A sloka from Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
“esa prajapatir yad hridayam, etad brahma, etad sarvam, tad etat try-
aksaram; hr da yam iti. hr ity ekam aksaram; abhiharanty asmai svas
canye ca, ya evam veda; da ity ekam aksaram, dadatyasmai svas canye ca
ya evam veda; yam, ity ekam aksaram; eti svargam lokam ya evam veda”
The hymn begins with ‘Esa prajapatir yad hridayam’ which translates to ‘This heart within us is Lord Himself’. This sets the equivalence of ‘Hridayam’ the word, for heart in Sanskrit, to the concept of God at the outset. Any Aranyaka is supposed to give details on mediaition as methods to achieve specific aspirations. In the same vein, the hymn goes on to describe its (the heart’s) role in the pursuit of the Absolute and the Supreme.
Millions of words, in a variety of languages, have been used to describe Heart and its rich and varied functionality. Reams of prose have been written and streams of poetry have flown from romantic, wise and brilliant minds. The collective wisdom however has declared that despite these analyses ad infinitum, and at times ad nauseam, the heart is the most inscrutable of all things inside us, and that it cannot be understood easily.
Be that as it may, my aim here is to understand the etymological construct of the Sanskrit word and wonder at how apt the Sanskrit word is in describing the dynamics and functionality of this internal organ (Antarangam) that controls our emotions, feelings and relationships.
The title of this piece ‘Hridayantarangam’, implies a literary sense of word Hridaya that holds a mirror to the spirit, the feelings, the deepest motives and intensions within as opposed to the literal sense of the word as might be described by a biologist or a physician. There is an obvious difference in the implication of the word ‘heart’ in the two sentences, ‘The surgeon operated on the heart’ and ‘I love you with all my heart’.
Spiritual discourses emphasize the theme that the heart is an object for meditation. Gurus, irrespective of religion, have stated, ‘Your heart is you’, ‘What your heart is, that is your being’, ‘You cannot accept rational conclusions which are opposed to the feelings of the heart, or the dictates of conscience’, or for that matter, ‘Your heart is the touchstone of Reality’.
Here in this verse the literal meaning of the very word Hridaya is taken as a symbol for meditation. The verse takes spirit into consideration when it defines Hridaya or heart as the essence of a person. It establishes that the symbolic representation of the Absolute, is embedded in our own being by being situated in our own heart. And that our heart speaks the language of God, and thus whatever the heart speaks can be regarded as a directive from the Above.
My thesis is to show by etymological deconstruction that a similar relationship can be established between heart and love and other intense feelings. No wonder with a name like that, for our internal organ, we are doomed and have no chance whatsoever in resisting the lure of the proverbial apple.
“esa prajapatir yad hridayam, etad brahma, etad sarvam, tad etat try-
aksaram; hr da yam iti. hr ity ekam aksaram; abhiharanty asmai svas
canye ca, ya evam veda; da ity ekam aksaram, dadatyasmai svas canye ca
ya evam veda; yam, ity ekam aksaram; eti svargam lokam ya evam veda”
The hymn begins with ‘Esa prajapatir yad hridayam’ which translates to ‘This heart within us is Lord Himself’. This sets the equivalence of ‘Hridayam’ the word, for heart in Sanskrit, to the concept of God at the outset. Any Aranyaka is supposed to give details on mediaition as methods to achieve specific aspirations. In the same vein, the hymn goes on to describe its (the heart’s) role in the pursuit of the Absolute and the Supreme.
Millions of words, in a variety of languages, have been used to describe Heart and its rich and varied functionality. Reams of prose have been written and streams of poetry have flown from romantic, wise and brilliant minds. The collective wisdom however has declared that despite these analyses ad infinitum, and at times ad nauseam, the heart is the most inscrutable of all things inside us, and that it cannot be understood easily.
Be that as it may, my aim here is to understand the etymological construct of the Sanskrit word and wonder at how apt the Sanskrit word is in describing the dynamics and functionality of this internal organ (Antarangam) that controls our emotions, feelings and relationships.
The title of this piece ‘Hridayantarangam’, implies a literary sense of word Hridaya that holds a mirror to the spirit, the feelings, the deepest motives and intensions within as opposed to the literal sense of the word as might be described by a biologist or a physician. There is an obvious difference in the implication of the word ‘heart’ in the two sentences, ‘The surgeon operated on the heart’ and ‘I love you with all my heart’.
Spiritual discourses emphasize the theme that the heart is an object for meditation. Gurus, irrespective of religion, have stated, ‘Your heart is you’, ‘What your heart is, that is your being’, ‘You cannot accept rational conclusions which are opposed to the feelings of the heart, or the dictates of conscience’, or for that matter, ‘Your heart is the touchstone of Reality’.
Here in this verse the literal meaning of the very word Hridaya is taken as a symbol for meditation. The verse takes spirit into consideration when it defines Hridaya or heart as the essence of a person. It establishes that the symbolic representation of the Absolute, is embedded in our own being by being situated in our own heart. And that our heart speaks the language of God, and thus whatever the heart speaks can be regarded as a directive from the Above.
My thesis is to show by etymological deconstruction that a similar relationship can be established between heart and love and other intense feelings. No wonder with a name like that, for our internal organ, we are doomed and have no chance whatsoever in resisting the lure of the proverbial apple.
Comeback for more good stuff.............It is a promise...The dissection begins next........
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