Taittiriya Upanishad Lecture 79 Ch2 6.1-9.1 Intro on 19 November 2025

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

Opening Invocation

ॐ जननीम् शरदाम् देविम् रामक्रिष्णम् जगत् गुर्म्

पादपद्मे तयोः स्रित्वाः प्रणमामि मुहुरुमु

Oṁ jananīṁ śaraḍhāṁ deveṁ rāmakriṣṇam jagad-gurum

pādapadmetayosritvā pranamāmi-muhurumuhu

ॐ सह नाववतु ।

सह नौ भुनक्तु ।

सह वीर्यं करवावहै ।

तेजस्वि नावधीतमस्तु मा विद्विषावहै ।

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥ हरि ॐ

OM SAHANAVAVATO SAHANAV BHUNAKTO SAHAVIRYAM KARAVAVAHAI TEJASVINAVADHITAMASTUMA VIDVISHAVAHAI OM SHANTI SHANTI SHANTIHI HARIHI OM

OM May Brahman protect us both. May Brahman bestow upon us both the fruit of knowledge.

May we both obtain the energy to acquire knowledge.

May what we both study reveal the truth. May we cherish no ill feeling toward each other.

OM PEACE PEACE PEACE BE UNTO ALL

Introduction to the Sixth Section

We have started the 6th section of the 2nd chapter of the Taittiriya Upanishad, called Brahmānanda Vallī, and this 6th section outlines why at all should we believe that God exists. The answer given by the Upanishad is: Brahman is the source of everything. He is the creator, He is the sustainer, and He is also the absorber.

The Problem with the Potter-Pot Analogy

Not only that, Brahman has not created this universe just like a potter creates a pot. What is the problem with the potter and pot? Potter is separate, pot is separate. The instrument called the potter's wheel is separate. Everything is separate.

Not only that, every pot he makes—provided he makes many pots—every pot is different from every other pot. Not only that, a potter himself is an individual. He is different from everything else. Not only that, not only is he different from everyone else, he is also different in himself and he is continuously changing himself: a few cells, fetus, child, adolescent, youth, middle-aged person, old person, dead person. So who is he? This is our experience of every single object in this world.

Fundamental Doubts About God's Existence

The doubt comes—and very important points we are going to discuss in this section.

Questions About the Creator

So the doubt comes: Who is God? Let us say He is a creator. Is He an idiot? Is He an evil person? Because we see so many idiots, fools, wise people, good people, evil people, and in every degree of difference we can imagine.

So then how could a God create such kind of people? Because a good person in our experience always does what is good. An evil person does what is evil. We see so much of evil, so much of suffering. So some of these doubts—in fact, these are the doubts which keep us completely ignorant. Even when we are professing that we believe in God, these doubts are realities for us and we cannot but behave according to our conviction.

The Gap Between Profession and Conviction

We do not behave—our life is not lived according to what we profess but according to what we are really convinced of. If we really believe in God, our life will be totally different. If we believe in the world, then our life will be totally different. Not what we profess, but our life shows what we really are convinced of.

Not only that: I am good—why am I to suffer? Someone is evil—why is that person, of course according to my view, enjoying this world? So we see so many questions arise.

The Fundamental Question: To Whom Do These Doubts Arise?

But the strangest thing is: to whom do these questions really arise?

When Brahmā requested Bhagavān Buddha, soon after his realization said "You go on preaching what you have experienced," Buddha said, "Who is going to listen to my sermons?" Then Brahmā replied: "There are three sorts of people. One sort of persons—they are so totally immersed in worldliness, they do not even want to know what your life, about yourself, what you teach. There are a few people who know the truth—they do not require your teaching. But there are a few people struggling sincerely who require your guidance, and your life should be dedicated to help such people only."

Swami Vivekananda's Different View

When we come to Swami Vivekananda, Swamiji's view is totally different. He is not saying that "there are some people who are struggling to know God; my mission in life is to help them." No. Everyone is potentially divine. So if somebody is poor, whether he believes in God or not, whether he is good or evil, that is none of my concern. But I must help to the best of my ability because this is called Brahma-dṛṣṭi.

There is no non-believer, evil person, good person, happy person, unhappy person in this world. According to Brahma-dṛṣṭi, there is no birth, there is no death. Everything is Brahman, and Brahman is not one who is born and who is going to die. Brahman is not limited by time, space, and causation. Therefore, if everybody is Brahman, there is only Brahman. So everyone is Brahman, everything is Brahman, everything is God, God is everything. But most people do not know about it. Let me help. What they do with the teaching, that is their lookout, not mine.

