Taittiriya Upanishad Lecture 86 Ch2 7.1-2 on 07 January 2026

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

Recap of Previous Teaching

In our last class, we have completed the sixth anuvāka, sixth section of the second chapter called Brahmānandavalli of Taittirīya Upaniṣad. Let us recollect what is the essence.

So, having concluded the Pañcakośa Viveka, the Upaniṣad now addresses a series of profound questions. After hearing the five sections, the students have mainly two doubts.

The Students' Questions

"Sir, you have told us that there is only Brahman and Brahman is of the nature of Satyam Jñānam Anantam, and Brahman is one and unchanging. Therefore, this whole universe is nothing but Brahman. That one unchanging Brahman appears due to the incomprehensible power of ignorance called Māyā as this infinite number of divided beings, both with life, without life, jaḍa and cetana.

"So we are also there. We revere you as the teacher. You are a wise person. You know everything and we believe you are a realized soul and we are ignorant people but are desirous of getting rid of this ignorance. So we are approaching you.

"You told us our ignorance is because of our identity with the pañcakośas and you taught us what is the nature of each kośa and you also taught us how to overcome through upāsanās. Particularly, each kośa has to be meditated upon as Brahman: Annamaya Brahma, Prāṇamaya Brahma, Manomaya Brahma, Vijñānamaya Brahma and Ānandamaya Brahma.

"And you also told us Brahman is not even the Ānandamaya Kośa. But there is a word there in the description of the Ānandamaya Kośa, Ānanda. And that refers to Brahman and you are all Brahman. In fact, I should not say 'you are all.' There is no 'all.' Only from your standpoint, I am forced to use the word 'all.' There is Brahman. And even I cannot say 'there is Brahman' because Brahman doesn't go on saying 'I am Brahman.' To whom and how and why?"

So this is what you taught.

The Doubts That Arose

"Now, I went and thought deeply after hearing. After śravaṇa, I went and then pondered over it, reflected upon it. Certain doubts have come. What are the doubts?

"First doubt is: if Brahman is the only reality, even the most ignorant person is also Brahman. Therefore, after his death, is he going to go back and merge in Brahman? Because you taught us the law that the effect must go back into the cause. Brahman is the cause. This perceived universe is the effect. And all effects are mithyā. Mithyā means not non-existence, but changing. And we understood.

"So, kindly explain: a knower of Brahman also after giving up this body becomes Brahman. So, similarly, an ignorant person, ajñānī—first one is jñānī, second one is ajñānī. If jñānī becomes one with Brahman, that is understandable. But according to reason, since Brahman is the cause of both, even an ignorant person must, after the fall of this body, must become Brahman or know that I am Brahman.

"So that is one. This is the implied doubt by putting these two questions is: but you see, you are talking so much about Brahman. We do not see Brahman at all. We see everything other than Brahman. And why do you say so? Or why do we say so? Because whatever is existing, that must be experienceable. And experience can be had through a knowledge of the experience—can be had through five śabda pravṛtti, like dravya, ārudhi, jāti, guṇa, kriyā, and sambandha. You explained it to us. But Brahman doesn't fall under any of these categories. So we have doubts about Brahman. And therefore, you clarify our doubts."

The Seven Arguments for Brahman's Existence

Then the Upaniṣad, assuming the position of the students, it gives seven reasons why Brahman exists. Three reasons or three arguments for the existence of Brahman are given in this sixth anuvāka section and the remaining four we are going to enter into today in the seventh anuvāka.

The Epistemological Problem

So, students' primary problem is epistemological. What is epistemological regarding the knowledge? Epistemology is that branch of philosophy which deals with: what is knowledge, how do we know we have knowledge, what are the means of acquiring knowledge, what is the proof that knowledge is a right knowledge and not a wrong knowledge. That branch of philosophy which goes deeply defining what is knowledge, etc., that branch is called epistemology.

So did anyone see Brahman? We don't see. If something exists, we should be able to experience it. But nobody had seen Brahman, heard Brahman, or been informed "this Brahman is my uncle," or "Brahman is a driver of a car," or "Brahman possesses these qualities," etc.

