Kaivalyopanishad

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

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