Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.2 4.1-5 Lecture 62 on 23 August 2026

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

Opening Invocation

ओं जननीं शारदां देवीं रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुं, पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहुः.

Oṃ jananīṃ śāradāṃ devīṃ rāmakṛṣṇaṃ jagadguruṃ, pādapadme tayoḥ śritvā praṇamāmi muhurmuhuḥ.

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.

Introduction: The Essence of Yājñavalkya's Teaching

In our last class, in this Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, in this most inspiring dialogue between Yājñavalkya and Maitreyī, what did we see? We saw that in this world there is no one who is different from me. "Me" means the Self – Ātman. I am not the body, because the body is a limiting adjunct. I am not the mind – the mind is also another limiting adjunct. So the goal is to realise "I am limitless," which means I am beyond all limiting limitations – that is the body, the mind – that is the entire creation.

The Consequence of Seeing Difference

Graphically, Yājñavalkya describes: he who thinks that this Brāhmaṇa, this Kṣatriya, etc., or anything including the smallest atom, is different from me – that person will be also rejected. In fact, no one need reject us – if I go away from you or if you go away from me, the result is the same. So mentally going away – mentally not identifying with anything in this world – that is called keeping something or knowing something as different, as separate, as distinct from me. And what is the distance? Infinite distance.

Ignorance Creates Distance

We have to understand that in avidyā – ignorance – even one millimeter away from us can be a trillion, trillion, zillion miles away from us. Suppose we are very hungry, and somebody had kept food just near our hand on the table, but it is covered up. But I had forgotten about it or I was not informed about it. Even though it is so near – all that I need to do is to stretch my hand, take the food – I am suffering from terrible hunger; I can remove that hunger – but because of this ignorance, even this distance, as if it does not exist at all. That is the sense we have to take. The moment any one of us keeps anything away – not physically, but mentally – "I am not this object," then that object is as if a billion miles away from us. This is called ignorance.

Limitation Breeds Limitation

And in what sense? We should not say "I am this body, I am this mind, and this object is far, even separate from me." Because we do not need to say that. The moment we identify with any limiting adjunct, then everything becomes limited – I become limited, everything else becomes limited. I limit everything, everything also limits me. But the Upaniṣad wants to tell us: nothing is away from existence, and this existence is experienced every millisecond by us as what? "I am the waker, I am the dreamer, I am the sleeper – this is a tree, this is a table, this is a human being" – that "I am," "this is" – that is the expression of existence.

Existence Cannot Be Separated

So everything is merged in that existence. Everything can never be separated from existence, because anything that does not exist – such a thing does not exist at all. We cannot experience it at all. So that is the idea. Giving earlier eleven examples: he who thinks that "I love this object" eleven times – he is wrong. Everything is beloved because of Ātman – because that is also existence. I am also existent; everything is existent. And existence is not only existence – existence is of the nature of pure consciousness – cit. Existence, by the way, is sat. Where there is sat, that is the cit. When it is outside, that we call sat. When we think about it, we have knowledge about it – we call it cit. "I am aware I am. I am aware this is a tree, this is a man," etc.

Deep Sleep Is Also Limited

Even in deep sleep, that sense of "I am" never leaves, and that is also limited by time, space, and causation. How is deep sleep limited by these three? Suppose someone is sleeping at a place which is not comfortable, which is uneven – so he cannot sleep properly. Then even if he sleeps, it is a broken sleep – that is spatial limitation. And suppose you are asked – I have seen funny things: people traveling in a bus or even train – train means like London Underground – they catch hold of something – a bar will be there, iron bar, steel bar – and I have seen if the travel is twenty minutes, thirty minutes, the person goes off to sleep even in that state, even though unconsciously he is holding onto the bar – but whenever there is a jerk, then he comes awake. So space affects our sleep.

Causes of Disturbance

Time is also a cause – or because space disturbs, or there is a cause – maybe somebody is shouting, maybe some insect is crawling and trying to bite me – so anything can be a cause. Time is a cause, space is a cause, or any object can be a cause for my disturbance – or even a thought in that person's mind that suppose he came to know soon there will be many workers made redundant – so the person gets worried: "Maybe I am one of them" – until it is clear, he is worried. That worry keeps him awake also. So nothing in this world is unlimited – it is completely limited. That is our experience.

