Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.3.1.1-3 Lecture 81 on 31 October 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 to the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, Third Chapter

We started the third chapter of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad.

It is called by various names, such as Munikāṇḍa. Muni means the great sage. Or Yājñavalkyakāṇḍa, because he is the greatest sage of those times. Or it is also called Vādakāṇḍa, that is, trying to place the same teachings that we have seen earlier, especially in the Yājñavalkya Maitreyī conversation or dialogue, in a logical manner. And not only logical manner, how to slowly progress in spiritual life. Sri Ramakrishna's life and teachings, when we examine them, we find Sri Ramakrishna never simply tells only about the goal of life, but he also outlines the particular path suited to every particular individual. That is the specialty of Sri Ramakrishna, who is only re-echoing what Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa had said, who again was re-echoing what the Upaniṣads themselves have said. What is it? In Bengali, there is a beautiful expression, invaluable expression. Yato mata, tato patha, as the concept of every human being, every individual human being, that would be the only reality about God, not only about God, about anything in this world. If I cherish a good feeling, even if you are not good, then in my eyes, you are one of the good persons. But even if you are the best person, such as some of the priests at Dakshineswar cherished the idea, Sri Ramakrishna was not only not an ordinary human being, he was downright mad.

The Prism of Mind: Time, Space, and Causation

So, we perceive the world according to our thoughts, and we see the world through the prism of our mind, which is time, space, and causation. Is the most marvelous concept, what is avidyā, time, space, and causation. And it manifests within each one of us as mind, and that becomes like a prism consisting of three layers of distortion, time, space, and causation. We have, we had the occasion to refer to this many times in our past talks, so you must recall those ideas, but just be very brief. When even the most beloved person, if he is away, or has passed away, died, slowly in course of time, the memory fades, and if we love somebody else, the memory fades very, very fast. So, that is how time changes everything. Our concept of everything, anybody however beloved, however hated they are, disliked they are. Then space, if someone whom we like is near, are likely to remember that person frequently. But if that same person is away and there is less communication, then it is likely we only remember occasionally. So, space also affects us. Of course, cause, and what is this cause? That is our perception. This person, he loves me, he or she cherishes me, very friendly to me, never does harm. Who knows? That person may be cherishing many types of inimical ideas, or another person, maybe only praying for our welfare, we do not know. So, these are the three layers of curtains through which we see the entire universe, and of course, it includes my own reflection in my own mind. I am a man, I am a child, I am a youth, I am ambitious, I am energetic, I am lazy. So, sukha, duḥkha, rāga, dveṣa, lābha and nāśa, jaya and parājaya, everything is in the mind. That's why Sri Ramakrishna often used to say, everything is the mind.

The Goal of Life and Trust in God

So, the Upaniṣad comes to our rescue, and like Swami Vivekananda, it tells us the goal of life is to know that you are divine. Of course, at this moment we do not know that, but how to slowly have some faith in a good person whom you trust and then strive according to his directions, instructions, to follow the suitable path as Sri Ramakrishna says, if an orphan is a rich orphan is protected by a good trusty or trustees, then he will be safe. As soon as he grows up, the trust would give it back to what they have been looking after all this time. Just like that, the greatest trustee is only God. But there are also people like Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda, etc.

Incidents Illustrating Trust

There is a beautiful story, incident rather, Swami Vivekananda, I think may be in New York, I do not remember, was one day one afternoon sitting on a bench in a garden. There was a black woman, she had a child who was troubling her too much, and she had a look at Swamiji, and I do not know how this happened, she had complete trust. This man will never betray my trust. He said, sir, I have to purchase certain items, would you take care of my child? Swamiji consented, and immediately she placed the baby in Swamiji's lap, and she went back, not doubting for a second that anything is going to happen to her child. And after completing, she came back and thanked Swamiji, took back her baby. How did this confidence come? Because people like Sri Ramakrishna exude that trustworthy feeling, and we can also develop that. But only sometimes we give in to our temporary emotions and thereby lose our inner judgment, which is always coming out.

