Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.2 4.12-14 Lecture 67 on 12 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: Cause and Effect – Merging Back

We are studying the most marvellous Yājñavalkya-Maitreyī dialogue. In our last class, Yājñavalkya was explaining to Maitreyī how that Brahman, which is of the nature of pure, infinite, one consciousness – everything merges back.

Kārya and Kāraṇa

The moment we hear the word "merges back," we will have to understand that this is the relationship between what is called kārya-kāraṇa, kāraṇa-kārya – cause and effect. So we also have seen how like the sparks, like the smoke, everything – the whole creation – is easy outpouring, as easy as breathing in and breathing out. There is no effort needed.

Nāma and Rūpa

So the whole creation is nothing but Brahman with names and forms. Therefore, there would come a time every name and form is a modification of the original material. Brahman is the material, and so nāma-rūpa is only temporary. This name and form – everything in this universe – as a form, as a name, as a function, has some qualities. All these things have to go back.

Manifestation and Unmanifestation

Where there is birth – here birth means manifestation – where there is a manifestation, from where? From the unmanifest. For some time it remains manifest, and then it goes back into the same unmanifest – what we call death – is going back into that unmanifested form alone. And the unmanifested has no form at all, because the manifested alone has form, therefore has a name, therefore has some qualities, some prayojana – utility – is there. Just like a seed – you cannot get the mango out of the seed. So this was the teaching given.

Brahman Is the Laya-sthāna

That supreme reality called Brahman is the laya-sthānam – the merging place of everything – because everything is a manifestation and everything is the effect of Brahman. And therefore, whatever is the effect – the moment we talk about effect, there is a time of manifestation, a time of sustenance, and a time it also goes back. The question of time does not arise with regard to Brahman. Infinity does not have limitations – time limitation, space limitation, object limitation.

The Lump of Salt Example

Yājñavalkya explained: "I, you, Kātyāyanī – everything in this universe has to go back." For that he gave a beautiful example – that is, a lump of salt.

Why the Salt Example?

Why this lump of salt example? Because where from the lump of salt has come? We know how salt is produced: some water is segregated from the sea and left for the sun to absorb all the water, and what remains is the salt. But as if – let us not bring science here. According to science, water is tasteless, formless, etc. But this is an example.

Examples Illustrate Partial Truth

And that is what Yājñavalkya – the purpose of the example is not to state the perfect absolute truth. It is only to bring out some useful teaching. Every example only illustrates a partial truth. Otherwise it would not be an example – it would be the object itself. When we say "as an example, this person is a pillar of this society" – we do not mean he is made up of wood, stone, and he is holding up everything. No – it means because of him the whole society is sustaining and functioning. If he is removed, just as a house falls down and all the pillars are removed, so the society falls down. And in a metaphorical sense, that is absolutely true. When there are no persons to uphold the righteousness, truthfulness, moral behaviour, the society, as we say, "goes to the dogs."

The Salt Dissolves

Anyway, that is only – what am I talking about? That every example is only to illustrate a particular point of view, which is true – that is all. So Yājñavalkya took this example of a lump of salt. You take it out and then imagine after some time you put it back in the same ocean, and the moment it touches, then it will be invisible – but it does not die. How do we know? Because as we have seen in the Chāndogya as well as here – that you taste it from whichever side, then it tastes only that one.

The Merging of Individual Consciousness

Giving this example, Yājñavalkya continues: evam vā are – exactly in this manner – are means addressing Maitreyī – idaṃ mahad bhūtam – "this greatest being" – not "greatest of beings," greatest only being – anantam – which is infinite – apāram – which is limitless – vijñāna-ghanaḥ – pure concentrated consciousness – eva.