The Truth Is Oneness

But what is the truth? The truth is we are all one – from the viewpoint of "is‑ness," from the viewpoint of existence, from the viewpoint of consciousness, even from the viewpoint of ānanda – bliss. How come we are like this? How can we be one? Because ānanda cannot be accepted – that is what our logic, our reasoning tells us – our happiness is followed by unhappiness. But no – what is unhappiness looked at properly? Less happiness is unhappiness. More happiness – that is what we usually call happiness – or less suffering is more happiness. So we have to learn how to look not only at ourselves but at everything in this world from the viewpoint of "is‑ness" – and that "is‑ness" minus names and forms is called Brahman – and that is the goal, and that is the truth, and that has to be realised.

The Goal: Realisation of Ātman

So Yājñavalkya has said: ātmā vā are draṣṭavyaḥ – "Ātman should be realised" – as what? "I am the Ātman, I am the Brahman, I am Sat-Cit-Ānanda Svarūpa." But we are ignorant. What is the distance from Ātman to anātman? Infinite. But really it is not a distance – ignorance is the distance. As I just now mentioned, even food is twelve inches away from us – but if we are not aware of it, for all that we know, it can be a trillion‑trillion‑zillion miles away from us.

Expanding the Self

So Yājñavalkya had taught: look upon your mother as yourself, look upon your father as yourself – that means as Ātman, as Brahman, as existent, as Sat-Cit-Ānanda. Look upon your teacher, then atithi – atithi means what? Thereafter, go on extending until there remains nothing excepting infinity. In simple words: nothing is finite – everything is infinite.

Ignorance as the Prism

Ignorance – when we have ignorance – and that ignorance manifests in the form of time, space, and causation – through the prism of these consisting of time, space, causation – when whatever we look at, the Infinity also looks finite only. So the Ātman has to be realised. We should not even use the word "one without a second" – even that is wrong. Then neti neti – there is nothing excepting that which remains after denying, after rejecting all sorts of dualities – and that is what is called true knowledge: that there is only God, Ātman, Brahman, myself – whatever name you choose to call it.

Everything Is the Self

Then we have seen that in the last class, we have seen idaṃ sarvaṃ ātmaiva – "This Brāhmaṇa caste, this Kṣatriya caste, these worlds, these gods, these creatures – and why go on expanding? The worlds – this entire creation – all this is nothing but the Self."

Brahman as the Cause

Now Yājñavalkya wants to explain how everything is the Self – how the entire creation is nothing but Brahman. For that, we also had discussed – yesterday I gave a long introduction – Yājñavalkya takes here in the next coming few ślokas: Brahman is the sṛṣṭi-kāraṇam – cause of creation. He is the cause of maintenance – sthiti – and He is the cause of laya – sṛṣṭi, sthiti, laya. In devotional language, Brahman as it were becomes Saguṇa Brahma, and He is called by the one – Brahman is called the creator, the sustainer, and the dissolver. But they have given, according to the function, Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Maheśvara. The same person is given different names depending upon a particular activity anybody is doing. Suppose there is a man – he is a doctor, so when he sees patients and tries to help them, he is a doctor. And when he visits his friend's house, he is a friend. When he goes to the swimming pool, he is a swimmer. When he attends a musical concert, he is a music lover. When he books a ticket in a restaurant, then he is a connoisseur of very tasty food.

Brahman as Both Causes

Coming back – in order to make us understand, Brahman is the creator. Now when we talk about creation, there are two types of creators: that is, the material cause as well as the intelligent cause. A normal example: we take it – a potter makes a pot. The potter is the intelligent cause, and the clay is the material cause, and the potter's wheel is the instrumental cause. You can apply it to ornaments also – the goldsmith is the intelligent cause, gold is the material cause, and there are instruments to make it – the fire for example to melt it, and the particular mould into which he wants to pour this melted gold in order to bring out a required ornament.

Brahman as Both

So here, what is Brahman? Is He the intelligent cause or the material cause? He is both intelligent as well as material. Why should we say so? Because before creation, there was ekamevā – sadeva somya idam agra āsīt – only sat – pure existence. That means pure existence, pure consciousness, pure bliss – that is the definition of Brahman – svarūpa-lakṣaṇa. And what is the secondary indicator, which is called taṭastha-lakṣaṇa? Svarūpa-lakṣaṇa is the real nature; taṭastha-lakṣaṇa is the indicated nature: He is the root cause of the creation, of the sustenance, and of the resolution. This we have seen in the Taittirīya Upaniṣad – sṛṣṭi, sthiti, laya kāraṇam – how He became gradually manifesting grosser and grosser – so from ākāśa to pṛthvī, etc. You have to recollect all those things.

