Wiki Vedanta - User contributions [en]

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.2 1.15-20 Lecture 50 on 12 July 2026

2026-08-13T10:47:57Z

Geetha: punctuation and a couple of words captured incorrectly. removed Jananim verse in the Opening invocation.

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

== Opening Invocation ==
ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात् पूर्णमुदच्यते

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः

OM PŪRṆAMADAḤ PŪRṆAMIDAM PŪRṆĀT PŪRṆAMUDACYATE PŪRṆASYA PŪRṆAMĀDĀYA PŪRṆAMEVA VAŚIṢYATE OM ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTIH

OM That Brahman is infinite, and this universe is also infinite. The infinite proceeds from the infinite. Taking the infinitude of the infinite universe, it remains as the infinite Brahman alone.

OM Peace, Peace, Peace be unto all.
==Introduction: The Nearest Example – Deep Sleep==
We have seen how Ajātaśatru wanted to teach about the supreme reality to his apt disciple Gārgya and the nearest human example to understand the real nature of ''Brahman'' – it is not exactly the real nature of ''Brahman'' but the nearest example , is deep sleep. As we have seen, in deep sleep, one special power of ignorance called ''vikṣepa śakti'' totally disappears.

So we have seen this story: Ajātaśatru takes Gārgya by hand and then goes to a sleeping man. First he calls him, then he touches him mildly, then he shakes him violently and then only the man woke up – and that is all the incident. But the lessons to be derived from that incident are these.
==The Three States and Their Characteristics==
First of all, when the person is addressed by some words, titles – “O Rāma”, “O Kṛṣṇa” – if the person is in the waking state (and that is the characteristic of the waking state), if somebody says “I am awake” but does not hear his name being repeatedly called then he is not really awake. Every waking person is completely conscious of his sense organs, his body, the world, and immediately he should respond. But this man did not respond.

Then he shook him mildly, which indicates he was not even in the dream state – not only was he not in the waking state. Why? Because the dream is also very near to the waking state. In both waking and dream, the two distracting and covering powers of ''Māyā'' – ''āvaraṇa śakti'' (covering of our true nature) and ''vikṣepa śakti'' (making us think reality is something else) – are active. We have two obstacle courses to run. In deep sleep, where the person is not aware of the world, therefore he is not in the waking state and therefore his sense organs do not work. In the dream state, subtle sense organs do work, but mild shaking did not wake him up.

Then Ajātaśatru violently shook him and by that the deep sleep was broken, and the man woke up. So that third state is the state which is going to be described. It is not to say that the description of the third state (''suṣupti'') is equivalent to the truth of ''Brahman''; but it is the nearest.
===Why Deep Sleep Is the Nearest===
How is it nearest? First of all, there is no duality – the person does not feel duality. Secondly, his ''saṃskāras'' do not actually work. Thirdly, a person is absorbed nearest to ''Brahman'' –,he is absorbed in that warm presence of ''Brahman'', which is his own nature. That is to say, it is my nature, your nature, everybody's nature – even the nature of what we call inert matter, a stone, etc.

Many times we unconsciously use the examples of rivers and forests. From the Western point of view, that is accepted, they are all inert. But even if you say it is a forest, it is not inert – every plant is alive, every microbe is alive. But when it comes to rivers, to stars, to stones, then they are considered inert. That is why our spiritual understanding has to be really improved. Why? Because what is outside – what is called creation – usually our mind, associated with ''cidābhāsa'' (reflected consciousness), divides the whole universe into two categories: the living and the non‑living, the organic and the inorganic. But that is not the truth. A stone is not an inert thing; a stone is perceived by us as an inert matter by our mind. It is our division , the mischief of our mind. But truly speaking, everything in this universe is absolutely alive.

Suppose a human being is analysed: first this is the body, then these are the atoms, then these are the particles, then these are the pockets of energy. So human language and understanding must come to an end. Naming something as “the ultimate material out of which the whole creation has come” – that is all what we call the thought processes that take place in our mind. How do we know that what I am stating is the truth? Because in the eyes of a ''jñānī'' of ''Brahman'', like Ramana Maharshi, like Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, they see everything as alive. Even a speck of dust is most sacred. In order to inculcate that tremendous spiritual truth into our muddy brains, they say: when you see your mother, your father, take the dust off their feet .So as soon as the dust is associated with them, it becomes alive. Of course, no need to say about one's own Guru.
===The Living Presence in All Forms===
A stone, when it is shaped in the form of a ''devatā'', immediately becomes alive; a ''yantra'' – a diagram , immediately becomes alive. So you see, when a devotee of Śiva or Viṣṇu meditates upon a ''Śivaliṅga'' or a ''Śālagrāma'', it is not an inert piece of stone, but really Nārāyaṇa or Śiva assuming those very particular formations. So where is the truth? This truth which we are speaking now has been taught by Swami Vivekananda to an ignorant king in Rajasthan. The king was audacious enough to ask Swamiji: “We should not worship idols.” The same problem came also with M, the chronicler of the ''Gospel of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa''. Rāmakṛṣṇa asked him, and in reply he said: “I do not believe in image worship.” In fact, he was daring enough to say that people should be told not to worship idols and images. These people – who not only do not understand, but think they understand and go on preaching – are called iconoclasts, breakers of images. Why so many Muslim kings? Even today, Islam does not believe in images.

Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa removed that wrong notion and said: “Why? It is the Divine Mother. Why do we say it is a lifeless being? Anything that is existing – ''sat'' – a stone is, a tree is – whatever of which we can say 'it is'. And only when it is, it is experienceable.” Whenever we look at a tree, what is the first thing we experience? If I ask you, “Look at that, what is that you see?” you say, “I see a tree.” But you are misplacing the words wrongly. You should say: “I see an existent tree. I see an existent house. I see an existent man.” A tree is, a man is, a stone is, a river is – that ''is'' is called ''sat'' and that is the greatest truth.

And is Sat, is it single, or is it always associated with ''cit''? According to ''Vedānta'', ''Brahman'' is called ''Sat-Cit-Ānanda'' and these are not three separate things – wherever there is one, the other two will also be there invariably. But we do not see it. If you do not understand something, it does not mean your understanding is the right understanding. When a person advances spiritually, the same person first perceives ''Brahman''. How does he perceive? In the form of “this is existent, this is existence”. As soon as he understands this is existence, he does not separate it as conscious or blissful – he says it is nothing but ''Brahman''. So a piece of stone is ''Brahman'', a tree is ''Brahman'' – both living and non‑living, whatever exists – and ''ekam sat''.

We have analysed this in the ''Chāndogya Upaniṣad'' in the sixth chapter beginning itself: ''sadeva somya idam agra āsīt ekameva advitīyam''. Wherever we perceive existence, we have to perceive consciousness – not little but full. But we never perceive full consciousness – either in the waking state, or in the dream state, or even in the deep sleep state. Only a knower of ''Brahman'' perceives one hundred percent ''Sat'', one hundred percent ''Cit'', one hundred percent ''Ānanda'' – but it is only after obtaining the vision of ''Brahman'', becoming one with ''Brahman''.
==Concentration, Meditation, and Samādhi==
Every time we concentrate upon something, it is truly speaking, trying to become one with the object of our thought. We become one with that thought. The destruction of duality is called concentration. When concentration deepens, it is called meditation. When meditation deepens, it is called ''samādhi'' – so it is a gradual progress. Only a ''jñānī'' of ''Brahman'' does not see anything except ''Brahman''. ''Brahman'' means ''Sat-Cit-Ānanda''.

What is it that we share with the knower of ''Brahman''? Whereas a knower of ''Brahman'' sees ''Sat-Cit-Ānanda'' as an indivisible whole , one without a second – we divide it and say: “''Sat'' with ''cit''” and “without ''cit''” – with consciousness and without consciousness. And consciousness in our vision is invariably associated with ''prāṇa''. So that which is living and that which is non‑living ,both are existing. A stone exists but without life. But Swami Vivekananda questions this because he is aware of ''Brahman'': “Where do you draw a line and say 'this is living' and 'this is non‑living'?” So everything is ''Brahman''.

But what the real nature of ''Brahman'' can be, that is beautifully analysed through this deep‑sleep example.
==The Deep Sleep State as Equalising All==
As I was mentioning, you can see that Ajātaśatru wanted to find out: when we are in the waking state, our mind is scattered terribly – so every second our mind is drifting from one object to another, which means from one thought of the object to another thought of another object and there ''tamoguṇa'' (ignorance) is very thick. Whereas when we enter into the dream state, it is vastly expanded. We feel that we are the masters of time, albeit unconsciously. We can be anywhere with only a thought: “I am here in Vārāṇasī”, that is a thought. “I am on the planet Mars” – that is another thought. How much time does it take for this mind to traverse between “I am here” and “I am on Mars”? Not even a twinkling of a second. A man can be anything he wants.

But that is not all. When two people enter into deep sleep, here the example given is a ''kumāra'' (a small baby), a ''mahārāja'' (an emperor of a vast empire), and a ''mahābrāhmaṇa'' (a great learned Brāhmin) – when they enter, they attain equal status. There is no difference at all. A Brāhmaṇa does not think “I am a Brāhmaṇa; this person is only a king; and this child is only an ignorant child.” No, because there is no duality – ''ekam sat'' – there is only one pure, unbroken awareness of the existence. Existence also becomes one – ''anantam'' – infinite existence, infinite consciousness, infinite bliss.

So as long as a person is in the deep sleep state, there is no difference. “This is a tiger; it has come to eat me up” – no. Even if a person is caught by a tiger and it is slowly licking the person's body, the person is in great bliss because “this is me and this is the tiger” – that differentiation, that separateness, is completely vanished. And along with the vanishment of the duality, all the effects of duality become completely erased. This is a marvellous thing that happens.

A poor man sleep, a rich man sleep, an old man, a small baby, an animal, a mosquito, a tree – do trees sleep? Definitely they sleep. Wherever there is life, there is action. Life means action; ''prāṇa'' means activity. And where there is action, there is exhaustion. Where there is exhaustion, trees also rest. That is why Hindus believe that you should not do anything to any plant at night; whatever you want to do, do it only at daytime.
==Developing Spiritual Qualities==
This is what Ajātaśatru wanted to convey. I am taking time because this is the most sublime subject. For that, we have to develop certain spiritual qualities. As we go on developing these qualities, a person develops that special spiritual outlook of looking upon dualities – heat and cold, honour and dishonour, gain and loss, victory and defeat, happiness and unhappiness, he converts everything into one unbroken, pure bliss. And that is what all of us do when we enter into the deep sleep state. Even the person who is about to be executed ,electrocuted – the moment he enters into deep sleep, he is absolutely free from any type of this thing. Not only that – not only is he free from dualities and unhappiness, he is full of bliss until he wakes up. What a marvellous gift the Divine Creator has bestowed upon us! That is why a baby is so blissful – until we teach it, until its own ''saṃskāras'' wake up, then it becomes so lovely.

So these are spiritual qualities. What is a spiritual quality? That capability to perceive everything not as reality, but perceiving everything as divine, accepting everything as divine, which leads this person to unbroken bliss. That is the purpose of developing these qualities. And who does not want it? Everybody wants only unbroken bliss, but due to Mahāmāyā – the power of illusion, ignorance – we are running like a musk deer which runs after its own fragrance coming from its own navel, thinking it is coming from somewhere else. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa illustrates through the example of a camel or a dog worrying a bone, etc.
==The Zen Story – A Living Example==
When a person attains to this state, I will give you one living example .Both I think are living examples, one is a Zen story. Zen Buddhism is nothing but ''Dhyāna'' Buddhism. The word ''dhyāna'' (meditation) has become corrupted when it went to Japan through China ,then it became ''Zen''. Dhyana became Zen.That is why it is called Zen Buddhism. There were great enlightened monks in this tradition, and their stories are marvellous.

So there was a Zen master. He could live anywhere; wherever he lived was only ''Brahma Loka'' ,we can say that – but even I would say ''Brahmananda Loka'', not even ''Brahma Loka''. So a Zen master was living a pure life; his necessities were very little. In that village, there was an unmarried girl who became pregnant. When her parents questioned her, she confessed it was this Zen monk who was the father of the child. The whole villagers, who had been revering him as a great man, forgot the whole lot, came and beat him, abused him, and told him: “This is your baby; you will have to take care.” So when the girl gave birth to the baby, they brought it and said: “You look after it; we do not want anything to do with this illegitimate child.” Smilingly, with the most peaceful and joyful smile, the Zen master took it upon himself. He started begging for some milk and started looking after the baby as if it were his own baby. When the villagers had accused him he accepted cheerfully and took the blame on himself and never cursed anybody, never contradicted what they were saying and started looking after the baby with all the love possible.

Somehow, after some days, the girl could not stand her own deception. She confessed to her parents : “I falsely accused this monk.It is actually the neighbouring youth who is the real father of the baby but in order to escape, I named this helpless monk.” The villagers understood. Immediately they came down, profusely apologised to him and then they asked for the baby back. Cheerfully, the Zen master handed it over with the same smile with which he received it. There was not a bit of pain, regret, or accusation – nothing was there. What a marvellous story! Such inspiring stories are why reading the lives of great saints is very much wanted. That was the story I promised to tell you.
==Knowledge Proceeds from the Known==
Now let us proceed. Through this small story, this ''Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad'' – or rather ''Vedānta'' philosophy, through this dialogue between Ajātaśatru and Gārgya ,specifically focuses on the nature of the ''jīvātma''. What is the nature of the ''jīvātma''? Because always knowledge proceeds from the known to the more known. I mentioned this. These are profound truths.

Suppose you go to an island where the people never knew what is called “sweet”, but they are accustomed to a kind of vegetable that grows there which is bitter, like bitter gourd. Even this bitter gourd has different types of bitterness – much less bitterness and most bitterness when it is fully ripe, etc. If you want to convey to that person what a “sweet” really is like, you cannot – any amount of description is not going to help. You have to convey the knowledge through what he already knows. That means you expand his already existing pool of knowledge. So you bring some of these bitter fruits at various stages of their development and then ask: “Which one do you prefer to eat?” (because they have to eat). Any person prefers “I prefer this – it is tasty.” Of course, anything that is eaten day after day becomes tasty only. There is a beautiful saying in Bengali: ''khete khete bhālōi lakṣī'' – as I go on eating, it is tasting better and better. That is our stupid psychology , whatever food we are accustomed to, that alone we think is the greatest food on earth. A baby does not know all these things until we teach them.

That is why I give an illustration. Suppose there is a Bengali baby who is taken to South India into a pure South Indian family and is accustomed to all the South Indian dishes and grows up. One day he is brought back to Bengal and given Bengali dishes to taste. His face becomes a little bit – not sour – “What type of food is this?” Because we think whatever I am accustomed to is best and my mother is the greatest cook. Anyway, this is child psychology – we are what our habits are. That is why ''saṃskāra'' is also called habit.
===Higher Knowledge through Lower Knowledge===
Now coming back ,so this person who says “this is the least bit of bitterness” – now you see, people like it. They prefer, if you present different maturing bitter fruits, everybody rushes only to that type of fruit which is much less bitter. And much less bitter is the sweetest according to them. Now you see, you are getting so much joy. “Now there is a sweet which will be a thousandfold more sweet than this”,how do you convince him? Because he understands there must be something which is much better than what we know here. But even then that knowledge will be only a guess knowledge – intellectual knowledge, but not existential knowledge. So if you can bring a sweet fruit like a sweet mango and present it to him, then he understands: “Oh, this is what you are talking about.”

