Chandogya Upanishad Lecture 01 on 25 May 2024

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

ॐ जननीं सारदां देवीं रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुम् पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहुः

Oṃ jananīṁ sāradāṁ devīṁ rāmakṛṣṇaṁ jagadgurum pādapadme tayoḥ śritvā praṇamāmi muhurmuhuḥ

ॐ आप्यायन्तु ममाङ्गानि वाक्प्राणश्चक्षुः श्रोत्रमथो बलमिन्द्रियाणि च सर्वाणि। सर्वम् ब्रह्मोपनिषदम् माऽहं ब्रह्म निराकुर्यां मा मा ब्रह्म निराकरोद निराकरणमस्त्व निराकरणम् मेऽस्तु। तदात्मनि निरते य उपनिषत्सु धर्मास्ते मयि सन्तु ते मयि सन्तु। ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः॥ हरिः ॐ ॥

Oṃ āpyāyantu mamāṅgāni vākprāṇaścakṣuḥ śrotramatho balamindriyāṇi ca sarvāṇi. Sarvam brahmopaniṣadam mā’haṃ brahma nirākuryāṃ mā mā brahma nirākaroda nirākaraṇamastva nirākaraṇam me’stu. Tadātmani nirate ya upaniṣatsu dharmāste mayi santu te mayi santu. oṃ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ hariḥ oṃ

Om

May my limbs, speech, vital force, eyes, ears, as also strength, and all the organs, become well developed.

Everything is the Brahman, revealed in the Upanishads.

May I not deny Brahman, may not Brahman deny me.

Let there be no spurning of me by Brahman.

Let there be no rejection of Brahman by me.

May all the virtues that are spoken of in the Upanishads repose in me, who am engaged in the pursuit of the Self.

May they repose in me.

Om Peace, Peace, Peace be unto all.

As announced earlier, from today I propose to take up the Chandogya Upanishad. It is one of the two biggest of all Upanishads, the other being Brihadaranyaka. Practically both are of the same voluminous length. Chandogya, the very word Chandogya and this Chandogya Upanishad belongs to Sama Veda. As we know, Vedas were one undivided mass of discoveries by Vedic Rishis, and it became so unwieldy. In course of time, God himself had incarnated as Vedavyasa, and he collected all the available discoveries.

Remember, Veda means what? That which teaches us or that which gives us knowledge, which is not available by any other means. In Vedantic terminology, the word means is called Pramana. We will talk about it when the time comes. But there are six Pramanas are there. The most important of these Pramanas is called Pratyaksha Pramana. Pratyaksha means direct experience. So in that sense, I see something and we consider it as direct perception.

So the knowledge obtained through the direct contact of any sense organ with an object, provided every other condition is fulfilled. What do I mean? Well, one's eyes may be defective. Light may not be sufficient. There may be some disturbances in the mind. Many things can happen. But provided all this light, sufficient light is there and the object is crystal clear and our sense organs are fully functional and when our sense organs come into contact and that is what we call Pratyaksha Pramana, direct perception, including the eyes.

It is not only the eyes. Usually we say when I see something that is most authoritative, direct perception. No. Supposing you hear a car honking behind you and that is also Pratyaksha Pramana. We are not seeing the car but it gives us the knowledge. There is danger there. So I must get out of the way of the car. So also smell. I smell beautiful incense and then I immediately start thinking about God because usually this is associated with only shrine rooms, temples, etc. or on puja occasion.

So similarly somebody touches and by the touch also we know a small baby touching and a huge elephant touching. There is tremendous amount of difference is there. So also all the what we call five sense organs, sense organs of knowledge. So we know some knowledge is there, undeniable knowledge and that is called Pratyaksha Pramana. And there are others like Anumana Pramana, Arthapatti, Upamana and Abhava.

As I said I am going to talk about them but mostly what I want to talk about will be through the Taittiriya Upanishad. I will go through very detailed background. What are the Upanishads? What is the meaning of the Upanishad? How many Upanishads are available and why Upanishads are needed, etc. So now coming back to our subject. So there are six Pramanas are there and the only real Pramana is only Pratyaksha, direct perception. All the other four inference, comparison and contrast and absence, Abhava, they are all based upon only Pratyaksha Pramana.