From the Living Creatures

Itebhyaḥ bhūtebhyaḥ samutthāya – having arisen from every living creature. Bhūtebhyaḥ means living creature. So where was it? It is in the form of our individual consciousness. Individual consciousness is not consciousness which is made into pieces. Just like the sun reflects itself in one hundred or one thousand mirrors, and only a particular view of the sun can be seen through that reflection. But it does not mean that the sun had become small, finite. No – that is how we have to understand.

The Mistake of Limitation

But because of our ignorance, we think that our ātmā, our jīvātman, is limited. That is why we suffer – because of this ignorance: "I am this much, I know this much, my power is this much, my knowledge is this much." But we are committing one of the gravest, greatest mistakes.

Consciousness Cannot Be Distinguished

What is that? This consciousness – how do you distinguish from other consciousness? For example, in you there is consciousness, in me there is consciousness. So how do we distinguish? We can distinguish the bodies, we can distinguish the mind through certain expressions – but we cannot distinguish consciousness, because there is no small, big, thin, thick, sweet, bitter manifestations of consciousness. So after knowledge arises – not before that – this individual consciousness merges back into the only one pure, infinite, eternal consciousness: samutthāya tāni eva anuvinaśyati.

The Death of Ignorance

And then what happens now? Yājñavalkya issues a statement. What does he say? Are bravīmi – "O Maitreyī, this is what I want you to grasp properly" – na pretya saṃjñā asti.

Individuality Dissolves

An individual who has realised that he is no more an individual but Brahman Himself – that is called death. It does not mean bodily death. It is death of ignorance – saṃjñā asti. What saṃjñā? "I am so-and-so individual" – that consciousness is totally dead, destroyed forever. Iti ha uvāca yājñavalkyaḥ – Yājñavalkya thus.

The Parable of the Three Dolls

Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa gives also this salt doll. He gives a beautiful idea. He divides people into three categories through this parable. So there were three dolls. One is made up of stone, one is made up of cloth, another is made up of salt. So somebody dropped them into the ocean, probably with the idea of measuring what is the depth of the ocean.

The Stone Doll

So what happened? As soon as the stone doll image is dropped into it, it straight went down – but it has not absorbed even one millimetre of the salt water.

The Cloth Doll

But the second doll, made up of clothes – as it went down, still it can be distinguished that it has absorbed some water, but some of its own form, etc., is retained.

The Salt Doll

But if there is a doll made up of salt and it is dropped into the ocean, it merges. So who is there to come out and say what is the depth of the ocean?

The Three Levels of Spirituality

What is Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa illustrating through this example?

Dvaita – The Stone Doll

The stone image illustrates a person, a totally worldly person, who is continuously living in a state of ignorance, in a state of duality, in a state of individual consciousness. He does not absorb anything of spirituality. He remains completely separate, distinct from everything – from other beings, from God, from the world, from everything. So this is comparable to the state of Dvaita.

Viśiṣṭādvaita – The Cloth Doll

But the one made up of clothes can be compared to Viśiṣṭādvaita – qualified non-dualism. He is soaked in God, but at the same time that individual consciousness is there. That is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa says beautifully – that every devotee's attitude is: "I do not want to be one with God; I want to be separate. I do not want to become sugar, but I want to enjoy sugar." That enjoyment is indicated by this absorption of Sat-Cit-Ānanda. So it becomes a wet cloth – the doll becomes a wet doll – that is, "wet" means it is enjoying its progress in spiritual life.

Advaita – The Salt Doll

But we have to understand the same cloth doll now will, in course of time, transform itself into the salt doll. That is also called śaraṇāgati bhāva; it is called technically Prapanna Mārga – the path of complete self-surrender. Whether it is an Advaitin or a devotee, it does not really matter. "I" as an individual does not exist. Individuality is gone. That is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa says: "I and mine, thou and thine, you and yours" – that is called knowledge. Everything else is ignorance.

The Characteristics of a Man of God

So what is the characteristic of ignorance? Simply saying "I do not believe in God" – no, that is no criterion for saying a person is not spiritual. In whomsoever we find goodness, purity, absolute sympathy, unselfishness, most important – always joyful – we have to consider only that person as a man of God. So such persons are very rare in this world.

