Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.1 Summary Lecture 39 on 06 June 2026
Full Transcript (Not Corrected)
Opening Invocation
ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात् पूर्णमुदच्यते
पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः
OM PŪRṆAMADAḤ PŪRṆAMIDAM PŪRṆĀT PŪRṆAMUDACYATE PŪRṆASYA PŪRṆAMĀDĀYA PŪRṆAMEVA VAŚIṢYATE OM ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTIH
OM That Brahman is infinite, and this universe is also infinite. The infinite proceeds from the infinite. Taking the infinitude of the infinite universe, it remains as the infinite Brahman alone.
OM Peace, Peace, Peace be unto all.
Summary of the First Chapter of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad
In our last class, we have just completed the last section of the first chapter of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, the sixth section. This is a summary of the entire Upaniṣad, we can say.
What Did We Discuss?
What does this sixth section really try to teach us? What is the world? What does it consist of? This is the topic. So this section answers that God manifests as three forms, which we call the creation, the world. It is also called uktha brāhmaṇa.
Uktha
What is uktha? The final cause from which everything arises. In this section, these three manifestations of Brahman are mentioned. What are they? Name, form, and action.
Origin of Forms
And wherefrom are the forms coming? From a particular source, and that is called cakṣu. Cakṣu means "I". We have to understand that cakṣu actually means formlessness. Unmanifested form is the root cause of every form.
As an example, clay is the unformed form, formless form of every form. Every form should have a name, a specific name to distinguish it and separate it from every other form. That is called "name".
But every name – Rāma, Kṛṣṇa, John, Jesus, Buddha, etc. – these are all special manifestations distinguishable by our mind. There is one root cause to every name. That is called śabda. That is called śabda brahma. Every name that we can understand or remember, even in the future every new form will be given a new name, and all these names are manifestations of one śabda. Śabda means sound, and that sound in its unmanifest form is called Brahman.
So this is the uktha. The uktha of names is śabda. The uktha of forms is that formless avyakta.
Karma (Action/Utility)
Then the third one is called karma. Every form will have a name, and every name and form is called an object. As soon as you hear the name or remember the name, immediately the form comes, the object comes into view. Regarding that object, what is the utility of that object? As soon as you remember, for example, the name "pot", you know that a pot is a small object where you can cook food, store materials, or even store water, etc. As soon as you see an object called "glass", you think: this is meant for drinking water, wine, etc. So this is the object. Every object is nothing but a combination of form, name, and utility (prayojana).
The whole universe, whole creation, is nothing but a combined manifestation of these. Every single object will have nāma, rūpa, and karma. This is what we have to understand.
That is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa says: "What is in a beautiful body? After all, flesh, blood, urine, stool, sinews, bones, etc." That is true, whether it is an insect or an animal or even a tree in its own way. (Do not ask whether any tree has got a bone – yes, it does. The meaning is that which sustains part of the tree is called the bone: roots, etc.) So every object is nothing but name, form, and utility. All three combined are called "body".
The Most Important Reality
This last section, having only three mantras, tells us that for us, what is the most important reality? Each one of us. Ask yourself: "Who am I? I am the body." How many people even dare to think, "I am not the body, I am the mind"? This body is given a special name temporarily. It is called satyam. Satyam means what is the highest reality to all ignorant people like us. This satyam covers up something. What does it cover? Immortality.
What is this Immortality?
This immortality is called amṛtam. What is this amṛtam? It is called mind. Why is it called amṛtam? Because there are two ways to interpret it. One way is that this physical body comes and goes (how many times? Millions of times). But the mind – meaning the four kośas: prāṇa, mana, vijñāna and ānanda – endures almost a long, long time. How long? Until we obtain ātma jñānam, self-knowledge: the knowledge that I am neither the body nor the mind. Until that time, this mind lasts.
The evolution mainly takes place in the mind. The mind evolves, meaning its understanding becomes clearer and even more clear with every birth, until the person (the jīva, individual) takes birth as a human being, evolves into a cultured human being, and acquires more sattva. Until he acquires much of the sattva guṇa, which is the caste called brāhmaṇa (brāhmaṇa means full of sattva). Even among brāhmaṇas, there would be degrees of difference, but we are talking about a brāhmaṇa who has become a sannyāsī.