So these doubts, three doubts come. So two doubts are vocal. And one doubt about the existence of Brahman is implied that.

First Three Arguments (from Anuvāka 6)

Argument 1: Brahman as the Intelligent Cause (Nimitta Kāraṇa)

So what is the first argument? Brahman exists as the intelligent cause, nimitta kāraṇa. How do we come to that understanding?

If you see a pot and we know pot is made up of clay and so clay must be the material cause. But there is a problem with this material cause. What is the problem? Clay is jaḍa, inert, doesn't have consciousness. Consciousness, knowledge, these are synonymous words. How can something which doesn't have knowledge make itself into something else?

So somebody with intelligence is necessary, in this case the potter, so that the clay can be shaped in a particular way. And the sṛṣṭi is nothing but shaping only, nāmarūpa only. This we have explored in the sixth chapter of the Chāndogya Upaniṣad.

In the beginning, asad eva is there. Asat here means—sattā means existence. Asat means non-existence. But in this context, asat doesn't mean non-existence because it is illogical to say that an existing something has come out of pure non-existence. So we have to understand it.

Here it means unmanifest. That is the first meaning of asat is unmanifest and nobody can see unmanifest. Only when something becomes manifest, we can experience it. And that manifestation takes place in five ways. You see something or you see the qualities or either by its specialties or by its relationship or by its action, etc. We know.

So Brahman or even any—even if there is a huge banyan tree in the seed, tiniest seed of the banyan tree, that is a most surprising thing. The seed, the very fruit of a banyan tree is extremely small, like a small berry, and that contains thousands of tiny seeds. You should see once. It is just like mustard seeds. So a mustard seed is very small, but the plant also is very small, that we can understand. But the seed of the banyan is so small, so tiny, and yet a huge tree which may be occupying one acre of land all round comes out of that.

So when we look at the seed of the banyan seed, we don't see anything. There is no nāma, there is no rūpa, there is no guṇa. If you look at the seed of a sweet mango tree, you don't see any sweetness, you don't see any tree, you don't see any mango. That is called asat—non-manifest. That is there. But the whole potentiality is there. And if that potentiality is not there, then it can never become a tree. But to make that potentiality happen, some agent is necessary.

The Example of the Pot

So, just like a pot is a specific example taken many times in the Upaniṣads. So whenever you see a pot and we recognize it is made out of clay and clay is totally inert jaḍa. Because it is jaḍa, it doesn't have intelligence. To have intelligence, something must have prāṇa. Prāṇa, consciousness, knowledge—synonymous words.

But clay doesn't have, whereas the example of the banyan tree is a living tree. Therefore, prāṇa is there. Consciousness is there. Is consciousness there in the plant? We see consciousness in the plant.

Examples of Consciousness in Plants

Once Ramana Bhagavan was sitting and trying to take rest at noon. Somebody had come to collect, I do not remember, the leaves of some plant. And then he had taken a big stick and beating the tree. So because of that vibration, the leaves will fall down. And Ramana Maharshi became very angry and he came and shouted, "Don't you think the tree has got life? Don't you feel how much pain it is getting?"

How did Ramana Maharishi know about it? Because he is a knower of Brahman. As such, he identified himself with that tree. So the feeling, unable to express, it has to be there. When anything is abruptly torn off or a branch is cut off, the tree plants the pain. Just as somebody pulls your hair forcefully or gives a blow, in their own consciousness, they feel that and don't say it is much less for it, it is its life. We are far from understanding these profound truths.

Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose had conclusively proved that they have not only feelings, they have emotions. When they hear beautiful music, they become joyous. They grow, they entwine. And a dog is a good example. You love it, pet it, and lifelong, its tail will be wagging vigorously whenever it sees you.

Somebody had written a beautiful book, Dogs Who Know When A Master is Coming. Most unbelievable, marvelous stories are there. Even plants feel.

Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's Experiences

In Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's life, one day he was lying down in his own room and it was a newly grown grass called dūrvā grass as grown. Somebody with a rough shod shoe or whatever was walking on that grass. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa felt the pain in his own chest as if that person was walking on him.

