and slapped him.
In Skandāshramam lived a cow that Bhagavan had named Lakshmi. Bhagavan was very close to Lakshmi as was she to him. She could not stay a day without seeing him. If he did not go to her cowshed she would come into the hall full of devotees and stand looking at Bhagavan Ramana. Once when Lakshmi delivered a calf on the day of Bhagavan’s Jayanti-day (birthday). When Sri Kunju Swami remarked that Lakshmi was lucky to have delivered on such an auspicious day, Ramana immediately corrected him saying that the reverse was true – that his birthday had fallen on the day Lakshmi delivered her calf. Once, when Lakshmi entered the hall and stood with her face close to Bhagavan – soon the devotees assembled there saw tears flowing from her eyes – she had attained the samadhi state. She came out of it after some time and it is said that she walked away from the hall backwards looking at Bhagavan all the time and refusing to show her tail to him! Her Samadhi is worshiped to this day at the ashram.
An incident from the life of the Kanchi Paramacharya Shri Chandrashekarendra Saraswati too captures this equanimity and equipoise:
When Paramacharya was staying at Nagari in Chittoor district, a telegram arrived at the Mutt which was received by the Mutt Manager. The gist of the message was that Swamigal’s pūrvāśrama mother Mahalakshmi Ammal had passed away at Kumbakonam on June 14th, 1932. At that time, the Paramacharya was deep in discussion with a few pundits on the subject of Vedānta. Even as the manager approached the Paramacharya, he asked the manager if the telegram was from Kumbakonam and when the manager nodded he sent him away without even reading the telegram. He remarked “What should a Sannyasin do when He hears about the death of his Mother?” He got up, walked two kilometres to a waterfall and took his snanam and came back to the ashram. To a Sannyasi not just his purvashram mother is a mother but every woman is loved and respected like his own mother in sambhaav.
“The source of emotions is our perception (and interpretation) of reality and not the reality itself. If you choose to question the validity of your emotions with awareness, as in this meditation, a blanket of peace will cover you. You will come to understand that we cannot label people as precisely as we often do, and, further, our categorization is not completely fair or objective either. With this understanding, you experience a deep sense of equanimity. And, a sense of equanimity is the first definitive step towards inner peace. This is another name for enlightenment, if you ask me.
In Anthony De Mello’s One Minute Wisdom, a disciple asked the master what is enlightenment. The master replied:
To be public-spirited and belong to no party,
to move without being bound to any given course,
to take things as they come.
have no remorse for the past.
no anxiety for the future.
to move when pushed,
to come when dragged.
to be like a mighty gale.
like a feather in the wind,
like weeds floating on a river.
like a mill-stone meekly grinding,
to love all creation equally
as heaven and earth are equal to all
—such is the product of Enlightenment.
To be in touch with yourself is to be in communion with the Divine. Positive and negative emotions then are simply the dewdrops that vanish upon the emergence of the sun of mindfulness.”
– Om Swami
Please read the entire blog to practice a powerful Meditation given by Swami ji to achieve equanimity of emotions towards all – Friend, Foe and stranger.
Please Watch