So what is the important point I wanted to bring to your notice and make you understand and remember – that is very wonderful: higher knowledge is possible only through lower knowledge. That is why ''Karma Kāṇḍa'' is the lower knowledge and with the help of ''Karma Kāṇḍa'', if it is done sincerely and properly, a man attains to the highest happiness. Every higher ''loka'' is a higher degree of happiness and it is experienced by the mind as such. I am just making it a little bit light: if somebody is taken to ''Brahma Loka'' and he is worried about his stock market, which he came before going to ''Brahma Loka'', he thought that the stock value is going to crash – so many pundits had foretold – even if that person goes to ''Brahma Loka'' and starts worrying about his stock price, then is he in ''Brahma Loka'' or ease in the stock market world? We have to understand it is the state of mind. So higher knowledge always associates higher knowledge with higher joy and less grief and that should give a long food for our thought.
==The Three States of the Jīvātman==
Coming back, there are three states of every ''jīvātma'': the waking, the dream, and deep sleep. What is wrong with this waking state and dream state? The thickness of ignorance is greatest in the waking state, much less in the dream, and far less in the deep sleep state. Once a person is given – what is the cause of this incomparable bliss? Then we come to know, or the teacher explains, then we come to know. Intelligent persons come to know by their own thinking because they have attained purity or intuition. As a swami used to say jokingly: “Until we develop intuition, we have to be ''in tuition''” – we have to accept a scripture, a guru , somebody who through their experience can teach us better.

So in the waking state, the ''cidābhāsa'' (reflected consciousness) first becomes associated with the mind, then it becomes slowly associated with the sense organs and these sense organs go out and take impressions like dental impressions and then present them to the mind. The mind analyses them and creates pieces of knowledge which we call ''citta vṛttis''. We know all about the external world only through these ''citta vṛttis,'' we actually do not know anything about the external world. It is like watching a football match or a cricket match on a monitor – however big the monitor, first you are aware of the screen, then you forget everything and you are cheering, shouting, dancing, or getting depressed according to the goals achieved by your favourite team or the team you do not support. But for the time being, we forget – even though a little bit we are conscious that I am watching what is happening elsewhere reflected on this monitor.

If you can take and study this example: our mind is that monitor; our sense organs are the channels fed through different wires; and then we, as if, are sitting there. This is what Śaṅkarācārya has written beautifully in his ''Dakṣiṇāmūrti Stotram'' at the very beginning itself: ''viśvaṃ darpaṇa dṛśyamāna nagarī tulyaṃ nijāntargatam'' – the whole universe that we experience is like a man sitting near a window, and outside the window there is a ninety‑degree reflecting, beautiful mirror, and he is watching the whole external world as reflected in that mirror. This is the greatest truth. We do not know even the person – even if you think somebody is sitting next to me, I do not know anything about that person except what thoughts I produce about that person. Is that all? Now, even when I see my own body, I will not know anything about my body, only the thoughts about my body that my mind has gathered – even though it says “I am the body”, feels “I am the body”, it is only thoughts. That is why mind alone is the cause of both happiness and unhappiness, of bondage and liberation, of good and evil. Everything depends upon the mind.
===The Three Guṇas===
Mind itself is the greatest Mahāmāyā, consisting of the three ''guṇas'' – ''sattva'', ''rajas'', and ''tamas''. The more the ''sattvaguṇa'', or the more the ''tamoguṇa'', our wrong knowledge is more – that is like cleaning the mirror. As we go on cleaning our mind, it becomes better and better, cleaner and cleaner, purer and purer; then we understand the truth much better. This subject is beautifully discussed both in the fourteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth chapters of the ''Bhagavad Gītā''.
==The Names of the Jīva in the Three States==
So this is what Ajātaśatru really wanted to teach – what is the ''jīva''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s nature when the ''jīva'' is associated with the waking state and then he acquires a name. He is called ''Viśva'' or he is called “Waker” – “I am a waker.” Then his knowledge of himself because the whole world – here I am going to tell you the greatest truth: the world is like a mirror, and what reflection we get from the mirror depends upon what type of ''guṇa'' – ''tamoguṇa'', ''rajoguṇa'', ''sattvaguṇa''. So we judge the whole world through the ''guṇas'' and it also reflects us. That is why the world is the greatest aid. It helps us to find out who we are. If we observe fully awake, fully conscious, fully aware and try to analyse – why did I react to this person in this way? Why did I react to that other event in another way? How can I retain my happiness? Because these continuous reactions make me go up and down. So that reflecting process is a great improvement in spiritual life.

Most people, unfortunately, are like blind people or they do some ''japam'', they visit some holy places, they worship regularly, they study scriptures regularly, but they are what we call, in ''Vedānta'', the six enemies – ''kāma'', ''krodha'', ''lobha'', ''moha'', ''mada'', ''mātsarya'' – lust, anger, greed, envy, arrogance, jealousy. If these do not become lesser and lesser, then there is something seriously wrong with us. On the contrary, a person becomes more selfless, more and more unselfish. He is affected less and less by the events that happen – and which must happen inevitably according to one's ''karmaphala'' in this life. So this is how man progresses.
==The Call of the Upaniṣads==
When a person gets a terrible blow – it is “Awake! Arise! And stop not till the goal is reached” – ''uttiṣṭhata jāgrata''. Then the ''Upaniṣad'' continues: ''prāpya varān nibodhata'' – “Oh, I am ignorant; I have to learn a lot of things. So let me approach somebody” – just like Gārgya approached Ajātaśatru. First he thought “I know everything”; then he understood “I know nothing”; then he became nothing. Then humility had come. Humility means to think “I am nothing”. And then he approached Ajātaśatru – ''prāpya varān nibodhata''. And then Ajātaśatru recognised the sincerity of the student – he is a fit student, made him fit actually – and then now he is teaching the final truth.
==The Withdrawal from the External World==
So when this ''jīvātman'' withdraws from the external world, he identifies with his own thoughts – all the impressions gathered from the waking state, not only in this life but ''janma janmāntara'' – life after life, millions of lives together. Then he starts analysing himself. He becomes much freer, more happy , no doubt about it. And Swami Vivekananda also sings that Tulsīdās beautiful song: ''jāgi, tyāgi, moha tā anurāga śrīhare'' – “Become awake (''jāgi''), give up this egotism (''tyāgi''), and develop intense love for ''Śrīhari''” – ''Śrīhari'' means ''Brahman'', ''Saguṇa Brahma''. Rāma is both ''Saguṇa Brahma'' as well as ''Nirguṇa Brahma'' – no doubt about it.
==Why the Sleeping Man Did Not Wake Easily==
So this is the process Ajātaśatru had adopted. By calling names, he said: “This person is not in the waking state.” By gently touching and shaking, “This person is not in the dream state.” Then the only state he could be is the deep sleep state. In that deep sleep state, it takes time because the person is blissful. Why does the person take such a long time? Because if a person is suffering, it is very easy to wake him up as he is already almost awake, because suffering makes a person remove himself from happiness. Happiness means complete absorption, complete concentration, oneness with ''Brahman'' – though it is a temporary phenomenon. All dualities have disappeared; the mind is not there. So he does not want to easily come out of that state. Who wants to be separated from happiness? None of us. Separate a child from its favourite toy when it is playing with that toy; separate a young person from his beloved wife; separate a greedy merchant from his accumulated money because these are the venues of getting more happiness, mistakenly though. So a person does not want to be removed from happiness. Every person is eager to be removed from suffering, but this person is in greatest bliss.

That is why his body does not work, sense organs do not work, the mind also does not work. That is why calling by name, sounds, touching gently , nothing works. Nobody wants to be separated from ''Ānanda''. It is the same condition when we are in deep sleep – it is not easy to wake us up because we are unwilling to be woken up because nobody wants to be separated from ''Ānanda''. And ''Ānanda'' is our own nature, and this is the highest truth. Our nature is ''Ānanda'', ''Sat-Cit-Ānanda'', and we never want to be separated from that ''Ānanda''. The whole life is a quest for regaining this fullness ,unbroken happiness, which is called ''satyam jñānam anantam brahma''. That infinite bliss transcends past, present, and future, both the dualities and individuality. Nobody wants to be separated from there.
==Samādhi and the Unwillingness to Return==
That is why Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa says: when a person enters into ''samādhi'', most people do not want to come back because they never found such great bliss in their lives. The word “bliss” is a very special word; it should not be misplaced by using words like “happiness”, “satisfaction”, “pleasure”, “joy”, etc. This is a unique word – bliss, which is called ''ānanda''. Even the ''ānandamaya kośa'' is only limited happiness because it changes. Why is it limited? Because it changes. So ''ānandamaya kośa'' is equated with deep sleep because there is nothing but ''ānanda'' ,here is not even that separate knowledge: “I am the knower and this is something to be known.” Those divisions are completely overcome in that state.

But there is a mysterious ''karma'' which brings us down with a thud , like a mongoose whose tail is tied with a brick and suddenly falls to the ground even though it does not want to come down. We all fall down. So we are moving from waking to dream to dreamless, again to waking – and this ''brahmacakra'', this wheel of ''Brahman'', is continuing. Until we wake up and know who we are, this will continue.
==Conclusion==
So Gārgya, being a fit disciple endowed with that keenness like Naciketā, he must have understood it. In our future classes, we will briefly discuss the other ''Brāhmaṇas''. But this is the essence. So if you understand what we discussed yesterday and also today, you will understand what is the essence of this Ajātaśatru‑Gārgya dialogue.

== Closing Prayer ==
ॐ जननीं शारदां देवीं रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुम् ।पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहुः

''Om Jānānāṃ Śāradāṃ Devīṃ Rāmakṛṣṇaṃ Jagadgurum Pada Padme Tayo Śṛtvā Praṇamāmi Muhur Muhuh''

May Rāmakṛṣṇa, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekānanda bless us all with Bhakti.

''Jai Rāmakṛṣṇa!''
[[Category:Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]]

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.1.4 Lecture 33 on 16 May 2026

2026-08-12T11:42:17Z

Geetha: small punctuation

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

== Opening Invocation ==
ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात् पूर्णमुदच्यते

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः

OM PŪRṆAMADAḤ PŪRṆAMIDAM PŪRṆĀT PŪRṆAMUDACYATE PŪRṆASYA PŪRṆAMĀDĀYA PŪRṆAMEVA VAŚIṢYATE OM ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTIH

OM That Brahman is infinite, and this universe is also infinite. The infinite proceeds from the infinite. Taking the infinitude of the infinite universe, it remains as the infinite Brahman alone.

OM Peace, Peace, Peace be unto all.
----

== Recap: The Great Discussion on Brahman ==
Let us remember that a great discussion was going on among some of the great seekers of Brahman: what is Brahman, and how can one reach it? So this Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad is explaining, and then it is giving the advice which we have seen in our last class, ''Ātmānam eva lokaṃ upāsīta'' — at the end of a lot of evolutionary progress, one comes to know that God is the only reality and that is the fact which the Upaniṣad is trying to put to us now.
----

== आत्मानमेव लोकमुपासीत ॥ Ātmānam Eva Lokaṃ Upāsīta: Meditating Upon the World of the Ātmā. ==
''Atmanam eva lokaṃ upāsīta'' — translated simply: one's goal in life should be the realisation of God only. So here it says one should meditate only upon the world of the Ātmā. "World" means what a person is continuously occupied within his mind — what the mind is filled with, what type of thoughts prevail. That would be his world. A child's mind is full of a child's world. A young man's mind will be full of youthful thoughts, that is his world. We have to understand it thus.

But ultimately, one realises that my world should be only God. I must live in the world of God. That is what the Īśāvāsya Upaniṣad categorically tells all of us: ''Īśāvāsyam idaṃ sarvaṃ yat kiñca jagatyāṃ jagat'' — one should see God everywhere. This is called Goloka. This is called Vaikuṇṭha. This is called Kailāsa. This is called Paradise. This is called the Kingdom of Heaven. By whatever blessed name we call it. To live in God, with God, as God — that is the Loka.

=== The Fulfilment of All Desires ===
Then the doubt might come to people who listen to this type of teaching: "What do we get?" And the Upaniṣad answers: whatever a person desires, immediately his desire will be fulfilled. We have seen in the Chāndogya that whatever world he desires that world appears in front of him or rather, he finds himself in that world. You want to see your ancestors? You will find yourself in Pitṛloka. You want to be with Indra? You will find yourself in front of Indra. In fact, what we have to understand is: you are that Indra. If you desire Brahmaloka, then you find Brahmaloka is present instantaneously because you are that Brahmaloka — you are that Brahmā.

This is what is called Arthavāda. Arthavāda is for people like me and you, who do not understand the benefits of spiritual life, or do not properly grasp what is the meaning of God-realisation. "What do you get? What will you not get?" The counter-answer is: you will get everything. Whatever you want, you will get. But the real truth is: when a person gets everything, there is nothing left out for him to desire or to get. That is what we have seen in the Taittirīya Upaniṣad, second chapter, the Brahmānanda Vallī — he who attains Brahman, ''āpnoti param''. And then, the Upaniṣad continues: ''sa brahmaṇā saha'' — along with Brahmā, identifying with Brahmā, that person enjoys Brahmānanda, which is eternal, indivisible, and not limited.

This is what we have seen in the fifteenth mantra of this fourth section. Now we have already entered into the sixteenth. We will talk about it once more.
----

== The Sixteenth Mantra: The Self as an Object of Enjoyment for the World ==
What does this sixteenth mantra want to talk about? It wants to tell us: just as if a person owns plenty of animals, he will enjoy every one of them — if a person has cows, goats, chickens, fish, he will enjoy them. So an ignorant person thinks: "I am very fortunate, great, clever, intelligent. I have acquired all these objects of enjoyment. So I am the enjoyer and all these objects are objects of my enjoyment." But very cleverly, the Upaniṣad wants to turn our attention and say: "O fool! If the whole world is an object of your enjoyment, you are not able to cognise the fact that you are the object of enjoyment for this whole world."

And in that context, the Upaniṣad, particularly in this sixteenth mantra, wants to bring out the concept of Pañca Mahāyajña. Very briefly: what is it about?

According to our scripture, Śāstra, we are all indebted to five beings. The entire world, according to this statement, is divided into five categories:

First, the Ṛṣis. Second, Devas or deities — Adhiṣṭhātṛ Devatās, or presiding deities. Third, Pitṛs — ancestors. Fourth, human beings — Nara. Fifth, non-human beings and nature.

=== Our Debt to Ancestors: Pitṛ Ṛṇa ===
We are indebted to our ancestors. What I am today is nothing but my mother and father, who are nothing but their own mothers and fathers. Thus it goes on and on, as far back as you want to go. So we are indebted to them, because we are because of them. We are indebted to our mother and father immediately, but they are indebted to their ancestors. So we are indebted to all our ancestors. That is why even today, if somebody can trace his lineage — his Gotra — he will understand: "I belong to such and such a great person. What I am today is because of that great person." When that great person becomes the cause, I become the effect. Of course, all those who are descended from that great person are also the effects and must be grateful.

=== Our Debt to Human Beings: Manuṣya Ṛṇa ===
And then we are grateful to every human being — this is called Nara Ṛṇa, Manuṣya Ṛṇa because everybody, mostly indirectly and a few directly, are serving us so that we can survive and enjoy. Some people are preparing sweets. Some doctors are helping us to recover our health. Some people give us trouble — even they are helping us. We have to be extremely grateful because even though we are not able to recognise how and why we should be grateful to people who are troublesome, later on we recognise: "I am what I am today because of my enemies, not because of my friends." Because first, they point out my defects ,all the bad qualities without asking any money in return. Secondly, it gives me an immense opportunity so that I can correct myself, better myself and progress in the spiritual path. My enemies give me greater opportunity and greater help than my friends.

It is hard for us to comprehend this truth now, but later on we understand: "Had not that person given me this trouble, I would not have developed this kind of tranquil mentality." So that is how everything in this world, by the will of the Divine Mother, is pushing us to evolve towards our true nature. So we are indebted.

=== Our Debt to Animals and Nature: Paśu Ṛṇa ===
And then every animal is serving us, we are indebted to them. This shows us a grand truth, a great principle, a marvellous law that we are continuously taking from the world, which is God. If we do not return with gratefulness and thanks, then we remain indebted to them, which means we will not progress.