So they are considered not as main Pramana but subsidiary Pramana. So one plus four Pratyaksha plus four subsidiary is five. But there is another and that is called Shabda. And here Shabda means, usual meaning of the Shabda is sound. We are not talking about any sound. This is the Vedic knowledge transmitted through Guru-Shishya Sampradaya called Shruti and at least Hindu scriptures called the Vedas and Vedas are called Shrutis and Shruti means to be heard, that which is heard.

So earlier there was no way they can be written down. Thank God it has not been written down because our Rishis have made a special rule. This is called Rahasya Vidya, highly secretive. Secret in the sense, not that they should not be given but they may not be wanted or incomprehensible for those who are not fit and only when the right time comes through the right teacher to the right student. So it passes from the teacher to the student. That is how a tradition is established and that is called Shruti Parampara. Another word is Guru-Shishya Sampradaya.

So it is called Shrutis and because it comes through Shabda, the Guru teaches it to the worthy disciples, fit disciples, so through words. That is why it is called Shabda and there are also two types of Shabdas are there. One is called Laukika Shabda, another is called Vaidika Shabda. Laukika Shabda are worldly languages, sounds. Worldly knowledge can be conveyed through worldly sounds but spiritual knowledge can be conveyed only through spiritual sounds. That is what is called Veda. Veda means knowledge.

So there are so many Upanishads are there and from now onwards as far as possible, I will be taking up a Chandogya Upanishad. But as I said, it is a huge Upanishad and this Upanishad belongs to Sama Veda and as I was mentioning earlier, first of all that unclassified mass of Vedic knowledge was collected, classified and transmitted by Veda Vyasa. That is why the very name. He was a great Rishi of extraordinary memory and ability and a poet because great what is called Itihasas like Mahabharata and then so many Brahma Sutras and so many other works, he had done it.

Whether he had done it or not, many people have done in his name. So his very name is Veda Vyasa. That is not a name, that is a title. His real name was Krishna Dwaipayana. He was called Dwaipayana because he was born in a small island and he was brought up, not by his mother but by his father who was called Parashara and one of the greatest Rishis. And in the olden times, a Rishi need not be a Sanyasi. Most of the Rishis are greater than Sanyasis and they married with full body-mind control.

So that is why they are called Rishis. Rishi means mantra drashta. So Parashara was such a person and to him and Satyavati was born this. He was probably, the father and mother both were black and therefore the child also is likely to be black. So he was called Krishna because he was born and brought up in an island. So he was called Dwaipayana. Dweepa means an island. So that was his name, Krishna Dwaipayana. As I mentioned many times, there are three famous Krishnas. One is Bhagavan Krishna, Sri Krishna because he was also black.

Then there was this Krishna, Vedavyasa. And then a female, what is called black beauty, Draupadi. Anyway, these three black-skinned people became extraordinarily great. Now having grown up with extraordinary intellect and spirituality, he probably realized that our Vedic lore is about to be lost forever. So he collected as much as possible like Max Muller collected in the 19th century. And thanks to him, we were able to get a large number of things which have not perished. During so many centuries and millenniums, so to say.

So he who collects and studies it and classifies it and transmits it. That's why he is called the editor of Vedas. Veda, Vedas, Vyasa means editor. That is the title. And even now that title continues. He is known only as Vedavyasa rather than Krishna Dwaipayana.

Now, he had four disciples, and as the degeneration happens with each passing generation, they did not have that much of troubles, that much of intelligence, that much of memory, that much of capacity to understand. So he divided these Vedas into four and we know them.

Rig Veda is the first which is the largest. More than 10,000 mantras are there divided into 10 mandalas. Then there is Yajur Veda and in course of time for some particular reasons, it has become divided into the black and the white Yajur Veda. Krishna Yajur Veda. Taittiriya belongs to Krishna Yajur Veda. And Brihadaranyaka, a famous Agamalkya belongs to both Krishna and Shukla Yajur Veda.

Then there is Samaveda and then there is later on, much later on, there was another great Rishi who came, his name became very popular. He became very, what we call, most popular writer and teacher, Adharvana. So Adharvana Veda has come. Now first only three Vedas, now the fourth one, Adharvana.

Adharvana Veda is a completely independent Veda, whereas the Yajur Veda is not an independent Veda. So it is the explanation of the mantras. Mantras are also called Samhita. Samhita means a collection. So there are so many collections of mantras belonging to, for various purposes, praising Surya or Indra etc. etc.