Similarly, another incident, exactly same type of incident, Swamiji was wandering in somewhere in Rajasthan and a mother was there and her baby was crying non-stop, and the lady was getting highly disturbed. Swamiji said, mother, you give your baby to me tonight, and then the mother had no doubt about it, but she said, Swamiji, we do not want to give you trouble. He said, no trouble at all. And then he took the baby, and a few minutes he was crying non-stop. Swamiji plunged into deep meditation, and whole night he meditated. Within a few twinklings of the eye, the baby was fast asleep. Whole night that mother got such a tremendous relief. They may not understand the mystery, because this is the power of vibrations. This is the power of satsaṅga. Anyway, let us not deviate too much.

Background of the Debate: King Janaka

So coming back, we did discuss the background story, to be very brief, Janaka was the emperor of Videha. Even the words are very significant. Videha means one who is bereft of body consciousness. That means I am the ātman. But he has not realized, but he would in course of time. But he was a very fit adhikārī, sādhana catuṣṭaya sampannaḥ. So he wanted to realize Brahman, so for that he invited all the Brahmisṭhas to have a scholarly debate. Does a scholarly debate determine who is the greatest spiritual person? Janaka was not a fool. He understood. But then the people who came there, all of them are sincere spiritual aspirants progressing at different stages of life. So the competition was that whoever proves to be the best of the knowers of Brahman, and the word Brahman has got two meanings. One is Veda, that is knowledge of the scriptures. But that's not what, that's not only what Janaka wanted. He wanted more important, are you a practitioner? Have you realized what has been said? And he had the intuitive power to understand it. So he arranged and he declared, whoever is the greatest knower of Brahman in both senses, he will get 1,000 cows, each one of the horn of the cow will be adorned with five tolās of 24 karat gold. In fact, they are all, I have kept them in a pen, and all that you have to do is to drive prove yourself and then drive them away. And then Janaka declared, whoever thinks he can drive away even now before the debate started, nobody dared because they knew their defects.

So if a person realizes God, he will not lack knowledge. He will have that complete self-confidence, which Sri Ramakrishna expresses beautifully when a merchant is measuring out some material to be given, say paddy for example, or rice. A huge heap will be there, and I want 10 kg of rice. All right, here is your 10 kg of rice. And the heap becomes smaller and smaller as customers take it away. But the moment it becomes small, there would be assistants who would be pushing more rice towards him to be sold. Sri Ramakrishna is indicating, if a Brahmisṭha, knower of Brahman, is talking to somebody, this knower of Brahman not only knows what to speak, how much to speak, at what time to speak, he is fully authorized by God. And Janaka had developed some intuition.

The Assembled Scholars

But then, or there, there were people, paṇḍits gathered from Kuru deśa, Pañcāla deśa, they were all, we have to remember, not mere professors of philosophy, but they were practitioners of the Hindu scriptures, yajñas, yāgas, etc. How do we know? Because of the questions that follow. And in this first section, this is there was a great person to know, that is the very ṛtvik of Janaka himself, Āśvalāyana. He had put eight questions, but we will come to that later on.