The Devotee's Attitude

And a devotee of God, he wants to keep that attitude – not because he cannot achieve Advaita, but he wants to enjoy. But God soon breaks his ignorance limitation: "Because there is a higher stage than what you are thinking, convinced of – that is, become sugar; then you will never be separated from here."

The Stages of Devotional Progress

Even in Viśiṣṭādvaita, when a devotee claims "I want to go to Vaikuṇṭha" – and in this context, many Advaitins make fun of these devotees, not understanding what Viśiṣṭādvaita really is talking about. It is a gradual spiritual progress. First, the person reaches Vaikuṇṭha – this is called Sālokya. And then slowly he progresses – that means the less of himself, more of God – that is called Sāmīpya, approaching God nearer and nearer. And then he obtains the same form as that of God.

The Form of God

What is the form of God? Do not go on imagining. He will be like Nārāyaṇa or Śiva or Devī with ten hands, four hands, with some weapons, etc. This idea is a very crude idea. What is the form of God? No form. He only manifests as form for the sake of sādhanā – as Madhusūdana Sarasvatī, in his beautiful commentary on the Bhagavad Gītā called Gūḍhārtha Dīpikā – "that which throws light upon with deep meaning on the Bhagavad Gītā" – gūḍhārtha dīpikā, that which shines and reveals deep meanings in the Bhagavad Gītā. He says: pūjārtham kalpitaṃ dvaitam advaitād api sundaram – "This imagination of the devotee that 'I am separate, He is separate' is created, is imagined."

Enjoying God in Infinite Ways

Every imagination is only an imagination – pūjārtham. He enjoys, he revels. He wants to sing about God. He wants to read about God. He wants to hear about God. He wants to worship God. He wants to read Bhāgavatam, etc., scriptures. He wants to go on a pilgrimage – not that he needs to go, but he wants to enjoy God in different ways.

The Sweet Example

Funnily, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa illustrates this: a very soft sweet – from whichever side you eat, it gives the same taste. So sometimes we want to bite this side, sometimes the other side, sometimes the other side. Especially there are some sweets which are a mixture of, for example, there will be rice pudding and rasagullā and some very sweet thickened material like condensed milk. All the three are combined – and then he bites a little bit of the outer part, a little bit of the inner part or inmost part. He wants to enjoy even within that one sweet different tastes – like that. A devotee wants to enjoy God in infinite ways. That is the essence of Vaiṣṇavism.

Vaiṣṇava Means Devotee of God

A religion followed by devotees – Vaiṣṇava is not "Viṣṇu devotee." A Vaiṣṇava is a devotee of God. Christians are Vaiṣṇavas, Muslims are Vaiṣṇavas, Śāktas are Vaiṣṇavas, Śaivas are Vaiṣṇavas – because God is only one. There are not many gods.

The Meaning of Vaikuṇṭha

But even this reality God will not allow. That is why entering the world – Vaikuṇṭha – beautiful meaning also. Kuṇṭha means "that which creates obstruction to my inner expression of joy." So there would be no obstruction at all. Absolutely crystal clear. That is called Vaikuṇṭha. And when a person enters, he has entered the world of God.

Sālokya, Sāmīpya, Sārūpya, Sāyujya

As he approaches, as he progresses further, as his devotion increases, he approaches God near. That is called Sāmīpya.

