Taittiriya Upanishad Lecture 124 Summary on 30 September 2026 Q&A

Discussion on Prayer, Realisation, and the Nature of Akasha

Question 1: Sri Ramakrishna's Statement on a Devotee Praying for Three Days

Participant: Maharaj, in today's class, you mentioned about what Thakur said about a devotee praying for three days continuously.

Response (Maharaj): As if it's a very simple thing to do.

Participant: Yes, yes.

Response: For him everything is simple. Yeah, he never understood how difficult it is for us.

Participant: Yes, Maharaj.

Response: So what is your question?

Participant: That only, Maharaj – he says that even for one day, if a devotee prays earnestly to God, then the goal will be reached, he says.

Joke: The Drunkard and the Eighth Glass

Response: Okay, let me share with you a small joke.

Participant: Okay, Maharaj.

Response: So there was a drunkard. So another drunkard met him in a pub, and that fellow who came later on found this fellow already intoxicated. Then he asked him, after drinking how many glasses do you really become intoxicated?

He said, "Only one glass makes me completely intoxicated. Usually it is the eighth glass!"

Participant: What is the relevance?

Response: Relevance is: when a sadhaka goes on contemplating like this, he will attain to that state of purity and be endowed with those qualities. And then if he prays only for one minute also, he will have realisation. Not even three days – three minutes' prayer is more than sufficient for him to realise God. That is what Sri Ramakrishna meant.

Participant: Thank you, Maharaj.

Response: All right, Jai Thakur.

Participant: Jai Thakur.

Response: Okay.

Question 2: What Is the Difference Between Physical Akasha and the Firstborn from Atman?

Participant: What is the difference between physical akasha and the firstborn from Atman, Paramatma Brahman? I am a bit confused.

The Manifestation of the Five Bhutas

Response: Okay, so you know the panchabhutas, five bhutas. First God manifested Himself as akasha. And akasha manifested means becoming more gross, like the air, vayu. Then vayu became agni. Agni became jala, water, and water became earth.

So this akasha that we see is the grossest manifestation of that higher akasha, highest akasha. So this is empty space.

The Value of Physical Akasha

Response: Even then it has a tremendous value. "May I become like akasha" – or "may I acquire more akasha?" I'm just making a bit of fun. That means in areas like Bangalore or London, may I have huge empty land – and what will you become? Rich. Richest. Every centimetre becomes as if you dug out the biggest diamond, isn't it?

Participant: Yes.

Akasha Inside and Outside

Response: So if this physical akasha can give you so much, that is one example. But I will give you a most wonderful example. The more – what is akasha? Emptiness. The more we remove from our brains all sorts of wrong ideas, then we are making space for the intake of all the best ideas in the world, isn't it?

Participant: Yes.

Response: You know, in one way of putting it: what is higher intelligence? Throwing out the lower intelligence, making place for real higher intelligence, isn't it?

Participant: Yes.

Response: Akasha means not only what is outside. Akasha is both inside and outside. For that, I will give you a small example. You are in your house. Now tell me, where is akasha? Is it outside or inside?

Participant: Inside.

Response: No, it is both inside as well as outside, isn't it? Inside also, so much of empty space is there for you to keep things on. Yes.

So the more space we have inside our house, the more things you can keep, isn't it?

Participant: Yes.

Response: The same thing we have to do in our personality also. The more we throw out all the lower ideas, more space will be available for higher ideas. Actually, as I said, lower intelligence should go out; then only higher intelligence can come in. That is the glory of this.

The Grades of Akasha

Response: Lowest manifestation of akasha along with prithvi. That is how we are to understand. There is jala akasha, there is agni akasha, there is vayu akasha, and then there is akasha akasha. And that is only manifestation of the God, Atman.

Is it clear now?

Participant: Yeah.