Yājñavalkya's Confidence

So the emperor Janaka of Videha had a desire to find out who is the most erudite of these Vedic scholars, as I said, not professors of philosophy, but spiritually advanced people. He announced he can take 1,000 cows. Nobody had that self-confidence. Yājñavalkya had that self-confidence. He called one of his disciples called Sāmaśravas. Sāma means a person who is an expert in Sāmaveda. Śravas means he must have become famous, like Vājaśravas, for reciting so Ṛgvedic mantras set to tune and rāga and tāla, what we call now equivalent to western Gregorian music. So some voices are extraordinarily pleasant. This person was an expert. Yājñavalkya was an expert only in the Yajurveda. And Yajurveda, as we have seen earlier, in Taittirīya also, is a black edition, a white edition. Originally Yājñavalkya belonged to that black school of Yajurveda, but because of some incident which I had narrated in the Taittirīya Upaniṣad and here also, he had to give it up, whatever he knew, he distributed, he taught to other disciples, then he contemplated on Lord Āditya, the sun god, and from him got the white version of this Yajurveda, which is called Śukla Yajurveda. Śukla means white or brilliant or lighted up. And he must have been an expert in not only Yajurveda, in Ṛgveda, in Yajurveda, in Sāmaveda, in Atharvaveda, because these great scholars were all specialized in different versions of the Vedas. So this Yājñavalkya had many disciples, and he must have been teaching all the four Vedas. Whoever wanted to learn whichever Veda, he must have been talking to them. And he has one expert, Sāmaśravas, a chanter of the Ṛgvedic mantras set to music, which is called Sāmaveda. So he said to him, drive these cows home. That means you have that special talent, confidence. So the disciple drove them, and there the Brāhmaṇas were enraged, actually, puzzled, actually. How dare does Yājñavalkya call himself the best Vedic scholar among us? Even the debate has not started.

The Debate Begins: Āśvala

So among them, there was a hotṛ, that is Ṛgvedic a person who knows Ṛgveda completely is called Hotā. Hotṛ means Hotā, priest of the Ṛgveda of Janaka himself. His name was Āśvala. So the debate starts. So he turned towards Yājñavalkya and said, O Yājñavalkya, we see this expression many times, O Yājñavalkya, addressing Yājñavalkya with the highest respect, are you indeed the best Vedic scholars among us? And like Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Ramakrishna once gave a beautiful talk, somebody thanked him, and he smiled and said, Sir, I know nothing. My mother knows everything. She only talked to you. I only eat, drink, and I'm a happy person. So he said, I bow to the best of the Vedic scholars. That is how Yājñavalkya applied a bit of humor. He knew that he was the greatest, but he didn't say. He bowed down. I bow to the best Vedic scholar, but I wanted some cows, and here is the opportunity. So I just wanted the cows, but then that statement contains tons of meaning. That means nobody will drive away, dare to drive away even one cow, not to speak of 1,000 cows, unless he is absolutely familiar not only with the intricacies of the scriptures, but intricacies of how to perform them, and what is going to be the benefit. So this hotṛ Āśvala started to interrogate him. This is the first section, which we will enter into. Already two mantras we had gone.

Yajña and Pūjā: Understanding Sacrifice

Now, before we go into it, a bit of a note we have to understand. So for most of us, these yajñas, these yāgas that we hear of in the Vedas are called sacrifices. Yajña, yāga, satra, etc. Different names are there. Some even lost for years together, 12 years. And many people believed if we can do 100 times these sum of these yajñas like Agnihotra, etc., we earn the right in entry into svargaloka. And if somebody can do 1,000 times, he might even become an Indra, one of the ancestors of Pāṇḍavas. So later on, because of his arrogance and lust, he had been cursed by the ṛṣis to become a python. That story comes in the Mahābhārata. I am not going into it. So these ancient yajñas yāgas, we know nothing about it, but we do not need to know anything about it. Because whether we are doing recently we performed Durgā pūjā. Kālī pūjā is going to come. Jagaddhātrī pūjā is going to come. So many pūjās, every birthday of every direct disciple, not to speak of Swami Vivekananda, Holy Mother, and Sri Ramakrishna's birthdays. These are called pūjās. They are nothing but modern yajñas yāgas. The purpose, the content, and of these rituals are exactly the same.

The Four Parts of Pūjā

Let us take some examples of our modern pūjās. What is the goal of every pūjā? Will come to that later on, but then we have seen that these pūjās, they are invariably, they have got had as part of as limbs of these pūjās, contemplations called upāsanās. Let me cite the example of modern pūjā. You go to any temple, and in fact, some of you yourself are performing the pūjās on special birthdays or Kālī pūjā, Durgā pūjā, etc. I have taught some of you. So every pūjā, if we analyze wisely, we get four parts.