And when one boatman had dealt a big blow to another boatman, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa who was watching felt that blow and it held his body. This is the experience of many great souls, even poets, even ordinary people. They feel the pain of everything that is living.

Conclusion of First Argument

So anyway, coming back, so the unseen, huge banyan tree is there in that seed, but when we look at it, we don't see anything. So does Brahman exist? Yes, because just as a pot cannot come out of the clay without an intelligent cause. So this is the first proof that since this living universe has come out, so living universe can come only out of a living conscious, self-conscious supreme being called Brahman. This is called intelligent cause—nimitta kāraṇa. That is the argument one.

Argument 2: Brahman as the Jīvātmā

Argument two: Who am I? Kas tvam, ko'ham, kuta āyātaḥ? Tatvam cintaya tadiha bhrātaḥ.

So if I am alive, I am studying in the Upaniṣad. I am very intelligent. And I am called myself 'me.' I am me. So I am conscious of my own life. I am so many years old. I am happy. I am unhappy. And I am tired. I am well rested. All these things conclusively prove that I have intelligence.

So if I am the effect with this consciousness, Brahman must be there as the root cause of all of us. That is what normally devotees call: God is the creator. God means the creator, the sustainer and the dissolver. So, in Hindu theology, Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Maheśvara.

So, this is the argument number two as presented in the sixth section of this Brahmānandavalli. Brahman exists as the jīvātmā. Jīvātmā means every living creature. By implication, even the so-called non-living. Because even according to scientists, a living has come out of the non-living. Inorganic had become organic. Inorganic means non-living. Organic means living. How can, when life is absent, suddenly come into life?

So science is very rational, supposed to be. But in this case, they made a great mistake. So if the inorganic doesn't have life, all of a sudden, how did that inorganic become organic? So that Vedānta alone answers: it is appearing to be inorganic, but it is existing and it is having life. It is having ānanda also, but they are hidden.

Just like a person who had won a lottery ticket, huge amount of money, but he is in deep asleep. So he doesn't know that news. He is not aware of the world. So like that, inorganic has got cit and ānanda as its very essence.

So jīvātmā, at least we can see that if I am happy, if I am living, if I am breathing, then all these qualities must exist in Brahman. So every jīvātmā, that means every living creature, even a smallest mosquito or even bacteria, microbe, proves the existence of Brahman. That is the second argument.

Argument 3: Brahman as Both Material and Conscious Cause

Third argument is: in this world we see everything as having both a combination of living and unliving. So in the living creatures, our body is there, our mind is there, our consciousness is there, awareness is there. But according to Vedānta, body is inert, mind also is inert. How come then? Body feels alive, mind feels full of knowledge.

Even if somebody is worrying, worry is a piece of negative knowledge. "Something is perhaps going to happen to me." That what has not happened, but what one fears that can happen without ceasing, that is called worry. That definitely proves that the person is conscious, aware, and that awareness is plus the jaḍa inert objects is called jīvātmā.

So that part of our personality which seems to be inert, the body and mind, that must have come from somewhere. So that is called material cause, upādāna kāraṇa.

So Anuvāka 6 gives only these three arguments. Anuvāka 7 gives the rest of the four reasons why definitely Brahman exists.

The Four Arguments from Anuvāka 7

Argument 4: Brahman as Self-Creator (Sukṛtam)

So the fourth argument is: Brahman asukṛtam, self-creator. It means you go on seeking: this is an effect, it must have a cause, and you go to that cause and that cause leads to its own cause. Like earth leads to water, water leads to fire, fire leads to air, air leads to space, but space is not the ultimate cause, it is the Ātman.

So we must reach that highest peak of conclusion where there is no need to ask, otherwise it becomes what they call in logic, ad infinitum. That is, there is, go on asking: what is the cause? What is the cause? What is the cause? There must be a final cause which is self-created. And that is the fourth argument, that Brahman, which has no other cause, it is its own cause. That is called self-creator—sukṛtam.

Argument 5: Brahman as the Source of All Joy (Rasa)

Fifth argument is, again, very logical argument that Brahman is a source of all joy. Every creature without exception is seeking only joy. Even the smallest, dumbest creature doesn't seek unhappiness. It struggles. Whenever we see any struggle anywhere, it means the struggle is not only for merely existing, but for happiness.