1. First is called Sālokya – same world.
2. Second is called Sāmīpya.
3. Third is called Sārūpya – because once a person beholds God, he cannot see anything else. Just like even ordinary human lovers – once a lover beholds his or her beloved, even there may be a billion tempting things, but the person's mind will not think of anything else, refuses to move away. Tadekadṛṣṭi – only the eyes are completely fixed on the object of the love, and that is called mesmerised, like hypnotism.
4. Then as spiritual progress continues and what is he doing? He is meditating on the form of God. What happens? The form starts melting. But that is what is called – slowly his own individuality is merging off, he is getting destroyed, and he is becoming from finite to infinite more and more. And a time will come – and this third stage is called Sārūpya. That is why so many devotees, they all look like exactly like Nārāyaṇa, Śiva, Devī, etc. Then a time will come where there is nothing to distinguish between the devotee and the deity. That is called Sāyujya – complete absorption – ekam eva advitīyam in Advaitic terminology. But it is nothing but pure oneness – akhanda ānanda sac-cid-ānanda.

The Salt Doll Cannot Report

That is what Yājñavalkya is describing to Maitreyī. Just like a salt doll falls into the ocean – you cannot get it back. It cannot express. So long as there is the slightest distance, it can be expressed – not otherwise. It becomes one with that. Then who is there to tell what it is? That is why he becomes vāṅ-manasa-atītam – thought cannot penetrate beyond reality, and much less speech.

Speech and Action

What is speech? Expression of a thought in intelligible language is called speech. So what action will do? No action will be there, because every action – the goal of every action is only to remove the obstacle. It is not for obtaining an object, but for getting absorbed in Ānanda. That is what he says.

The True Individual

Now Yājñavalkya said that when an individual becomes truly individual – Swamiji used to make fun of this word "individual" – incapable of being divided – that is true individual. We have not yet become individuals. We are dualities – that is all. So when a devotee achieves that, there is nothing.

The Disappearance of the Small Self

What happens along with that mergence? "I am so-and-so" – even the idea "I am a devotee of God," or "I am a smaller consciousness, jīvātman" – everything disappears. Pretya na saṃjñā asti. So this death has nothing to do with the physical death. It is a death of the ignorance. That is what happens. Na pretya saṃjñā asti – pretya – having obtained that state that I am one with Brahman – saṃjñā asti – now individual here – saṃjñā means consciousness – na saṃjñā means "there is no consciousness."

Maitreyī's Misunderstanding

That is where Maitreyī had misunderstood. So what happens to the individual consciousness is dead; universal consciousness arises. That was what Yājñavalkya meant, but she understood: "So after merging into that infinity, I will not exist. 'I' means what? As an individual, as jīvātman, as Maitreyī – consciousness – that I will not exist." And then she expresses this.

The Thirteenth Mantra – Maitreyī's Doubt

This is what we have to study today. This is the thirteenth mantra in this Yājñavalkya-Maitreyī dialogue. It has got fourteen mantras. We covered twelve mantras, and this is the thirteenth mantra.

What Happens When the Salt Doll Is Thrown In?

What happens when a salt doll is thrown into the ocean? What happens previously? What was there? "I am a salt doll, maybe I am a female doll, I am a male doll, I am a slave doll, I am a master doll, I am a musician doll," etc. No – these are all individual consciousnesses. But now that is merging in its real, true, natural consciousness.

The Common Doubt

But Maitreyī is getting it out. Was Maitreyī really getting it out? Or the Upaniṣad is looking at people like us? And then: "I do not exist." So let me remark on this because I thought about it. What is our problem? So many devotees asked me: "Suppose I merge in Brahman, then I would not exist." No – you would not exist. "At least now I know I am existing. And after merging myself in Brahman, only Brahman exists. If Brahman exists, He exists. But where am I? At least I am somewhat happy here. And in that state, I am not even – I lose even that much of happiness. Because loss of individuality means loss of that pure consciousness. At least sometimes I am suffering, but sometimes I am enjoying also. That little enjoyment also, Sir, you want to take it away from me." That is common people's doubt. They do not understand.