This is the teaching given by Swami Vivekananda, expounding—I think this is the teaching and this is the view of every God-realized soul in this world.

Does Brahman Exist?

So now, in our last class, I briefly mentioned: Does God exist? Only I am using the word "God," but the Upanishad—Taittiriya Upanishad, all Upanishads—use the word Brahman. Brahman asti vā nāsti—is Brahman existent or not?

For that, seven reasons are given. But before that, I would like to very briefly dwell upon what Christianity has thought about it.

Saint Thomas Aquinas's Five Proofs for God's Existence

There was a great saint; his name was Saint Thomas Aquinas, and he gave five proofs for God's existence. So first, let us very briefly think about it.

First Argument: From Motion

Anything that is in motion must have been moved by something else. This chain of movers cannot go back infinitely, so there must be a first mover that is itself unmoved. Aquinas identifies this first mover as God.

Very brief explanation: You take the example of a heavy stone. If anyone finds this stone moving, then—a stone by itself doesn't move—someone must have been making it move. And to move something else which is motionless, that person or that object—may be an animal, doesn't matter, may be a strong wind—that has to move. So who is moving the mover of the stone?

And so you go on tracing back. Ultimately, there must be somebody who is an unmoved mover, causeless cause. So that must be God. This is the first proof from our experience that God exists.

Second Argument: From Causality

There cannot be an effect without a cause - Kāriya Kārana sambandā. You see a baby—you can't think the baby has fallen from sky. He must have been born of parents. And who gave birth to the parents? Their parents, their parents. So if we go back and back and back, ultimately we end up in one being who is now never born but from whom everything has come out. So that uncaused cause—also philosophy is called first cause.

Don't go on asking, "Who caused God?" Then he will become an effect. So this becomes what is called argument in circular and ad infinitum—that is not allowed. So the first uncaused cause of everything, this is called argument from causality, is a proof that God exists.

Third Argument: From Contingency

That is to say, whatever exists here, so it could not have existed. That—philosophical language they call it contingent. If everything were contingent, it would have been impossible for nothing to have ever existed, so nothing can exist if there were no contingency. Since something now exists, there must be a being that exists out of necessity, but he who is the source of all other existence. There must be one, and that is the causeless cause, the first contingent, without being influenced by any other being. It is almost same argument—that is the third argument.

Fourth Argument: From Degrees of Perfection

When we look at it, there are strong people, weak people. There are degrees of strength, degrees of purity, degrees of happiness, degrees of greatness, degrees of intelligence, degrees of beauty. Everything that we observe have degrees.

Example of Mangoes

There are infinite number of mango fruits, and all fruits are not of the same quality. Some are meant for pickling, some are meant for some other purpose, some are meant for consuming, and some not for eating but for sucking. So we see everything is different.

The Three Types of Differences in Vedanta

And this is what in Vedānta—if you collect the idea of difference, three differences:

Two different species of trees, both are different—one is a mango, another is an apple. That is vijātīya-bheda.
Then two trees—mango trees—but there is enormous difference: one is sweet, another is sour, one is small, another is big, etc. That is called sajātīya-bheda.
Then within the same tree, there are roots, there are trunk, branches, small branches, big branches, blossoms, then small fruits, rotten fruits, half-ripe fruits, ripe fruits. That is called svagata-bheda.

Vijātīya-bheda, sajātīya-bheda, svagata-bheda—and Brahman, being one, without beginning, infinite, He is free from all these three differences. That is what Aquinas wants to tell us.

The Need for a Standard of Measurement

So we see some things are more perfect, good, or noble than others. This comparison requires a standard of absolute perfection. Most marvelous argument: How do we judge a thing? "This person singing is better than the other person singing"—that means we must have a measurement.

Actually, the 8th Anuvāka—we are going to get into it soon—that is called Ānanda-mīmāṁsā, various types of happinesses, higher and higher and still highest degree of happiness: Brahmalokānanda, Satyalokānanda, Hiraṇyagarbhānanda. This comparison comes, but before we can compare, we must have a standard, a measurement.