In fact, if we don't have happiness, we don't feel like existing at all. That is why so many people commit suicide, thinking that suicide is the end of life, not knowing that they will have to pay. They have to pay for all the deeds they have done, good or bad, in their past lives.

So sukṛtam, then Brahman is the source of rasa, all joy. We will discuss about it. There are certain facts. Even though we discussed many times, we have to remind ourselves until it becomes our knowledge. So this is the fifth argument. Brahman is the rasa svarūpa, the very source of any tiniest joy, mightiest joy.

Argument 6: Brahman as the Enlivening Principle (Prāṇa)

Then the sixth argument: Brahman is the enlivening principle. Without Brahman, in the form of prāṇa, who is going to survive? That is why, if somebody forcibly holds your nose and mouth, not allowing you to breathe, you will struggle. Ko hy evānyāt kaḥ prāṇyāt. We must breathe. Breathing means living. So, if there is life, and that life proves Brahman as the very source of life. That is the sixth argument.

Argument 7: Brahman as the Source of Fear and Fearlessness

And seventh argument: it is not only joy, but we all fear. And sometimes we don't fear. When we think we are secure, we are happy. When we think there is a source of fear, we feel unhappy. And Brahman is the source of both fear as well as fearlessness.

How come? A Brahman is realized. So a child is there. Mother is there only 24 hours. The baby never thinks about safety or unsafety. He only thinks how to be joyous, how to play. But if the baby is left alone, the very look, even when strangers come, no mother or father is nearby, the baby becomes very fearful.

So in this world, always we are experiencing either physical fear or intellectual fear. Loss of job is not loss of life. But then, how am I going to live? How am I going to eat and feed my family? And what am I going to do with my life, with my time? All questions will come.

So, when such a person gets some support in the form of a job and steady income, etc., even if it be temporary, that person becomes fearless. So, Brahman is the source of those people who realize Brahman, know Brahman, know that God is there—like Prahlāda. He knows: "Let my father do whatever he wants. My Nārāyaṇa is with me all the time." So, he had no fear. That's why always joyful. "Nārāyaṇa," he calls out. And like Dādu Madhusudan's story of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa.

So, if we feel that nobody is there to save me, we go through fear. And Brahman is the source of fear also. What does it mean? If we do something wrong, the consequences of our actions are inevitable. So, we also know it is a very strange thing. Every person who does an evil deed, he may not want to acknowledge it, but he cannot cover his eyes from his own mind.

So, some people like to call it conscience or feeling guilty. Sooner or later, he also can feel guilty. I was reading somewhere beautifully. There was such a wicked person, and then there came a time when he himself had to run for his life. Probably, I don't know whether I am right. Saddam Hussein, how he was ruling, thinking that "I am the Īśvara of this entire universe." But when the Americans chased him, and he had to live literally in a hole... Why? Because one who lives in a hole becomes holy.

So, what was his condition? He must have regretted that "Whatever I have done, Allah is punishing me for all the misdeeds that I have done." So, a time will come, if we do something wrong, we have to pay. Then fear comes—fear of losing life, fear of losing happiness, not fear of losing consciousness.

You see, that is the, when we lose our consciousness, when we become unconscious, that is the greatest state of happiness, whether it be in suṣupti or in the hospital lying in the surgery room, when a doctor said to perform the most complicated brain surgery. But when we are put under that anesthesia, then we become absolutely fearless because the very thought "I am not going to be" is completely obliterated for the time being, temporarily.

So, Brahman is the source of both fear for those who do not live good life and fearlessness for those who obey God in the form of the fulfillment of his commandments. So, these four arguments we get in the seventh anuvāka.

Commentary on Anuvāka 7: Abhaya Pratiṣṭhā

So, now we are entering into the seventh anuvāka. This section continues to address the students' questions by further elaborating the nature of Brahman and its relationship to the cosmos and the individual.

Remember always, this is a beautiful teaching. Why is the seventh section or sixth, both sixth and seventh, are answering these seven questions so that it can answer, establish the existence of Brahman?