Some of these mantras can and must be used in Vedic Karmakanda. How to worship God? How to perform Yajna? What in those days was called Yajna is now is called popularly as Pooja. So how to use these mantras? In what particular manner? How the implements like bricks etc. had to be arranged? And how to do these things? That is the speciality of Yajur Veda.

That means they are only Rig Mantras but specially adopted for the sake of Yajna Yagas with explanations how to do it, the methodology that is called Yajur Veda. And some of these Rig Vedic Mantras somehow have got that beautiful rhythm and they can be chanted in a particular way. Something similar to Gregorian music. That's why it has become popular as Samaveda.

Usually wherever Yajna is done, these three, the priests specializing in Rig Veda, chanting the mantras, the priest who has become specialized in doing worship with various Mudras, gestures etc. And some people who could sing melodiously creating a beautiful atmosphere and they were all employed.

And much later on as I mentioned, the Atharvana priest, Atharva or Atharvana Veda priest called Brahma. He was also included in this puja and the pujari or the main priest is called Brahma. I don't know the reason but for some particular reason he was employed as a supervisor. That's why he is called Brahma. But he must be more intelligent than all the other three priests because he must know so that he could guide everybody else.

Now this is how Veda Vyasa has divided the existing mass of knowledge into four Vedas. And spiritually speaking, every Veda is divided into two parts, Karma Kanda and Jnana Kanda. Ritualistic portion and knowledge portion. And every Veda is again subdivided as I was just now mentioning. So as these four parts, the Yajur Veda that is for rituals, Sama Veda for singing, Atharvana Veda for supervising etc.

But besides that every Veda has come to be divided into Samhita, the first part that is purely the mantras, collection of mantras. Second is called Brahmana. Brahmana means how to utilise in worship, which mantras and how many mantras, at what time they have to be chanted etc. And then Aranyaka.

These two, the first Samhita and Brahmana mostly belong to the Karma Kanda. But the third one Aranyaka is full of Upasanas, mental contemplations. I will deal with that also.

What is Upasana? Why should I deal? Not because I am giving a general introduction. Because this Chandogya Upanishad has been divided into eight chapters. And of these eight chapters, practically three-fourth of the Upanishad, that is from chapter one to chapter five, it is mostly only Upasana.

Chapters three, six, seven and eight deal with the most marvellous Gnanakanda, Tattva and then one of the four great Mahavakyas. Mahavakya means that statement from the Upanishad which indicates the complete identity between the so-called apparent individualised consciousness and universal consciousness, Jivatma and Brahmatma. So I am Atma Brahma, Prajnanam Brahma, Tattvam Asi, Aham Brahmasmi. These are called four Mahavakyas.

And Tattvam Asi is from this Chandogya Upanishad. Tattvam Asi Shweta Ketu. And it occurs nearly nine times. Not once but nine times. Tattvam Asi Shweta Ketu. And this is the subject matter of the sixth chapter. So it is a broad meaning.

What does Chandogya mean? Chandogya Upanishad belongs to Sama Veda. And Sama Veda naturally means that which belongs to the singing Veda. It can be sung. And if it has to be sung, like any bhajan, it has to fall into some particular rhythm. And that rhythmic composition is called Chandas, meter, Vedic meter.

There are like Anustubh Chanda, Gayatri Chanda, Panti Chanda, etc. Various meters are there, like English poetry, like poetry in any Indian language. It's very rich actually, each one of our languages. And there is what is called bound meters and free meter.

Even English literature also, rhythmic way of composing things. And free. There is no such rule, regulation. But it must be very beautiful. So Chandas means meter. And because it is full of Chandas, this particular Upanishad is called Chandogya Upanishad.

And this naturally, as I said, belongs to Sama Veda. Or the people who sing, they are called Sama Vedis. So that which belongs to the Sama Veda or Sama Vedi. And Sama Vedi is one who sings the Vedic mantras. And therefore this Chandogya Upanishad must be part of that rhythmic way of composing.

And it is one of the oldest Upanishads. Earlier I mentioned that each Veda is subdivided into Samhita, Brahmana, Aranyaka and Upanishad. Now this second part, Brahmana. So all the Vedas have got their own Brahmanas. So there is a Brahmana. And this Chandogya Upanishad belongs to that Brahmana.

And there is a particular school of Sama Veda. It is known as Tandya. Tandya Shakha. So this Upanishad belongs to that Tandya school of the Sama Veda. Now this is a very big Upanishad. Comparable only to Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. And it has got 8 chapters.