So this whole sixteenth mantra is about how everyone of us are objects of enjoyment for the whole world and we become objects of enjoyment through the process of giving back what we borrowed from them. When we borrow from them it is called Rna, debt.When we pay them back with interest that is called discharging our debt and if we will not discharge then we will not progress. So we are born debtors. This is a grand fact we have to understand, by the very fact of our birth how much our mother, then father, then teacher, then everybody is helping us to grow up. Growing up does not mean cutting cake with joy, it means learning the lessons, progress in an evolutionary way, slowly nearing God. That is called progress. So this is all about Pañca Mahāyajña . In other words what it means is "I an ignorant person want to become an enlightened person. How can I do that? I have to progress through karma." Karma means Pañca Mahāyajña and this Pañca Mahāyajña means Sadhana. We have to equate Pañca Mahāyajña to Sadhana. That is what I will tell shortly. Later on when we progress we understand that what I wanted is not happiness in this world but being myself, being God. For such a person he does not want anything in this world, only an ignorant person desires this loka. But an enlightened person desires to use this Loka as a stepping stone to move forward towards God, towards one's own self actually. I am an ignorant person, I have to progress through karma or karma yoga and that Karma yoga has another name. it is called discharging my debt through to these five beings which is called Pañca Mahāyajña .When I progress sufficiently then I have to turn my mind towards God and then I have to do manasika karma, mental karma which is otherwise called Upasana. So for first I have to do external rituals,second I have to do mental rituals called Upasana and the sixteenth mantra is all about it. So this section is going to tell us about the five Maha yagnas and this is what Swami Vivekānanda called Karma Yoga. Karma Yoga means performing karma in a particular way. What is that particular way? I am indebted and nobody is or should be grateful to me. I am only giving back what I have already borrowed long ago from everybody in this world and the whole world is divided into five beings, the sages, the Gods, the ancestors, human beings , non- human beings and also nature.

Consider a river, a mountain — we consider them non-living. Can we live without them? It is because of them that I am what I am today. I have a duty to discharge that debt. What is my duty towards a river? To develop a spiritual attitude — "This is sacred water. This is a Devatā — Gaṅgā Devatā." if the same Ganga is flowing in another country, it is already flowing and in other countries there are huge rivers like that Amazon river but they are not considered as sacred. Only the biologists are recognising that without forests, without rivers, without mountains, without the northern and southern polar regions which are heavily influencing our climate, we will not be able to survive. Where then is the question of progress in spiritual life?

=== The Central Principle of Karma Yoga ===
That is why Karma Yoga means: consider everything as God. When I am taking a bath in the river, this is sacred water — this is a Devatā, Gaṅgā Devatā. When I am eating food, it is Mother Annapūrṇā. When I am getting warmth, even through a heater, it is Agni Devatā. When I am breathing oxygen, it is Vāyu Devatā and when I am able to freely move around, that is Ākāśa Devatā. Developing this particular spiritual attitude, that is called Karma Yoga.
----

== The Sixteenth Mantra: Full Exposition ==

अथो अयं वा आत्मा सर्वेषां भूतानां लोकः । स यज्जुहोति यद्यजते तेन देवानां लोकः ।

अथ यदनुब्रूते तेन ऋषीणाम् । अथ यत्पितृभ्यो निपृणाति यत्प्रजामिच्छते तेन पितॄणाम् ।

अथ यन्मनुष्यान्वासयते यदेभ्योऽशनं ददाति तेन मनुष्याणाम् । अथ यत्पशुभ्यस्तृणोदकं विन्दति तेन पशूनाम् ।

यदस्य गृहेषु श्वापदा वयांसि पिपीलिकाभ्य उपजीवन्ति तेन तेषां लोकः ।

यथा ह वै स्वाय लोकायारिष्टिमिच्छेदेवं हैवंविदे सर्वाणि भूतान्यरिष्टिमिच्छन्ति ।

तद्वा एतद्विदितं मीमांसितम् ॥ १६ ॥

''Atho ayaṁ vā ātmā sarveṣāṁ bhūtānāṁ lokaḥ. Sa yaj juhoti yad yajate tena devānāṁ lokaḥ. Atha yad anubrūte tena ṛṣīṇām. Atha yat pitṛbhyo nipṛṇāti yat prajām icchate tena pitṝṇām. Atha yan manuṣyān vāsayate yad ebhyo'śanaṁ dadāti tena manuṣyāṇām. Atha yat paśubhyas tṛṇodakaṁ vindati tena paśūnām. Yad asya gṛheṣu śvāpadā vayāṁsi pipīlikābhya upajīvanti tena teṣāṁ lokaḥ. Yathā ha vai svāya lokāyāriṣṭim icched evaṁ haivaṁvide sarvāṇi bhūtāny ariṣṭim icchanti. Tad vā etad viditaṁ mīmāṁsitam. ॥16''॥

So the sixteenth mantra in this fourth section starts with a little peculiar language, but by the grace of Śaṅkarācārya and other Ācāryas, we are able to understand it in a better way. I will translate Swāmī Nikhilānanda's translation, which is the best English translation.

Now, this self, meaning this ignorant person, is an object of enjoyment, ''lokaḥ'', to all beings. How is it so? The Upaniṣad explains:

Insofar as this ignorant person offers oblations in the fire and performs sacrifices, he becomes an object of enjoyment to the gods. This is called Deva Ṛṇa, Devatā Ṛṇa.

Insofar as this person studies the scriptures , the Vedas, etc. — reverentially, believes in them, tries to mould his life according to their instructions, he becomes an object of enjoyment to the Ṛṣis.

Insofar as this person makes offerings to the Manes , the ancestors and desires children, he becomes an object of enjoyment to the Manes, the Pitṛ Puruṣas, the ancestors.

Insofar as this person gives shelter and food to men or women who come to him in the form of guests, he becomes an object of enjoyment to men and that is how he discharges his Ṛṇa to the Devatās, Ṛṣis, ancestors and human beings.

Insofar as this person gives fodder and water to the animals, he becomes an object of enjoyment to the animals.

Insofar as beasts and birds, including even ants — find a living in this person's home, he becomes an object of enjoyment to these.

Man becomes an object of enjoyment. Just as one wishes no injury to one's own body, so do all beings wish no injury to him who has this knowledge. All this, indeed, has been known and well investigated.
----

== A Brief Explanation of Each Debt ==

=== Discharging the Deva Ṛṇa ===
When a person understands through the scriptures "I am indebted to the Devas" because they send the rain, they regulate the seasons and if we reverentially worship them and show our gratefulness by offering to them what they have bestowed upon us — food, water, etc. but that Śraddhā, that reverence, is what they accept.

For example, in our pūjās, we offer to Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇan and when we offer, we must have the concept: "Lord, you have given me this. I am only showing my gratefulness. I know you do not require this." That is the attitude with which Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa becomes very pleased, Holy Mother becomes pleased and Devatās become pleased. They who give us do not require these things. So through that showing of gratefulness, they are very pleased and they bestow upon us more and more — as much as necessary. They protect us and the whole of nature, all the seasons, are controlled by them.

=== Discharging the Ṛṣi Ṛṇa ===
When a person studies scriptures reverentially, chants them, tries to understand them, puts them into practice as far as possible — tries his level best to make it practical Vedānta — he is discharging his debt to the Ṛṣis. And they are pleased, just as when a hungry person comes to our house and we provide him food — after eating, will he not be pleased with us? Same way, the Ṛṣis will be pleased.

=== Discharging the Pitṛ Ṛṇa ===
We show our reverence and gratitude to our ancestors, whether they are alive — our grandfathers, great-grandfathers, etc. or not. We have to show our reverence to them. That is what the Upaniṣad is teaching us thoroughly again and again-gratefulness. I am alive. I am what I am. The opportunities I have in life are totally given to me by these five beings otherwise I cannot even survive. And that includes people who give us trouble. That is why Holy Mother used to say: "Misery is a gift of God."

=== Discharging the Paśu Ṛṇa ===
We want to enjoy animals. So what do we do? We keep cows, for example, and we graze them ourselves. We give them food and water. We wash them, we decorate them. On certain festival days — called ''paśu Devatā'' days — animals are washed, garlanded, and fed with special sweets etc. Practically every Hindu witnesses this after Dīpāvalī and Bali Pūjā day. And not to speak of animals, even machines: a tractor, a car, a factory — because they are all helping us and aiding us to live an enjoyable life, they are pleased when we look after them and their pleasure is a blessing that comes to all of us. This is called Paśuyajña, Bhūtayajña.

=== Discharging the Manuṣya Ṛṇa ===
When we are grateful — somebody, maybe in China, had made a mobile phone which is helping me to enjoy my life here — we have to be grateful. How many human beings are indirectly helping us? Those who are helping directly are few, everybody is helping us indirectly. So we have to be grateful to them. And just as if we help somebody that person is pleased — his pleasure itself becomes goodwill and good wishes. This is how we discharge our duties.
----

== The Grand Principle: We Are Objects of Enjoyment for the World ==
Then the Upaniṣad says: just as one wishes no injury to one's own body, so do all beings wish no injury to him who has this knowledge. That means all these five categories ,Ṛṣis, Devatās, Pitṛs, human beings, non-human beings, nature, the entire world — wish us the best because so long as we are giving them pleasure. Just as we wish well to our cow because it gives us the sweetest, healthiest milk, and our body, when it is looked after properly by visiting the doctor, even by dieting and controlling, body blesses us with great health — so also all these beings bless us.

All these marvellous ideas are included in this Pañca Mahāyajña. So earlier we have seen that an ignorant person is considered an animal to the Devas, and just as Devatās do not wish to lose even one animal, so also no human being wants to lose the blessings of any of these five. Just as human beings look after their cows, cars, and houses by cleaning, making beds, painting the house, everything that we do for our enjoyment — as if we are pleased, they do return service to us. Let us do service to them and they will offer the best service to all of us.
----

== Karma Yoga as Sādhanā: The Five Debts and Spiritual Progress ==
So we are indebted to everything in this world and we have to discharge that debt — and this is what the Vedas want to tell us, because every Upaniṣad is part of the Veda. We must keep on performing Vedic duties. These Vedic duties are called Pañca Mahāyajñas, and they have to be done through particular duties imposed upon us according to our Varṇan and Āśrama status. Varṇa means say a Śūdra: even he can worship God through his activities. A Vaiśya, a Kṣatriya, a Brāhmaṇa — the particular duties incumbent upon each of these persons can be discharged as a matter of Karma Yoga. But if the same persons are imbued with selfishness then it will take a long time for them to understand the truth.

In course of time, they will have to turn through four stages: first, selfishness; second, "I give, you take; you give, I take"; third, "I give and you take"; fourth, "I am giving only to God and I am receiving from God." These are the four stages.

So ''Loka'' means here: object of enjoyment. The whole world is an object of enjoyment to us, and we are also objects of enjoyment for the whole world. If I am enjoying my servant by accepting his services, then the servant also is enjoying ,he is getting shelter, good food, or a salary — helping each other. That is called give and take. That is what Swāmī Vivekānanda said: the day India closed its doors and windows and stopped giving what it has and naturally stopped taking what others can give, its growth stopped and it became stagnant.

So this give-and-take process — in other words Karma Yoga — means Sādhanā, spiritual practice, which will slowly help us approach God. That is called Upāsanā, until we know: we do not exist, only God exists.

So these are: Deva Ṛṇa, Ṛṣi Ṛṇa, Pitṛ Ṛṇa, Manuṣya Ṛṇa, and Paśu Ṛṇa. This is called Karma Yoga.

=== The Fruits of Karma Yoga ===
What do I get? What benefit do I derive? By practising Karma Yoga, first comes Puṇyam. Puṇyam gives higher happiness. Puṇyam also incidentally gives us Citta Śuddhi , purity, purification of the mind. When the mind is being purified, it gives concentration. Concentration gives us the expansion of myself with a larger whole — Citta Vaiśālyatā. And Karma Yoga gives higher knowledge by purifying the mind.

Karma Yoga finally makes me a Sādhana Catuṣṭaya Sampanna Adhikāri — a fit aspirant for approaching a proper Guru, for receiving spiritual instructions and then, through the three stages of Śravaṇa, Manana, and Nididhyāsana, moving forward — and stopping not until we know: I am the Ātman. I am Brahman.

So when we serve the whole world — which is divided into these five categories , all of them wish each one of us well, whoever performs this Pañca Mahāyajña. An example is given: our hands and feet are serving us all the time but when we take care of them and see that they are not injured and if they are injured, they are healed — they can serve us better. Same way, everything in this world is a limb of the whole world, and so the whole world protects us. This is the essence of what we call Pañca Mahāyajña.

And who is fit to do this? A householder, a Gṛhastha ,has to do this. Who is a householder? Not merely a person who lives in a house because monks and Sannyāsīs also live in a monastery — even if they live under a tree, that tree is like a house, a shelter. So who is a householder? One who thinks "I am this body-mind complex." So long as I am thinking "I am not Brahman, I am non-Brahman, I am anātmā, not Ātmā," such a person is called a householder. And for such a person, he has to do prescribed activities which are called Nitya and Naimittika Karmas.

And if we do not do these, we incur sin — it is called ''Pratyavāya Pāpa'' — that is to say, we accrue what is called non-discharge of our debts, which means day by day we go down into a lower state of the mind: from Tamoguṇa we go into deeper Tamoguṇa, etc. Under this Pratyavāya Pāpa, we can equate it to bondage , Saṃsāra bandhana.

So everybody who thinks "I am not the Ātman" is a householder , therefore every householder has to perform these Pañca Mahāyajñas, as much as one can. It is not how much a person does, but how sincerely and to the best of one's capacity, without evading or laziness. That brings instantaneously the shower of the grace of God , in the form of the Devatās, Ṛṣis, ancestors, other human beings and the whole world, in fact.

=== The Story of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's Father ===
Remember Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's father — his father had tremendous faith in the scriptures. He went to perform the ancestral worship at Gayā for nearly ten days. He did a marvellous job and then he obtained the vision of all the ancestors and because they are pleased and they are nearer to God, immediately Gayā Viṣṇu appeared to him and said: "I am also very pleased with you." Why is God pleased? Because Kshudiram had discharged all the Pañca Mahāyajñas so marvellously, to the best of his ability. "I want to be born as your son." We know that story. So that is the grace of God. The greatest grace of God comes when God descends into us. In the case of Kshudiram , God physically descended as an incarnation but in our case He descends as our Antarātmā — as our inner soul, purified soul, spiritual soul.

That is the essence of the sixteenth mantra.
----

== The Seventeenth Mantra: The Āśrama System ==
आत्मैवेदमग्र आसीतेक एव; सोऽकामयत—जाया मे स्यात्, अथ प्रजायेय; अथ वित्तम् मे स्यात्, अथ कर्म कुर्वीयेति; एतावान् वै कामः, नेच्छंश्चनातो भूयो विन्देत्; तस्मादप्येतर्ह्येकाकी कामयते—जाया मे स्यात्, अथ प्रजायेय; अथ वित्तं मे स्यात्, अथ कर्म कुर्वीयेति; स यावदप्येतेषामेकैकम् न प्राप्नोति, अकृत्स्न एव तावन्मन्यते; तस्यो कृत्स्नता—मन एवास्यात्मा, वाग्जाया, प्राणः प्रजा, चक्षुर्मानुषं वित्तम्, चक्षुषा हि तद्विन्दते; श्रोत्रं दैवम्, श्रोत्रेण हि तच्छृणोति; अत्मैवास्य कर्म, आत्मना हि कर्म करोति; स एष पाङ्क्तो यज्ञः, पाङ्क्तः पशुः, पाङ्क्तः पुरुषः, पाङ्क्तमिदं सर्वं यदिदं किञ्च; तदिदं सर्वमाप्नोति य एवं वेद

''ātmaivedamagra āsīteka eva; so'kāmayata—jāyā me syāt, atha prajāyeya; atha vittam me syāt, atha karma kurvīyeti; etāvān vai kāmaḥ, necchaṃścanāto bhūyo vindet; tasmādapyetarhyekākī kāmayate—jāyā me syāt, atha prajāyeya; atha vittaṃ me syāt, atha karma kurvīyeti; sa yāvadapyeteṣāmekaikam na prāpnoti, akṛtsna eva tāvanmanyate; tasyo kṛtsnatā—mana evāsyātmā, vāgjāyā, prāṇaḥ prajā, cakṣurmānuṣaṃ vittam, cakṣuṣā hi tadvindate; śrotraṃ daivam, śrotreṇa hi tacchṛṇoti; atmaivāsya karma, ātmanā hi karma karoti; sa eṣa pāṅkto yajñaḥ, pāṅktaḥ paśuḥ, pāṅktaḥ puruṣaḥ, pāṅktamidaṃ sarvaṃ yadidaṃ kiñca; tadidaṃ sarvamāpnoti ya evaṃ veda''

Now there are people who have gone through this system and for them, the teaching now turns to the Āśrama system. According to Hinduism, life is divided into the learning stage, the experimenting stage, the withdrawal stage, and the stage of renunciation: Brahmacarya Āśrama, Gṛhastha Āśrama, Vānaprastha Āśrama and finally Sannyāsa Āśrama.