The Universal Quest for Existence, Happiness, and Knowledge

Because no creature in this world, no living creature in this world wants to die. Why does it want to die? Because it knows "I am existence." So, "I don't want to become non-existent." And it also knows that "I don't want merely to exist, but I want to be happy. How long? As long as I can. How much happiness? As much happiness as I can get."

So, this every creature struggles. And to have a successful struggle, it requires knowledge. And that knowledge is called cit. And if it has intelligence, proper intelligence, then it gets ānanda. This is how life evolves all the time. That is what we need to understand.

So, in this seventh section, four more arguments are given.

The Opening Mantra from Rig Veda

So, the seventh anuvāka begins with a mantra from Ṛg Veda:

Asad vā idam agra āsīt tato vai sad ajāyata.

So, beautiful words. Very briefly, we will discuss now.

Verily, this was—that means this universe was unmanifest in the beginning. From that, the manifest arose.

Asad va. Asat means non-existence, but not manifest. As we discussed many times, and today also, manifestation means that which can be experienced either as a species, as an object, or as a species, or as some qualities, or some relationship, or some action, etc., or some qualities, etc.

So, if these are absent, that is called unmanifestation. And unmanifestation is not non-existence, merely we are unable to experience it. Because how do we experience? Through the body and mind. How do we experience through the body? Again, you have to understand, if there is no mind, we cannot experience. And if the body is not there, the mind cannot experience.

So, asat, in the beginning, everything was existing in an unmanifest form. Idam, agre means what? Before creation, before that Brahman is appearing to us in the form of forms and names. And tataḥ vai, from that initial unmanifest Brahman, tataḥ, from that sat ajāyata. Sat means here what? Not existence. Sat means experienceability through the five. I see, I hear, and I see the qualities, I taste it, I smell it, I touch it, etc., etc. And that is our life actually.

Brahman as Both Intelligent and Material Cause

So, this mantra supports the previously established truth that Brahman is both the intelligent and material cause of the universe. Why do we say? Very briefly to recount, because Brahman is the only material. Brahman is the only intelligence. So, Brahman means this universe we see non-intelligent as well as intelligent.

Since this universe is a manifestation of Brahman, whatever qualities we see in an effect must be found in the cause. There is nobody. Unlike there is a potter, there is a potter's wheel, and there is clay, then pots are made, small, big, round, square, etc. But when before creation, only Brahman is there. Therefore, we have to presume he is both the intelligent as well as the material cause.

The Nature of Creation: Satkāryavāda

So, what is creation then? We all use the word 'creation.' In Vedānta, creation is not bringing something, that which is non-existence into existence, but we apply what is called satkāryavāda.

All scientists also tell that one. What do they say? Matter can neither be created nor destroyed. Therefore, creation means a transformation of the universe from the unmanifest potential state into a manifest actualized state, from avyakta to vyakta, from unmanifest means avyakta, to manifest means vyakta.

Similarly, destruction doesn't mean non-existence. It is the reverse means vyakta goes back into avyakta.

Bhagavad Gītā's Teaching on Manifestation

And this profound statement, which we are going to explore here in the seventh, is beautifully presented, the very essence of it by Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa:

Avyaktādīni bhūtāni vyakta madhyāni bhārata Avyakta nidhanāny eva tatra kā paridevanā

"Why are you weeping? Death is going behind the screen, just like an actor in a drama. As soon as his role is over, he goes behind the curtain, which is called green room, and he assumes his form. So every created object goes back into its cause."

We discussed it earlier in this very Upaniṣad. When we are talking about the pañcakośas, etc., we have seen. So the manifested universe goes back.

The Process of Dissolution

So how does it happen? The earth goes back into waters, waters goes back into fire, fire goes back into the air, air goes back into space, and space finally becomes one with its cause, which is called Ātman or Brahman. This is the process in this world or in the other world. So the manifest must go back to the unmanifest.

So both manifest and unmanifest are thoughts in our brain. So birth and death are called vikāras. Vikāras means modification, that's all. Janma means what? Modification of the unmanifest into the manifest. Mṛtyu means what? Modification of the manifest into the unmanifest. There is nothing called death.

