Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.2 4.10-11 Lecture 65 on 05 September 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 Maitreyī-Yājñavalkya Brāhmaṇa

We are studying the Maitreyī-Yājñavalkya Brāhmaṇam. Yājñavalkya started teaching Maitreyī. In our last class, what we saw was that the whole creation is a manifestation of Brahman. We were studying this tenth mantra in this second Brāhmaṇa, fourth chapter, and there he gave a beautiful example.

The Wet Fuel Example

Yājñavalkya gave a very beautiful example: when we put some wet fuel into fire, then what happens? First of all, ārdrāgni – then so much smoke comes out. It will not give pure fire; then sparks will come out. Only when all the wetness has completely been dried up will it give pure fire. But what Yājñavalkya wants to teach is this: the universe is nothing but like that fuel – wet fuel put into the real fire. What is the relationship? Everything – the fire is nothing but the fuel only. But in order for that fuel to become one with the fire, it had to be dried up.

The Fire of Knowledge

Jñānāgniḥ sarva-karmāṇi bhasmasāt kurute – Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa had enumerated it so beautifully in the Bhagavad Gītā that when knowledge – the fire of knowledge, jñānāgni – arises, then it burns all the impurities. But we have to understand slowly. It takes time, but in the end, Bhagavān will remove all the impurities. So all the actions – that means all the desires – are completely burnt out, or rather they become fulfilled when we attain oneness with Brahman.

Cognitive Oneness

And that oneness is nothing but knowledge – cognitive oneness. Not that we ever lost it. We were Brahman, we are Brahman, we will be Brahman. But this cloud of ignorance comes in between and makes us think that we are anātman, not Ātman. But through spiritual practice, slowly our minds, hearts – that means intelligence – becomes pure. As the intelligence becomes purer, the type of thoughts that arise in our minds, the type of actions that we perform, the type of speech that comes from our mouths – all correspond to that purity. That way, slowly we progress. Finally, one realises that one has never been separated from Brahman, and then the person becomes free.

The Potter and the Clay

But what is the connection here? The whole creation is not like a potter making a pot, but like the clay manifesting as innumerable products like pots, etc. This is a small pot, this is a big pot – they are just names and forms. There is no reality to it. They are nothing but pure clay only. Every ornament is nothing but gold. Every furniture is nothing but wood.

Knowledge Precedes Creation

So in order to illustrate that, Yājñavalkya says: "Even so, my dear" – not the entire sṛṣṭi. Here is something very interesting for us to understand. If a poet wants to create a poem, first he must formulate that poem – that is called knowledge – and then he can talk about it. He can write about it, it can be printed, etc. So if a goldsmith is given some gold and asked "I want a ring or an earring, nose ring, necklace" – according to one's wishes, customer's wishes – so he modifies that very gold into what is required. But if the goldsmith has to do that, he requires knowledge: how to melt the gold, what type of mould he has to use, for whom, for whose size. If it is a baby, then the ring must be smaller. If it is a necklace, same. But if it is a grown‑up fat person, a thin small ring will not serve the purpose.

Knowledge Is Required

What is the point? The point is: knowledge is required. So "I have to transform this into this kind of product suitable for this particular purpose." Knowledge is necessary. So the knowledge – how to create, what to create, how many things we have to create – everything is given, and that knowledge which contains all this knowledge, all this information, is called Vedas.

The Vedas Emanated from Brahman

That is why he says: evam vā are – addressing Maitreyī – asya mahataḥ bhūtasya niḥśvasitam – "Just as it is so easy to breathe out" – sometimes it may be difficult to breathe in, but breathing out is not difficult. Evam – in exactly the same way, yathā Ṛgvedaḥ, Yajurvedaḥ, Sāmavedaḥ, Atharvāṅgirasaḥ – the Ṛgveda, Yajurveda, Sāmaveda, Atharvaveda had just emanated from His very breath. He need not have struggled like ourselves.