The Upaniṣad, as an illustration, imagines there is a person who has faith in the scriptures. He has a desire, because "I have to obey the scriptures" and the scriptures give their instructions in two forms: Vidhi and Niṣedha, "do this" and "do not do this."

So the seventeenth mantra in this fourth section starts like this: "In the beginning, in this universe, there was Ātmā alone, one only." Now, Ātmā in this context means not Brahman who is referred to — it is a person, a boy who has grown up, come out of Gurukula not yet married. He has Śarīra Abhimāna "I am this body" and he desires: "I want to become a householder, so that I can progress in life." He is still a Brahmacāri, an unmarried person desiring to get married, so that he can progress in life.

=== The Four Āśramas and Their Purpose ===
Remember: the Brahmacarya Āśrama is the first stage to progress towards God. The Gṛhastha Āśrama is a higher stage, where what one learned under the feet of the Guru is experimented with and experienced , higher results develop, more faith strengthens, one's faith in the scripture and in God and in the Ṛṣis and in human beings and in the whole world is strengthened, because one is getting direct results. And then he wants to progress further — he understands there are still some desires left out — and therefore Ātmā here has to be taken to mean a person who has some knowledge of the scriptures, who knows what life is about, who wants to progress in life and wants to climb the steps as properly explained in the scriptures.

So he said: "He was alone. Now I must become a householder." He desired: "Let me have a wife, so that I may have children. Let me have wealth, so that I may perform all the rites that are prescribed in the scriptures." And this is the whole extent of desire — so even if one wishes, one cannot desire anything more than this, because an Anātmā can only desire Anātmā. Only an awakened person will never desire Anātmā.

=== The Three Classes of Seekers ===
Even a person who has faith in the scriptures — he has not gone to the third and higher stage; he is in the second stage. What is the first stage in human evolution? "I want to be happy in this world." How do we know? When we study the Kaṭha Upaniṣad, Yamadharmarāja gave three boons to his disciple Naciketā — and for the sake of the third class of people who cannot see that there is higher happiness, whatever highest happiness this world can afford, they want to have, those things which are prescribed by Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa as Kāma and Kañcana: there is nothing beyond Kāma and Kañcana. Sex and wealth — to enjoy the world through the five sense organs. That is what the Upaniṣad is telling us here: all desires fall under worldly desires. This is the condition of the third class of people.

Now there are people who have gone through this stage and advanced further , their understanding became better, and they became second-class citizens. "We believe there are higher worlds and higher states of happiness. So we will not stop at desiring only the happiness of this world — we would like to enjoy the happiness of the higher worlds also." So that is what is called ''Bhuvaḥ, Suvaḥ''. The scripture prescribes: do this. The Katho Upaniṣad says there is a fire ritual called Naciketa Agni, and when a person performs this again and again, he becomes entitled to enter into heavens where ''Nātra jarā asti, nāmṛtti bhayam'' — there is no fear of old age or death, not permanently, but for a very, very long time.

But there is a third class of people: after long experience of happiness both in this world and in the higher worlds, they awaken to the fact that whatever we do, whatever we enjoy, is absolutely momentary and of the lowest quality. "We want Ānanda — not happiness. Ānanda means infinite bliss." It is called in the Chāndogya — as we have seen — ''Go-Māṭhukham''. Such people know that only by becoming one with Brahman can we enjoy that Ānanda. So they become withdrawn from the entire external world, turn their vision inward — ''Amṛtatvam icchan'' — desiring immortality, they turn their attention inside,.

So the Upaniṣad is telling us in the seventeenth mantra that all desires, all worldly desires, are confined to the world only — either this world or to the higher world.

=== The Desire of a Scriptural Seeker ===
So what is the way? The scripture points out: even today, a lonely man means, a person who is ignorant, who thinks "I am body and mind," and who has plenty of unfulfilled desires — what does he say? "Let me have a wife so that I may beget children. Let me have wealth so that I may perform all the rituals prescribed."

Remember ,this is not the desire of the third class of persons. This is not the desire of non-believers. This is the desire of a person who has studied the scriptures, who has faith in them, who knows how to obtain happiness. He knows: "By doing what is prescribed and by avoiding what should be avoided, I can obtain these things." So this is called Āśrama Dharma or the duties pertaining to the state of the mind, which is a growth in understanding and knowledge.

So a Brahmacāri, or a child entering the Gurukula, understands a little and slowly his understanding becomes better through living in association with an enlightened Guru. But still he understands: "My way lies through this householder state." So he enters into the householder state, performing rites as prescribed in the scriptures.

=== The Five Factors of a Vedic Yajña ===
In Vedic terminology, these rituals require five factors -Panthā . What are those five factors? First, there must be a person who wants to do the rite — the Yajamāna. Second, he requires his wife — Patnī. Third, he requires his son — Putra. Fourth, he requires wealth such as bodily fitness, wealth, cattle, and related resources — Manuṣya Vittam. And fifth, he also requires spiritual or ritual support — that is, Upāsanā — Daiva Vittam.

So respectively they are called: Yajamāna, Patnī, Putra, Manuṣya Vittam, Daiva Vittam — sacrificer, wife, son, human wealth, and spiritual wealth. Only when all these five are present can a Vedic Yajña be performed and this can be performed only in the Gṛhastha Āśrama neither in the Brahmacarya Āśrama, nor in the Vānaprastha Āśrama, and much less by a Sannyāsī.

So here, a person who understands the teachings of his Guru from the Gurukula system desires to become a householder. He understands: "I am not fit to renounce the world, so I have to evolve in my mind. For that I have to become married but in a righteous way, a Dhārmic way — perform and discharge all the duties as prescribed. Then I will be ready to enter into the third stage of life."

For such a person, these rites have to be done. And then, a person who has done all this , maybe for a very long time, maybe for many lives — understands: his mind became evolved. An evolved mind is known by the amount of knowledge it gains. Then he understood: "All these are temporary. No doubt the scripture tells the truth and gives the results it prescribes and assures — I have experimented, I have experienced, and I enjoyed them. But my mind longs for permanent happiness." Then he turns to the Vānaprasthāśrama.

=== The Higher Upāsanā: Ahaṃgraha Upāsanā ===
So for such a person ,suppose he has done all this and has some higher desires, a desire to evolve to a higher stage of life .What should he do? He should do a special type of Upāsanā. This is called Panthā Upāsanā, Ahaṃgraha Upāsanā. And this is a marvellous subject which we will talk about in our next class.
----

== Closing Prayer ==
ॐ जननीं शारदां देवीं रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुम् ।पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहुः

''Om Jānānāṃ Śāradāṃ Devīṃ Rāmakṛṣṇaṃ Jagadgurum Pada Padme Tayo Śṛtvā Praṇamāmi Muhur Muhuh''

May Rāmakṛṣṇa, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekānanda bless us all with Bhakti.

''Jai Rāmakṛṣṇa!''
[[Category:Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]]

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.1.4 Lecture 33 on 16 May 2026

2026-08-12T11:41:01Z

Geetha: punctuation, added the 16th verse and 17th verse in devanagari script.

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

== Opening Invocation ==
ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात् पूर्णमुदच्यते

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः

OM PŪRṆAMADAḤ PŪRṆAMIDAM PŪRṆĀT PŪRṆAMUDACYATE PŪRṆASYA PŪRṆAMĀDĀYA PŪRṆAMEVA VAŚIṢYATE OM ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTIH

OM That Brahman is infinite, and this universe is also infinite. The infinite proceeds from the infinite. Taking the infinitude of the infinite universe, it remains as the infinite Brahman alone.

OM Peace, Peace, Peace be unto all.
----

== Recap: The Great Discussion on Brahman ==
Let us remember that a great discussion was going on among some of the great seekers of Brahman: what is Brahman, and how can one reach it? So this Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad is explaining, and then it is giving the advice which we have seen in our last class, ''Ātmānam eva lokaṃ upāsīta'' — at the end of a lot of evolutionary progress, one comes to know that God is the only reality and that is the fact which the Upaniṣad is trying to put to us now.
----

== आत्मानमेव लोकमुपासीत ॥ Ātmānam Eva Lokaṃ Upāsīta: Meditating Upon the World of the Ātmā. ==
''Atmanam eva lokaṃ upāsīta'' — translated simply: one's goal in life should be the realisation of God only. So here it says one should meditate only upon the world of the Ātmā. "World" means what a person is continuously occupied within his mind — what the mind is filled with, what type of thoughts prevail. That would be his world. A child's mind is full of a child's world. A young man's mind will be full of youthful thoughts, that is his world. We have to understand it thus.

But ultimately, one realises that my world should be only God. I must live in the world of God. That is what the Īśāvāsya Upaniṣad categorically tells all of us: ''Īśāvāsyam idaṃ sarvaṃ yat kiñca jagatyāṃ jagat'' — one should see God everywhere. This is called Goloka. This is called Vaikuṇṭha. This is called Kailāsa. This is called Paradise. This is called the Kingdom of Heaven. By whatever blessed name we call it. To live in God, with God, as God — that is the Loka.

=== The Fulfilment of All Desires ===
Then the doubt might come to people who listen to this type of teaching: "What do we get?" And the Upaniṣad answers: whatever a person desires, immediately his desire will be fulfilled. We have seen in the Chāndogya that whatever world he desires that world appears in front of him or rather, he finds himself in that world. You want to see your ancestors? You will find yourself in Pitṛloka. You want to be with Indra? You will find yourself in front of Indra. In fact, what we have to understand is: you are that Indra. If you desire Brahmaloka, then you find Brahmaloka is present instantaneously because you are that Brahmaloka — you are that Brahmā.

This is what is called Arthavāda. Arthavāda is for people like me and you, who do not understand the benefits of spiritual life, or do not properly grasp what is the meaning of God-realisation. "What do you get? What will you not get?" The counter-answer is: you will get everything. Whatever you want, you will get. But the real truth is: when a person gets everything, there is nothing left out for him to desire or to get. That is what we have seen in the Taittirīya Upaniṣad, second chapter, the Brahmānanda Vallī — he who attains Brahman, ''āpnoti param''. And then, the Upaniṣad continues: ''sa brahmaṇā saha'' — along with Brahmā, identifying with Brahmā, that person enjoys Brahmānanda, which is eternal, indivisible, and not limited.

This is what we have seen in the fifteenth mantra of this fourth section. Now we have already entered into the sixteenth. We will talk about it once more.
----

== The Sixteenth Mantra: The Self as an Object of Enjoyment for the World ==
What does this sixteenth mantra want to talk about? It wants to tell us: just as if a person owns plenty of animals, he will enjoy every one of them — if a person has cows, goats, chickens, fish, he will enjoy them. So an ignorant person thinks: "I am very fortunate, great, clever, intelligent. I have acquired all these objects of enjoyment. So I am the enjoyer and all these objects are objects of my enjoyment." But very cleverly, the Upaniṣad wants to turn our attention and say: "O fool! If the whole world is an object of your enjoyment, you are not able to cognise the fact that you are the object of enjoyment for this whole world."

And in that context, the Upaniṣad, particularly in this sixteenth mantra, wants to bring out the concept of Pañca Mahāyajña. Very briefly: what is it about?

According to our scripture, Śāstra, we are all indebted to five beings. The entire world, according to this statement, is divided into five categories:

First, the Ṛṣis. Second, Devas or deities — Adhiṣṭhātṛ Devatās, or presiding deities. Third, Pitṛs — ancestors. Fourth, human beings — Nara. Fifth, non-human beings and nature.

=== Our Debt to Ancestors: Pitṛ Ṛṇa ===
We are indebted to our ancestors. What I am today is nothing but my mother and father, who are nothing but their own mothers and fathers. Thus it goes on and on, as far back as you want to go. So we are indebted to them, because we are because of them. We are indebted to our mother and father immediately, but they are indebted to their ancestors. So we are indebted to all our ancestors. That is why even today, if somebody can trace his lineage — his Gotra — he will understand: "I belong to such and such a great person. What I am today is because of that great person." When that great person becomes the cause, I become the effect. Of course, all those who are descended from that great person are also the effects and must be grateful.

=== Our Debt to Human Beings: Manuṣya Ṛṇa ===
And then we are grateful to every human being — this is called Nara Ṛṇa, Manuṣya Ṛṇa because everybody, mostly indirectly and a few directly, are serving us so that we can survive and enjoy. Some people are preparing sweets. Some doctors are helping us to recover our health. Some people give us trouble — even they are helping us. We have to be extremely grateful because even though we are not able to recognise how and why we should be grateful to people who are troublesome, later on we recognise: "I am what I am today because of my enemies, not because of my friends." Because first, they point out my defects ,all the bad qualities without asking any money in return. Secondly, it gives me an immense opportunity so that I can correct myself, better myself and progress in the spiritual path. My enemies give me greater opportunity and greater help than my friends.

It is hard for us to comprehend this truth now, but later on we understand: "Had not that person given me this trouble, I would not have developed this kind of tranquil mentality." So that is how everything in this world, by the will of the Divine Mother, is pushing us to evolve towards our true nature. So we are indebted.

=== Our Debt to Animals and Nature: Paśu Ṛṇa ===
And then every animal is serving us, we are indebted to them. This shows us a grand truth, a great principle, a marvellous law that we are continuously taking from the world, which is God. If we do not return with gratefulness and thanks, then we remain indebted to them, which means we will not progress.

So this whole sixteenth mantra is about how everyone of us are objects of enjoyment for the whole world and we become objects of enjoyment through the process of giving back what we borrowed from them. When we borrow from them it is called Rna, debt.When we pay them back with interest that is called discharging our debt and if we will not discharge then we will not progress. So we are born debtors. This is a grand fact we have to understand, by the very fact of our birth how much our mother, then father, then teacher, then everybody is helping us to grow up. Growing up does not mean cutting cake with joy, it means learning the lessons, progress in an evolutionary way, slowly nearing God. That is called progress. So this is all about Pañca Mahāyajña . In other words what it means is "I an ignorant person want to become an enlightened person. How can I do that? I have to progress through karma." Karma means Pañca Mahāyajña and this Pañca Mahāyajña means Sadhana. We have to equate Pañca Mahāyajña to Sadhana. That is what I will tell shortly. Later on when we progress we understand that what I wanted is not happiness in this world but being myself, being God. For such a person he does not want anything in this world, only an ignorant person desires this loka. But an enlightened person desires to use this Loka as a stepping stone to move forward towards God, towards one's own self actually. I am an ignorant person, I have to progress through karma or karma yoga and that Karma yoga has another name. it is called discharging my debt through to these five beings which is called Pañca Mahāyajña .When I progress sufficiently then I have to turn my mind towards God and then I have to do manasika karma, mental karma which is otherwise called Upasana. So for first I have to do external rituals,second I have to do mental rituals called Upasana and the sixteenth mantra is all about it. So this section is going to tell us about the five Maha yagnas and this is what Swami Vivekānanda called Karma Yoga. Karma Yoga means performing karma in a particular way. What is that particular way? I am indebted and nobody is or should be grateful to me. I am only giving back what I have already borrowed long ago from everybody in this world and the whole world is divided into five beings, the sages, the Gods, the ancestors, human beings , non- human beings and also nature.