This is what we beautifully also discussing in the Pañcāgni Vidyā, how after death the soul goes to the highest loka or middle lokas. Or a third is those who have done many evil deeds. So, ramaṇīya caraṇāḥ, kapūya caraṇāḥ. Ramaṇīya means meritorious deeds. Kapūya means the opposite, non-meritorious evil deeds. Both of them will reap the result of their actions, but both of them will come back again to this earth.

They are given another chance, like a person who is put in jail—is Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's words. So as soon as that person, for some reason, he was working, he did some mischief, he was caught, put behind a jail, and then when the jail period is over, then he is brought back. What does he do? He goes on searching for some job to do. That is the process. Until we attain mukti, this is the process that has to go on.

Understanding Asat and Avyavahārya

So, asat, non-existence means purely manifestation and non-manifestation. What is the problem with non-manifestation? Śaṅkarācārya says: what is potential is as good as non-existent.

So, potential means what? Your neighbor comes to you, says, "Suddenly we ran out of butter. Do you have butter?" Butter. Supposing you are a Vedāntic student. Happily you say, "Welcome. So, we have plenty of butter." "So, please lend me some." "Unfortunately, I cannot give you even one needleful, let alone a spoonful. Why? Because it is there in the milk. Now I have to heat the milk, keep it there, later on churn it, bring out the butter."

So, avyavahārya means non-transactional. So, that which is unmanifest, we cannot use it. Maybe Einstein. So, if somebody knows, "This is going to be Einstein," so he runs there with this what is called his greatest invention, special theory of relativity. "Please explain." "Oh, maybe Einstein, he cannot do it." But in course of time, it will come.

So, this example is given. Butter latent in milk is not available for use until it is brought out. That means manifested. Similarly, a potential universe in the form of a tiny banyan seed or a mango seed or it is within Brahman is called asat or non-manifest. From that asat only, manifest world comes. Because if something has become manifest, its cause is to be known as unmanifest. That's all.

The Text of Anuvāka 7

So, let us read out the original text and we will take up. This is a very beautiful section. And so, we have to go a little bit deep. Don't worry about time. So, that is absolutely fine.

And this seventh anuvāka is called Abhaya Pratiṣṭhā. It shows a way how man can go beyond fear and be permanently established in fearlessness. And what is fearlessness? Ānanda is called fearlessness. And duḥkha is called fearfulness.

Even in our day-to-day life, when you are fearing something, even the most enjoyable object will not give you any happiness. But when you become absolutely peaceful, then you realize that the ānanda is not coming from any object outside. It is just removing the veil between myself and my own ānanda. We will discuss about it.

The Meaning of Abhaya Pratiṣṭhā

So, this particular section is summarized as Abhaya Pratiṣṭhā, how to become established in fearlessness. And what is fear here? And what is the cause of fear? In Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, we get: Dvitīyād vai bhayaṃ bhavati. Fear comes because of second, because of duality.

So, Janaka: Abhayaṃ vai gataḥ. "So, you have attained fearlessness, O Janaka." What is the cause of fear? Dvitīya. What is the cause of fearlessness? Advitīya. That means complete one. I am one. I am everything. I am ānanda.

So, even ānanda, so my happiness is in a street, in a flat, in a job, in bank balance. But whatever is outside has come and whatever comes, it goes. Whatever comes, it goes. Therefore, we have to understand that whatever comes and goes is not real happiness. Whatever is mine, that cannot go. Whatever is not mine, can never come.

Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's Examples

So, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa gives—we will forestall the future discussion of itself. So, it is this dvitīyād vai ānandaṃ bhavati from the second comes happiness is illustrated by Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. He had given two examples.

The Dog and the Bone

First is a dog worrying—they call it worrying, and I think it is a beautiful English word, not chewing, but worrying. Dog worrying, because it is getting worried that "I am trying to find some rasa in it." Rasa means blood, food, whatever it is, but it is not coming. It goes on worrying, and then suddenly it sees blood, and then it is very happy. "This bone is extremely wonderful, very precious bone. It is giving me so much of rasa," not realizing that rasa is coming from its own body, not from the bone. The bone is only extracting that rasa.