The Ideal Human Example

So they have taken: Suppose there is a human being—young, energetic, idealistic, highly intelligent, very capable. Āśiṣṭhaḥ dṛḍiṣṭhaḥ baliṣṭhaḥ yuvā asya sādhu—very good person, extremely good person, goodness personified. And with all these external and internal qualities, he is the prince, he is the king of this entire universe, and he is capable of enjoying. So if he enjoys this world, having all this—this kind of body, this kind of mind, this kind of aesthetic sense, this kind of moral sense, this kind of intellect, and highly devoted to spiritual life—how much joy he must be deriving being the ruler of this entire universe? That is one measure.

And taking that one measure, then the Upanishad goes on comparing those who are in a higher world—Karma-deva, for example, Ajana-jana-deva, Gandharvas, Indra, Bṛhaspati, Prajāpati, and finally Hiraṇyagarbha. So ten comparisons are given, and every higher being living in a higher world—higher world means higher happiness—two zeros. So hundred times hundred is not a fixed hundred number as we understand—billions of times. But hundred is also a measurement. That is why everything is measured in hundreds only, so far as we are concerned.

So that is the measurement that is required. And then, foretelling what we are going to study there, but very briefly:

The Three Qualifications

Suppose there is a person on earth. He is not a ruler, he is a very ordinary person, but he is a śrotriya—he knows the essence of the Vedas. He knows Brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā. And āvrijjanah—deliberately, consciously, he never does any harm to anybody. He cannot even think of doing any harm, let alone doing it, and whole life completely pure life. So this is called āvrijjanah, apāpa-hataḥ—this is the second qualification.

And there is a third qualification, which is the most marvelous qualification. What is that? Akāma-hataḥ. Such a person is an emperor who conquered every desire. A desire—even a thought of a desire—never arises in that person. In other words, he is a man of dispassion. Dispassion—he is an embodiment of dispassion. Vairāgyavān.

The Beautiful Teaching of the Upanishad

So this person need not go anywhere. And then, this is the beautiful argument that the Upanishad gives—this very Taittiriya Upanishad gives. You have to listen very carefully.

This person, having these three qualifications—he knows the essence of the scriptures, he leads the purest of pure life, and he has got complete vairāgya—that is the only word. He is not attached to anything, he doesn't never thinks that "I lack anything." He is completely dispassionate, and all the daivī-sampad is, as it were, compressed in that one word: Vairāgyavān puruṣaḥ. He is not like a stone.

And such a person he enjoys what the emperor of this world, having youthful body, very strong physically, mentally—his willpower is great, his intellect is great, his life is pure—and whatever mānuṣa-ānanda, human happiness, one measure of human happiness, this person enjoys, even if he is living under the shade of a tree or even without a shade of a tree.

Higher Worlds and Higher Happiness

And then, the higher loka—higher loka means higher ānanda. Higher ānanda means greater vairāgya. This is what you will have to understand: higher world is higher happiness; higher happiness, the greater the vairāgya, the greater is the experience of happiness.

Here, vairāgya is equated with higher happiness. So the happiness that one derives from a higher being, beginning from the outside—what is called Bhuvaḥ, what is called Suvaḥ—are the seven lokas according to Hinduism: Bhūloka and then upper six lokas, finally culminating in Brahma-loka, Satya-loka. All that happiness—Hiraṇyagarbha's happiness—this person is getting only because he has got vairāgya.

We will discuss—this is just to give a foretaste of what is going to come.

Requirement for a Standard of Perfection

So we see that in this world, we see that there are degrees of perfection, degrees of goodness, degrees of charity, degrees of nobility, and also the opposite we see that one. So we require some measurement. How do we know this is a good musician, not bad? This is an excellent musician, and this is a maestro? How do we know? Because we must have a standard, and that standard is always perfection.

The standard by which we measure must be always perfection. That is why the number 100: "What is the interest I am getting? 100%." "What is the joy I am getting? 100%." "What would be the joy I will get in higher world? 100% more than what you are getting," etc., etc. We must have an idea of perfection, and that being in whom—or who is the source of all this goodness, all this perfection—he is called God.

Remember, this is the fourth argument by Saint Aquinas.

Fifth Argument: From Design

Supposing you are seeing a beautiful table or a beautiful painting, a beautiful house, you have an idea: "Oh, that house—I have seen many houses, and no house can be compared to this house. This is superb." That is called design.

So the house doesn't fall from the sky. Somebody had thought about it, measured it, drawn it, and saw that it is built according to that design. So everything in this world, sweet—design doesn't mean only the physical dimensions. That which is beautiful, that is a design. That which is the most fragrant something, that is also a design. The softest something, that is also design. And the tastiest dish, that is also a design.