And the 1st to 8th chapter in this Brahmana. There are 10 chapters in this Brahmana. Of these, 1st and 2nd Brahmanas are full of rituals, etc. But even though the rest of it, from 3rd to 10th. That is 8 chapters, let us say. Prapathaka. It consists of Chandogya Upanishad.

And then the first 5 chapters. 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th. It is full of various Upasanas. And marvellous Upasanas. Now I will talk about these Upasanas later on. But what is the point? Vedic Upasanas. And then there are Tantric Upasanas. Then there are Pauranic Upasanas.

What is a Upasana? As if you recollect, I hope you do. When I was explaining the meaning of the word Upanishad. Upa means near. Sat. Upa, Ni, Sat. This also I will explain later on. But Upa means near. That is to go nearer and nearer to our goal. Which is Brahman.

And that process by which we can slowly approach the divine Brahman. That is called Upasana. That particular act. Asana means that is as if the Brahman is sitting somewhere. And the nearest one to us is only our own self. That is called Brahman.

So we are searching for it everywhere. Even though we are it all the time. Or we are near it all the time. But unable to understand.

So our Rishis have discovered or had created such a number of Upasanas, whereby we can get rid of the wrong notion that I am not Brahman, and then slowly approach nearer and nearer to our own real self, which is otherwise called Brahman.

But then there are two types, three types of Upasanas are there. Broadly that is I am not talking about the description of the Upasana. I am talking about the types of Upasanas. The Vaidika Upasanas. For example, Gayatri Upasana. The Tantric Upasana. For example, that which we see whenever we worship Kali, or even say Ramakrishna, Holy Mother Swamiji, or Ram and etc. And then there is Pauranic Upasanas. That is Pauranic way of thinking about God.

Where do we get it? So whenever any person is worshipping let us say Vishnu or Ganesha. What does he do? He gathers flowers and he installs an icon. It could be with human-like face. Or if it is Anjaneya, highly developed human being or spiritual being. But with a face that looks like a monkey. After all we are all evolution, what is called results of monkeys, chimpanzees etc. only. No doubt about it.

So Pauranic Upasanas, Tantric Upasanas and Vaidika Upasanas. Now what is the most important difference? Vaidika Upasanas, they never used to think of the personal. They are always thinking the abstract, not concrete. They used to contemplate on the sun, on the moon, on the air, on fire and even subtler than that. On the Pancha Bhutas, then even subtler. On the mind itself, even subtlest. On the Ahamkara itself. This is called Ahamgraha Upasana, identify.

But then for whatever reason in history, Vaidika Rishis disappeared and people like us, like them are very rare to come across. And our minds as if have come down to much lower level. Sri Ramakrishna used to say, even if a man wants to think like a Rishi, he will die. His head will split into so many parts. Why? Because early morning they used to get up, maybe 2 o'clock, 3 o'clock, go far away from their monasteries, ashramas and sit in solitude and think of the impersonal aspect of God. Sat, Chit, Ananda.

We can only meditate, think about Brahma, Vishnu, Maheshwara. Remember, all the Gods and Goddesses are only evolutionary products of this Saguna Brahma. So our Vaidika Rishis Upasanas, they are mostly what is called Nirguna, that is abstract type of contemplation. Whereas we are what is called products of the Puranas, Uranikas and Tantras. We can only worship the evolutionary products.

As I said, so like Brahma, Vishnu, Maheshwara, Vishnu as Krishna, as Rama, as Parashurama, as Buddha, as Christ, etc. So either Shiva, even Shiva's avatars in India, in Hinduism is not accepted as a full avatar. Somehow Vaishnavism had taken the upper hand and so all the major avatars, they are worshipped by most of the Hindus, are only the aspects of Vishnu.

Whereas Acharyas like Shankaracharya, etc., great Shiva Bhaktas with tremendous knowledge and power, they are considered as incarnations of Shiva. But that is an academic question. Shiva is not separate from Vishnu, Vishnu is not separate from Shiva. It is only what is called both the monkeys as well as the ghouls belonging to Shiva fighting with each other, as Ramakrishna put it so funnily.

So nowadays we have lost contact with all those ones because our minds are also not capable, really speaking. But we contemplate two Upasanas, Pauranic Upasanas. What do I mean? Like Rama Upasana, Krishna Upasana, Devi Upasana, Shiva Upasana, etc. For example, a person wants to contemplate Vishnu or Ganesha. What does he do? Dhyana Mantra.