The Camel and the Thorns

Similarly, the Rāmakṛṣṇa gives the example of a camel eating thorny bushes—exactly same meaning. The thorns prick the gums and blood starts coming and then the poor camel thinks that ānanda is coming from outside.

It is not only the poor camel, for all of us, because we think happiness comes from externality. That is why it is said: what comes from the outside also disappears. Jo āyā so calā gayā.

And that is why, if I understand I am one, and I am one means what? Even existence is not separate from me, even knowledge or consciousness is not separate from me, even ānanda is not separate from me. Whatever is separate from me doesn't belong to me, comes and goes. And whatever is me, it can never come and go. That is why the definition satyam. And when we understand that, we obtain that jñānam. When we obtain that jñānam, we become ānanda svarūpas.

The Sanskrit Text

So let me read out. Beautiful Sanskrit:

Asad vā idam agra āsīt, tato vai sad ajāyata, tad ātmānaṃ svayam akuruta, tasmāt tat sukṛtam ucyata iti.

Yad vai tat sukṛtam raso vai saḥ, rasaṃ hy evāyaṃ labdhvā ānandī bhavati, ko hy evānyāt kaḥ prāṇyāt, yad eṣa ākāśa ānando na syāt, eṣa hy evānandayāti.

Yadā hy eva eṣa etasmin, adṛśye anātmye anirukte anilayane, abhayaṃ pratiṣṭhāṃ vindate, atha so 'bhayaṃ gato bhavati.

Yadā hy eva eṣa etasmin udaraṃ antaraṃ kurute, atha tasya bhayaṃ bhavati, tat tv eva bhayaṃ viduṣo 'manvānasya.

Tad apy eṣa śloko bhavati.

Translation and Commentary

In the beginning, that is, before the manifestation of this universe, all this manifested universe was in a potential form—non-existent means unmanifest form. And from that was born, from that unmanifest, which is otherwise called Brahman, is born what exists. That means whatever we are able to experience.

That Brahman, described as non-existent or as unmanifest, created itself by itself. Why? Because there is nobody else. So it has to do everything by itself. Therefore it is called self-made, self-created, sukṛtam.

And that which is self-made is of the nature of rasa, bliss. For truly, on obtaining that bliss, one becomes blissful. Brahman verily exists because it alone bestows bliss by becoming one with anything.

When a man finds fearless support in that which is invisible, incorporeal, indefinable, and supportless, he has then obtained fearlessness. What it means is, when a person finds, "I am Brahman," and Brahman is of the nature of invisible, because it is the only one. Incorporeal, it is not gross; indefinable, therefore it cannot be defined; and supportless. We are all supported by Brahman. But Brahman supports itself.

He has then obtained fearlessness. He means what? The person who is worshipping God as a second from himself, separate from himself, realizes "I am God only, I am Brahman." Then he becomes fearless because there is no second to cause him fear.

But if anybody remains in that ignorance, if any person makes the slightest differentiation in it, that is, "I am separate, God is separate," there is fear for him. That Brahman becomes the cause of fear for the knower of differentiation. And such a person is called amanvānāḥ, who doesn't reflect, who doesn't think, who is not intelligent.

And supporting this teaching and the above, there is also the following mantra which will come in the next section.

Conclusion

So, seventh section gives four reasons that we have to accept Brahman. And the final argument comes like this:

Anybody says, "I don't believe in God." So, he is using wrong words. You should use, "I do not exist." Even to say, "I do not exist," a person only who is existent can utter those words. First be existent, then say, "I am non-existent." Beautiful thoughts which we will discuss in our next class.

Closing Prayer

ॐ जननीम् शरदाम् देविम् रामक्रिष्णम् जगत् गुर्म्

पादपद्मे तयोः स्रित्वाः प्रणमामि मुहुरुमु

Oṁ jananīṁ śaraḍhāṁ deviṁ rāmakriṣṇam jagad-gurum

pādapadmetayosritvā pranamāmi-muhurumuhu

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