And that particular season when it is perfect—what is perfect? When we forget our body, that is called perfection. It doesn't remind, "Oh, it is cold"—that means we are reminded of our body. "Oh, it is hot"—we are reminded of our body. "Oh, this is not tasty"—we are reminded of our body. But that which makes us forget our body, that is called perfection.

And when we look at some objects, we find that the nearest to that—our concept of perfection—that is called design. So in this world, a few rare things are there which are perfect—not 100%, but so. If we see that, then there must be some being, intelligent being, thinking being, designing being, who designs, who fashions this design, because nothing falls from the sky. So that is the last reason.

Summary of Aquinas's Five Arguments

So arguments: What is the first argument? From motion. Argument from causality. Argument from contingency. Argument from degrees of perfection. And argument from design. And therefore, there must be a God. That being from whom all these things emanate, he is called God.

The Seven Reasons from Taittiriya Upanishad

Now I am just, as a comparative way—great all great people come to the same conclusions. As they say, all great people think alike, and all fools also think alike!

So now, coming back to our Upanishad—Taittirīya Upanishad, Brahmānanda Vallī, 6th section, Anuvāka—gives seven powerful reasons. First, I will just recollect what we already discussed about:

First Reason: Brahman as Intelligent Cause

First, Brahman exists as the intelligent cause. So if you see a beautiful table, so there must be a carpenter. That is called an intelligent cause, because the table or a pot doesn't make by itself. It must be made by somebody, and that particular shape, etc., that comes because of some intelligence, and that intelligence is called nimitta-kāraṇam. That is the first argument.

Second Reason: Existence Itself

Second argument: Because I exist. Nobody says "I do not exist," because funny argument—if I say "I do not exist," even to say "I do not exist," I have to exist! So that existence—a pot exists, a tree exists, a mountain exists, a mosquito exists, a mouse exists. Anything that is in existence can only be experienced by an existent conscious being.

So we are all the time experiencing existence, and Vedānta tells: Brahman is the existence. That means whatever we are experiencing is nothing other than Brahman. Therefore, whenever we experience existence—and I am a jīvātmā, individual soul, and I exist—if I exist, that means God exists.

So what is God? A collection—existence of the entire universe—is called Brahman. So I, the jīvātmā, individual soul, am the proof that Brahman exists. In the second argument.

Third Reason: Material Cause

Third argument: So even when a potter makes a pot, he doesn't take away some of his flesh and makes a pot—something other than himself. In this example, some clay, or if he is a goldsmith, gold; if he is a carpenter, wood, etc. This is called material cause.

And we see in this world, every living creature is a mixture of both material and intelligent causes. And so wherever there is a living conscious being, then there is existence.

What about objects which are—which do not have intelligence—that is to say, jaḍa-padārtha, what is called non-conscious objects, a piece of stone, a clod of earth, etc.? Vedānta tells: Brahman is satyaṁ jñānam anantam. Wherever there is sat, there is jñānam (cit). Wherever there is cit, there is anantam or ānandam. Because to see the infinite existence piecewise, created by our mind, divided by our mind, and see only a small bit of it, that is called Māyā. So when we look at anything, since it exists, Brahman must exist.

Fourth Reason: The Uncaused Cause

Fourth argument according to Taittirīya Upanishad: Brahman is kṛtam. So this is also Saint Aquinas's argument also: There must be an uncaused cause. Otherwise, the argument goes on ad infinitum. "Who created God?" If you—anybody cleverly ask such a question—suppose you say A created God, then the next question is followed: "Who created A?" "B created." "Who created B?" There would be no final answer. That is why that which is the ultimate answer, that is called God.

So that is called su-kṛtam. Su-kṛtam means svayaṁ-kṛtam. Svayaṁ-kṛtam means eternally self-existent. That is called su-kṛtam. Usually the Sanskrit word su-kṛtam means a good action, but here Śaṅkarācārya gives the beautiful explanation: svayaṁ-kṛtam—self-creator. Self-creator means what? That which is finally, eternally existent. No one created it; it is eternally existing.

That is why—eternally existing—anything that is created was not there at some point of time, will not be there after some point of time. Only in between, before and after, we see the existence. That is what Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa also tells:

Avyaktādīni bhūtāni vyakta-madhyāni bhārata

Avyakta-nidhanāny eva tatra kā paridevanā

All of us came from the unmanifest, became manifest, remain manifest for some time, and again go back into that unmanifest—just like from the ocean, by the force of nature, the water becomes vapor, is carried by the wind, and it becomes water again. It is poured, which we call rain, and again it flows back. But meanwhile it serves to sustain the entire creation. So, the fourth argument is su-kṛtam - causeless cause.