The Subsidiary Scriptures

Not only that. The subsidiary scriptures – what is a subsidiary scripture? That which explains the main tenets, teachings of the Upaniṣads, Vedas, in crystal‑clear language in the form of stories, fables, analogies, similes, etc. So all these things are called itihāsaḥ. "You get there was a person called Śvetaketu; he was the son of Aruṇa." Like that, it is a real story. There were persons like that. So the person who composed this Chāndogya Upaniṣad came to know. So citing certain facts – when we give lectures, we cite Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa: he was born in Kāmārpukur, then he came to Dakṣiṇeśvara, then he had some Gurus to instruct him; he did this, he did that. That is called iti ha asa – "thus it had taken place." It was thus – what we call in English language, "history."

Purāṇas

Purāṇam – we know mythologies. It is said when Vedic ṛṣis were performing Vedic yajñas and they were chanting from morning till evening – sometimes some yajñas are there which last for twelve years – dvādaśa-varṣa-satrāṇi – ordinary people had complete faith in that, but they may not have the intellectual equipment. For that purpose, there are Paulānikas. These Paulānikas, what do they do? They take the essence and then in the form of stories, they illustrate. For example, we have the story of Satya Harishcandra. We have the stories of – even though the Mahābhārata is considered as a historical piece, from another angle it is nothing but explaining an analogy, explaining deeper truths through the story, narrating the story of the Kauravas and the Pāṇḍavas.

Life Is a Battlefield

Life is a battlefield, and in this battlefield, our bodies and minds are the fields. Here within, the fight is going on from very birth, from the very beginning of our creation. What is the fight? Between evolution and staying in the same place. Something says "I want to evolve"; something says "No, I am quite comfortable where I am, what I am." No – that will not do. This potential divinity is pushing everybody to evolve. So this fight between the good and the evil, between dharma and adharma, between truth and untruth, between knowledge and ignorance, goes on and on and on. So stories are there.

Vidyās – Special Meditations

Then there are vidyās. Vidyā means here some kind of special meditations, etc. Of course, we all know about the Upaniṣads. They are called Vedānta because they come at the end of some greater portion – a Brāhmaṇa, etc. And then there are several ślokas – very meaningful mantras expounding some higher truths.

Sūtras – Aphorisms

Then there is sūtrāṇi. Sūtra means an aphorism. An aphorism is a mnemonic. A mnemonic is a device to remember huge amounts of what we read or what our teacher is trying to pass to us. After a long lecture, summarise the whole thing in a very few sentences. Those sentences, if the student memorises, whenever he remembers the sūtra, then he recollects whatever the teacher had taught.

The Thread Analogy

In fact, a sūtra means a thread. Just as Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa says: somebody buried a great treasure in a lake, and then he tied a small thread and then kept that thread hidden on the bank, and he marked where he kept it. So whenever he wants money, he comes there and goes to the place where the thread is completely tied and hidden, and with that help, slowly he progresses towards the treasure box, takes out what he wants, and then he comes out, ties it back, covers it back, and returns home. So a sūtra is a thread – as we go on pulling, we finally come to the bigger and still bigger truth, and ultimately we reach the highest truth.

Commentaries and Explanatory Notes

And then to these – anuvyākhyānāni, vyākhyānāni – there are commentaries for people who do not understand. Even those commentaries are unable to enlighten, then other people like Ānandagiri add explanatory notes – anuvyākhyānāni. And all these – where from have they come? Asya eva etāni niḥśvasitāni – all these things have come out of that great being, which is Brahman. They are all exhaled from It alone. Exhalation is an illustration of easiness – as if it is nothing – no effort is needed. Just as we breathe in and breathe out, even in our deep sleep, it is like that. So all the effects – which is called saṃsāra, which is called this creation – are from the one consciousness.

The Sustaining Power

And who is going to sustain? If a mother gives birth to a baby, who is going to look after the baby or children? Only the mother – and she nourishes the children by her own flesh and blood, first in the form of milk. What is milk? Mother's flesh diluted to suit the digestive capacity of the children, and sustained by it. Go on sustaining. After some time, of course, the earthly mother cooks, but the Divine Mother – She herself feeds. How does She feed? The food comes in the form of the earth – Annapūrṇā – water. We are sustained by the higher bhūta called waters in the form of Jaladevatā – Gaṅgā, Yamunā, Sarasvatī, or Thames, or Amazon – whatever it is, it is not water, it is not a lifeless element – it is pure manifestation, unadulterated manifestation of the Divine Mother.

