The fundamental human problem then, was notunderstanding,notseeing
(avidya ̄). In the same Cha ̄ndogyapassage cited above, the seeker was likened
to a blindfolded person seeking the path to ultimacy.
“Take, for example, son, a man who is brought here blindfolded from
the land of Gandha ̄ra and then left in a deserted region. As he was
brought blindfolded and left there blindfolded, he would drift about
there towards the east, or the north, or the south. Now, if someone
were to free him from his blindfold and tell him, ‘Go that way; the land
of Gandha ̄ra is in that direction’, being a learned and wise man, he
would go from village to village asking for directions and finally arrive
in the land of Gandha ̄ra. In exactly the same way in this world when
a man has a teacher, he knows: ‘There is a delay for me here only until
I am freed; but then I will arrive!’
The finest essence here – that constitutes the self of this whole world;
that is the truth; that is the self (a ̄ tman). And that’s how you are,
S ́vetaketu.”
“Sir, teach me more.”
“Very well, son.”^9The unseeing person was to find a guru, who could lead him at least part of
the way to a destiny where brahmananda ̄tmanwere indeed conjoined. This
state of liberation came to be known as moks.a, the ultimate awareness which
frees one from all social constraints.
Other terms also became a part of the vocabulary of these speculations.
Ma ̄ya ̄referred to the measurable or changeable world. It was a value-neutral
term nonetheless interpreted in different ways depending on one’s world-
view. Some schools saw ma ̄ya ̄as a problem to be overcome, as a veil which
hid the truth (satya) about the nature of the universe. Others insisted it was
pervaded by brahman, that essence of the universe, hence had a certain
“relative” reality. Still others, especially in the context of later theism, claimed
ma ̄ya ̄was the playground (lı ̄la ̄) of the gods, to be affirmed and celebrated.
Karma(orkarman) was another crucial term. Karmarepresented the
law of cause and effect, a fundamental logic to the universal process. Once
again,karmacould be value-neutral – one could “use” the law of karmato
bring about desired results, including one’s own enlightenment. Karma, as
articulated by Ya ̄ jñavalkya, could also connote the process of reincarnation.
In time, karmacame to be used in the hands of the powerful as a legitimation
of status and power, as in ourstatus is the result of past karma; while theirlow
status is a result of their past karma. Yet the intention of the term in its early
stages seemed to indicate that just as there is a logic of cause and effect to
the universe, so in human affairs, favorable actions and/or causes could
The Early Urban Period 35