Dhyana Mantras indicate what type of meditation is it. Is it Nirguna Upasana or is it Saguna Upasana? Remember, really speaking, nobody can think about Brahman who is Nirguna. Nirguna, Niranjana, Nirakara. So nobody can think about it. But then meditation on pointers like Sat, Chit and Ananda or Satyam, Jnanam, Anantam, etc. abstract ideas.

But even the abstract ideas also fall under only concrete, not abstract. For example, M questioned, how can a man think of God? If he thinks of Him with form, it is a contradiction to think of Him as without form. And if he thinks of Him without form, it is equally untenable to think of Him as with form. But then this is where we can miss the point.

When a devotee is thinking of Akara, it is only in contrast with formlessness. Because we live with the mind and the mind is made up of what is called dualities. Multiplicity is the nature of the mind. So we can never think of white without thinking of other colours. Because this contrast alone must give that knowledge of the multiplicity.

So male and female, cold and heat, knowledge and ignorance, light and darkness, life and death, respect and humiliation, victory and defeat, profit and loss, all these opposites. So Shri Ramakrishna was trying to explain. I don't know how much M understood at that time. So formlessness is only the contrast with form which is an aspect of the mind.

Even this what we call concrete and abstract are both thoughts in the mind. We have to be careful. That's why Shri Ramakrishna was forced to say that God is with form, God is also without form. That is to say that our mind sometimes thinks of God with form, sometimes without form. Does it think? Is it capable of thinking anytime without both these? No. One will be in the background, another will be manifest. Manifest and unmanifest.

So even if when I am thinking of this is light, I have the idea what is darkness. So vice versa. So that is how form and formlessness both belong to the mind. But there is some truth because the mind itself is based manifestation of something which cannot be described as with form or without form. That is beyond all realities and that is called beyond form and formless. Don't call it formless. Don't call it formless. It is something indescribable. That's what Shri Ramakrishna was trying to convey to Eshwar Chandra Vidya Sagar that God, what Brahman is, nobody was able to express.

That is what Shri Ramakrishna was echoing of the Upanishadic, Taittiri Upanishad especially and strangely this word, there is a word called Sat. So everything was only Sat. So that is how a Sikh chapter of this Chandogya Upanishad clearly starts.

Now what are we trying to talk about? So even nirguna brahma upasana belongs to the upper regions of the mind only and saguna brahma upasana of course to the lower capacities of the mind. They are not beyond mind. Just as when you go to enter into deep sleep, there is neither light nor darkness, neither good nor evil, neither form nor formlessness because the mind itself is temporarily quiescent.

So nowadays, Brahma Upasana, Krishna Upasana, Devi, Shiva, Vishnu. That is why So we are what is called forced according to our mind's capacity to imagine God especially like a human being. As Swami Vivekananda so beautifully explained, every prani has its mind and in the mind, it identifies itself with its own physical form.

So for a mosquito or for an ant, as Swamiji has said it, so it can think of God only as a big ant. If a cow or a bull has to think about God, it will be a huge cow or a bull. If a dog has to think about God, it will be a huge, what is called dog, most powerful dog and no other dog can defeat it. So it is its own species because it is identified totally with that species.

So when human beings, they think about God, it should be. So can you imagine this very interesting fact, you know, that in the West, billions and billions of people are Christians and these Christians, when they think about Christ, they have to think about Christ. And how do they think about Christ? If it is African, he will be having kinky hair and black face, black coloured and a huge protruding lips and that is how people can paint out.

And if it is a Chinese Christ, his eyes will be together and so on. If it is a white-skinned person, he will paint Jesus Christ like that only. Especially these white people paint. You know how Christ belongs to the Jewish community and Jewish people have got huge, what is called bird-like noses. Whereas Hiram Krishna saw him flat-nosed. Nobody knows why he could see that one. Anyway, these are all human imaginations because we are identified as human beings.

So we try to imagine the best of the human qualities like compassion, forbearance, all-encompassing love, complete forgiveness, capacity to fulfil whatever desires we have and complete protection. All these things only comprise of our Upasana, meditations.