The Divine Lord Sustains Everything

Then the sun comes in three forms. He produces food with the help of the moon. He endows it with tremendous nutrients, and then he created earthly fire through which we cook our food. Not only that, what we call pickles, etc. – they are all dried by the sunlight alone. And then we eat it, we cook it, we eat it. Can we digest it? No. Again, the same Divine Lord – the Agni Devatā, Sūrya Devatā – Sun God, Fire God – manifests in our stomachs in each body in the form of Vaiśvānara Agni – digestive power.

The Cycle of Energy

Look at the wolf, look at tigers and deer and every animal. They require whatever energy is required – that food is reconverted back. What is food? Energy converted for our sake is called food. What is digestion? Food reconverted back into energy – and that is what happens. So it is the Divine Lord in the form of Agni. So He produces, then He makes it cooked – He cooks it for our easy digestion – and then even after that, He digests it for us and then He sustains us. All that He wants: "Recognise Me as your mother, as your father" – that is all.

Sṛṣṭi, Sthiti, Laya

So that is sṛṣṭi – creation; sthiti – maintenance, sustenance; laya – and also every effect must go back to its cause. So we have seen how the whole thing has come out of that great being – not with effort, effortlessly – just as we breathe very easily, unconsciously. How many of you are taking count of how many times you are breathing in and breathing out, unless somebody is suffering from asthma, etc.? Then we value how valuable this freely provided oxygen is, how valuable carbon dioxide is. So we are depending upon somebody, and somebody else is also depending upon us. That is the process going on.

The Pauranic Trio

But who sustains it? The sustenance power also is given to us in the form of the body, in the form of the mind. And to illustrate this – not only Brahman is manifesting, which is called creation – the sustenance, which we call in Pauranic language, Brahmā is the creator, Viṣṇu is the sustainer, and Parameśvara – Śiva, Rudra – is the one unto which or He takes us back into Himself – that is called laya, mergence.

Brahman as the Five Elements

Now first, creation is described – the whole creation is nothing but manifestation of Brahman. Then who is going to sustain it as long as it does not go back? It is only Brahman in the form of the five elements. We have seen three elements. For us to sustain – for every living creature – we need to breathe. Even sharks, whales – they can go to the very depths of an ocean, but every now and then they have to come out to take that sustenance called oxygen. Plants require oxygen. Every living creature requires oxygen. And God is providing that oxygen in the form of Vāyu Devatā.

Brahman Enters All Forms

The point we should not forget is: He is not giving us sitting somewhere like a rich man doling out some help, food material or clothes, blankets or money to poor people. No – He Himself is entering all in the form of all these five gods, presiding deities. So who is sustaining? Brahman in the form of the five elements. The fourth one is Vāyu – oxygen. What is the fifth one? Last one? Finest one? Ākāśa. Energy means activity. For activity we require space – even if we want to move our hands, our heads, even our small finger. Even for our food to enter into the stomach – if there is no space, it cannot enter. Water cannot enter if there is no space. So that capacity to move – that is called Ākāśa Devatā.

Sustaining Through the Body

So Brahman in the form of these five elements – we call it five devatās, five gods – is sustaining the entire creation. And how does He do it? By creating the human body, human mind. For example, Brahman had become, let us say, a tree. How do we know? Because there is a tree outside in the creation, but in order to experience it we require eyes. So Brahman has become the eye in each one of us, and who sustains it, who is endowing it with the power of seeing? It is Brahman. So if we want to hear something, Brahman manifests in the form of the ear.

The Five Sense Organs of Knowledge

So the five sense organs of knowledge – the eyes, the ears, the nostrils, the tongue for tasting, and the skin for touching – but that alone will not do, because we can get knowledge. A paralysed person can get knowledge that there is tasty food in the fridge, but he cannot move. But if he is endowed with hands, feet, so Bhagavān Himself has become the five sense organs of action. So He moves the body to that fridge, He tells the hands to grab that and put it in the mouth, and the tongue and the mouth start chewing, extracting the juice, enjoying the taste and flavour. And then it goes down, and there it has to be digested again by God in the form of the fire.