Consider a river, a mountain — we consider them non-living. Can we live without them? It is because of them that I am what I am today. I have a duty to discharge that debt. What is my duty towards a river? To develop a spiritual attitude — "This is sacred water. This is a Devatā — Gaṅgā Devatā." if the same Ganga is flowing in another country, it is already flowing and in other countries there are huge rivers like that Amazon river but they are not considered as sacred. Only the biologists are recognising that without forests, without rivers, without mountains, without the northern and southern polar regions which are heavily influencing our climate, we will not be able to survive. Where then is the question of progress in spiritual life?

=== The Central Principle of Karma Yoga ===
That is why Karma Yoga means: consider everything as God. When I am taking a bath in the river, this is sacred water — this is a Devatā, Gaṅgā Devatā. When I am eating food, it is Mother Annapūrṇā. When I am getting warmth, even through a heater, it is Agni Devatā. When I am breathing oxygen, it is Vāyu Devatā and when I am able to freely move around, that is Ākāśa Devatā. Developing this particular spiritual attitude, that is called Karma Yoga.
----

== The Sixteenth Mantra: Full Exposition ==

अथो अयं वा आत्मा सर्वेषां भूतानां लोकः । स यज्जुहोति यद्यजते तेन देवानां लोकः ।

अथ यदनुब्रूते तेन ऋषीणाम् । अथ यत्पितृभ्यो निपृणाति यत्प्रजामिच्छते तेन पितॄणाम् ।

अथ यन्मनुष्यान्वासयते यदेभ्योऽशनं ददाति तेन मनुष्याणाम् । अथ यत्पशुभ्यस्तृणोदकं विन्दति तेन पशूनाम् ।

यदस्य गृहेषु श्वापदा वयांसि पिपीलिकाभ्य उपजीवन्ति तेन तेषां लोकः ।

यथा ह वै स्वाय लोकायारिष्टिमिच्छेदेवं हैवंविदे सर्वाणि भूतान्यरिष्टिमिच्छन्ति ।

तद्वा एतद्विदितं मीमांसितम् ॥ १६ ॥

''Atho ayaṁ vā ātmā sarveṣāṁ bhūtānāṁ lokaḥ. Sa yaj juhoti yad yajate tena devānāṁ lokaḥ. Atha yad anubrūte tena ṛṣīṇām. Atha yat pitṛbhyo nipṛṇāti yat prajām icchate tena pitṝṇām. Atha yan manuṣyān vāsayate yad ebhyo'śanaṁ dadāti tena manuṣyāṇām. Atha yat paśubhyas tṛṇodakaṁ vindati tena paśūnām. Yad asya gṛheṣu śvāpadā vayāṁsi pipīlikābhya upajīvanti tena teṣāṁ lokaḥ. Yathā ha vai svāya lokāyāriṣṭim icched evaṁ haivaṁvide sarvāṇi bhūtāny ariṣṭim icchanti. Tad vā etad viditaṁ mīmāṁsitam. ॥16''॥

So the sixteenth mantra in this fourth section starts with a little peculiar language, but by the grace of Śaṅkarācārya and other Ācāryas, we are able to understand it in a better way. I will translate Swāmī Nikhilānanda's translation, which is the best English translation.

Now, this self, meaning this ignorant person, is an object of enjoyment, ''lokaḥ'', to all beings. How is it so? The Upaniṣad explains:

Insofar as this ignorant person offers oblations in the fire and performs sacrifices, he becomes an object of enjoyment to the gods. This is called Deva Ṛṇa, Devatā Ṛṇa.

Insofar as this person studies the scriptures , the Vedas, etc. — reverentially, believes in them, tries to mould his life according to their instructions, he becomes an object of enjoyment to the Ṛṣis.

Insofar as this person makes offerings to the Manes , the ancestors and desires children, he becomes an object of enjoyment to the Manes, the Pitṛ Puruṣas, the ancestors.

Insofar as this person gives shelter and food to men or women who come to him in the form of guests, he becomes an object of enjoyment to men and that is how he discharges his Ṛṇa to the Devatās, Ṛṣis, ancestors and human beings.

Insofar as this person gives fodder and water to the animals, he becomes an object of enjoyment to the animals.

Insofar as beasts and birds, including even ants — find a living in this person's home, he becomes an object of enjoyment to these.

Man becomes an object of enjoyment. Just as one wishes no injury to one's own body, so do all beings wish no injury to him who has this knowledge. All this, indeed, has been known and well investigated.
----

== A Brief Explanation of Each Debt ==

=== Discharging the Deva Ṛṇa ===
When a person understands through the scriptures "I am indebted to the Devas" because they send the rain, they regulate the seasons and if we reverentially worship them and show our gratefulness by offering to them what they have bestowed upon us — food, water, etc. but that Śraddhā, that reverence, is what they accept.

For example, in our pūjās, we offer to Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇan and when we offer, we must have the concept: "Lord, you have given me this. I am only showing my gratefulness. I know you do not require this." That is the attitude with which Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa becomes very pleased, Holy Mother becomes pleased and Devatās become pleased. They who give us do not require these things. So through that showing of gratefulness, they are very pleased and they bestow upon us more and more — as much as necessary. They protect us and the whole of nature, all the seasons, are controlled by them.

=== Discharging the Ṛṣi Ṛṇa ===
When a person studies scriptures reverentially, chants them, tries to understand them, puts them into practice as far as possible — tries his level best to make it practical Vedānta — he is discharging his debt to the Ṛṣis. And they are pleased, just as when a hungry person comes to our house and we provide him food — after eating, will he not be pleased with us? Same way, the Ṛṣis will be pleased.

=== Discharging the Pitṛ Ṛṇa ===
We show our reverence and gratitude to our ancestors, whether they are alive — our grandfathers, great-grandfathers, etc. or not. We have to show our reverence to them. That is what the Upaniṣad is teaching us thoroughly again and again-gratefulness. I am alive. I am what I am. The opportunities I have in life are totally given to me by these five beings otherwise I cannot even survive. And that includes people who give us trouble. That is why Holy Mother used to say: "Misery is a gift of God."

=== Discharging the Paśu Ṛṇa ===
We want to enjoy animals. So what do we do? We keep cows, for example, and we graze them ourselves. We give them food and water. We wash them, we decorate them. On certain festival days — called ''paśu Devatā'' days — animals are washed, garlanded, and fed with special sweets etc. Practically every Hindu witnesses this after Dīpāvalī and Bali Pūjā day. And not to speak of animals, even machines: a tractor, a car, a factory — because they are all helping us and aiding us to live an enjoyable life, they are pleased when we look after them and their pleasure is a blessing that comes to all of us. This is called Paśuyajña, Bhūtayajña.

=== Discharging the Manuṣya Ṛṇa ===
When we are grateful — somebody, maybe in China, had made a mobile phone which is helping me to enjoy my life here — we have to be grateful. How many human beings are indirectly helping us? Those who are helping directly are few, everybody is helping us indirectly. So we have to be grateful to them. And just as if we help somebody that person is pleased — his pleasure itself becomes goodwill and good wishes. This is how we discharge our duties.
----

== The Grand Principle: We Are Objects of Enjoyment for the World ==
Then the Upaniṣad says: just as one wishes no injury to one's own body, so do all beings wish no injury to him who has this knowledge. That means all these five categories ,Ṛṣis, Devatās, Pitṛs, human beings, non-human beings, nature, the entire world — wish us the best because so long as we are giving them pleasure. Just as we wish well to our cow because it gives us the sweetest, healthiest milk, and our body, when it is looked after properly by visiting the doctor, even by dieting and controlling, body blesses us with great health — so also all these beings bless us.

All these marvellous ideas are included in this Pañca Mahāyajña. So earlier we have seen that an ignorant person is considered an animal to the Devas, and just as Devatās do not wish to lose even one animal, so also no human being wants to lose the blessings of any of these five. Just as human beings look after their cows, cars, and houses by cleaning, making beds, painting the house, everything that we do for our enjoyment — as if we are pleased, they do return service to us. Let us do service to them and they will offer the best service to all of us.
----

== Karma Yoga as Sādhanā: The Five Debts and Spiritual Progress ==
So we are indebted to everything in this world and we have to discharge that debt — and this is what the Vedas want to tell us, because every Upaniṣad is part of the Veda. We must keep on performing Vedic duties. These Vedic duties are called Pañca Mahāyajñas, and they have to be done through particular duties imposed upon us according to our Varṇan and Āśrama status. Varṇa means say a Śūdra: even he can worship God through his activities. A Vaiśya, a Kṣatriya, a Brāhmaṇa — the particular duties incumbent upon each of these persons can be discharged as a matter of Karma Yoga. But if the same persons are imbued with selfishness then it will take a long time for them to understand the truth.

In course of time, they will have to turn through four stages: first, selfishness; second, "I give, you take; you give, I take"; third, "I give and you take"; fourth, "I am giving only to God and I am receiving from God." These are the four stages.

So ''Loka'' means here: object of enjoyment. The whole world is an object of enjoyment to us, and we are also objects of enjoyment for the whole world. If I am enjoying my servant by accepting his services, then the servant also is enjoying ,he is getting shelter, good food, or a salary — helping each other. That is called give and take. That is what Swāmī Vivekānanda said: the day India closed its doors and windows and stopped giving what it has and naturally stopped taking what others can give, its growth stopped and it became stagnant.

So this give-and-take process — in other words Karma Yoga — means Sādhanā, spiritual practice, which will slowly help us approach God. That is called Upāsanā, until we know: we do not exist, only God exists.

So these are: Deva Ṛṇa, Ṛṣi Ṛṇa, Pitṛ Ṛṇa, Manuṣya Ṛṇa, and Paśu Ṛṇa. This is called Karma Yoga.

=== The Fruits of Karma Yoga ===
What do I get? What benefit do I derive? By practising Karma Yoga, first comes Puṇyam. Puṇyam gives higher happiness. Puṇyam also incidentally gives us Citta Śuddhi , purity, purification of the mind. When the mind is being purified, it gives concentration. Concentration gives us the expansion of myself with a larger whole — Citta Vaiśālyatā. And Karma Yoga gives higher knowledge by purifying the mind.

Karma Yoga finally makes me a Sādhana Catuṣṭaya Sampanna Adhikāri — a fit aspirant for approaching a proper Guru, for receiving spiritual instructions and then, through the three stages of Śravaṇa, Manana, and Nididhyāsana, moving forward — and stopping not until we know: I am the Ātman. I am Brahman.

So when we serve the whole world — which is divided into these five categories , all of them wish each one of us well, whoever performs this Pañca Mahāyajña. An example is given: our hands and feet are serving us all the time but when we take care of them and see that they are not injured and if they are injured, they are healed — they can serve us better. Same way, everything in this world is a limb of the whole world, and so the whole world protects us. This is the essence of what we call Pañca Mahāyajña.

And who is fit to do this? A householder, a Gṛhastha ,has to do this. Who is a householder? Not merely a person who lives in a house because monks and Sannyāsīs also live in a monastery — even if they live under a tree, that tree is like a house, a shelter. So who is a householder? One who thinks "I am this body-mind complex." So long as I am thinking "I am not Brahman, I am non-Brahman, I am anātmā, not Ātmā," such a person is called a householder. And for such a person, he has to do prescribed activities which are called Nitya and Naimittika Karmas.

And if we do not do these, we incur sin — it is called ''Pratyavāya Pāpa'' — that is to say, we accrue what is called non-discharge of our debts, which means day by day we go down into a lower state of the mind: from Tamoguṇa we go into deeper Tamoguṇa, etc. Under this Pratyavāya Pāpa, we can equate it to bondage , Saṃsāra bandhana.

So everybody who thinks "I am not the Ātman" is a householder , therefore every householder has to perform these Pañca Mahāyajñas, as much as one can. It is not how much a person does, but how sincerely and to the best of one's capacity, without evading or laziness. That brings instantaneously the shower of the grace of God , in the form of the Devatās, Ṛṣis, ancestors, other human beings and the whole world, in fact.

=== The Story of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's Father ===
Remember Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's father — his father had tremendous faith in the scriptures. He went to perform the ancestral worship at Gayā for nearly ten days. He did a marvellous job and then he obtained the vision of all the ancestors and because they are pleased and they are nearer to God, immediately Gayā Viṣṇu appeared to him and said: "I am also very pleased with you." Why is God pleased? Because Kshudiram had discharged all the Pañca Mahāyajñas so marvellously, to the best of his ability. "I want to be born as your son." We know that story. So that is the grace of God. The greatest grace of God comes when God descends into us. In the case of Kshudiram , God physically descended as an incarnation but in our case He descends as our Antarātmā — as our inner soul, purified soul, spiritual soul.

That is the essence of the sixteenth mantra.
----

== The Seventeenth Mantra: The Āśrama System ==
आत्मैवेदमग्र आसीतेक एव; सोऽकामयत—जाया मे स्यात्, अथ प्रजायेय; अथ वित्तम् मे स्यात्, अथ कर्म कुर्वीयेति; एतावान् वै कामः, नेच्छंश्चनातो भूयो विन्देत्; तस्मादप्येतर्ह्येकाकी कामयते—जाया मे स्यात्, अथ प्रजायेय; अथ वित्तं मे स्यात्, अथ कर्म कुर्वीयेति; स यावदप्येतेषामेकैकम् न प्राप्नोति, अकृत्स्न एव तावन्मन्यते; तस्यो कृत्स्नता—मन एवास्यात्मा, वाग्जाया, प्राणः प्रजा, चक्षुर्मानुषं वित्तम्, चक्षुषा हि तद्विन्दते; श्रोत्रं दैवम्, श्रोत्रेण हि तच्छृणोति; अत्मैवास्य कर्म, आत्मना हि कर्म करोति; स एष पाङ्क्तो यज्ञः, पाङ्क्तः पशुः, पाङ्क्तः पुरुषः, पाङ्क्तमिदं सर्वं यदिदं किञ्च; तदिदं सर्वमाप्नोति य एवं वेद

''ātmaivedamagra āsīteka eva; so'kāmayata—jāyā me syāt, atha prajāyeya; atha vittam me syāt, atha karma kurvīyeti; etāvān vai kāmaḥ, necchaṃścanāto bhūyo vindet; tasmādapyetarhyekākī kāmayate—jāyā me syāt, atha prajāyeya; atha vittaṃ me syāt, atha karma kurvīyeti; sa yāvadapyeteṣāmekaikam na prāpnoti, akṛtsna eva tāvanmanyate; tasyo kṛtsnatā—mana evāsyātmā, vāgjāyā, prāṇaḥ prajā, cakṣurmānuṣaṃ vittam, cakṣuṣā hi tadvindate; śrotraṃ daivam, śrotreṇa hi tacchṛṇoti; atmaivāsya karma, ātmanā hi karma karoti; sa eṣa pāṅkto yajñaḥ, pāṅktaḥ paśuḥ, pāṅktaḥ puruṣaḥ, pāṅktamidaṃ sarvaṃ yadidaṃ kiñca; tadidaṃ sarvamāpnoti ya evaṃ veda''

Now there are people who have gone through this system and for them, the teaching now turns to the Āśrama system. According to Hinduism, life is divided into the learning stage, the experimenting stage, the withdrawal stage, and the stage of renunciation: Brahmacarya Āśrama, Gṛhastha Āśrama, Vānaprastha Āśrama and finally Sannyāsa Āśrama.

The Upaniṣad, as an illustration, imagines there is a person who has faith in the scriptures. He has a desire, because "I have to obey the scriptures" and the scriptures give their instructions in two forms: Vidhi and Niṣedha, "do this" and "do not do this."

So the seventeenth mantra in this fourth section starts like this: "In the beginning, in this universe, there was Ātmā alone, one only." Now, Ātmā in this context means not Brahman who is referred to — it is a person, a boy who has grown up, come out of Gurukula not yet married. He has Śarīra Abhimāna "I am this body" and he desires: "I want to become a householder, so that I can progress in life." He is still a Brahmacāri, an unmarried person desiring to get married, so that he can progress in life.