The Fly and the Nectar

And there is a very beautiful conversation coming to my mind – incident – and this is nothing but Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa had taught Narendra about the highest consciousness. Then he puts a testing question: "Suppose there is some sweet syrup in a small cup, and this syrup is full to the brim. Suppose you are a fly or a mosquito. How will you enjoy this?" Narendra replied – probably on behalf of us, or even at that time, maybe he was not completely awakened, even though he was a nitya-jāgrat-mūrti. But he replied: "Oh, I will sit on the edge of the cup and very carefully holding on to the edge, so that I will not fall down and drown, I sip as much as I can that sweet syrup."

The Correction

Immediately Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa corrects him: "My child, this is not ordinary syrup. This is amṛta itself. If you fall into amṛta, you become amṛta – one with it."

The Piggish Mentality

But what is our idea? "My individuality" – this piggish mentality. That is what Swami Vivekananda expresses: "We do not wish to give it up – this piggish mentality." I do not know how many people remember – futuristic stories are there – Animal Farm. There was a novel imagining that many, many pigs – they somehow got the control of every animal farm, and they are behaving just like however the CEOs of big companies are behaving now. Only some coterie. They form a coterie. "These are filled. We will only enjoy. We only have the right." It is a beautifully imagined story of what the future society is going to become like – Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. Anyway.

The Fear of Losing Individuality

So we are all afraid: "I want to feel that I am Brahman." But when we say "I want to feel I am Brahman", which aspect of Brahman are we talking about? This piggish individuality – am I referring "I am Brahman" or that infinite Brahmanhood? Even though this infinite universe has come out of that infinite infinity, infinite Brahman, that Brahman remains the same.

Creation Is Also Infinite

Not only that – this creation also remains infinite. Only we are not knowledgeable enough about it. There is no limitation. We are imagining the limitation. What we call the external world is nothing but Brahman. It is infinite, it is unlimited. But in my mind, in your mind, we are thinking that it is very limited. This is purely individual ignorance called Avidyā. Māyā is the name for collective ignorance. Individual manifestation of this Māyā within each one of us is called Avidyā, fragmented, as it were. Even though it is not fragmented, it is not fragmentable also.

The Mantra of the Doubt

So on our behalf, or maybe Maitreyī had this doubt about it. So – sā hovāca maitreyī – this is the thirteenth, last but one mantra in this particular Brāhmaṇa, Yājñavalkya. It is called Maitreyī Brāhmaṇa actually, because she is the central figure receiving the teaching – like Bhṛguvallī is the name because Bhṛgu was the one who was getting the knowledge.

Maitreyī Speaks

So here sā hovāca maitreyī – Maitreyī expressed: atra eva mā bhagavan amūmuhat – "Here only, my lord, you have confused me. I could not understand what you said – pretya saṃjñā na asti iti. So once I die, I will not have individual consciousness." She did not understand. She said once I die – that is to say my individuality dies, not the body dies, but the individuality dies, my individuality is transcended – individuality truly becomes indivisible individuality. "So I lose all my consciousness. That means I will not know that even I am Brahman. What is the good?" This is what most people's doubt – as just now I explained. "At least here I am able to understand, enjoy a bit, a piece of happiness, joy. But once I become Brahman, I will not even know that I am such-and-such an individual."

She Expresses Her Doubt

So Maitreyī, either on her behalf or on behalf of all of us, she expressed her doubt. That means she is telling: "Please explain to me clearly."

The Fourteenth Mantra – Yājñavalkya's Reply

Sa hovāca – now Yājñavalkya – earlier sā means the female Maitreyī; here Yājñavalkya uvāca. Yājñavalkya said, replied: na vā are aham moham bravīmi – "I never, O Maitreyī, said anything that could cause confusion. But if you are feeling confusion, the fault is yours – you are unable to understand what I have said. But do not worry – I will not leave you with any doubt."

The Sufficiency of the Teaching

So every doubt, every saṃśaya, has to be completely destroyed by the teacher, by God. Na kiṃcid alam vā are idaṃ vijñānāya – "Whatever I have said, expressed already, is more than sufficient for any individual – not only at that time, but at any time, past, present and future – to grant that supreme most – what is called parā-jñānam, superior knowledge – that is Aham Brahmasmi – 'I am none other than Brahman.'"