First Part: Purification

What is the first part? Purify your body and mind. Special mantras are there. So first, very mantra, sips of water, uttering the names of God thrice, and then you go on saying apavitraḥ pavitro vā sarvāvasthāṃ gato'pi vā, yasmaret puṇḍarīkākṣaṃ sa bāhyābhyantaraḥ śuciḥ. A person, whether consciously or unconsciously, he takes the name of God thrice as Sri Ramakrishna Namaḥ, or Acyutāya Namaḥ, Govindāya Namaḥ, Keśavāya Namaḥ, etc. It doesn't matter. Take and then three sips. Why three sips? To purify the gross body, subtle body, and causal body. That is the first step in pūjā.

Second Part: Nyāsa

What is the second step? All our attachments. I am, this is my body, this is my mind, these are my eyes, these are my hands, these are my various limbs of my body. So this is called nyāsa. Nyāsa, that word brings to us the word sannyāsa. Samyak rūpeṇa nyāsitam, that is sannyāsa. Completely giving up, transferring ownership to the deity whom we are worshipping. So these eyes are not mine, they are O Ramakrishna, your eyes. O Nārāyaṇa, your eyes. Sahasraśīrṣā puruṣaḥ, sahasrākṣaḥ, sahasrapāt, we have seen in the some of the sūktas, Nārāyaṇa sūkta, Puruṣa sūkta, every sūkta practically. So what are we talking about? This body belongs to God. Just like every pot is nothing but manifestation of clay, every ornament is nothing but gold, or it can be silver, whatever the source material. Every furniture is nothing but wood with name, form, and utility. So that is the deśa kāla pariccheda, limitations by the mind. Time, space, and causation. So what is the second part of the pūjā? Wholeheartedly touching a particular part, this finger is not mine, it's yours. This hand is not mine, yours. This leg is not mine, yours. This heart is not mine, yours. This head is not mine, it is yours. This is called nyāsa. Whole of the second part ends up with sarvāṅga nyāsa.

Third Part: Mānasika Pūjā

Then comes mānasika pūjā. What is mānasika pūjā? Close your eyes and invoke the deity, visualize the deity in the heart of your lotus, and offer him the best possible, because everything is imagination. The best waters, the best flowers, the best fruits, the best food that can be prepared, everything mentally, and offer him wholeheartedly and make it prasādam. So that is the most important purification leads to the understanding that everything belongs to God, then I acknowledge everything belongs to God, that is the second stage, and then I also belong to God, but God is everywhere, so I am within God, God also is within me. Let me remove this ignorance that I am different from God, and that is done through the mānasika pūjā or mental worship. That is the third part.

Fourth Part: External Worship

Then for the sake of lesser qualified devotees, pupils, students, etc., we do the actual external worship, doing the same thing whatever we had done in the mental worship, but physically offering arghya, āsana, welcoming, and then snānīya, and then vastra, then dhūpa, dīpa, naivedya, etc.

Purpose of Pūjā

So what is the purpose of this pūjā? That is to control the scattered mind slowly through various activities, preparing pūjā. For whom? For Ramakrishna. Gathering flowers for Ramakrishna, making garlands for Ramakrishna. You apply this to Kālī, Nārāyaṇa, Śiva, any of your chosen deity. It is the same process. That's why Sri Ramakrishna is called Sarvadeva Devī Svarūpa. Śiva is Sarvadeva Devī Svarūpa. Nārāyaṇa is Sarvadeva Devī Svarūpa. Why? How? Because we always meditate upon them as infinite. And in infinite, this is this part belongs to Śiva, this belongs to Viṣṇu. Such a concept is a stupid, idiotic concept. So there are no two gods, one infinite, unimaginable God, and he only is manifesting as I, as you, as everybody else. So what is the purpose? First, we are supposed to remember God. We forget, so do something, and your restless mind is satisfied. But it is all directed towards only one central figure, who is God. Then, by this time, the mind develops some more understanding, that is spiritual progress. Then, anybody can realize that I belong to you. There is nothing that doesn't belong that belongs to me, that doesn't belong to you. That is the second stage, and then progress further. That is you have given me this body-mind to contemplate you, to adore you, to sing praises of you. That is the purpose of mānasika pūjā. That is the purpose of purify everything outside.