=== The Four Āśramas and Their Purpose ===
Remember: the Brahmacarya Āśrama is the first stage to progress towards God. The Gṛhastha Āśrama is a higher stage, where what one learned under the feet of the Guru is experimented with and experienced , higher results develop, more faith strengthens, one's faith in the scripture and in God and in the Ṛṣis and in human beings and in the whole world is strengthened, because one is getting direct results. And then he wants to progress further — he understands there are still some desires left out — and therefore Ātmā here has to be taken to mean a person who has some knowledge of the scriptures, who knows what life is about, who wants to progress in life and wants to climb the steps as properly explained in the scriptures.

So he said: "He was alone. Now I must become a householder." He desired: "Let me have a wife, so that I may have children. Let me have wealth, so that I may perform all the rites that are prescribed in the scriptures." And this is the whole extent of desire — so even if one wishes, one cannot desire anything more than this, because an Anātmā can only desire Anātmā. Only an awakened person will never desire Anātmā.

=== The Three Classes of Seekers ===
Even a person who has faith in the scriptures — he has not gone to the third and higher stage; he is in the second stage. What is the first stage in human evolution? "I want to be happy in this world." How do we know? When we study the Kaṭha Upaniṣad, Yamadharmarāja gave three boons to his disciple Naciketā — and for the sake of the third class of people who cannot see that there is higher happiness, whatever highest happiness this world can afford, they want to have, those things which are prescribed by Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa as Kāma and Kañcana: there is nothing beyond Kāma and Kañcana. Sex and wealth — to enjoy the world through the five sense organs. That is what the Upaniṣad is telling us here: all desires fall under worldly desires. This is the condition of the third class of people.

Now there are people who have gone through this stage and advanced further , their understanding became better, and they became second-class citizens. "We believe there are higher worlds and higher states of happiness. So we will not stop at desiring only the happiness of this world — we would like to enjoy the happiness of the higher worlds also." So that is what is called ''Bhuvaḥ, Suvaḥ''. The scripture prescribes: do this. The Katho Upaniṣad says there is a fire ritual called Naciketa Agni, and when a person performs this again and again, he becomes entitled to enter into heavens where ''Nātra jarā asti, nāmṛtti bhayam'' — there is no fear of old age or death, not permanently, but for a very, very long time.

But there is a third class of people: after long experience of happiness both in this world and in the higher worlds, they awaken to the fact that whatever we do, whatever we enjoy, is absolutely momentary and of the lowest quality. "We want Ānanda — not happiness. Ānanda means infinite bliss." It is called in the Chāndogya — as we have seen — ''Go-Māṭhukham''. Such people know that only by becoming one with Brahman can we enjoy that Ānanda. So they become withdrawn from the entire external world, turn their vision inward — ''Amṛtatvam icchan'' — desiring immortality, they turn their attention inside,.

So the Upaniṣad is telling us in the seventeenth mantra that all desires, all worldly desires, are confined to the world only — either this world or to the higher world.

=== The Desire of a Scriptural Seeker ===
So what is the way? The scripture points out: even today, a lonely man means, a person who is ignorant, who thinks "I am body and mind," and who has plenty of unfulfilled desires — what does he say? "Let me have a wife so that I may beget children. Let me have wealth so that I may perform all the rituals prescribed."

Remember ,this is not the desire of the third class of persons. This is not the desire of non-believers. This is the desire of a person who has studied the scriptures, who has faith in them, who knows how to obtain happiness. He knows: "By doing what is prescribed and by avoiding what should be avoided, I can obtain these things." So this is called Āśrama Dharma or the duties pertaining to the state of the mind, which is a growth in understanding and knowledge.

So a Brahmacāri, or a child entering the Gurukula, understands a little and slowly his understanding becomes better through living in association with an enlightened Guru. But still he understands: "My way lies through this householder state." So he enters into the householder state, performing rites as prescribed in the scriptures.

=== The Five Factors of a Vedic Yajña ===
In Vedic terminology, these rituals require five factors -Panthā . What are those five factors? First, there must be a person who wants to do the rite — the Yajamāna. Second, he requires his wife — Patnī. Third, he requires his son — Putra. Fourth, he requires wealth such as bodily fitness, wealth, cattle, and related resources — Manuṣya Vittam. And fifth, he also requires spiritual or ritual support — that is, Upāsanā — Daiva Vittam.

So respectively they are called: Yajamāna, Patnī, Putra, Manuṣya Vittam, Daiva Vittam — sacrificer, wife, son, human wealth, and spiritual wealth. Only when all these five are present can a Vedic Yajña be performed and this can be performed only in the Gṛhastha Āśrama neither in the Brahmacarya Āśrama, nor in the Vānaprastha Āśrama, and much less by a Sannyāsī.

So here, a person who understands the teachings of his Guru from the Gurukula system desires to become a householder. He understands: "I am not fit to renounce the world, so I have to evolve in my mind. For that I have to become married but in a righteous way, a Dhārmic way — perform and discharge all the duties as prescribed. Then I will be ready to enter into the third stage of life."

For such a person, these rites have to be done. And then, a person who has done all this , maybe for a very long time, maybe for many lives — understands: his mind became evolved. An evolved mind is known by the amount of knowledge it gains. Then he understood: "All these are temporary. No doubt the scripture tells the truth and gives the results it prescribes and assures — I have experimented, I have experienced, and I enjoyed them. But my mind longs for permanent happiness." Then he turns to the Vānaprasthāśrama.

=== The Higher Upāsanā: Ahaṃgraha Upāsanā ===
So for such a person ,suppose he has done all this and has some higher desires, a desire to evolve to a higher stage of life .What should he do? He should do a special type of Upāsanā. This is called Panthā Upāsanā, Ahaṃgraha Upāsanā. And this is a marvellous subject which we will talk about in our next class.
----

== Closing Prayer ==
ॐ जननीं शारदां देवीं रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुम् ।पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहुः

''Om Jānānāṃ Śāradāṃ Devīṃ Rāmakṛṣṇaṃ Jagadgurum Pada Padme Tayo Śṛtvā Praṇamāmi Muhur Muhuh''

May Rāmakṛṣṇa, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekānanda bless us all with Bhakti.

''Jai Rāmakṛṣṇa!''
[[Category:Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]]

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.1.4 Lecture 33 on 16 May 2026

2026-08-05T10:02:43Z

Geetha: inserted the big paragraph after the first para under Our debt to Animals and nature which was not there at all. inserted the 16th verse which he did not fully recite but have added it and the 17th verse too.

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

== Opening Invocation ==
ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात् पूर्णमुदच्यते

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः

OM PŪRṆAMADAḤ PŪRṆAMIDAM PŪRṆĀT PŪRṆAMUDACYATE PŪRṆASYA PŪRṆAMĀDĀYA PŪRṆAMEVA VAŚIṢYATE OM ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTIH

OM That Brahman is infinite, and this universe is also infinite. The infinite proceeds from the infinite. Taking the infinitude of the infinite universe, it remains as the infinite Brahman alone.

OM Peace, Peace, Peace be unto all.
----

== Recap: The Great Discussion on Brahman ==
Let us remember that a great discussion was going on among some of the great seekers of Brahman: what is Brahman, and how can one reach it? So this Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad is explaining, and then it is giving the advice which we have seen in our last class, ''Ātmānam eva lokaṃ upāsīta'' — at the end of a lot of evolutionary progress, one comes to know that God is the only reality and that is the fact which the Upaniṣad is trying to put to us now.
----

== आत्मानमेव लोकमुपासीत ॥ Ātmānam Eva Lokaṃ Upāsīta: Meditating Upon the World of the Ātmā. ==
''Atmanam eva lokaṃ upāsīta'' — translated simply: one's goal in life should be the realisation of God only. So here it says one should meditate only upon the world of the Ātmā. "World" means what a person is continuously occupied within his mind — what the mind is filled with, what type of thoughts prevail. That would be his world. A child's mind is full of a child's world. A young man's mind will be full of youthful thoughts, that is his world. We have to understand it thus.

But ultimately, one realises that my world should be only God. I must live in the world of God. That is what the Īśāvāsya Upaniṣad categorically tells all of us: ''Īśāvāsyam idaṃ sarvaṃ yat kiñca jagatyāṃ jagat'' — one should see God everywhere. This is called Goloka. This is called Vaikuṇṭha. This is called Kailāsa. This is called Paradise. This is called the Kingdom of Heaven. By whatever blessed name we call it. To live in God, with God, as God — that is the Loka.

=== The Fulfilment of All Desires ===
Then the doubt might come to people who listen to this type of teaching: "What do we get?" And the Upaniṣad answers: whatever a person desires, immediately his desire will be fulfilled. We have seen in the Chāndogya that whatever world he desires that world appears in front of him or rather, he finds himself in that world. You want to see your ancestors? You will find yourself in Pitṛloka. You want to be with Indra? You will find yourself in front of Indra. In fact, what we have to understand is: you are that Indra. If you desire Brahmaloka, then you find Brahmaloka is present instantaneously because you are that Brahmaloka — you are that Brahmā.

This is what is called Arthavāda. Arthavāda is for people like me and you, who do not understand the benefits of spiritual life, or do not properly grasp what is the meaning of God-realisation. "What do you get? What will you not get?" The counter-answer is: you will get everything. Whatever you want, you will get. But the real truth is: when a person gets everything, there is nothing left out for him to desire or to get. That is what we have seen in the Taittirīya Upaniṣad, second chapter, the Brahmānanda Vallī — he who attains Brahman, ''āpnoti param''. And then, the Upaniṣad continues: ''sa brahmaṇā saha'' — along with Brahmā, identifying with Brahmā, that person enjoys Brahmānanda, which is eternal, indivisible, and not limited.

This is what we have seen in the fifteenth mantra of this fourth section. Now we have already entered into the sixteenth. We will talk about it once more.
----

== The Sixteenth Mantra: The Self as an Object of Enjoyment for the World ==
What does this sixteenth mantra want to talk about? It wants to tell us: just as if a person owns plenty of animals, he will enjoy every one of them — if a person has cows, goats, chickens, fish, he will enjoy them. So an ignorant person thinks: "I am very fortunate, great, clever, intelligent. I have acquired all these objects of enjoyment. So I am the enjoyer and all these objects are objects of my enjoyment." But very cleverly, the Upaniṣad wants to turn our attention and say: "O fool! If the whole world is an object of your enjoyment, you are not able to cognise the fact that you are the object of enjoyment for this whole world."

And in that context, the Upaniṣad, particularly in this sixteenth mantra, wants to bring out the concept of Pañca Mahāyajña. Very briefly: what is it about?

According to our scripture, Śāstra, we are all indebted to five beings. The entire world, according to this statement, is divided into five categories:

First, the Ṛṣis. Second, Devas or deities — Adhiṣṭhātṛ Devatās, or presiding deities. Third, Pitṛs — ancestors. Fourth, human beings — Nara. Fifth, non-human beings and nature.

=== Our Debt to Ancestors: Pitṛ Ṛṇa ===
We are indebted to our ancestors. What I am today is nothing but my mother and father, who are nothing but their own mothers and fathers. Thus it goes on and on, as far back as you want to go. So we are indebted to them, because we are because of them. We are indebted to our mother and father immediately, but they are indebted to their ancestors. So we are indebted to all our ancestors. That is why even today, if somebody can trace his lineage — his Gotra — he will understand: "I belong to such and such a great person. What I am today is because of that great person." When that great person becomes the cause, I become the effect. Of course, all those who are descended from that great person are also the effects and must be grateful.

=== Our Debt to Human Beings: Manuṣya Ṛṇa ===
And then we are grateful to every human being — this is called Nara Ṛṇa, Manuṣya Ṛṇa because everybody, mostly indirectly and a few directly, are serving us so that we can survive and enjoy. Some people are preparing sweets. Some doctors are helping us to recover our health. Some people give us trouble — even they are helping us. We have to be extremely grateful because even though we are not able to recognise how and why we should be grateful to people who are troublesome, later on we recognise: "I am what I am today because of my enemies, not because of my friends." Because first, they point out my defects ,all the bad qualities without asking any money in return. Secondly, it gives me an immense opportunity so that I can correct myself, better myself and progress in the spiritual path. My enemies give me greater opportunity and greater help than my friends.

It is hard for us to comprehend this truth now, but later on we understand: "Had not that person given me this trouble, I would not have developed this kind of tranquil mentality." So that is how everything in this world, by the will of the Divine Mother, is pushing us to evolve towards our true nature. So we are indebted.

=== Our Debt to Animals and Nature: Paśu Ṛṇa ===
And then every animal is serving us, we are indebted to them. This shows us a grand truth, a great principle, a marvellous law that we are continuously taking from the world, which is God. If we do not return with gratefulness and thanks, then we remain indebted to them, which means we will not progress.

So this whole sixteenth mantra is about how everyone of us are objects of enjoyment for the whole world and we become objects of enjoyment through the process of giving back what we borrowed from them. When we borrow from them it is called Rna, debt.When we pay them back with interest that is called discharging our debt and if we will not discharge then we will not progress. So we are born debtors. This is a grand fact we have to understand, by the very fact of our birth how much our mother, then father, then teacher, then everybody is helping us to grow up. Growing up does not mean cutting cake with joy, it means learning the lessons, progress in an evolutionary way, slowly nearing God. That is called progress. So this is all about Pañca Mahāyajña . In other words what it means is "I an ignorant person want to become an enlightened person. How can I do that? I have to progress through karma." Karma means Pañca Mahāyajña and this Pañca Mahāyajña means Sadhana. We have to equate Pañca Mahāyajña to Sadhana. That is what I will tell shortly. Later on when we progress we understand that what I wanted is not happiness in this world but being myself, being God. For such a person he does not want anything in this world, only an ignorant person desires this loka. But an enlightened person desires to use this Loka as a stepping stone to move forward towards God, towards one's own self actually. I am an ignorant person, I have to progress through karma or karma yoga and that Karma yoga has another name. it is called discharging my debt through to these five beings which is called Pañca Mahāyajña .When I progress sufficiently then I have to turn my mind towards God and then I have to do manasika karma, mental karma which is otherwise called Upasana. So for first I have to do external rituals,second I have to do mental rituals called Upasana and the sixteenth mantra is all about it. So this section is going to tell us about the five Maha yagnas and this is what Swami Vivekānanda called Karma Yoga. Karma Yoga means performing karma in a particular way. What is that particular way? I am indebted and nobody is or should be grateful to me. I am only giving back what I have already borrowed long ago from everybody in this world and the whole world is divided into five beings, the sages, the Gods, the ancestors, human beings , non- human beings and also nature.

Consider a river, a mountain — we consider them non-living. Can we live without them? It is because of them that I am what I am today. I have a duty to discharge that debt. What is my duty towards a river? To develop a spiritual attitude — "This is sacred water. This is a Devatā — Gaṅgā Devatā." if the same Ganga is flowing in another country, it is already flowing and in other countries there are huge rivers like that Amazon river but they are not considered as sacred. Only the biologists are recognising that without forests, without rivers, without mountains, without the northern and southern polar regions which are heavily influencing our climate, we will not be able to survive. Where then is the question of progress in spiritual life?