Maitreyī's Confusion

Maitreyī said: "Right here, my lord, you have thoroughly confused me by saying that after death there is no consciousness." Yājñavalkya replied: "Certainly, my dear, I am not saying anything confusing. This truth is more than enough for understanding."

The Fourteenth Mantra – The Essential Teaching

How did Yājñavalkya remove this misunderstanding of Maitreyī? This is the last mantra but the most important mantra – even though these ideas, beginning from the Īśāvāsya, all the ten Upaniṣads, have completely expressed this – one and one, everything is Brahman, everything is Advaitam. But what we are experiencing is Dvaitam. We are experiencing Advaitam – not because the Advaitam had become Dvaitam, but because of our own ignorance.

Ignorance Is Within

That is why I have to remind you: when a person in semi-darkness mistakes a snake – sees a snake – the snake is not there; the rope alone is there. Where is the snake? In my brain. This is a very, very, very important point in Advaita Vedānta. Ignorance is not in the outside world. There is no ignorance in the outside world, because that outside – so-called outside world – is nothing but sarvaṃ khalvidaṃ brahma. Everything is nothing but Brahma.

Where There Is Duality

Let me read this fourteenth mantra. There is a lot to discuss. Itra hi dvaitam eva bhavati, tat itaraḥ itaram jigrati, tathā itaraḥ itaram paśyati, tathā itaraḥ itaram śṛṇoti, tathā itaraḥ itaram abhivadati, tathā itaraḥ itaram manuti, tathā itaraḥ itaram vijānāti.

The Nature of Dvaita

I gave some examples, and every example is a very telling example. What was Yājñavalkya telling us? Where there is this knowledge of duality present – even one individual, it is present – then what happens? He sees the other. So what does he become? Itaraḥ itaram jigrati – one individual smells something different.

Smelling the Other

A man is smelling a fragrant flower or an incense stick. Where there is this duality, one sees the other, because dvaita means there must be two things. Actually, there must be three things.

The Kārakas – Cases of Grammar

Śaṅkarācārya, in his beautiful commentary, he says no action is ever possible without these kārakas. Kāraka means what? Cases. You know, in grammar there is prathamā vibhakti, nominative case, objective case, instrumental case, dative case, etc. Seven cases are there – elocution, etc. So where there is duality, these kārakas – that is, these cases, first to seventh case – cannot be avoided.

The Example of Rama Killed Ravana

So "Rāma killed Rāvaṇa." Three things are very present. This is a very famous example given in many places. "Rāma killed Rāvaṇa." So Rāma is one individual, Rāvaṇa is another individual. But simply, they cannot be brought together. They have to be brought together by what is called a kriyā. Kartā, karma, kriyā. Kartā means the doer. Kriyā means the object is called karma. And what unites the doer with the object is called kriyā. So "Rāma killed Rāvaṇa" – that "killed" is what connects the relationship between Rāma and Rāvaṇa.

The Cases in Grammar

So Rāma is the nominative case, Rāvaṇa is the objective case, and "kills" is the kriyāpada. So why did he kill? Because he was creating problems. So how did he kill? By an arrow. So that is the instrumental case – by discharging a powerful astra or arrow. Rāma killed – for what purpose? To remove the evil from society. And where was this Rāvaṇa? In Laṅkāpura. That is called seventh case, locative case. And then he brought relief to everybody. So these are some of the illustrations.

Another Example

So a thief stole somebody's property. Thief stole – is the verb. Then somebody – ṣaṣṭhī vibhakti, sixth case, possessive case. So where did he do it? In Vārāṇasī, in Kāśī – locative case. So how did he do it? By magic, as if – or broke into a house and stole, etc. So these are unavoidable. Every action requires all these seven cases. Some cases may not be important, but all the cases are definitely necessary. Emphasis may not be there.