The Law of Creation

In every way He is manifesting as this universe. He is sustaining Himself, and He is going back into Himself – that is the law. Whatever is created – that is called effect. So the effect must come from something – that cause is called cause. So cause is manifesting as an effect, and after some time the effect has to go back into the cause. A common example is given: a tree grows up from a seed, and it yields fruits and seeds, and again it becomes seed. Then from the seed again a tree comes. So this eternal circulatory process – like a wheel going up and down from cause to effect, effect to cause – this Brahma-cakra is going on all the time.

Mantra 11 – The One Source of All

So this eleventh mantra Yājñavalkya wants to clearly tell us that it is all possible only because of Bhagavān manifesting as some of the main instruments causes He has given. We will analyse it.

The Mantra

Sa yathā sarvasām apāṃ samudra eka-ayanam, evam sarveṣāṃ sparśānāṃ tvak eka-ayanam, evam sarveṣāṃ gandhānāṃ nāsikā eka-ayanam, evam sarveṣāṃ rasānāṃ jihvā eka-ayanam, evam sarveṣāṃ rūpāṇāṃ cakṣuḥ eka-ayanam, evam sarveṣāṃ śabdānāṃ śrotram eka-ayanam, evam sarveṣāṃ saṅkalpānāṃ manaḥ eka-ayanam, evam sarveṣāṃ vidyānāṃ hṛdayam eka-ayanam, evam sarveṣāṃ karmāṇāṃ hastau eka-ayanam, evam sarveṣāṃ ānandānām upastha eka-ayanam, evam sarveṣāṃ visargāṇāṃ pāyuḥ eka-ayanam, evam sarveṣāṃ adhvānāṃ pādau eka-ayanam, evam sarveṣāṃ vedānāṃ vāk eka-ayanam.

Translation

Let me read out the translation and analyse one of them – and then we are able to apply ditto to all the other things, and one or two explanations I will add in between.

First the translation: As the ocean is the single converging point of all waters, so the skin is the single converging point of all touch, the nostrils of all smells, the tongue of all tastes, the eye of all forms, the ear of all sounds, the mind of all thoughts, the heart of all wisdom, the hands of all work, the organ of generation of all pleasures, the organ of excretion of all excretions, the feet of all walking, and speech of all the Vedas.

The Ocean as the One Source

Now let us go back one by one, and as I said, I will just explain one – and we have to apply ditto, ditto. So Yājñavalkya is teaching: "My dear Maitreyī, sa yathā sarvasām apāṃ samudra eka-ayanam – just as the ocean is the one source from which every bit of water all over the world, all over the cosmos, is coming out only from the samudra."

Why the Ocean?

Why this example? The ocean – because ocean means almost infinite. An ocean never dries up. So how does it happen? Again, it is the grace of God. What happens? Here is an ocean – water is there, of course it has got a lot of salt, but there is the Agni Devatā. Jala Devatā is there which is devotion – then Agni Devatā is there. What does the Agni Devatā do? That is called Sūrya Devatā in the form of the blazing sun – day or night. Remember, there is no day or night from the viewpoint of the sun. It is only from our viewpoint when we cannot see our sun – we call it night, but from the viewpoint of the sun, it is all the time there only.

The Water Cycle

So what does this Sūrya Devatā – Sun God – do? Through its heat, it lifts up, distils – that is a beautiful word – distilled water we call it. So every impurity from the ocean is purified, and pure distilled water alone it draws up, and it forms a watery cloud. With the help of the Vāyu Devatā – again look at it – because without wind the cloud cannot move. But look at it: the cloud cannot function unless there is Ākāśa Devatā – sky, space. If there were to be no space, then there would be no clouds, no space where even to store the ocean. Space is necessary to keep anything, any object. Space is necessary. Space is there, but space alone will not do. Again, Vāyu Devatā – God in the form of the air, wind – so it has to move, and it moves.

The Role of the Wind

So Agni – the heat of the sun – draws up the water, forms it into a cloud of water, and then the Vāyu Devatā – for what purpose? For sustaining every created being – presiding deities – drives it across to the highest available elevation, tops of mountains, etc. Not only that – even on earth also it will come, but mostly the rivers are formed because of these mountains, etc. And it again converts it into water. The water cloud now becomes pure water – the stream becomes water, and that water comes down, it starts flowing. Where does it flow? Slowly, drop by drop, it falls. As it comes down, it forms many other drops join together, then it becomes a very small narrow stream, then it becomes a bigger stream, then it creates its own path. As it comes down, the power of the water – we know now the Nepal disaster had clearly proved how nature cannot be neglected, insulted or misused – it will come back to us. And that is a fact.