If you are a devotee of Sri Ramakrishna, Hridaya Kammala Madhya. And this Hridaya Kammala Madhya is common to most of the Dhyana Mantras.

nirvikalpam sat asat akhilabhedatitam ekasvarupam prakruti vikruti sunyam nityam anandamurtim vimala paramahamsam ramakrishnam bhajamam

But in the third shloka, itaritu mavate nam brahna-bhatte prashanti pranaya-galita-chittam jiva-dukha-asahishnum dhrita-sahaja-samadhim chinmayam komalangam vimala paramahamsam ramakrishnam bhajamah

So, according to our needs, if I am suffering from disease, God is imagined as a great physician. If I am suffering from poverty, He is Lakshmipati, Kamalapati. If I am suffering from enemies, He with His Chakra is capable of destroying all my enemies. So, whatever is my need, that is how I imagine God also who is capable of supplying and fulfilling my life.

So, we are all, we cannot really understand. We don't have that high capacity to think like Vedic Rishis.

So, this is how the modern, the old upasanas have been forced to modify into the modern upasanas exactly suitable. Even there also, that is also very difficult. So, what I was trying to tell, again I will recollect for our sake.

The Vedic Rishis, if they are thinking of God as Nirguna, Nirakara, Nirvikalpa, it is only an abstract thought. It is not about Nirguna Brahma at all. What Brahman is, can never be thought about. But if they don't have people, even in those days everybody was not capable, then he has to think of it as the sun, as the moon, as the wind, as fire, as water, etc., etc. But we like, that was called, they called it Nirguna Upasana and symbols from the nature, as I said, like the fire, like the sun were taken as pratikas, pratimas, that is symbols for meditation upon that abstract Brahman, concept of Brahman.

Remember, abstract concept of Brahman and personalised concept of Brahman called Saguna Brahma. And why do devotees especially, not only devotees, even most of the so-called sannyasins who are quite claiming proudly, we only tread the Jnana Marga, but if you observe their breakfast, especially South Indian breakfast, masala dosa, is it Saguna Brahma or Nirguna Brahma? So you will have to think about it very hard.

So it doesn't matter. What helps us, that is the best Upasana, that is what we have to think, not think it is Saguna or Nirguna. And that is why in our Khandana hymn, how beautifully, so Khandana Bhava Bandhana, God who is, that is Ramakrishna, God as Ramakrishna, who is capable of cutting down, destroying all my, what is called bondages. Here bondage means needs, that means fulfilling needs. Niranjana and he is absolutely pure, not stained by anything, not made impure. Nararupadhara, same thing, Nararupadhara who has assumed a human form.

Nirguna, he cannot be thought as having any quality, but at the same time, Gunamaya, full of these Gunas. So we have to, it is a beautiful combination of both the Saguna and Nirguna Upasanas. That is very important for us to understand. But we in the Kalikala are quite weak. Why? That is why we offer to God, in the name of God, the best things that we like.

So we like to have Prasadam and then whether God eats it or not, we want to eat. Whether Krishna likes butter or not, so we want to consume, huge. Especially I think in the East, in the West, it is consumed as butter. But in India, not butter, not butter Rupena, but Ghee Rupena. So Ghee means most marvelous. Therefore the Purani Upasanas are more appealing because we are capable of thinking only a God magnified without any defects that all of us possess.

But with all the great qualities, a father, a mother should have. But this is called Saguna Brahma Upasanas. But the Vedic Upasanas for the most part are centered in nature. And then as an example, in the first five chapters of this Chandogya, which we are trying to study, there is a Rain Upasana. That is Vrishti Upasana. Why? Because most of the time, until now, even now, we cannot live without agriculture.

So agriculture mostly depends upon, used to depend upon rains. Even today, unfortunately in India, we depend upon, even though we are blessed with so many big, big rivers, so much of water is going into the ocean wastage, but politicians cannot agree. There was once I heard of a grand plan to combine this Brahmaputra, Ganga, etc. and then make canals connecting every part of India.

So that will facilitate not only trade, but also transportation, which is much, much cheaper than any other means and pollution is very less. But till now I have not seen anything about that one. So if there is a lack of rain, and nowadays the whole weather has become topsy-turvy. So there was a faith, if we do that particular Upasana, rain will come.

As I mentioned many times, Dasharatha, he wanted a child. So he did Putraka Maheshti Yagna and then Shankaracharya's father, Shiva Guru, what did he do? He did not have any children. So he worshipped Shiva, Shiva Upasana and as a result got Shankaracharya. So also many other, the father's parents of many other great people everywhere.