Seeing, Hearing, Speaking

So where one smells another, where one sees another, itaraḥ itaram śṛṇoti – a person listens, hears what the other person is telling. If the other person is not telling, how can he do that? Itaraḥ itaram abhivadati – somebody is addressing somebody else. So there must be two persons. One is addressing the other. It is not necessarily human beings. Birds also, they talk to other birds.

The Intelligence of Crows

I told you crows are so intelligent. Recently the scientists had found out the crows are better than a psychologist. Better than our – what is called – power of observation. Observing ourselves, they observe us. "This fellow is a generous person. This person is a miserly fellow – you do not get anything. Do not waste your time." Through language – that is, crow language. They have developed certain sounds. And if you do not know Chinese, it will be only a sound, meaning nothing. But if you know crow language, you understand what it is trying to tell immediately. It conveys how unselfish. So it could say: "I want to keep this information for myself. I know at this house lots of waste material from the person's point of view, but lots and lots of very precious material from my point of view is available. I do not need to go anywhere. One house will feed me for my whole life." No – these birds even help each other.

The Selfishness of Humans

That is why there is a saying: "Birds of the same flock." It is only these poor, idiotic, stupid human beings – the more we are getting educated, the more selfish we are becoming – and yet wanted to claim that we are progressing in culture, in knowledge, and in even spirituality. No – the only criteria is developing deep identity called empathy. Only after empathy comes sympathy. That is how we will have to develop.

Thinking of Another

So where there is a person there must be more than two – either minimum is two. Then only itaraḥ itaram – somebody does something to somebody else. Abhivadati – somebody is addressing you. Tat itaraḥ itaram manute – so somebody is thinking about somebody else. Whenever you think about any object, you are one, and the object is the second. That is called dvaitam. Tat itaraḥ itaram vijānāti – wherever duality is there, then there are many – minimum two.

The Essence of Duality

For where there is duality, as it were, there one smells another, one sees another, one hears another, one speaks to another, one thinks of another, and one knows the other – itaraḥ itaram vijānāti.

The Problem with Maitreyī's Question

What does Yājñavalkya want to convey? "O Maitreyī, what was your problem? That you are assuming the state of duality, and at the same time you are imagining you have become one with Brahman. But you are carrying your sense of duality even into Brahman. So when I become one with Brahman, I do not remain separate from Brahman, then I lose my individual consciousness – then only Brahman's consciousness is there. Brahman may be having consciousness, Brahman may be enjoying Brahmananda – but where do I come in?"

The Universal Doubt

So even when we are thinking not in the right way about Brahman, this duality can pop in and can twist our understanding of what is Brahman. So this is not only Maitreyī's doubt – it is the doubt of all of us.

The Biblical Parallel

So actually what the Upaniṣad – any scripture – wants to tell. Christianity tells the goal of human life is to go to paradise, be with God. So the biblical story goes that Adam and Eve, they were with God – where? In the Garden of Eden. What is the Garden of Eden? Brahmananda.

The Tree of Knowledge

But suddenly, duality has to come. So there was God created duality. How did He create? He made a statement. What is the statement? That there is a huge garden and there is a particular tree. It is called apple tree. That is why if you are a fan of apple – the apple had fallen into the – what is called – apple environment, tied, wedded to apple environment. So you become a rotten apple. So God declared: "Excepting this fruit, everything else." But human perverted nature of the human being is: "Why did God say 'except'? I want to find out the secret." So they ate – and then he ate the fruit of knowledge, the tree called knowledge. What a beautiful thing!

Conclusion

I will talk about it a bit tomorrow, because even ajñāna is jñāna only – not absence of jñāna, but wrong knowledge. We are never bereft of knowledge. But what type of knowledge is it – right knowledge or wrong knowledge? We will talk about these details. Very beautiful topics are there 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!