Taittiriya Upanishad Lecture 116 Summary on 05 August 2026 Q&A

Q&A: On the Three Types of Dharma, Ashramas, and the Yearning for Brahman

Question: Maharaj, the 3 types of Dharmas you had mentioned.

Answer: Meaning of Dharma.

Question: Meaning of Dharma.

Answer: Yeah.

Question: I noted only 2, Maharaj. So the first one is one's own nature.

Answer: Correct – reminding our true nature.

Question: Second is the Varṇāśrama Dharma – following the Varṇāśrama.

The Means to Know True Nature: Varṇa Dharma

Answer: Second and third are the means – how we can really know our true nature, the sādhanā. For that sādhanā, first of all: which guṇa is dominant in us? Tamoguṇa – that means Śūdra; Rajoguṇa – Kṣatriya; and Sattvaguṇa – Brāhmaṇa. So this is slow progress from a lower guṇa to a higher guṇa, and this is called Varṇa Dharma. But having developed more Sattvaguṇa, one is born into a human body. And here also, according to Hinduism, each person's life span is divided into 4 categories. It is not one life actually; it is a spiritual development.

The Four Āśramas as Spiritual Development

First Stage: Brahmacarya – Learning with Faith

The first stage is learning with complete faith. How many people have the faith that God exists, that He is watching, and that He will reward everybody according to one's duties? How many people really believe in it? They don't. Even religious people do not believe in it. Yeah, otherwise they will not bribe the priests. Priests are supposed to be the custodians of God; they will not take also. So what I am trying to tell: first stage is learning, but that learning is not academic learning. If they learn coding, your character is not changed by coding. It is only – if you are very clever, it might help you to earn more money. But the fundamental teaching of Hinduism is: no possessions, no money, nothing will give happiness. It is a state of mind. Happiness and unhappiness are states of mind. Only puṇyam will give us happiness. So possessions will not give happiness. That truth – how many people understand? Very few people.

Second Stage: Gṛhastha – Experiment and Experience

So the first stage is learning with faith. Once faith comes, put it into practice. That is what I call experiment and experience. That is the second stage called Gṛhastha Āśrama. Because if you don't scientifically really do the experiments, you will not know whether the experiment is successful or not. It is a development. Yes, it yields results, and then the person's faith goes on increasing in the scriptures. And that which at first the goal seems to be obtaining more happiness, later on, this happiness sort of fades in the external world, and the understanding comes: "The external world is continuously changing. I am also changing. My body and mind are also changing." So what does the scripture say? Then through Karma Kāṇḍa, he enters into – not mentioned specifically called Upāsanā – that is called the main purpose of Vānaprastha Āśrama.

Third Stage: Vānaprastha – Gradual Climbing

And it is what is called gradually climbing up and up and up. Then finally, the person says: "God alone is the reality. Everything else is temporary."

Fourth Stage: Sannyāsa – Integrating the Temporary into the Permanent

So integrate the temporary into the permanent; that is called Sannyāsa Āśrama. So this is how the teaching is given. In the very first chapter of this Taittirīya Upaniṣad, called Śikṣāvalī, all these ideas are implied. So roughly I can say: first chapter is equivalent to Śravaṇa; second chapter is roughly equivalent to Manana – because the teacher teaches about the knowledge of Brahman, and the person has to think about it deeply and slowly progress; and the last part is how to transform oneself and behave like a Jīvanmukta, a knower of Brahman. How beautifully we can try to understand these ideas. Yes.

Interconnection of the Āśramas

Question: Sure, Maharaj. Maharaj, with these Āśrama Dharmas, it seems like in Brahmacarya we actually prepare for the next āśramas.

Answer: Yeah.

Question: And in Gṛhastha we prepare for the Vānaprastha āśrama.

Answer: Yeah.

Question: Which means we Gṛhasthas, in addition to experimenting and experiencing, also practice Upāsanās in preparation for Vānaprastha.

Answer: Correct. Correct.

Question: So in Vānaprastha, even though he practices Upāsanās mostly, he actually prepares for Sannyāsa āśrama.

Answer: Correct. Sannyāsa āśrama is really enjoying the result of Upāsanā. Vānaprastha āśrama we can take like that.

A Reflection on the Gṛhastha's Journey

So what happens? Just a thought occurred to me now, and because you mentioned, I have to thank you for producing that thought. So, a Gṛhastha marries, and he thinks: "My happiness comes from my wife, my husband, my children." Then he starts practicing Upāsanā. So, to maintain the wife and children, he has to work very hard.

Question: Yes.

Answer: Now, as he goes on practicing Upāsanās, suddenly the thought occurs: "Why did I become such a donkey? When I am getting so much happiness just by thinking about it, not doing anything about it, why should I go through all this donkey's work?"

Question: Too late, Maharaj.

Answer: Nothing is too late. Then slowly he enters into that Vānaprastha āśrama. How nice it is! Yeah, all sukha is in the mind only, isn't it? Yes, ma'am. When I can get all the time the company of my dream girl, where is the need for buying jewellery? And then every time she demands something more, you demand as much as you want – I will give you more than what you want, in a dream, instantaneously. Yeah, if that fellow is imaginative, the whole jewellery shop will be his. So this is how the faith in scriptures grows. Finally, scripture wants to say: "Thou art that." That is the truth. Okay.

Can One Yearn for Brahman Without Going Through Saṃsāra?

Question: Maharaj, is it possible for an aspirant to even yearn for Brahman or the Truth without going through the burning saṃsāra?

Answer: Not possible. Because – this is a redundant question. We are already – who is asking the question? He who is in saṃsāra, or who is not having saṃsāra? If he is in saṃsāra fully, then that question will be relevant. Let somebody who has not entered into saṃsāra – he will not ask because there is nobody he can ask the question. Yeah, Brahman, even if he wants to ask, whom is he going to ask? He will not ask. It is only for people in saṃsāra. So when does he ask? When suffering is intolerable.

Question: Yeah.

Answer: Then we ask the question: "What is the way to get sukha without duḥkha?" And the scripture steps in and answers: "When you know who you are, then without any least bit of duḥkha, you will be a great happy person – a blissful person."