Creation Is Brahman with Names and Forms

So Brahman is both the material as well as the intelligent cause of the creation, because both must be present before the creation – otherwise creation cannot be done. So we should not take the example of a potter and the clay, because after creation, the intelligent cause is separated. The material cause is also separated – so the material cause becomes the Sat, and the intelligent cause becomes the Cit. And when the product is used properly, then it becomes the cause of Ānanda. So what is this creation? That is what is going to be told. Creation is the manifestation of Brahman only, but with names and forms. And as we have seen in the Chāndogya, names and forms are not substance – it is not an object. You simply take a knife and say from a necklace – "I got the necklace from the gold" – no, it is nothing but pure gold only, but in a particular form and with a particular name. So Brahman plus names and forms is called creation; creation minus names and forms is called Brahman.

The Three Examples – Drum, Conch, and Vīṇā

For this purpose – for how He is the sṛṣṭi-kāraṇam – three examples are given. Yesterday we talked about them: a drum, a conch, and a vīṇā. What did we discuss? Let there be thousands of creatures – every creature produces its own sound. Every musical instrument produces its own sound, and all of us know about it. So there is a sādhāraṇa śabda – common sound – and that common sound is only special for each musical instrument. That is how we are able to separate the sound of a drum, the sound of a conch, and the sound of a vīṇā. I do not know whether there is any special English word for this word vīṇā – it is a famous instrument, as I mentioned. So that must be there – must have been there even in those days – some kind of stringed instruments, because people could create it from the very beginning.

Common Sound and Special Sounds

So what is the way – every human being, every animal, every insect, for example – you hear at night some sound, immediately you come to understand "this is a cricket sound." Now very interesting point: suppose there is a cacophony of crickets, and you take the example of two – one after the other, both of them are producing their own sounds. Now how did you distinguish? "These are two separate crickets" – there must be some subtle difference by which you can understand, because if you do not understand, then whether it is one cricket producing continuous sound or many crickets one after the other producing sound, you will not be able to distinguish. But we know – even if there are a thousand vīṇās, they all do not sound exactly the same. So much subtlety is necessary.

Crow Intelligence

Coming back – first we understand, we grasp the sāmānya or sādhāraṇa śabda – common sound. But how do we grasp? "This is a human being speaking, shouting, crying – this is a dog barking." And then even among the barkings of dogs – just to mention the example given earlier like crickets – every dog has got its own peculiar sound. Every wolf has got its own peculiar sound, and the wolves understand it better than anything else. It is a marvellous science. I think I mentioned it, but I should mention – recently one of the greatest discoveries of scientists is that the common crows that we hear – every crow makes its own particular sound, because the instrument through which the air passes cannot be equal in every one of them. So these crows are so intelligent that they have invented a language which no human being could ever interpret – but the A.I. has been fed with these recordings. And do you know what is the astonishing fact that came? That these crows are observing all human beings, and they have distinguished: "This is a saintly person – because he leaves plenty of food for us. This is a miserly fellow – he does not leave anything, even if he has to throw some useless food – he hides it in such a way that we cannot access. This person pelts us. This person is good." Not only they understand it, but they spread that information. As soon as they come to know, "Be aware of this person – but if you go to this person's house, there is likely more food – he is a harmless person." Just as we judge people, we judge cows, we judge everything – we judge. So they are also having that same intelligence.

Consciousness in All Creatures

If crows can be so intelligent, who can dare to say that mosquitoes do not have their own language? I think it is there, because the same Brahman is manifesting as Sat, as Cit, and as Ānanda – any living creature manifests Cit and Ānanda. Only inert things manifest only one aspect of Brahman, which is called Sat.