=== The Central Principle of Karma Yoga ===
That is why Karma Yoga means: consider everything as God. When I am taking a bath in the river, this is sacred water — this is a Devatā, Gaṅgā Devatā. When I am eating food, it is Mother Annapūrṇā. When I am getting warmth, even through a heater, it is Agni Devatā. When I am breathing oxygen, it is Vāyu Devatā and when I am able to freely move around, that is Ākāśa Devatā. Developing this particular spiritual attitude, that is called Karma Yoga.
----

== The Sixteenth Mantra: Full Exposition ==

अथो अयं वा आत्मा सर्वेषां भूतानां लोकः । स यज्जुहोति यद्यजते तेन देवानां लोकः ।

अथ यदनुब्रूते तेन ऋषीणाम् । अथ यत्पितृभ्यो निपृणाति यत्प्रजामिच्छते तेन पितॄणाम् ।

अथ यन्मनुष्यान्वासयते यदेभ्योऽशनं ददाति तेन मनुष्याणाम् । अथ यत्पशुभ्यस्तृणोदकं विन्दति तेन पशूनाम् ।

यदस्य गृहेषु श्वापदा वयांसि पिपीलिकाभ्य उपजीवन्ति तेन तेषां लोकः ।

यथा ह वै स्वाय लोकायारिष्टिमिच्छेदेवं हैवंविदे सर्वाणि भूतान्यरिष्टिमिच्छन्ति ।

तद्वा एतद्विदितं मीमांसितम् ॥ १६ ॥

''Atho ayaṁ vā ātmā sarveṣāṁ bhūtānāṁ lokaḥ. Sa yaj juhoti yad yajate tena devānāṁ lokaḥ. Atha yad anubrūte tena ṛṣīṇām. Atha yat pitṛbhyo nipṛṇāti yat prajām icchate tena pitṝṇām. Atha yan manuṣyān vāsayate yad ebhyo'śanaṁ dadāti tena manuṣyāṇām. Atha yat paśubhyas tṛṇodakaṁ vindati tena paśūnām. Yad asya gṛheṣu śvāpadā vayāṁsi pipīlikābhya upajīvanti tena teṣāṁ lokaḥ. Yathā ha vai svāya lokāyāriṣṭim icched evaṁ haivaṁvide sarvāṇi bhūtāny ariṣṭim icchanti. Tad vā etad viditaṁ mīmāṁsitam. ॥16''॥

So the sixteenth mantra in this fourth section starts with a little peculiar language, but by the grace of Śaṅkarācārya and other Ācāryas, we are able to understand it in a better way. I will translate Swāmī Nikhilānanda's translation, which is the best English translation.

Now, this self, meaning this ignorant person, is an object of enjoyment, ''lokaḥ'', to all beings. How is it so? The Upaniṣad explains:

Insofar as this ignorant person offers oblations in the fire and performs sacrifices, he becomes an object of enjoyment to the gods. This is called Deva Ṛṇa, Devatā Ṛṇa.

Insofar as this person studies the scriptures , the Vedas, etc. — reverentially, believes in them, tries to mould his life according to their instructions, he becomes an object of enjoyment to the Ṛṣis.

Insofar as this person makes offerings to the Manes , the ancestors and desires children, he becomes an object of enjoyment to the Manes, the Pitṛ Puruṣas, the ancestors.

Insofar as this person gives shelter and food to men or women who come to him in the form of guests, he becomes an object of enjoyment to men and that is how he discharges his Ṛṇa to the Devatās, Ṛṣis, ancestors and human beings.

Insofar as this person gives fodder and water to the animals, he becomes an object of enjoyment to the animals.

Insofar as beasts and birds, including even ants — find a living in this person's home, he becomes an object of enjoyment to these.

Man becomes an object of enjoyment. Just as one wishes no injury to one's own body, so do all beings wish no injury to him who has this knowledge. All this, indeed, has been known and well investigated.
----

== A Brief Explanation of Each Debt ==

=== Discharging the Deva Ṛṇa ===
When a person understands through the scriptures "I am indebted to the Devas" because they send the rain, they regulate the seasons and if we reverentially worship them and show our gratefulness by offering to them what they have bestowed upon us — food, water, etc. but that Śraddhā, that reverence, is what they accept.

For example, in our pūjās, we offer to Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇan and when we offer, we must have the concept: "Lord, you have given me this. I am only showing my gratefulness. I know you do not require this." That is the attitude with which Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa becomes very pleased, Holy Mother becomes pleased and Devatās become pleased. They who give us do not require these things. So through that showing of gratefulness, they are very pleased and they bestow upon us more and more — as much as necessary. They protect us and the whole of nature, all the seasons, are controlled by them.

=== Discharging the Ṛṣi Ṛṇa ===
When a person studies scriptures reverentially, chants them, tries to understand them, puts them into practice as far as possible — tries his level best to make it practical Vedānta — he is discharging his debt to the Ṛṣis. And they are pleased, just as when a hungry person comes to our house and we provide him food — after eating, will he not be pleased with us? Same way, the Ṛṣis will be pleased.

=== Discharging the Pitṛ Ṛṇa ===
We show our reverence and gratitude to our ancestors, whether they are alive — our grandfathers, great-grandfathers, etc. or not. We have to show our reverence to them. That is what the Upaniṣad is teaching us thoroughly again and again-gratefulness. I am alive. I am what I am. The opportunities I have in life are totally given to me by these five beings otherwise I cannot even survive. And that includes people who give us trouble. That is why Holy Mother used to say: "Misery is a gift of God."

=== Discharging the Paśu Ṛṇa ===
We want to enjoy animals. So what do we do? We keep cows, for example, and we graze them ourselves. We give them food and water. We wash them, we decorate them. On certain festival days — called ''paśu Devatā'' days — animals are washed, garlanded, and fed with special sweets etc. Practically every Hindu witnesses this after Dīpāvalī and Bali Pūjā day. And not to speak of animals, even machines: a tractor, a car, a factory — because they are all helping us and aiding us to live an enjoyable life, they are pleased when we look after them and their pleasure is a blessing that comes to all of us. This is called Paśuyajña, Bhūtayajña.

=== Discharging the Manuṣya Ṛṇa ===
When we are grateful — somebody, maybe in China, had made a mobile phone which is helping me to enjoy my life here — we have to be grateful. How many human beings are indirectly helping us? Those who are helping directly are few, everybody is helping us indirectly. So we have to be grateful to them. And just as if we help somebody that person is pleased — his pleasure itself becomes goodwill and good wishes. This is how we discharge our duties.
----

== The Grand Principle: We Are Objects of Enjoyment for the World ==
Then the Upaniṣad says: just as one wishes no injury to one's own body, so do all beings wish no injury to him who has this knowledge. That means all these five categories ,Ṛṣis, Devatās, Pitṛs, human beings, non-human beings, nature, the entire world — wish us the best because so long as we are giving them pleasure. Just as we wish well to our cow because it gives us the sweetest, healthiest milk, and our body, when it is looked after properly by visiting the doctor, even by dieting and controlling, body blesses us with great health — so also all these beings bless us.

All these marvellous ideas are included in this Pañca Mahāyajña. So earlier we have seen that an ignorant person is considered an animal to the Devas, and just as Devatās do not wish to lose even one animal, so also no human being wants to lose the blessings of any of these five. Just as human beings look after their cows, cars, and houses by cleaning, making beds, painting the house, everything that we do for our enjoyment — as if we are pleased, they do return service to us. Let us do service to them and they will offer the best service to all of us.
----

== Karma Yoga as Sādhanā: The Five Debts and Spiritual Progress ==
So we are indebted to everything in this world and we have to discharge that debt — and this is what the Vedas want to tell us, because every Upaniṣad is part of the Veda. We must keep on performing Vedic duties. These Vedic duties are called Pañca Mahāyajñas, and they have to be done through particular duties imposed upon us according to our Varṇan and Āśrama status. Varṇa means say a Śūdra: even he can worship God through his activities. A Vaiśya, a Kṣatriya, a Brāhmaṇa — the particular duties incumbent upon each of these persons can be discharged as a matter of Karma Yoga. But if the same persons are imbued with selfishness then it will take a long time for them to understand the truth.

In course of time, they will have to turn through four stages: first, selfishness; second, "I give, you take; you give, I take"; third, "I give and you take"; fourth, "I am giving only to God and I am receiving from God." These are the four stages.

So ''Loka'' means here: object of enjoyment. The whole world is an object of enjoyment to us, and we are also objects of enjoyment for the whole world. If I am enjoying my servant by accepting his services, then the servant also is enjoying ,he is getting shelter, good food, or a salary — helping each other. That is called give and take. That is what Swāmī Vivekānanda said: the day India closed its doors and windows and stopped giving what it has and naturally stopped taking what others can give, its growth stopped and it became stagnant.

So this give-and-take process — in other words Karma Yoga — means Sādhanā, spiritual practice, which will slowly help us approach God. That is called Upāsanā, until we know: we do not exist, only God exists.

So these are: Deva Ṛṇa, Ṛṣi Ṛṇa, Pitṛ Ṛṇa, Manuṣya Ṛṇa, and Paśu Ṛṇa. This is called Karma Yoga.

=== The Fruits of Karma Yoga ===
What do I get? What benefit do I derive? By practising Karma Yoga, first comes Puṇyam. Puṇyam gives higher happiness. Puṇyam also incidentally gives us Citta Śuddhi , purity, purification of the mind. When the mind is being purified, it gives concentration. Concentration gives us the expansion of myself with a larger whole — Citta Vaiśālyatā. And Karma Yoga gives higher knowledge by purifying the mind.

Karma Yoga finally makes me a Sādhana Catuṣṭaya Sampanna Adhikāri — a fit aspirant for approaching a proper Guru, for receiving spiritual instructions and then, through the three stages of Śravaṇa, Manana, and Nididhyāsana, moving forward — and stopping not until we know: I am the Ātman. I am Brahman.

So when we serve the whole world — which is divided into these five categories , all of them wish each one of us well, whoever performs this Pañca Mahāyajña. An example is given: our hands and feet are serving us all the time but when we take care of them and see that they are not injured and if they are injured, they are healed — they can serve us better. Same way, everything in this world is a limb of the whole world, and so the whole world protects us. This is the essence of what we call Pañca Mahāyajña.

And who is fit to do this? A householder, a Gṛhastha ,has to do this. Who is a householder? Not merely a person who lives in a house because monks and Sannyāsīs also live in a monastery — even if they live under a tree, that tree is like a house, a shelter. So who is a householder? One who thinks "I am this body-mind complex." So long as I am thinking "I am not Brahman, I am non-Brahman, I am anātmā, not Ātmā," such a person is called a householder. And for such a person, he has to do prescribed activities which are called Nitya and Naimittika Karmas.

And if we do not do these, we incur sin — it is called ''Pratyavāya Pāpa'' — that is to say, we accrue what is called non-discharge of our debts, which means day by day we go down into a lower state of the mind: from Tamoguṇa we go into deeper Tamoguṇa, etc. Under this Pratyavāya Pāpa, we can equate it to bondage , Saṃsāra bandhana.

So everybody who thinks "I am not the Ātman" is a householder , therefore every householder has to perform these Pañca Mahāyajñas, as much as one can. It is not how much a person does, but how sincerely and to the best of one's capacity, without evading or laziness. That brings instantaneously the shower of the grace of God , in the form of the Devatās, Ṛṣis, ancestors, other human beings and the whole world, in fact.

=== The Story of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's Father ===
Remember Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's father — his father had tremendous faith in the scriptures. He went to perform the ancestral worship at Gayā for nearly ten days. He did a marvellous job and then he obtained the vision of all the ancestors and because they are pleased and they are nearer to God, immediately Gayā Viṣṇu appeared to him and said: "I am also very pleased with you." Why is God pleased? Because Kshudiram had discharged all the Pañca Mahāyajñas so marvellously, to the best of his ability. "I want to be born as your son." We know that story. So that is the grace of God. The greatest grace of God comes when God descends into us. In the case of Kshudiram , God physically descended as an incarnation but in our case He descends as our Antarātmā — as our inner soul, purified soul, spiritual soul.

That is the essence of the sixteenth mantra.
----

== The Seventeenth Mantra: The Āśrama System ==
आत्मैवेदमग्र आसीतेक एव; सोऽकामयत—जाया मे स्यात्, अथ प्रजायेय; अथ वित्तम् मे स्यात्, अथ कर्म कुर्वीयेति; एतावान् वै कामः, नेच्छंश्चनातो भूयो विन्देत्; तस्मादप्येतर्ह्येकाकी कामयते—जाया मे स्यात्, अथ प्रजायेय; अथ वित्तं मे स्यात्, अथ कर्म कुर्वीयेति; स यावदप्येतेषामेकैकम् न प्राप्नोति, अकृत्स्न एव तावन्मन्यते; तस्यो कृत्स्नता—मन एवास्यात्मा, वाग्जाया, प्राणः प्रजा, चक्षुर्मानुषं वित्तम्, चक्षुषा हि तद्विन्दते; श्रोत्रं दैवम्, श्रोत्रेण हि तच्छृणोति; अत्मैवास्य कर्म, आत्मना हि कर्म करोति; स एष पाङ्क्तो यज्ञः, पाङ्क्तः पशुः, पाङ्क्तः पुरुषः, पाङ्क्तमिदं सर्वं यदिदं किञ्च; तदिदं सर्वमाप्नोति य एवं वेद

''ātmaivedamagra āsīteka eva; so'kāmayata—jāyā me syāt, atha prajāyeya; atha vittam me syāt, atha karma kurvīyeti; etāvān vai kāmaḥ, necchaṃścanāto bhūyo vindet; tasmādapyetarhyekākī kāmayate—jāyā me syāt, atha prajāyeya; atha vittaṃ me syāt, atha karma kurvīyeti; sa yāvadapyeteṣāmekaikam na prāpnoti, akṛtsna eva tāvanmanyate; tasyo kṛtsnatā—mana evāsyātmā, vāgjāyā, prāṇaḥ prajā, cakṣurmānuṣaṃ vittam, cakṣuṣā hi tadvindate; śrotraṃ daivam, śrotreṇa hi tacchṛṇoti; atmaivāsya karma, ātmanā hi karma karoti; sa eṣa pāṅkto yajñaḥ, pāṅktaḥ paśuḥ, pāṅktaḥ puruṣaḥ, pāṅktamidaṃ sarvaṃ yadidaṃ kiñca; tadidaṃ sarvamāpnoti ya evaṃ veda''

Now there are people who have gone through this system and for them, the teaching now turns to the Āśrama system. According to Hinduism, life is divided into the learning stage, the experimenting stage, the withdrawal stage, and the stage of renunciation: Brahmacarya Āśrama, Gṛhastha Āśrama, Vānaprastha Āśrama and finally Sannyāsa Āśrama.

The Upaniṣad, as an illustration, imagines there is a person who has faith in the scriptures. He has a desire, because "I have to obey the scriptures" and the scriptures give their instructions in two forms: Vidhi and Niṣedha, "do this" and "do not do this."

So the seventeenth mantra in this fourth section starts like this: "In the beginning, in this universe, there was Ātmā alone, one only." Now, Ātmā in this context means not Brahman who is referred to — it is a person, a boy who has grown up, come out of Gurukula not yet married. He has Śarīra Abhimāna "I am this body" and he desires: "I want to become a householder, so that I can progress in life." He is still a Brahmacāri, an unmarried person desiring to get married, so that he can progress in life.

=== The Four Āśramas and Their Purpose ===
Remember: the Brahmacarya Āśrama is the first stage to progress towards God. The Gṛhastha Āśrama is a higher stage, where what one learned under the feet of the Guru is experimented with and experienced , higher results develop, more faith strengthens, one's faith in the scripture and in God and in the Ṛṣis and in human beings and in the whole world is strengthened, because one is getting direct results. And then he wants to progress further — he understands there are still some desires left out — and therefore Ātmā here has to be taken to mean a person who has some knowledge of the scriptures, who knows what life is about, who wants to progress in life and wants to climb the steps as properly explained in the scriptures.

So he said: "He was alone. Now I must become a householder." He desired: "Let me have a wife, so that I may have children. Let me have wealth, so that I may perform all the rites that are prescribed in the scriptures." And this is the whole extent of desire — so even if one wishes, one cannot desire anything more than this, because an Anātmā can only desire Anātmā. Only an awakened person will never desire Anātmā.

=== The Three Classes of Seekers ===
Even a person who has faith in the scriptures — he has not gone to the third and higher stage; he is in the second stage. What is the first stage in human evolution? "I want to be happy in this world." How do we know? When we study the Kaṭha Upaniṣad, Yamadharmarāja gave three boons to his disciple Naciketā — and for the sake of the third class of people who cannot see that there is higher happiness, whatever highest happiness this world can afford, they want to have, those things which are prescribed by Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa as Kāma and Kañcana: there is nothing beyond Kāma and Kañcana. Sex and wealth — to enjoy the world through the five sense organs. That is what the Upaniṣad is telling us here: all desires fall under worldly desires. This is the condition of the third class of people.