The Anger of the Gods

People are not understanding the simple Vedāntic teaching that these pañcadevatās are not prayed to – people do not believe in them – and we are polluting our own mother, our own pañcadevatās – and this is the result. When Gods get angry, then there is famine, there is flood, untimely rain, locust swarms, earthquakes – all these things, tsunamis – they all happen not as part of nature's work, but the anger of the gods. I do not know how many of you believe in it. This is what the Bhagavad Gītā says in the third chapter. So he who receives all these blessings from the presiding deities, without offering to them – he who, like a rākṣasa, asura, like a demonic person, tries to enjoy it – he is considered a thief: stena eva saḥ – "He is a thief." Dattānāṃ pradeṣṭṛbhyo – "given by them" – they do not want it, but they want loving acknowledgement: "O Mother, You are sustaining us. Without You, I could not have lived." That loving gratitude is called worship.

Gratitude Is Worship

Without worshipping them, offer them the same things – not that they lack, not that they desire – but just to make our gratitude visible to be acknowledged – and then they will be pleased and they will give more. Mother has given you some five, six chocolates – you give one to her back: "Ma, Mom, you also eat it" – and then mother will be pleased. She might give you a dozen more, seeing that you love her. God only wants our love. He does not want anything else. There is no need for Him – He is everything.

The Sun God's Compassion

So what are we talking about? The Sun God, out of infinite compassion, works only eight hours, ten hours? No – twenty‑four hours a day from every ocean that is available, lifting waters, carrying them to higher altitudes and doing visarjana – pouring them down – and it comes back and becomes in course of time huge rivers, and then they again join the ocean. But in that process, every jīva gets water to drink, to cultivate lands, fields, and enjoy life in every way. So drinking water, cultivating water – in every way all this food is sustained.

The Interdependence of the Five Elements

And not only that, they are also dependent – pañcabhūtas manifested as dependence upon each other. Earth cannot stand without water, without fire, without air, without sun. Water is useless if there is no earth. Fire is useless if there is no earth, or if there is no living creature. Without this, there is no living creature. Without living creature, oxygen is completely meaningless. And if there is no living creature, space itself is completely worthless, useless. Every bhūta combines together for sustaining this creation. And the creation has come from where? From the mixture of these five elements. And upon death, where do these bodies go, even minds? Into the very causes from where they have come. That is the idea we have to meditate upon.

The Root Cause of All Waters

So the root cause of all waters is the ocean – eka-ayanam – one source, that is all.

The Skin as the One Source of Touch

Then we have to understand: touching is very necessary because when a mosquito touches you, you feel one way; when fire touches you, you feel another way. When it is very hot and then very cold, their saving factor – your body, your skin – tells you. In fact, all pleasures or pains come only from this touch. Every sense organ of knowledge is also nothing but a different manifestation of touch only. So when smell touches our nostrils, then only we can smell. When forms touch our eyes, then only we can see – our eyes are not going there. When food touches our tongue, then we enjoy the taste. When sounds enter into our ears, touch our ears, then only we enjoy it – we understand what is the sound.

The Specialised Functions

So the many – some of the sense organs, some of the organs of action, and mind also – not all the ten sense organs are given, but the majority of them are given. But we have to understand that the summary essence is that without Brahman manifesting in the form of all the five elements – which are in the form of space, air, fire, waters, and earth – which is nothing but forms, sounds, tastes, smells, and touches – the whole universe is nothing but a five‑dish product. If you go to a restaurant: "I want to eat five‑course dinner – five dishes." The whole world, as Swami Premānandaji puts it, is nothing but five dishes for us to enjoy. All the organs of action – like hands, legs, etc. – help us to obtain, to digest, and to enjoy them in every way. Even what is undigested has to be thrown out – that is even more important than digestion.