The Seven Notes

Coming back to our subject: we all have this knowledge of the common sound, and after the common sound, special modifications of that sound. As I mentioned, there are seven notes – sā, rī, gā, mā, pā, dha, nī – in ascending and descending order. So these are the modifications. And through the – not only seven – actually, for example, the second note rī and the third note gā, the fourth note mā – dha, nī, rī, gā, ma – out of the seven notes, sā has no variation and pā also has no variation. Pā is called the fifth – it is also called cuckoo sound – koilāsvara – and musicians know it. So seven plus five – twelve variations are there, but they are part of the seven only. That is why they are taken as seven notes.

The Common Sound and Special Sounds

So when a person hears drum sound – sometimes you should see on YouTube – an expert is mouthing some of these notes, and the expert tabla players are producing them so accurately – we have to be astonished that they mix up with like that. So drum has a common sound – the same drum also high pitch, low pitch, etc. All the seven notes can be produced through that. But what is it? Without understanding the common sound, we can never understand the special sounds. The common sound can be without the special notes, but the special notes can never exist without a common sound.

The Wax Garden Analogy

That means existence is common. And when this existence – I have given you the example of a wax garden – so wax is the only material, but you can make different forms and appropriate names for all those forms are given. So rūpa and nāma – in common language, we always use the word nāma first, rūpa later on – but actually it should be rūpa and nāma. According to the form, a specific symbol is attached to it for the comprehension of what that object is.

The Twin Boys Example

So this is what Yājñavalkya wants to say – that Brahman, through this example, is the common material, and every form – of course after the form, a special name is given. Even if there are twins – usually in India, if there are two twin boys, they are given Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa. And then sometimes they are astonishingly similar – so the mother can get confused; she may feed one baby twice and not at all feed the other. So for her it is very difficult – if a mother cannot distinguish between two twins, what to speak of other people. So she puts a left earring and a right earring – the eldest one left earring, the other one right earring. Thus she understands: "I have fed this right‑eared fellow; now I will feed the left‑eared fellow."

The Examples of Drum, Conch, and Vīṇā

Now what are these examples? So first, the sound of the conch. In Kerala, there is a festival and it is called Oṇam, and then thousands of these conchs, and there are people who could produce various types of sounds. In the Bhagavad Gītā: sañjaya uvāca – tasya sañjanayan harṣaṃ kuruvṛddhaḥ pitāmahaḥ, siṃhanādaṃ vinadyoccaiḥ śaṅkhaṃ dadhmau pratāpavān – when this sound was heard, these special sounds – pāñcajanyaṃ hṛṣīkeśo, devadattaṃ dhanañjayaḥ – so their hearts started almost having a heart attack, because their own guilt already had created that fear – because everybody knows the truth alone triumphs, mostly unconsciously, but some very consciously: satyameva jayate.

The Essence of the Teaching

So Yājñavalkya wanted to teach: "Just as, my dear Maitreyī, when you hear the common sound of a drum, the common sound of a conch, the common sound of a vīṇā – then only you can grasp the special sounds that are produced according to the seven notes that are there. So just like that, Brahman is comparable to that common sound, and every blessed manifestation is comparable to – with nāma, rūpa – forms and names." That is the essence of what he wants to teach here.

Mantra 7 – The Drum

So here goes the mantra: sa yathā dundubheḥ āhanamānasya na bāhyān śabdān śaknuyāt grahaṇāya, dundubheḥ tu grahaṇe na dundubheḥ āghāta-śabdaḥ gṛhītaḥ – "Just as when a drum is beaten, one cannot catch its external sounds distinctly, but by grasping the drum itself or the person beating the drum, the sound is grasped."

The Meaning

What does it mean? It means external sounds – means not sounds of vīṇā, sounds of conch, etc. When a drum is being beaten, the first thing we understand is: "Ahh – I know this is the sound of tablā, this is the sound of mṛdaṅgam or any percussion instrument" – it does not really matter. So this is what I know. After that, different sounds that an expert mṛdaṅgam or tablā player produces are grasped, and then they are enjoyed depending upon the expertise of the person.