Progression from Anna-Brahman to Ānandamaya-Brahman

Thus, man progresses from more individuality, less individuality, more identity with everything, as we have seen in the Taittirīya Upaniṣad, the whole external world is Anna-Brahman. Its cause is Prāṇa-Brahman. Its cause is Mano-Brahman. Its cause is Vijñāna-Brahman. Its cause is Ānandamaya-Brahman. And its cause is Ānandambrahma-Brahmapuccham-pratiṣṭhā. Everything is finally traced to Brahman. This is the exact process of every yajña, that is going to be the subject matter. That's why I was talking about them.

Types of Upāsanās

And then we have also seen this contemplations can be at least of four types, they are called upāsanās. We have seen these upāsanās, and then we have also seen them. What is the first one? Pratima. For a very gross mind, we want to make an image of Durgā. I cannot imagine Mother Durgā. Then instead of that, a person progresses after some time, and he doesn't require a pratima. Pratima means image, resembling a human being, etc. is an aid for contemplation. Then we go to the next stage, pratīka. A cross, for example, symbolizes Jesus Christ, his life, and his teachings. Like that, a crescent moon indicates Allah, the divine lord. So like that, we progress. So that is called pratīka. We also have pratīkas in the form of yantras, symbols, etc. Oṃkāra is such a symbol, the best symbol that we can see. And sometimes these are worn as yantras, made out drawn on silver, on gold, on copper, etc.

Sri Ramakrishna and the Efficacy of Yantras

Sri Ramakrishna also proved their efficacy, how much pain, just to remind you what we are talking about. This is not something remote that happened thousands of years ago, but it is happening right in front of our eyes through some great souls' live. Sri Ramakrishna at one time was suffering from unbearable bodily pain because of his spiritual longing. Then Mahāpuruṣ Mahārāj's father, he came to Dakshineswar. He was a great devotee of Mother Kālī. He diagnosed and said that you get prepared one small amulet in the name of Mother Kālī. There would be some oṃkāra or mother's name, something is written there, a triangle or crisscrossed, and a small on a copper or something. And Sri Ramakrishna wore that. Immediately there was such a relief. Why was the relief? Sri Ramakrishna was a pure person, he was endowed with śraddhā, and the person who prescribed it was a great sādhaka himself. And Sri Ramakrishna accepted, and he knew I am going to be relieved. And then it got relieved. And this same pain came thrice, twice. Or Bhairavī Brāhmaṇī, his other guru, smeared him with sandal paste and decorated him with garlands and put him in a room full of vegetables, and then the pain disappeared. His insatiable hunger, because it was roused by the manifestation of Kuṇḍalinī. Everything, these are all what the scriptures are telling, and Sri Ramakrishna is born to teach us all these things.

Conclusion: Pūjā as Yajña

So what, what is it I want to tell? A modern pūjā is exactly the same yajña. Of course, the word yajña has been given as the name of the external ritual, which we are going to see here, either today or tomorrow, but this is only introduction. Once you understand this introduction, you understand yajña is a pūjā, a pūjā is a methodology, proven methodology, how a person can progress in spiritual life from a restless mind to a restive mind, peaceful mind, and slowly through the four steps of the pūjā. He ascends. The third step is the highest step, and then the fourth step is such a person who reached the pinnacle of spiritual ascent, he will manifest in his physical life all these things. So the goal is to attain oneness with Brahman. Here first oneness with the presiding deities, then oneness with the Īśvara or Saguna Sākāra Brahman or Mother Śakti, and then mother herself will take us to our real nature, reveals she is both saguna and as well as nirguna.

The Goal of Pūjā and Yajña: Oneness with Brahman

This idea has been brought out so beautifully in Lalitā Sahasranāma. It is a beautiful garland of hymns, and it is extraordinarily powerful, I can assure you, and whoever recites it with faith, it is nothing but mother only. Just as Vedas are Brahman, Lalitā Sahasranāma is Lalitā, like food is Mother Annapūrṇā, like water is Jaladevatā, Agni is Agnidevatā, Vāyu is Vāyudevatā, Ākāśa is Ākāśadevatā, and all these are nothing but manifestations of Saguna Brahman, and Saguna Brahman is none other than that all-pervading infinite manifesting for the sake of our spiritual progress. So the goal of pūjā, yajña, etc. is to attain oneness with Brahman. And then Gītākāra, Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa, he gives all together a spiritual meaning, that he says the whole life has to be converted into yajña. What is yajña? I offer myself, I surrender myself at the feet of the divine lord. That is the pūjā. God doesn't want, he wants that feeling.

सर्वधर्मान्परित्यज्य मामेकं शरणं व्रज।

sarvadharmān parityajya mām ekaṃ śaraṇaṃ vraja।

अहं त्वां सर्वपापेभ्यो।

ahaṃ tvāṃ sarvapāpebhyo।

So I will release you, free you, from all bondages. Here pāpa means not sin, pāpa means ajñāna, bondage. So every one of us are advised through the performance of this kind of pūjās and yajñas, we slowly convert, which is so beautifully expressed in the mental worship of Śiva, that whatever I do, when I see you are seeing, my eye is your eye, my ear is your ear.

सञ्चरः पादयोः तव प्रदक्षिणम्।

sañcaraḥ pādayoḥ tava pradakṣiṇam।

When my hands move, that's your āratrikam. When my legs move, that is your circambulation. And when I breathe, that is prāṇāyāma for attaining you. Whatever I utter is a mahāmantra, because every mantra is nothing but manifestation of Oṃkāra only, which we have seen especially in the Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad in the very first mantra, Sarvaṃ Oṃkāra eva. So this is the purpose, slowly progress in spiritual life, and it takes time. That's why Sri Ramakrishna says everything happens at the right time.

So yajña means to convert, not merely to do external rituals, but through them slowly understand that my body, mind, everything is a thing belonging to God. I do not exist, only he exists. Every pot has to realize I do not exist, only clay exists. I am a manifestation of only the clay. I am the manifestation of gold. I am the manifestation of wood. I am the manifestation of Brahman. That is the idea. So the purpose of every one of these contemplations or pūjās is to transcend limitations of time, space, causation. In other words, to get out of this net of avidyā, which is called ignorance. Ignorance means I think I am not Brahman, I think I am somebody else other than Brahman. And not that, and reach ultimately know that Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi.

Sri Ramakrishna's Pūjā and the Living Deity

So Sri Ramakrishna's pūjā, that is how very soon he ascended, and he tested the deity whom I am worshipping, is she alive? And he saw she was breathing, she was eating, she was laughing, she was playing, and she was moving everywhere. But Sri Ramakrishna said something curious, I never could find out a shadow of her on any walk, because yā devī sarvabhūteṣu chāyārūpeṇa saṃsthitā. She is chāyā, she is kāyā, she is māyā, she is everything.

Vedāntic Concepts for the First Section: Adhyātma, Adhibhautika, Adhidaivika

Now, we have to understand, to understand this first section, what is called Āśvalāyana Brāhmaṇam, certain Vedāntic concepts. What is it? I will always give examples to make things clear. Let me take one example. And if you recollect Sri Ramakrishna's story of how Indra was attributed to the killing of a cow by a brāhmaṇa. That brāhmaṇa read a bit of Vedānta, Tattvabodha, and the presiding deity of the hands who killed this cow bet the and killed the cow, the presiding deity is Indra, and Indra all the pāpa goes to Indra, he never said all the puṇyam goes to Indra, only all the pāpam goes to Indra. So recollect that story and apply it here. What is it? And earlier also you have to remember, I made extensive quotations of the triangle. Īśvara manifests as adhyātma, adhibhautika, adhidaivika. One cannot be without the other. That is the concept, especially in Tattvabodha we get it.