Who is a sannyāsī? Who thinks:
मनोबुद्ध्यहङ्कारचित्तानि नाहम् शिवोहम् शिवोहम्
manobuddhyahaṅkāracittāni nāham śivoham śivoham
One who thinks, who knows that "I am Brahman, I am ātman, I am Śiva" – which means "I am not the body-mind complex". That mind is called amṛtam. This mind alone leads one to both ignorance and liberation. First ignorance, then gradually ignorance becomes less, the light of knowledge manifests more and more, until finally one attains to that highest reality.
What is that reality? I am that reality. I am Brahman. I am ātman. Ātman means "I am Brahman" – not Brahman as separated.
Adhyāsa (Superimposition)
This practically tells us what is called adhyāsa. What is this adhyāsa? Superimposition. What is this superimposition? Each one of us forgetting that "I am Brahman" and identifying ourselves with this body. This adhyāsa slowly has to be gotten rid of.
What is the way? As just now we mentioned, what is our greatest identity? Body. Once a person succeeds in getting rid of the idea "I am the body", he progresses in spiritual life. For such a person, it will be easier to get rid of the other four kośas as well. "Getting rid of" does not mean destroying; it means developing the understanding "I am not the body, I am not the prāṇa, I am not the mind, I am not the vijñāna buddhi, I am not the ānandamaya kośa". That complete detachment is called spiritual progress.
Remember, all these things have to be done only through the help of the mind. Just as when a mirror in front of us gets more and more cleaned up, the reflection automatically becomes nearer to the reality, nearer to what is in front of it. What is in front of it is Brahman. What is the mirror? Mind. When the mind is covered with five layers of deep dust, the worst state of the mirror is "I am the body". When that layer is cleaned, then the other four become better and the reflection becomes better.
Message of the Sixth Section
Thus this sixth section wants to tell us: "O man, wake up, then control your mind." What is controlling the mind? Developing more sattva, which means developing more identity with our true self and developing more dispassion and detachment from the ideas that "I am the annamaya", "I am the prāṇamaya", etc. This is the message, the essence of the summary of the sixth section of this first chapter of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad.
With this, the first chapter is over. This first chapter is also called Madhu Kāṇḍa, Upadeśa Kāṇḍa. It is also called Adhyāsa Kāṇḍa, Adhyāropa Kāṇḍa.
What is adhyāropa? Superimposition – thinking that "I am the body", "I am the pañcakośas", etc. Only in this chapter we have also been taught how to slowly develop detachment through discrimination and slowly progress until we have the knowledge that only one is there, which is called Brahman. There are no two things – God and the world, Brahman and the world. Whatever is, is one only. Then our eyes become pure, and we are able to see everything as Brahman: sarvaṃ khalvidaṃ brahma.
But to come to that stage of spiritual development, first we have to know aham brahmāsmi. In this first chapter, we have seen that one. This is called Adhyāropa Prakaraṇam. How to get rid of it is also indicated here through some mantras, particular mantras. Here are the hints:
First of all, sadeva somya – there is only one. (In the fourth chapter it comes, that is in the form of unmanifest, that is Brahman.) Then aham brahmāsmi – "I am Brahman". That is the goal.
How to Reach That Goal
Look here, my friend. You see in front of you two things. You feel "I am an individual". You feel "I am separate from everything else". And everybody, every conscious entity (including an amoeba – one amoeba feels that "I am distinct from other amoebas") feels that separation from every living creature and every non-living thing. But that is avidyā, ignorance. That has to be slowly gotten rid of.
For that, creation has to evolve from the inorganic. (There is really nothing inorganic. According to Advaita, ātman became what modern scientists call "inorganic". What we Hindus, Vedantins, call pañcadevatā – ākāśa, vāyu, agni, jala, and pṛthvī – these five are called inorganic.) Slowly they manifest. The inorganic, as it were, evolves into organic, then it acquires prāṇa, and it acquires special cidābhāsa.
"I am an individual. I have a body." Even an insect has indirect knowledge: "I am a living creature. I am separate from everything else. I have to survive. I have to protect myself." So that separation is there. But the scripture wants to tell us that really everything is God only, everything is Brahman only, everything is ātman only. Gradually, the scripture wants to teach us this.
How Does It Want to Teach Us?
First of all, by describing creation, the scripture wants to tell us that everything is changing in this world, and because it is changing, it is called mithyā. But mithyā is not non-existence. By the description of this world through the detailed process of creation, the world is described. Through this description, the scripture wants to tell us that it is not unreal, but by taking us to the cause, we go from the immediate approximate cause to its cause, to its cause.