The Common Sound as Existence

So what does Yājñavalkya want to convey through this example? Unless you first focus your mind upon the "is‑ness" – existence aspect of Brahman – because contemplation on "is‑ness" is contemplation on existence, and existence is nothing but Brahman. So the comparison: now the common sound is comparable to existence, or existence itself. Another name for existence is Brahman. But as in this example, all the special sounds that come are the different modifications of every single object. For example, here is a baby – but does he remain a baby? So he is two days old, six months old, five years old, then twenty years old, fifty years old, eighty years old – all these changes are happening to that baby. You cannot go on using that word "baby." But that existence of that person's personality in the form of body and mind – that should be first grasped, and we never forget about it, because we say: "You – there is not much change in you. You are behaving exactly like the same person that I knew when you were a baby." The grown‑ups who grew up with Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa – they used to see him in his middle age, say: "My goodness – nothing had changed. He is exactly like the person we knew when we were children playing together."

Brahman Manifesting in Forms

So that is how we have to understand: Brahman is existence, and Brahman is consciousness, Brahman is ānanda – Sat-Cit-Ānanda. But that Brahman is manifesting in different forms, and every different form is a viśeṣa – a special sound of a drum, of a conch, of a vīṇā. But not only that – every object in this world is continuously undergoing a lot of changes. Nothing remains exactly the same. Even a river, a forest, a mountain – they are never the same. There is birth, there is growth, and there is slowly decaying. And then even the Himālayas, Mount Everest – the height is coming down because it is melting. Deserts grow – and they say a thousand years a desert, a thousand years a city. Maybe a thousand years is a small amount of time, but in course of time, what is a desert becomes a city; what is a city becomes a desert. Nothing remains absolutely the same. The forest becomes a desert; desert becomes a forest. A huge ice cap is nothing but a small bit of water, and in course of time, because of the changes of the climate etc., it can freeze over and become ice – go on accumulating. So there are formations of ice in both the northern and southern hemispheres which are millions of years old – scientists are studying now, whatever it is.

Applying the Principle

So these three examples – we discussed in detail about the common sound of a drum, special sounds of the drum, etc. And the same principle has to be applied to both, not only the drum, to the conch, and to the vīṇā, and to the sitār, and to a mosquito, and to a bird – how many varieties the birds can sing! But there is a common sound for every bird. Funnily, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa gives the example: however much you teach a parrot "Hare Rāma, Hare Kṛṣṇa," but when a cat catches it, its normal sound comes out.

Without Recognising the Common, You Cannot Understand

So sa yathā dundubheḥ – "Just as when a drum is beaten, one cannot catch its external sounds distinctly, but first grasp the drum sound itself, and then all the special sounds can be grasped." So without recognising the commonness – which is called existence, which is called Brahman – you cannot understand. But what do we do? Unconsciously we recognise: "Oh, this tree is – this is a tree, this is an animal, this is a human being, this is a table, this is a house." That is is very common. But if we can understand, focus upon that first, and the rest is only a manifestation of different shapes, different names, etc., then such a person becomes a jñānī, an illumined person. But when we forget about existence, and pay attention only to rūpa and nāma, then we suffer.

The Psychology of Money

That is why most of us – "I did not have money" – then I was worried. "I had money" – I seem to be a little more happy – not always. But when I lose the money again, then I am not happy. Not only that – funny things happen – we should enjoy psychology a little bit; it contributes to a huge amount of happiness. There is a rich man – he had become old, and he can have anything that he wants – not really, but many things he can have – but he has lost the capacity to enjoy because of old age, because of disease, because of worries, because of relatives, because of anything. Then that person is not happy at all, and he can become jealous also: "My servants are eating away all my first‑class dishes cooked for me but owed to me. I am an unfortunate person – I cannot enjoy it." So if somebody can recognise first the existence aspect, and then attribute everything else to that common knowledge called Brahman – that means Brahman, and this is Brahman with nāma-rūpa. But if we focus upon only the nāma-rūpa, the names and forms, then we lose our happiness, because it comes and goes. But if we hold on to Brahman, everything happens.

Mantra 8 – The Conch

So he says: sa yathā śaṅkhasya dhmāyamānasya na bāhyān śabdān śaknuyāt grahaṇāya, śaṅkhasya tu grahaṇe na śaṅkha-āghāta-śabdaḥ gṛhītaḥ – "Just as when a conch shell is blown, one cannot catch its special sounds distinctly, but by grasping the conch shell itself, then the sound is grasped, enjoyed thoroughly."

Mantra 9 – The Vīṇā

Similarly, in the ninth mantra: sa yathā vīṇāyāḥ vādhyamānāyāḥ na bāhyān śabdān śaknuyāt grahaṇāya, vīṇāyāḥ tu grahaṇe na vīṇā-āghāta-śabdaḥ gṛhītaḥ – "Just as when a lute or vīṇā is played, one cannot catch its variations through the seven notes distinctly, but by grasping the lute itself or the lute player, the sound is grasped."