Tvak – The Sense Organ of Touch

Tvak means the sense organ of touch – most important. That is why if the skin is burned, not only is it the organ of touch – if it is burned, then life will be in danger. Then all the harmful microbes, bacteria, everything can enter into the body. That is why our body has a peculiar protective layer. As soon as some injury is there, immediately blood tries to flow out, washing out all the germs which want to enter, and then seals it up with what we call some matter which is painful to the touch, so that we do not injure it again. In how many ways is Bhagavān not only creating us but sustaining us, protecting us?

One Organ for All Sensations

So the one organ, whatever be it – cold, hot, pleasant, unpleasant – for everything, there is only one because of which we are able to understand it, and that is called the organ of touch – the sense organ of touch. So every experience we have of touches – it is this sense organ which gives us that knowledge: "This is a touch. This is hot, very hot. It is very pleasantly hot. It is very cold, it is freezing," etc. So these are all saving factors for us, enjoying factors for us.

The Nostrils as the One Source of Smell

Similarly, every smell that we smell is nothing but the nostrils – the sense organ nostril – it alone has the capacity. Not only that, every sense organ of knowledge can do only its own function. The eye cannot hear, eye cannot touch, etc. And the same thing with sense organs of action – the legs cannot do what the hands do; the hands cannot do what the legs do. Of course, a little bit they can do. So also some – every organ has a specialised function. So from the specialised function that gives knowledge of – even if there are 10,000 smells, 10,000 touches, 10,000 types of water – whatever it is – apply it to all the sense organs. So nāsikā – nostrils – is one source, and if it loses its source, you cannot smell anything.

The Tongue as the One Source of Taste

If the skin – sometimes burnt – loses its power of feeling the touch, then whether even a burning coal has fallen upon me and it is eating up all my flesh, burning all my cooking, my flesh – I will never know, except through the smell. Similarly, all the tastes – there may be billions of tastes – all that tastes, the one source of enjoyment, experience, is jihvā – the tongue.

The Eye as the One Source of Form

Similarly, all the forms, all the colours – how many colours? Main colours are only three, but their combinations are almost countless, infinite. For that, the eye is the only source of that experience.

The Ear as the One Source of Sound

And then for all the sounds, it is the ears that is the only source of all our experience.

The Mind as the One Source of Thoughts

And for whatever desires and determinations we do – sarveṣāṃ saṅkalpānāṃ manas eka-ayanam – mind alone is the one. That is why without mind, in deep sleep you do not have desires, you do not have hatreds, you do not have likings, love, hatred, likes, dislikes, feeling lonely, feeling overcrowded – nothing can be experienced in deep sleep, because our being withdraws itself from both the gross body and subtle body. It is there in a causal form, but not functioning at this time. That is why with all the source of all our thinking, desiring, wanting and trying to fulfil – everywhere for everything – manaḥ eka-ayanam – mind is the only source.

The Heart as the One Source of Wisdom

Similarly, sarveṣāṃ vidyānāṃ hṛdayam eka-ayanam – hṛdayam, the heart – here heart means buddhi – intelligence. Whatever knowledge we want to get – because the mind, after getting knowledge, only after the intellect decides what is desirable, when it is desirable, how much is desirable. For example, buddhi says: "This food is desirable, but it has to tell what time it is desirable – not at midnight, not at other times – only when I am hungry. And not only that, how much quantity? I cannot tolerate this, I cannot digest this much – only this much will do." If it is a family, of course, they will calculate how much curries, how much rice, how much bread has to be bought or prepared, etc. The buddhi – intellect, the understanding capacity – has to do that job.

Buddhi Is Necessary for All Knowledge

So sarveṣāṃ vidyānām – you want to master physics, chemistry or any science – it is buddhi that is necessary. You want to understand the theory of relativity by Einstein – intelligence is necessary. So that is what hṛdayam means – buddhi. Buddhi means the capacity to understand.

The Hands as the One Source of Work

Then he comes to the body. Sarveṣāṃ karmāṇāṃ hastau – two hands. You want to grab something – for that, these two hands. You want to grab anything – both hands; sometimes one of the hands will do, but sometimes both hands are necessary. It is the only source of our grabbing, bringing it to us, etc.

