Sākṣī
By Swami Harshananda and Himanshu Bhatt
| The one divine hidden in all beings, all-pervading, the inner self of all, the overseer of actions, the dweller in all, the witness, the conscious, the pure, and devoid of qualities. |
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—Shvetashvatara Upanishad 5.11 | ||
'Sākṣī' literally means "witness". Brahm (God) being omnipresent is mentioned as Sākṣī repeatedly. Padma Purāṇa[1] reads, "oṃ sarvasākṣiṇe namaḥ". Skanda Purāṇa mentions this quality of Brahm — "sarvātmā sarvavikhyātaḥ sarvasākṣī satāṃ patiḥ"[1] and "sarvasākṣīḥ sarvagaśca sarvaprāṇaharo'vyayaḥ"[2]. Bhagavad Gita 13.14[2] to mentions Brahm as omnipresent and witnessing all. In Gita 13.23[3], He's described as "Upadraṣṭā" ("the Overseer".) Gita 18.46[4] is also along the same lines, and VivekaVani[5] specifically states that the phrase "Yena saravam idam tatam" in the verse essentially means "Sarvasakshi". Ashtavakra Gita 1.12[6] explicitly identifies the jiva's true identity (the Self) as this cosmic witness by stating, "The Self is the witness..." Bhāgvat Purāṇa mentions Brahm as the witness at least 3 times[7][8][9].
Qualities of a Sākṣī[edit]
A sāksin or sākṣī is the one who witnesses the happenings around him in a detached way and can give an unbiased account. In the religious judicial system a sāksi or a witness is accepted as reliable if:
- He should comes from a respectable family.
- He should be deeply religious by temperament.
- He should be devoted to truth.
- He should be straightforward.
Qualities of Undependable Sākṣī[edit]
A few of the interesting descriptions of an unreliable witness are:
- Shifting the position constantly
- Licking the corner of his own lips
- Sweat on the forehead
- Change of color of the face
- Faltering speech
- Contradictory statements
Śākṣī as per Vedānta[edit]
In Vedānta, the jīvātman[3] is called sākṣī or sākṣī-caitanya since he is a witness to all the three states of consciousness, viz:
Sākṣī as per the Upaniṣads[edit]
Atman or Brahman also is called sākṣī in the Upaniṣads[4] and the Bhagavadgītā[5] since he is witnessing everything, but is unaffected by the changes of the empirical world.
References[edit]
- The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore