Chandogya Upanishad 4.14 Lecture 143 on 04 October 2025 Q&A

Q&A: The Manifestations of Brahman and the Teaching of the Three Fires

Student A: Maharaj, in the first section, when Gārhapatya Agni instructed, there was mention about Prana, Kam and Kham. But later on, four other things are mentioned, four other manifestations are mentioned.

Maharaj: First teaching was Prana, Kam, Kham. So I know Prana, but I did not know that Kam and Kham are the same. Kam is Brahman, Kham is Brahman, both are Brahman. Kam means Vishayananda, Kham means Brahmananda.

So what is Vishayananda? There is no separate Ananda called Vishayananda. When they say, you go to the Ganges river and directly take the water and drink, touch, bathe and then you come home and then you open the tap and then you use the same water. So what is the difference? Here you are directly touching the sacred river. Here it is limited by the pipe work.

So our mind is the limiting factor—time, space and causation. So Kam is limited happiness, Kham is unlimited happiness, but Kam is nothing but the same unlimited happiness available manifest through limited instances.

Student A: The three, they got translated into four in the later section. Upakosala is talking about twelve manifestations, four from each Agni.

Maharaj: Correct, four into three. Each Agni taught four parts of Brahman, that is one part of Brahman divided into four sub-parts.

Student A: How did that Prana, Kam and Kham that got translated into Prithvi and then the other three?

Maharaj: They are all manifestations of the Pancha Bhutas in short. For that we have to go to earlier talks and say the same Brahman is manifesting as Saguna Brahman and Saguna, these are all manifestations of the Saguna Brahman.

What I said towards the last of my talk today, whatever you see, nothing is excluded. You show me other than these twelve, you will not see anything. So everything is the manifestation of Brahman only.

Student A: Maharaj, each of these three Agni, Devatas, they have listed their manifestations in four different ways. Is it proper to understand that Devatas themselves, they realised their divinity through these four manifestations and that's what they are preaching?

Maharaj: They are self-revealing themselves. Remember, the same Saguna Brahman is manifesting in the fire. Whom is Upakosala really contemplating serving three fires? And same thing Satyakāma Jabala was also doing, tending to the fires.

One side he was looking after the cows and the other side, morning, evening, what was he doing? Serving the fires! And who taught him that one? The teacher must have taught him. Those details are not there. Otherwise how he should do, why he should do, those answers we do not get. Same thing here also. Only instead of four fires, four different forms, here we get three different forms.