The Example of the Eye

Take the example of the eye. I am able to see an object. How am I able to see the object? Say there is a tree, because the sun, he is illuminating it, and in the light of his grace, light means knowledge, I have the knowledge, there is a tree. But what is the sun? He is light, and he is the power of seeing behind every single eye, whether it belongs to a mosquito, or a mice, or a man, or an elephant, every living creature. Similarly, when I am hearing, so the four directions, they are the devatās. And that what is the devatā? That is manifesting in each one of us as the power of hearing. So the presiding deity, he is illuminating the whole external world, and he is giving each one of us that particular sense organ. And because of his manifestation as the particular sense organ, we are able to enjoy both the external world as well as the presiding deity. We see, we experience all the presiding deities, do we? So we may not see, we can see the earth, we can see the water, and we can see the fire, but we cannot see the air, and we cannot see the ākāśa. But we can infer, because if I am able to move one inch from one side to other side, because there is space. And if I am able to breathe in and out, that is Vāyudevatā. The other, they come under what we call five senses, the limit of the five sense organs, three sense organs. But we have to infer through experience, we are experiencing, not able to see through our eyes or hear, air also you can hear, actually, only ākāśa goes beyond all these things.

Speech as Agni Devatā

What is the idea now? That what is the yajña? Here is a person, and he is uttering mantras, and that comes in the form of speech, and the speech is the manifestation of thoughts, and the speech as manifestation of the thought belongs to Agni devatā, vāgdevatā is Agni devatā. He also says Mother Sarasvatī. So if I am able to utter something, good or bad, it doesn't matter, it's all because of the vāgdevatā. So if I think I am speaking, I am ignorant. But if I am thinking Mother Sarasvatī is speaking in the form of speech, and she is aided by fire, what is fire? Energy. Because to speak out, and especially to shout, we require energy.

The Story of the Brāhmaṇa and Indra

So this is how this brāhmaṇa in the story of Sri Ramakrishna, his hands, presiding deity of his hands, is everybody's hands is Indra. So whatever good I have done, it will come to me. Whatever evil I have done, it only goes. Who is the deity of feet? Viṣṇu.

The Presiding Deities of the Sense Organs and Organs of Action

So just I will mention a few, so you will know we all have got five organs of knowledge, input, five organs of action, output, daśendriyās, and plus mind. So if we have got ear, the directions are the presiding deity, the hearing power is the power of the ear. If I am able to touch, Vāyudevatā is the presiding deity of touch. The power of seeing belongs to the sun in the form of light. And if I am able to taste, you know, as soon as something is put on the tongue, water comes out, and water devatā is called Varuṇa. And then when I am able to smell something, they are called Aśvinī Kumāras, presiding deities.

Organs of Action

You will have to apply in the same way. If I am able to speak, because of the Agni devatā, if I am able to grasp through my hands, Indra devatā. If I am able to walk, Viṣṇu devatā. If I am able to excrete and digested food, it is because of what? Yamadevatā. If I am unable to do that beautiful name, if I am unable to throw out what is becoming poison in my body, either vomiting or excreta, then it leads me to death, this body will not survive. And if I am able to procreate, generative organ, not my organ, it's called upastha, the deity is called Prajāpati, Prajāpati means one who multiplies the prajās, or species.