For example: "I am annam. I am pṛthvī." Then I understand: I am not pṛthvī. "I am jala." Then I understand: I am not water. "I am fire." I am not the fire. "I am vāyu." I am not vāyu. "I am ākāśa." I am not ākāśa. All these completely merge in the final cause, uktam, and that is called Brahman.
So by saying that as long as you see separation, it is called mithyā – it is ever-changing. But there is something which is witnessing this ever-changing phenomenon; that unchanging phenomenon is called true consciousness. Step by step, the scripture wants to tell us: the world is neither unreal (because we experience it) nor real (because it is changing). Whatever is experienced but never remains the same – ever-changing – that is called mithyā.
The scripture slowly convinces us and makes us understand that anything changing is not reliable; anything changing is called mithyā; any mithyā is not reliable; and anything that is mithyā must have an adhiṣṭhāna – it must have a cause, it must have a support. That support is called satyam.
Example of the Rope and Snake
For every mithyā – for example, a wrongly perceived snake which turns out to be a rope – without a rope, there cannot be an illusion of a snake. Our solution is that we have to bring light. In the light, we recognize that what we thought was a snake turns out to be an unchanging rope. So a snake is called mithyā. Why is it called changing? Because in semi-darkness, we can mistake it for a garland, we can mistake it for a bent stick – we can mistake it in so many ways, depending upon our past, previous experiences.
The purpose of describing creation is slowly, gradually, to lead us to our true nature. That is the essence of this sixth section.
The Body as Piṇḍa
Now we have to conclude the essence of this entire one. One more point I have to find out here. This body, which is our only reality, is called piṇḍa. Piṇḍāṇḍa – our reality. Piṇḍa means individual reality. As soon as we use the word "individual", every individual must be universal only. There is a certain logic here.
If there is only one object in this world, that is called brahmāṇḍa. But if there are many objects of the same species, it is called piṇḍāṇḍa – it is called microcosm. Microcosm must be the same as macrocosm. Microcosm in Sanskrit is called piṇḍāṇḍa, and macrocosm is called brahmāṇḍa.
I think one of the lectures in the Jñāna Yoga of Swami Vivekananda (Swamiji, the greatest sage of any world in plain English language) makes it clear that both the microcosm and macrocosm are built on the same plan. That means they are made up of the same truth, same reality, same constituents. There is no difference. The essence of that lecture is: if we can understand that I am the microcosm and my nature is this – I have consciousness, I have body, mind – what is an individual? Body, mind, plus reflected consciousness called cidābhāsa.
Where there is reflected consciousness, there must also be pure consciousness. If you want reflected light, there must be original light. Just imagine: the sun is shining, and its rays are falling upon a mirror through a window. That mirror is reflecting, and the room which was in darkness is now being lighted up, and every object becomes enveloped by the light and is illumined. Illumination means we get the knowledge: "I know so many objects are in this room." That knowledge, light reveals.
The Individual
So wherever there is an individual, there must be original consciousness; there must be a mind. When that original consciousness falls upon this mind (which is compared to a mirror), the light of consciousness gets reflected and it illumines the body and the sense organs and the external world through the body. This subject is beautifully exposed in a beautiful small text called Dṛśya Viveka by the great Śaṅkarācārya.
So, pure consciousness + reflected consciousness + body and mind is called the individual. At this moment, we are totally identified with the body and what belongs to the body. That is called māmakāra.
Progression of Identification
When we advance a little bit, then we identify slowly: "I am not only the body, I am also the mind. I am mind plus body." That is good progress.
Then comes the next step. Actually, I am the body? The whole universe is nothing but my thoughts. Every object, including my body, is a thought in my mind – not to speak of external objects in the external world. That is how slowly we progress. We learn to see this world in higher and higher light.
Two things happen there. As we progress, we expand and then identify with higher and higher degrees of reality: from annamaya to prāṇamaya to manomaya to vijñānamaya to ānandamaya, etc. In another model, from the body to the mind to the ānandamaya kośa. This is from the gross body to the subtle body to the causal body. When we have a clear concept of these three – i.e., we objectify these three – whatever we objectify is not "me". That is called turīya avasthā. This is the essential exposition in the Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad, which we have seen already.
Conclusion of the First Chapter
So, this is what the first chapter wants to tell. Adhyāropa – superimposition – the very world means that is not the reality. That is where we are now. Slowly, by following the path shown by this Upaniṣad, by every Upaniṣad, every scripture of every religion, we slowly progress towards God. Once we progress, ultimately we reach God. That is called paradise, kingdom of heaven, nirvāṇa, or the aham brahmāsmi state.
Let us now try to analyze. By negating this individual body – that is the first step, sthūla śarīra – then we have to identify. The individual cannot remain without identification, so he goes to the next step, which is identification with the sūkṣma śarīra, and then comes identification with the kāraṇa śarīra, which we call the experience of deep sleep, wherein body and mind are completely negated; we are not even aware of that. Pure bliss, but limited by time and causation.
This is how a person learns to look upon all the three states as objects of experience. The fundamental principle of Advaita Vedānta is: whatever I experience, whatever I objectify, is not me. Then who am I? Beyond the three śarīras, beyond the three states of experiences, beyond all the three states of avasthāntara, I am somebody beyond. That is why it is called turīya. This is how negation is to be accomplished slowly and slowly.
Summary of the Entire First Chapter (Upadeśa Kāṇḍa / Madhu Kāṇḍa)
Now I will try to summarize the entire first chapter as much as possible. The first chapter is called Upadeśa Kāṇḍa. It is also called Madhu Kāṇḍa, and there are six sections. Each section is called a brāhmaṇa.
First Three Sections: Expansion of Mind
The first three sections are to elevate our mind by taking support of three individual objects. We have to expand our mind and identify ourselves with the larger whole.
- First object: Aśva (horse). Contemplate upon the different limbs of that horse, and imagine that the whole universe is represented in the form of a horse. "The head is this, the different parts are these." This is called Virāṭ Upāsanā. Upāsanā means contemplation – contemplation that this is not an individual horse; it represents the whole universe. This Virāṭ meditation is done upon an object temporarily taken as a support, and this is called Aśva Medha Yāga.
- Second section: Agni Brāhmaṇam. It takes the same goal, but it takes fire as an object and identifies it with the universal thing – Agni Virāṭ Upāsanā.
- Third section: Udgītha Brāhmaṇam. Here also fire or prāṇa is taken as Virāṭ.
This is how we expand our mind. What is an upāsanā? That which breaks our narrow individuality and makes us identify with the entire universe. That is the purpose of upāsanā or contemplation in any language. For example, in Christianity, when they say Mass, then the body of Christ: "This is my blood, this is my flesh." The bread and the wine represent. This is called ālambana or support. It is not the physical bread. That is why as soon as a devotee consumes a thin wafer of this bread, he feels "my flesh has become Christ's flesh; my blood has become Christ's blood" – that means "I have become Christ". And who is Christ? "I am the son of God." And who is the son of God? "I am the manifestation of the unmanifested, unmanifestable God, as it were." So that is called upāsanā, contemplation.
Fourth Section: Puruṣa Vidha Brāhmaṇam
In the fourth section, we see it is called Puruṣa Vidha Brāhmaṇam. What is Puruṣa Vidha Brāhmaṇam? He is the all-pervading reality. Here, Hiraṇyagarbha or the Saguṇa Brahma is glorified as the great creator.
For that purpose, how do we understand this whole universe as a manifestation of Brahman? According to the Taittirīya visualization, first ātman became the five elements. But here it is said: God created; He became Manu and the other; He divided Himself into male and female, Manu and Śatarūpā; He became humans, He became cows, He became goats, He became horses, He became everything. What does it mean? That means He is the root cause. Anything that is made up of dough becomes different forms of cakes; clay becomes different pots; ornaments are nothing but manifestations of formless gold, etc.
These created beings are divided into four castes – brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya and śūdra – with different duties in life for them, and that is done according to the manifestation of one of the three guṇas: sattva, rajas and tamas.
It is also told that a jīva lives in his own world and he becomes the enjoyer and he becomes the enjoyed. When he enjoys the world, he is called the enjoyer. When the world enjoys him, then he becomes the object. So he becomes both an enjoyer and an object of enjoyment. That is part of the superimposition.
The Threefold Manifestation: Nāma, Rūpa, Karma
Then we get the whole superimposition summed up in the form of nāma, rūpa and karma. The whole universe is nothing but name, form, and function. All three are now further reduced to the physical body. If we know how to handle our body, purify it, use it properly, then we progress, then we develop discrimination, and then we give up our identity with the physical body and identify gradually, step by step, with the prāṇamaya kośa, manomaya kośa, vijñānamaya kośa and ānandamaya kośa.
Slowly, going beyond all these pañcakośas, going beyond all the three bodies (sthūla, sūkṣma, kāraṇa), we understand:
1. I am ātman. 2. I am the first – everything is God. 3. I am that God. 4. The whole universe is nothing but God.
This is the essence of the first chapter of this Upaniṣad.
As I said, it is also called Madhukāṇḍa, meaning the whole universe is related. Every part is related to every part. Every part is connected with every other part. This is the holistic view, and looking at it this way, we are able to look as one unit – that is called Brahman or ātman.
Śaṅkarācārya’s Commentaries (Bhāṣyas) on the First Chapter
The great Śaṅkarācārya is one of the ācāryas, and we are following closely. He wrote several versions, and in this first chapter we have several elaborate versions.
1. Sambandha Bhāṣya
Even before starting his commentary on the Bṛhadāraṇyaka, he gives a Sambandha Bhāṣya. This is the first bhāṣya, and for every Upaniṣad he does the same thing. He summarizes and takes up some important points and then thoroughly discusses to tell us that the whole world is nothing but karma.
- What is bondage? Karma.
- What is the way to liberation? Again karma.
But karma is an instrument which should lead us to citta śuddhi. That is why it is called Karma Yoga. By whatever name we call – Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Rāja Yoga, Jñāna Yoga – they are nothing but Karma Yoga only; they are parts of Karma Yoga.
- When we use emotion as the main support in Karma Yoga, it is called Bhakti Yoga.
- When we use our willpower, that is called Rāja Yoga.
- When we use our intellect as the most important part of Karma Yoga, it is called Jñāna Yoga.
- When we use our duties as befitting our birth, our age in life, etc. (called varṇa dharmas and āśrama dharmas), if we can discharge these duties, then slowly we progress. That is called Karma Yoga.
Never ever think that Karma Yoga is a separate yoga unrelated to Bhakti, Rāja and Jñāna. No. No yoga can be separated. All fall under action. A bhakta (devotee) has to work hard. A jñānī has to work hard in the form of discrimination, controlling the mind, controlling the diet, etc. Everybody has to do that. Controlling the mind – that Karma Yoga is called Rāja Yoga or mastery of the mind. So everything falls under Karma Yoga only.
That is why Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa says in the Gospel: "Even to think 'I am Brahman', even to meditate 'I am Brahman', that is also karma only." Nobody can escape karma, but through karma one can get out of karma, like the pole vault. With the help of the pole we rise high and cross the barrier, but then we become separated from the very pole. So Karma Yoga makes us realize "I am Brahman", and karma drops away. He wants to tell that Karma Yoga is essential, but Karma Yoga should be understood properly. Karma Yoga should lead to that true understanding: "I am not the body-mind; I have nothing to do with karma; I am the ātman." Why? Karma is meant to fulfill desires. All desires belong either to the body or mind. When I have no desires because I am everything, then karma becomes useless. But karma should gradually lead us to that conclusion. This is called Sambandha Bhāṣya.
2. Ghaṭa Bhāṣya (Second Section)
Some people doubt: "There was nothing, no God, no creation; suddenly creation has come with a big bang." For that, Śaṅkarācārya takes it and says: "No, everything must have a cause. But before creation, the cause is in the form of unmanifest – unmanifested form, unmanifested name, unmanifested action – but it does not mean it is zero or non-existence." For that he takes the example of a pot. A pot cannot come into being without clay, but clay contains the pot already in an unmanifest form. What the potter does is not create something outside the clay; he fashions the clay with the help of a potter's wheel into a particular shape, and then it acquires a special form, acquires a special name, acquires a special utility. This is what he wants to establish. In Sanskrit, a pot is called ghaṭa, and Śaṅkara uses this word ghaṭa umpteen number of times; therefore it is called Ghaṭa Bhāṣya. This comes in the second section.
3. Pramāṇa Bhāṣya (Third Section)
In the third section, we got Pramāṇa Bhāṣya. What is pramāṇam? There are some people who doubt the very validity of the Vedas. So how to understand what is a pramāṇa? For that purpose, we have to take our direct experience and then inference, postulation, comparison, etc., including absence of an object. That is beautifully discussed to establish that everything in the Veda is a pramāṇa, including the mahāvākyas, etc.
4. Praveśa Bhāṣya (Fourth Section)
In the fourth section, we get Praveśa Bhāṣya: tat sṛṣṭvā, tadeva, anupraviśat – "God created, Brahman created and entered." What is the meaning of this "entrance"? A long discussion, but the essence is that Brahman is available inside our own heart. That availability of Brahman in the heart is called "Brahman entering into the heart" – not physical entry, not intellectual entry, but we take it as "it is available". Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa says: "A zamindar can be anywhere in his vast lands, but often he is found in his drawing room, where he is easily available." So that is called Praveśa Bhāṣyam – elaborate discussion: "Brahman created the world and entered; what is this entry? Brahman's availability in the jīva, that's all, because we consider ourselves as jīva." So by taking the support of the mahāvākya "I am Brahman", we have to meditate upon Brahman in the cave of our own heart.