So there is a cloud Upasana, there is a thunder Upasana, there is a Vidyut or lightning Upasana, there is a river Upasana, there is Akasha Upasana. There are various aspects of nature are taken up for Upasana. Of course, there is also whenever we chant the Sukthams like Narayana Suktham or what is called Purusha Suktham or Vishnu Suktham.

So we have got Vishwa Rupa Upasana, that is God Vishwam. For example, those who chant with tremendous Bhakti and concentration, Vishnu Sahasranama. Idea is, they are contemplating upon Vishnu in various aspects. So not only there are these, what is called natural forces in the Chandogya Upanishad. So sometimes the mantras themselves are taken.

For example, we have completed just now Mandokya Upanishad and there is Omkara Upasana. Equating it or dividing Om into four parts as A, O, M and Artha Matra, silent sound and equating with waking, dream, deep sleep or Sushupti and also with Turiyam. So there are some mantras. For example, Gayatri Upasana, that is purely mantra Upasana.

Not only mantras, sometimes even part of the statement in the Upanishads have taken. For example, there is a beautiful in the Taittiri Upanishad, Shikshadhyaya, Shikshavalli, there is something called Vyaghruti Upasana and upon, what do we meditate upon? Vyaghruti means Bhu, Bhuvaha, Subhaha, Mahaha, these are called Vyaghruti.

So these Vyaghruti mantras are meditated upon and the people also used to practice those Upasanas because they were soaked in Vedas, study of the Vedas, living the Vedas. And as I mentioned earlier, Chandogya Upanishad, that is full of meters as it were because it belongs to Sama Veda and this is one of the oldest Upanishads and there is a Upanishad, small Upanishad, it is called Muktika Upanishad which mentions 108 Upanishads and this Chandogya has been mentioned as the ninth Upanishad and as I mentioned earlier, Chandogya Upanishad belongs to the Tandya school of the Sama Veda and is one of the largest Upanishadic compilations.

And it has got eight Prapathakas or chapters and the importance of this Chandogya Upanishad is unimaginable. Why do I say? Somebody collected some statistics, I have not personally gone through that but Yashacharya, the same Vedavyasa who edited the Vedic knowledge had also found there were so many contradictory, supposedly, apparently, seemingly contradictory statements by various Rishis.

So what do they mean? Are there terrible contradictions in the Upanishads? To resolve them, to say that every Upanishad, every part of the Veda is only trying to indicate to us that supreme reality called Brahman is composed in 555 Sutras what is popularly known as Kshariraka Sutras, Brahma Sutras, etc. So in that, for that Brahma Sutra is a very tough proposition. So many Acharyas have written commentaries and among those commentaries, Shankaracharyas we consider as one of the best and Shankarabhashya he quotes 810 times from this Chandogya Upanishad because whatever commentaries Shankaracharya had written upon any of the Upanishads invariably to support those statements and also to make us know there are no contradictions.

He quotes profusely from many of the Upanishads even from Mahabharata, even from Vishnu Purana, even from Bhagavata, etc. But from this Chandogya Upanishad it seems 810 times he quoted. Somebody collected. Who is the author of this? A Rishi? We don't know. Probably it is several Rishis together. Their statements are brought together under the name of the Chandogya Upanishad.

And as I said etymology if we want Chandas means meter Chandoga means to be sung because it belongs to Samaveda. So this meaning of the Chandogya means Chandas mainly dependent upon the Vedic meter. And this has got 8 chapters. The first two chapters of this Brahmana deal with sacrifices and other forms of worship.

But this Chandogya Upanishad, which comprises of these 8th to 10th chapters of these Brahmanas, is called the 8-chapter Chandogya Upanishad. And then it is also great because something very interesting, Krishna in his Bhagavad Gita himself quotes it: "Vedanam Samavedo Asmi" - I am the Samaveda among the Vedas. And it can be said safely, there is no outstanding teaching of Vedanta that is not to be found in Chandogya. That means it is all comprehensive. There are wonderful truths. We will continue. This is only an introduction in our next class.

ॐ जननीं सारदां देवीं रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुम् पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहुः

Om jananīṁ sāradāṁ devīṁ rāmakṛṣṇaṁ jagadgurum pādapadme tayoḥ śritvā praṇamāmi muhurmuhuḥ

May Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti.

Jai Ramakrishna!