The Mind and Its Faculties

And what about the mind? We have a mind. So if I am able to think, to doubt, and to waver, saṃśayātmikā Chandra devatā. That is why some people go mad, the adhipati of madness, presiding deity, is Chandradevatā, the moon. That's why lunatic asylum, the person is called lunatic, because his mind is not under control. If I have got tremendous power of understanding, discrimination, buddhi, he is called Brahmā, because I am able to understand the scriptures, etc. And if I have got the sense of I and mine, ahaṃkāra, Śiva, Rudra, they are the presiding deities. It is their manifestation, unfortunately we attribute it to our own self. And if I am able to keep in memory, it is again Viṣṇu devatā, chitta.

The Five Prāṇas

And then we have got five prāṇas. Just I am giving you so that we understand what is going to come in this first section, also in the future sections. So this prāṇa, whenever we breathe, that is called prāṇa, prāṇavāyu, is divided, subdivided into five parts, prāṇa, apāna, vyāna, udāna, and samāna.

Prāṇa

So what is the prāṇa? Prāṇa means what? Respiration and inward vitality.

Apāna

Apāna means downward movement, and which helps elimination of unwanted materials.

Vyāna

Vyāna, it digests the food that we have, it is the prāṇa which digests, that's why it is called Agnidevatā. Circulation and distribution of energy, which converts food into energy, and that is called function of the vyāna part of the prāṇa.

Udāna

Udāna, upward movement, speech, associated with departure from this world, and also, as I said, to vomit, and to throw out excreta, etc., udāna.

Samāna

Then samāna, it equally it digests the food and then assimilates it.

Summary Table of Presiding Deities

So we have got ears, that is dik, the directions. Skin, the god of air, air guard. Eyes, Sūrya, the sun guard. Tongue, the god called Varuṇa. Nose, Aśvinī Kumāras, presiding deities. You will have to apply in the same way. If I am able to speak, because of the Agni devatā, if I am able to grasp through my hands, Indra devatā. If I am able to walk, Viṣṇu devatā. If I am able to excrete and digested food, it is because of what? Yamadevatā. If I am unable to do that beautiful name, if I am unable to throw out what is becoming poison in my body, either vomiting or excreta, then it leads me to death, this body will not survive. And if I am able to procreate, generative organ, not my organ, it's called upastha, the deity is called Prajāpati, Prajāpati means one who multiplies the prajās, or species.

And what about the mind? We have a mind. So if I am able to think, to doubt, and to waver, saṃśayātmikā Chandra devatā. That is why some people go mad, the adhipati of madness, presiding deity, is Chandradevatā, the moon. That's why lunatic asylum, the person is called lunatic, because his mind is not under control. If I have got tremendous power of understanding, discrimination, buddhi, he is called Brahmā, because I am able to understand the scriptures, etc. And if I have got the sense of I and mine, ahaṃkāra, Śiva, Rudra, they are the presiding deities. It is their manifestation, unfortunately we attribute it to our own self. And if I am able to keep in memory, it is again Viṣṇu devatā, chitta.

Conclusion: Everything Is the Manifestation of Saguna Brahman

So why am I cataloging all these things? Not to bore you, to understand what we call I, the body and mind, actually is the manifestation of Saguna Brahma Īśvara in the form of the presiding deities, and also adhibhautika form, and he has given us an individual ego, which we should not misuse saying I am eating, it is the God who is eating, etc. If we can have this knowledge always, whatever we do, I am eating food, who is eating? It is God who is eating. And who what is this God eating? God is eating only God, mother Annapūrṇā. Who is drinking? Jaladevatā is drinking, Gaṅgā devatā. Like that, you apply.

In the end, what do we find? As Sri Ramakrishna says, like the peeling of onions, nothing is left out. So when all these pañcakośas are removed completely, what remains is pure Ātman. When we remove this three gross, subtle, and causal bodies, what remains is Brahman. And this particular yajña, pūjā, is the only means, we have to begin somewhere, like elementary school or even nursery school, gradually progress. That is the purpose of this particular section. And how beautifully, if we keep this in background, we can really become enlightened, and this 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!