Fifth Reason: Source of All Joy

Fifth argument is Brahman Raso vai saḥ - As the rasa, you observe, every creature in this world is only seeking ānanda, not even existence. If I am convinced that I can live forever but I won't be a happy person but will be a suffering person, I would not like to exist. That is why so many people commit suicide. So, this is the fifth argument. What is the commonality between all creatures / everything? That is what Swami Vivekananda tells, [I do not remember his exact words], "Every atom wants to go back from where it came. Why is the atom moving at mind boggling speed? It wants to go to that source which is motionlessness, which is unmoving. It wants to go back.

Why am I moving? I don't want to move. I want to remain unmoved, immobile. And that is called freedom. What is freedom? To be oneself is freedom. Just like when you are walking and you are about to fall down, automatically your auto-balance kicks in, you try to prevent it. And that is what happens here also. So we want to go back to that source, which is ānanda, Brahmānanda.

We came from Brahmānanda, we live because of ānanda, and we want to go back. We do not want drops of ānanda; we want infinite ānanda. Infinite ānanda is that which transcends time, space, causation—that means time, space, and object.

So this is the fifth argument. Raso vai saḥ—He is the source. Brahman is the source of all joy. How do we know? Because of our individual experience. This is the fifth argument for the existence of Brahman.

Sixth Reason: The Enlivening Principle

Sixth argument: Brahman is the enlivening principle. Ko hy evānyāt kaḥ prāṇyāt—who can live even for a millisecond, millisecond, if that Prāṇa-devatā, that Brahman in the form of Prāṇa-devatā, is not sustaining us? So who would like to live?

This is the sixth argument: The very desire to be living, to become existence, is because the source from which we came is the infinite, that ever existed, ever will exist. That is the sixth argument—enlivening principle. Who is that? God.

Seventh Reason: Fear and Fearlessness

And the seventh argument, a bit funny, light-sided argument: In this world, we see everybody says, "I am afraid," "I am frightened of something." So I don't want to be frightened. But what is called fearlessness is important, no doubt, but fear also is one of the very principles of our joy.

I will very briefly explain, and then we can go into the section itself.

The Role of Fear

Supposing government says, "I am employing you, and you come when you like, do what you like, do however small or big, little or more you want to do, but you will get your salary." And let foreign countries occupy weaker countries, let strong men enslave weak men, let wicked people—let them go on harassing good people, but weak people—so there is always fear in this world.

Maybe this is my last breath. Maybe I may not get this happiness I am deriving now. This unconscious fear is always there. Now I am happy, but I know unconsciously it won't last long, but I don't want it to disappear. I want it all the time. So there is fear.

As I mentioned many times earlier, so if I have something, I have fear of losing it. And if I am expecting something, I am frightened I may not get it.

That is why āśā and pratīkṣā—pratīkṣā means I have legitimate reasons to expect something, but I may not get it. Āśā means I am hoping against hope that I will get. I want to get something; I have not done anything to deserve it, but however, I want to. Every person who buys a lottery ticket, he knows it: "I don't deserve it because I am paying only one rupee, but I want to win one lakh of rupees." So you see, we all fall under that.

So both fear and fearlessness are proofs that God exists. For that, Upanishad—how does it want to prove that fear is one definite proof that God exists?

The Upanishadic Proof

Bhīṣāsmād vātaḥ pavate

Bhīṣodeti sūryaḥ

Bhīṣād agniś ca indraś ca

Mṛtyur dhāvati pañcamaḥ

Bhīṣāsmāt—even death does its duty of killing. Hinduism doesn't call it killing; it calls giving—taking away the old dress and giving a new dress appropriate to what a person had done. This is the duty of the mṛtyu-devatā, death. Death is the devatā.

So the sun and the fire and the air, so all these things—bhīṣodeti—the sun rises because of the fear. Because śāśvateibhyaḥ samābhyaḥ—Ishavasya Upanishad tells that the Lord allotted for eternity to some of these devatās their respective duties, and He is supervising whether these devatās are about to do their daily duties, attending the office and discharging their duties or not.