ज्योति राज्योति उज्ज्वला हृदिकन्दर तुमितम भञ्जनहर्
jyoti rājyoti ujjvalā hṛdikandara tumitama bhañjanahar
This is the essence of the Praveśa Bhāṣyam.
5. Vidyā Sūtra Bhāṣya and Avidyā Sūtra
In the seventh mantra (in this fourth section), we get Vidyā Sūtra Bhāṣyam. What is the Vidyā Sūtra word? Aham brahmāsmi – "I am alone Brahman." Brahmātmaiti eva upāsīta. This is called Vidyā Sūtra.
Then we get Avidyā Sūtra. What is Avidyā Sūtra? "I am separate from God" – which means "I am separate from everything else". That is called Avidyā Sūtra. There is a beautiful elaboration.
6. Mahāvākya Bhāṣyam (Fourth Section, Tenth Mantra)
Then there is a Mahāvākya Bhāṣyam. We get it in the fourth section, tenth mantra, wherein one of the mahāvākyas – Aham brahmāsmi – is discussed. First chapter, fourth section, tenth mantra:
अहम् ब्रह्मास्मि
aham brahmāsmi
The identity of jīvātma and paramātma was elaborately discussed and established. What is a mahāvākya? That the individual and the universal – there are no such two things; there is only one.
Important Mantras in the First Chapter
There are some important mantras we have to understand.
First Mantra: Naiva kiñcana agre āsīt
The famous mantra:
नैव किञ्चनाग्रे आसीत्
naiva kiñcanāgre āsīt
What does it mean? "In the beginning, nothing is manifest." That means everything is in the form of the unmanifest.
Fourth Section: Ātmaivedam agre āsīt
In the fourth section we get:
आत्मैवेदमग्रे आसीत्
ātmaivedam agre āsīt
" In the beginning, there was only one existing, and that is called Ātman and He is called Puruṣa." He saw everywhere, and then He said:
अहम् अस्मि
aham asmi
"There is nobody He did not see. The Ātman did not see anything else other than the Ātman. So He said 'I am'." That is why we use "I am" before adding anything else.
Fourth Section, Eighth Mantra
In this fourth section again, we get a most marvelous psychological fact:
प्रियोऽन्यस्मात् सर्वस्मात्
priyo'nyasmāt sarvasmāt
"The Ātman is the closest, nearest, dearest to everybody. Anything that we do is only because we love the Ātman. When we do not get this Ātman, we discard it. This Ātman is dearer than one's own dearest child. It is dearer than any wealth, and it is dearer than everything else: sarvasmāt anyasmāt antara taram – I am Ātman."
Fourth Section, Tenth Mantra
ब्रह्मव इदमग्रे आसीत्
brahmava idam agre āsīt
"In the beginning, Brahman was alone." Tad ātmanāmevā aham brahmāsmi – "It knew 'I am Brahman'." Therefore it knows "I am everything". Whoever realizes "I am Brahman, I am everything" becomes free from slavery to gods, to this body, to this mind, to the pañcakośas. There were many people who had this realization. One of the ṛṣis called Vāmadeva said after realization:
अहम् मनोः अहम् सूर्यः
aham manoḥ aham sūryaḥ
"I am Manu, I am Sūrya, I am everything else."
Fourth Section, Eleventh Mantra
ब्रह्मव इदमग्रे आसीत् एकमेव
brahmava idam agre āsīt ekameva
"In the beginning, there was only Brahman, one without a second."
The seventeenth mantra also more or less repeats this one.
Transition to the Second Chapter
These are some of the important mantras we get. Now, from the next class onwards, we will be entering into the second chapter. What is the essence of the second chapter? This chapter features the most marvelous conversation between Ajātaśatru and Gārgīya, which we will be seeing in our next class tomorrow.
Closing Prayer
ॐ जननीं शारदां देवीं रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुम् ।पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहुः
Om Jānānāṃ Śāradāṃ Devīṃ Rāmakṛṣṇaṃ Jagadgurum Pada Padme Tayo Śṛtvā Praṇamāmi Muhur Muhuh
May Rāmakṛṣṇa, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekānanda bless us all with Bhakti.
Jai Rāmakṛṣṇa!