The Generative Organ as the One Source of Pleasure

Similarly, sarveṣāṃ ānandānām upastha eka-ayanam – we get ānanda from all the five sense organs, but then upastha – the generative organ – is a fact, whether you understand it or not, accept it or not. The pleasure – even an animal, not to speak of human beings – gets the greatest pleasure is this pleasure of sex – the generative organ. Why is it so? I explained it also some other time. The simple reason is this: you can get pleasure from any other sense organ – like the eye, ears, nostrils – and yet you can divert your mind. While listening to music, you can read, dance; while smelling something, you can eat food; while watching something, you take popcorn and eat. But sex cannot be done truly speaking. You have to think over it; when the mind is indifferent, it is distracted, it is thinking something else – sex can be done, but there would be no enjoyment. That is where a sexual act focuses the mind completely. Until the act is over, the mind will not allow any other thought to enter into it. Before – yes; after – yes – not during. It will not be possible.

The Greatest Pleasure

That is why any pleasure that we get is finally attributed to the sexual organs. I can also expand it a little and say every pleasure that we get through any of the other five sense organs is nothing but included in this sexual pleasure. It is the greatest source – sexual action is the greatest pleasure that is available to animals. They fight, they destroy, kill each other, and wars are taking place between ants, between mosquitoes, between any creatures – because they must be getting something. Even to that extent, they are ready to sacrifice their lives – not to speak of human beings – they are ready to kill, they are ready to die for the sake of sexual pleasure. So that is why it is said this upastha.

The Organ of Excretion

Then, of course, there is a great pleasure that comes from pāyu. Pāyu means what? When any poisonous material and indigestible, undigested material – or even something is sitting and creating havoc in our stomachs – it has to be vomited or it has to be purged through the lower organ, the anus, etc. And that is also a source of the greatest pleasure. So for doing any excretions – the organ of excretion is considered the only source for anything, and it is called – I think udāna-vāyu – in prāṇa is divided in that way. So udāna throws out.

The Feet as the One Source of Walking

Evam adhvānāṃ pādau eka-ayanam – so wherever we want to go, our feet – covering distance short or long – the feet are the only means. If feet are not there, you cannot simply travel. Of course, you can travel in a car, in a jet – that is a different issue – but even to get down into the aeroplane, get out of the aeroplane, for that you require legs. Without legs, a wheelchair is also a substitute for a leg. An aeroplane is an extension of the leg. A car, a train, a bicycle – these are all extensions of this – just like a telescope, a microscope are extensions of our eye. Similarly, earbuds, etc., are extensions of – or microphones, what is called amplifier – extension of our ears. But if these are not functioning, the extensions are completely useless. So the feet are the only source for travelling and covering the distance, etc.

Speech as the One Source of the Vedas

But finally, Yājñavalkya concludes and says that if you want to understand the Vedas, vāk – speech – is the only source. Why? Whether we want to understand by sitting at the feet of the teacher, whether we want to teach it to others – the only way of communicating – we have to listen. Nobody is born with that knowledge. So in this life or in past lives, we have to do that. Vāk eka-ayanam – speech is the only source. That is why speech is what is called Guru-paramparā system. That is why it is called Śruti. Śruti means what is heard – and how do we hear? Only when somebody speaks – through our ears we hear. Speech is the only source of understanding any vidyā, whether it is worldly vidyā or spiritual vidyā.

The Essence of the Teaching

What does Yājñavalkya want to convey through this? He wants to tell that the gods – the pañcabhūtas – are manifesting in the form of these five sense organs, and presiding deities are manifesting at different parts of our body, of our mind, etc., making life possible to experience, to gain knowledge, and to use that knowledge. So finally all these are the manifestations of Brahman. So Brahman is experienced through the outer world through our body‑mind complex. The experienced is Brahman. The experiencing capacity is Brahman. The organs through which we experience is Brahman. Everything is nothing but Brahman.

The Sustaining Power

In other words, what is called sthiti-kāraṇam – the sustaining power – the only root cause is Brahman. He sustains us, He enjoys Himself, He experiences Himself. This is the essence he wants to convey, and Maitreyī definitely understood because there were no questions at all. But she has a question at the end, when she was confused by one statement of Yājñavalkya – which we will see 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!