And then if anybody thinks, "Nobody is there to supervise me; I can do whatever I like," but Vedānta posits even more threatening principle called karma-phala. Whether it is the sun, whether it is the moon, God implanted a CCTV within every living creature and commanded, "You record and you reward". And the whole creation was created as a combination of the three gunas. That is why Sri Ramakrishna gives an example that there are what we call, a farmer wants to buy some oxen for ploughing the field. So he goes to the market where he can buy some oxens. And they know from experience that a touch is anough - so, the oxen is lying, chewing cudd or whatever. One fellow goes and finds a good looking bull and touches the tail. And the bull placidly looks around, goes on chewing the cudd, and doesn't react at all, as if this person did not touch it at all. And there are some, the moment somebody comes, it stops chewing the cudd, looks at this person - "What is this person going to do?". The moment that touch is felt at its tail, it jumps up and faces the man. Then the farmers know that this is a very useful bull. This will do really the job. The others are fit only for the butcher's shop. So, even animals, dogs - ferocious dogs are there- Alsatians are there, Rottweilers are there.. So, they have been bred... We have to appreciate these western countries. Every day their minds are looking, "How can I improve this?", "How can I mould what I want to do?

Swami Vivekananda's Teaching on Learning from the West

[Transcriber's note: There appears to be a brief tangent here about Western science and Indian philosophy]

That is why Swami Vivekanananda said…sit humbly at the feet of this Western culture and learn the good things from them. Not religion, not philosophy, but science. Whereas in India, even today, one single AI which is effective is not working.

These fellows are eating crores of rupees given by the government or collected from others because we are not oriented to produce results; we are oriented only to dream and cheat other people. Of course, there are very good people who are trying. Our whole orientation is totally different. That is what Swami Vivekananda pointed out. Don't find fault with me—these are the words of Swamiji—go and sit.

But when they want to come and learn what is true religion, what is real nature of God, and what is the goal of life, then come here and sit humbly at the feet of even an ordinary person who can teach you what your theology, your scriptures can never reveal to you.

So we have to learn from good people.

The Meaning of True Belief in Brahman

Anyway, what is the subject that we are talking? These are the seven proofs that God does exist.

But another point is there in today's class. I will point out: Supposing somebody says, "I do not believe in the existence of Brahman." So that comes now in the sixth, this one only. So Brahman doesn't exist.

And Śaṅkarācārya has given the most marvelous explanation, and here we have to be very careful. When somebody says, "I believe in God," we have to take it with a big grain of salt—kilos and kilos of grain of salt!

The Test of True Belief

Millions of Hindus say, "We believe in God." Look at their lives—wretched, dishonest, untrustworthy type of life. We are talking about, the Upanishad is talking about, a sincere belief in God.

And to illustrate this point, we have already seen a story in the Kaṭha Upanishad. Naciketas's father has this kind of Hindu belief: "I want to go to heaven." If really believed in heaven—that is, if somebody believed, "If I go to the next village, there are plenty of jobs available, and one particular job can give me crores of rupees, I can become a karorpati"—he says, "I believe in it," but he never moves from his village, wretched village. Whereas another person, as soon as he hears, he jumps up, starts running towards the other village and seeks.

Naciketa was such a person. He truly believed in it. That's why he did not care even to give up his death, because he was not a fool. He was not an uneducated person. He studied scriptures according to the ordinance. He was a brāhmaṇa, son of a brāhmaṇa. Whereas his father, while professing, "I want to go to heaven"—he never did anything that would make him even turn towards heaven.

This person, as he heard, he pointed out to his father, "You are professing something, and you are doing the opposite of it. But I believe, and then I am going to go to God." And he did not fear even death.

Śaṅkarācārya's Teaching

So when somebody says, "I believe in God," according to Śaṅkarācārya, what is he telling us? That that person, he becomes a spiritual person. His whole life is transformed. So he becomes truly a spiritual aspirant. That is the effect of belief, and that is the only measurement, only way to measure whether what this person says—that "I believe in God"—is true or not.

And look at the other person: Even though he says—"Tirupati laddus nowadays are made out of palm oil"—they are trying to cheat God also! And God must be laughing: "You person, you don't know what karma-phala you are going to get. I can see clearly that you will be floating in palm oil for the next few years!"

Anyway, I am just pulling, making some fun.

Conclusion

So these are the seven beautiful reasons. We will discuss about them in a little more detail. But anybody could understand these wonderful arguments, how Brahman exists. And if Brahman exists, He should be the goal of our life.

That is the subject matter which we will discuss in our next class.

Closing Prayer