The Masters of Music

Yes – I wanted to express something which is beautiful: when the player of percussion instruments – a drum or a mṛdaṅgam or tablā, etc. – you know, sometimes they speak out that particular word – dhā, dhi, dhu, dhā, tadi-ghatam, tadi-ghatam – like that – and they sing, and then they play – and you will see how wonderfully they match together. So they are masters of their own particular knowledge. So those who play vīṇā or musicians generally understand all the saptasvaras with their special modifications which make for the navarasas. In fact, all the seven notes plus those five modified notes – twelve, let us say – when they are mixed up in a particular combination, then they produce appropriate feeling, and that is what we feel. Some songs are sad, some songs are happy songs – some express separation, some express humour, etc.

The Root of All

So this is what Yājñavalkya wanted to teach: Brahman is like this basic material, and we are not able to grasp that basic material out of which this entire creation is – specialized sounds, specialized forms, specialized names. And by the way, all the notes are nothing but forms of that particular sound only. If somebody is angry, for example, it is an angry sound. Somebody is laughing – laughing sound – we see in literature coming like that.

The Three Mantras

So these three mantras – through these three examples – Yājñavalkya wanted to teach to Maitreyī that Brahman is the very root. Everything else is the special growth. And that is what Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa wants to tell: ūrdhva-mūlam adhaḥ-śākham aśvatthaṃ prāhur avyayam – "The root cause of this entire saṃsāra is coming from that special tree." But where are the roots? Just as when we see the roots – it is firmly anchored in the earth, so that even if an elephant shakes, most of the time it remains unshaken. So children can climb, they can play – Kṛṣṇa used to play and then throw all the ripe mangoes down to his companions. But that is not the only thing – his palm fruits, everything – so his favourite place: sit and hide there and steal all the sarees of the Gopīs – one of his favourites. But whatever he does, there is a meaning, there is a teaching – that is what we need to understand.

Everything Has a Teaching

Not only that – whatever happens to us in our life has a meaning, as a teaching. But we must keep our eyes alert to learn: "What am I going to learn from this particular thing?"

Brahman as the Sustainer

Now he goes to sthiti-kāraṇam – that is, how Brahman alone is creating. Brahman alone is sustaining everything that emanates from Brahman, and for that also he gives – the entire creation has come, and the creation always means the beginning, the sustenance, and the going back. Everything in this universe is coming out, being sustained for some time, and it goes out. For that, he gives an example of wet fuel. So if it is dry fuel, it will be consumed very quickly. So what happens when we light up somewhat wet firewood? Then what happens? There would be fire, there would be sparks, there would be smoke – many things – smoke will be there.

The Example of Wet Fuel

That is what is being said: as from a fire kindled with damp fuel, clouds of smoke distinct from one another issue forth – so even so, my dear. So the Ṛgveda, Yajurveda, Sāmaveda, Atharvaveda, Aṅgirasa – that is Ṛgveda, Yajurveda, Sāmaveda, Atharvaṇaveda – everything has come out. And not only that – Itihāsa, Purāṇa, Vidyā, Upaniṣad, ślokas – everything has come out. But the first mention is these four Vedas.

Why the Vedas?

What is why He has particularly mentioned the Vedas instead of saying "I started creating the inert beings and then from inorganic it became slowly organic" – He could have said that – but He is telling this that only the śāstras – the knowledge – has come out. What is the Veda? Knowledge. Why knowledge? Because even to say "I am," consciousness is required. What is consciousness? That knowledge that "I am" – knowledge – "I am so‑and‑so" – knowledge – "I am a baby, I grow up, then I will be a young man, I will be a middle‑aged man" – everything is knowledge. Not only about myself – when I experience something, the eyes for example see something – a tree – and then I say, "Oh, I see a tree" – that is nothing but knowledge. So the specialised knowledge that everything is coming from Brahman – Brahman is the material as well as intelligent cause – how do we understand? By understanding. And what is this understanding? That is called knowledge – and that knowledge is called Veda.

Conclusion

Beautiful thoughts – we will talk about them in our next class.

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!