Now there are people who have gone through this stage and advanced further , their understanding became better, and they became second-class citizens. "We believe there are higher worlds and higher states of happiness. So we will not stop at desiring only the happiness of this world — we would like to enjoy the happiness of the higher worlds also." So that is what is called ''Bhuvaḥ, Suvaḥ''. The scripture prescribes: do this. The Katho Upaniṣad says there is a fire ritual called Naciketa Agni, and when a person performs this again and again, he becomes entitled to enter into heavens where ''Nātra jarā asti, nāmṛtti bhayam'' — there is no fear of old age or death, not permanently, but for a very, very long time.

But there is a third class of people: after long experience of happiness both in this world and in the higher worlds, they awaken to the fact that whatever we do, whatever we enjoy, is absolutely momentary and of the lowest quality. "We want Ānanda — not happiness. Ānanda means infinite bliss." It is called in the Chāndogya — as we have seen — ''Go-Māṭhukham''. Such people know that only by becoming one with Brahman can we enjoy that Ānanda. So they become withdrawn from the entire external world, turn their vision inward — ''Amṛtatvam icchan'' — desiring immortality, they turn their attention inside,.

So the Upaniṣad is telling us in the seventeenth mantra that all desires, all worldly desires, are confined to the world only — either this world or to the higher world.

=== The Desire of a Scriptural Seeker ===
So what is the way? The scripture points out: even today, a lonely man means, a person who is ignorant, who thinks "I am body and mind," and who has plenty of unfulfilled desires — what does he say? "Let me have a wife so that I may beget children. Let me have wealth so that I may perform all the rituals prescribed."

Remember ,this is not the desire of the third class of persons. This is not the desire of non-believers. This is the desire of a person who has studied the scriptures, who has faith in them, who knows how to obtain happiness. He knows: "By doing what is prescribed and by avoiding what should be avoided, I can obtain these things." So this is called Āśrama Dharma or the duties pertaining to the state of the mind, which is a growth in understanding and knowledge.

So a Brahmacāri, or a child entering the Gurukula, understands a little and slowly his understanding becomes better through living in association with an enlightened Guru. But still he understands: "My way lies through this householder state." So he enters into the householder state, performing rites as prescribed in the scriptures.

=== The Five Factors of a Vedic Yajña ===
In Vedic terminology, these rituals require five factors -Panthā . What are those five factors? First, there must be a person who wants to do the rite — the Yajamāna. Second, he requires his wife — Patnī. Third, he requires his son — Putra. Fourth, he requires wealth such as bodily fitness, wealth, cattle, and related resources — Manuṣya Vittam. And fifth, he also requires spiritual or ritual support — that is, Upāsanā — Daiva Vittam.

So respectively they are called: Yajamāna, Patnī, Putra, Manuṣya Vittam, Daiva Vittam — sacrificer, wife, son, human wealth, and spiritual wealth. Only when all these five are present can a Vedic Yajña be performed and this can be performed only in the Gṛhastha Āśrama neither in the Brahmacarya Āśrama, nor in the Vānaprastha Āśrama, and much less by a Sannyāsī.

So here, a person who understands the teachings of his Guru from the Gurukula system desires to become a householder. He understands: "I am not fit to renounce the world, so I have to evolve in my mind. For that I have to become married but in a righteous way, a Dhārmic way — perform and discharge all the duties as prescribed. Then I will be ready to enter into the third stage of life."

For such a person, these rites have to be done. And then, a person who has done all this , maybe for a very long time, maybe for many lives — understands: his mind became evolved. An evolved mind is known by the amount of knowledge it gains. Then he understood: "All these are temporary. No doubt the scripture tells the truth and gives the results it prescribes and assures — I have experimented, I have experienced, and I enjoyed them. But my mind longs for permanent happiness." Then he turns to the Vānaprasthāśrama.

=== The Higher Upāsanā: Ahaṃgraha Upāsanā ===
So for such a person — suppose he has done all this and has some higher desires, a desire to evolve to a higher stage of life — what should he do? He should do a special type of Upāsanā. This is called Panthā Upāsanā, Ahaṃgraha Upāsanā. And this is a marvellous subject which we will talk about in our next class.
----

== Closing Prayer ==
ॐ जननीं शारदां देवीं रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुम् ।पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहुः

''Om Jānānāṃ Śāradāṃ Devīṃ Rāmakṛṣṇaṃ Jagadgurum Pada Padme Tayo Śṛtvā Praṇamāmi Muhur Muhuh''

May Rāmakṛṣṇa, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekānanda bless us all with Bhakti.

''Jai Rāmakṛṣṇa!''
[[Category:Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]]

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.1.1-2 Lecture 12 on 01 March 2026

2026-07-27T11:09:48Z

Geetha: Added Devanagari script to opening invocation, added the shloka from the first chapter, added some phrases missed out in the first draft. Punctuation too

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

= Lecture on Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad: Madhukāṇḍa, First Brāhmaṇa =

== Opening Invocation ==
ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात् पूर्णमुदच्यते।

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते॥

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः॥

'''OM PŪRṆAMADAḤ PŪRṆAMIDAM PŪRṆĀT PŪRṆAMUDACYATE''' '''PŪRṆASYA PŪRṆAMĀDĀYA PŪRṆAMEVA VAŚIṢYATE''' '''OM ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTIH'''

OM That Brahman is infinite, and this universe is also infinite. The infinite proceeds from the infinite. Taking the infinitude of the infinite universe, it remains as the infinite Brahman alone.

OM Peace, Peace, Peace be unto all.
----

== Recap: Structure of the First Chapter ==
We have seen yesterday that the first chapter has six sections and we have entered into the first section. A section in Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad is called a Brāhmaṇa — Prathamam Brāhmaṇam. It is talking about a great Upāsanā called Aśva Upāsanā and we have to keep in mind what is an Upāsanā - ie. to take a smaller insignificant object and mentally, imaginatively, superimpose upon it extraordinary qualities and be one with it, completely be merged with it. That is called Upāsanā.
----

== What Is Upāsanā? The Example of Śāligrāma ==
Again, a small example: a worshipper of Śāligrāma, which is a representative of Bhagavān Viṣṇu. Even though it is a small piece of stone and perhaps if you take a small hammer and give it a small blow, it will break into pieces but that is not the point. That has to be considered as Bhagavān Viṣṇu himself. Bhagavān Viṣṇu is what? He is all-pervading. He is the Brahman. He is unimaginable.

Therefore we take some , it is called Avalambana, or a small support and superimpose upon it something huge, something noble, something great, which we would like to become. This intensity of the desire to become is called Bhakti.

If somebody says, "I have devotion to God but I do not wish to become as great as God," then that is not truly Bhakti. But we hope that in the course of time the understanding dawns: I have to come near and nearer to God. That process of coming nearer to God — until finally God absorbs us into Himself, destroying any difference that can rise up in our minds and thus removing the second, there is no second; only I alone am. That state is expressed beautifully as ''Aham Brahmāsmi''.
----

== The Purpose of Upāsanā: Merging the Ego into Brahman ==
The purpose of the Upāsanā is slowly to become merged ,to destroy one's ego and become one with Brahman. That is the purpose of any Upāsanā, whether a Christian devotee contemplates on a cross or whether a Muslim contemplates turning to the West, or a Kṛṣṇa Bhakta takes up a small picture of Kṛṣṇa and meditates upon it. Meditation also can be singing not only meditating, but to sing and become absorbed in that singing; not in the singing itself, but in the bhāva, the very emotion of that bhajan. That is called contemplation.

There was a great devotee called Narasī Mehtā. He was born in Gujarat, and he wrote one of the most famous bhajans: ''वैष्णव जन तो तेने कहिये जे पीड पराई जाणे रे। Janato Tene Kahie Jee Pīḍā Parāī Jāṇe Re.''

"Only that person alone deserves to be called a devotee who feels the sufferings, the pain, the difficulties of other people." ''Jee'' ''Pīḍā'' means any type of suffering; ''parāī'' means of other people. Only such a person deserves to be named a Vaiṣṇava.

Why? Because that is what exactly God does. He feels. He doesn't say, "I am different from this person." Why does a mother feel when the child is crying helplessly? Why does she go through so much agony? Because she understands: this is me. Sometimes saying "this is mine" and feeling "this is me" — there is not much difference. It is exactly the same.
----

== Upāsanā as Expansion of Identity: Citta Vaiśālyatā ==
So that is the purpose of the Upāsanā: to develop concentration and the finest, noblest imagination; to expand our identity with so many others, so many other things. And that is called ''Citta Vaiśālyatā'' and to acquire purity and to develop the understanding that everything in this world which I think is different from me is ignorance, and to think everything is me — that is pure knowledge.

This is the purpose of any Upāsanā and every single devotee aspiring to go to God, whether they may use the language "I want to go to Vaikuṇṭha" or "Kailāsa" or "Paradise" or "Kingdom of Heaven." These are all inadequate human words but the meaning is: I want to go nearer to God.

Just imagine what happens when a dry stick is slowly taken nearer and nearer to the fire and finally you throw it into the fire — what does it become? It becomes fire itself. Then there is no distinction, "this is a fire-stick separate from the fire." Fire absorbs and makes it as its own, as itself. That is the purpose of the Upāsanā.
----

== Upāsanā as Moral and Spiritual Preparation ==
This Upāsanā is a preparation so that our mind expands. And the more our mind expands, what happens? Our morality — that is, I cannot speak an untruth to myself. I cannot cherish a desire: "I want to harm this person." I can't think: "I want to give pain to this person." On the contrary: "I want to give everything I have to this person."

Even to understand this statement, we are required to exercise our imagination. Why? Because even while saying we want to identify ourselves with others, even in our mind, we are fully aware we are not the other people. That is not Upāsanā. A person not only must feel , he must have that knowledge.
----

== The Difference Between Knowledge and Feeling ==
Feeling is different. Knowledge is different. Many people have no understanding of what is the difference between knowledge and feeling.

Suppose Rāmakṛṣṇa sees a poor man then his knowledge is: "This is me suffering." Svāmī Vivekānanda says: "This is me suffering." Holy Mother says: "This is me suffering." And so their feeling first comes from knowledge, then comes feeling.

In our case: "Oh, if I go through that same suffering, how much I feel uncomfortable, so this person also must be feeling so uncomfortable." That's not the idea. The knowledge that there is absolutely no distinction, no difference, ''Ekam Eva Advitiam, Dvitiyo Nasti'', no second thing from anything is called knowledge. So the purpose of Upāsanā is to acquire that knowledge.

As an example: a meditator on Indra, until he becomes one with Indra and feels "I am Indra" — that meditation still is an effort, a sādhanā, but he has not attained the goal. When a person says ''Aham Indro'smi'', ''Aham Brahmāsmi'', then that knowledge is complete. And then whatever be the happiness, the bliss of Indra, of Candra, of Sūrya, of Vaiśvānara, of Prajāpati, of Bṛhaspati, of Brahmā — they all become his own. This is the understanding we must have about Upāsanā.
----

== Why Is Upāsanā Necessary? The Advaitic View of Creation ==
Now a big question comes: why Upāsanā at all? Because we are living in a world and we call it creation and it is an effect. Every effect must have a cause. And that cause — at this moment of our ignorance — we think is different from the effect.

A mother gives birth to a baby, and mother is different, baby is different. That is most people's understanding or misunderstanding. But when an Advaitin says that clay is now appearing as a pot ,here clay is not giving birth and remaining separate; clay itself is the pot. Pot is but nāma and rūpa. ''Vikāro nāmadheyan'' ''vacharambharam,'' that's all. It is only a way of speech. There is nothing but clay in that pot.

That is the true nature of Upāsanā: to feel that this universe is nothing but Brahman. It is not like Brahman is somewhere sitting and like a potter, creating a pot. Brahman himself — itself, herself, has become this whole universe.
----

== The Role of Upāsanā in Removing Duality ==
And in order to understand that one — where are we now? For us, the reality is the creation. Therefore the teacher has to teach: "Now you are seeing the universe as completely different, separate, as many number of objects and you are separate from every other object." That is the worst manifestation of ignorance. Now we have to slowly remove what is called duality. Upāsanā is a form of removing that duality, slowly but surely. This is called sādhanā.

So yesterday, if you still remember — why is the Upaniṣad, which is supposed to teach us the supreme knowledge of Brahman, that I am Brahman, is dealing with this Upāsanā? Because we are thinking that I am in the world, I am in creation, I am a created being, I am separate from Brahman, I am not one with Brahman. And therefore, this is a two-fold process, or two-fold results obtained through Upāsanā:

Slowly, as I approach Brahman through contemplation first, my difference with the creation becomes smaller and smaller, my sense of separation diminishes; and then, second, I am also approaching Brahman. This lessening of the distance from the world ,which we are experiencing — is called approaching Brahman, nearer and nearer.
----

== The Scripture's Acceptance of Creation as a Teaching Method: Adhyāropa and Apavāda ==
So first, the scripture i.e., the Veda, accepts creation not because it thinks that is the truth, but because it knows that for us it is the truth. And then, secondly, how to slowly make us remove that ignorance.

For that purpose: yes, the universe is real. You are thinking that you are separate from it that is not real. The universe is real only in a limited sense. It is ever-changing. It is dependent upon consciousness. And it gives both happiness and unhappiness. And it cannot be relied upon. That's why it is not ''ṛtam''. It is ''anṛtam'', ''asatyam''. That is called Mithyā.

Yesterday also I explained the purpose of Apavāda. Apavāda means removing this ignorance — it is not to deny. Because to deny, you have to say: "There is an object and it is not Brahman." That would be a totally wrong statement. Because other than Brahman — Brahman means infinite — in the infinite, there is something separate from the infinite. That is going to be the ultimate for manifestation of ignorance.
----

== The Interconnectedness of Creation: Madhukāṇḍa ==
So therefore, slowly it says — now, like the children of one parent, so you are all one. First with human beings then with other beings like the animals, birds, insects, trees, then the living and non-living — that distinction, that separateness, is gradually to become less.

And what is the way to lessen it? To say that without it, you cannot live; without you, it cannot live. That is why this first chapter in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka is called Madhukāṇḍa. ''Madhu'' means honey. Honey means everything is honey to everything else.

Just as when I eat honey, I get so much happiness — whenever any object gives me such happiness, I call it ''Madhu''. That is why "dear" in the English language. So everything is dear. But not only certain things are dear to me , I am also dear to other things. When a mosquito looks at me, I am ''Madhu'' to it. When a hungry tiger espies me, I am honey, I am ''Madhu'' to it — nice food, that is what it thinks. So we are totally interconnected, totally dependent upon each other.
----

== The Pañcabhūtas: Interdependence of the Five Elements ==
The whole creation is nothing but a combination of five elements —the space, air, fire, water, and earth — and all these are interdependent. There is not one single object which is not the manifestation of these five elements: Pañcabhūtas.

Suppose here is a baby. He requires food to eat. He requires water to survive. He requires certain warmth — fire, which fortunately the body system keeps as homeostasis. Then he requires oxygen every second. And then he also requires space to move here and there for activity. Therefore, no baby, no living animal can survive without anything. Even for a big rock, it requires so much space for it to occupy — otherwise, if there is no space, a mountain cannot survive, an ocean cannot survive, a forest cannot survive.

So everything in this world is dependent upon each other. Therefore, the scripture first accepts the world. It knows these are all effects. Effects are non-different from the cause, and gradually it takes us to the cause.
----

== The Return to the Cause: ''Ekam Eva Advitīyam'' ==
Effect means differentiation. Even if you make two pots fromclay, both are different from each other — because you can say "bring the small pot," "big pot," "the pot above," "pot below," "pot to the left and "pot to the right." If there is more than one, we require some characteristic to distinguish it. That is what is very important. And that is called ignorance.

The whole universe comes out from the earth. The earth comes from water, and water comes from fire. Fire comes from air, Air comes from space, and space is a manifestation of Ātman, Brahman. So ultimately, the cause is only one without a second. ''Ekam eva advitīyam.'' We have seen in the sixth chapter of the Chāndogya Upaniṣad: ''सदेव सोम्येदग्र आसीदेकमेवाद्वितीयम्॥ Sad eva somya idamagra āsīt ekam eva advitīyam.''

So first, the wise teacher comes down to our level and says: "First, Yes, everything is different. But at the same time, there is something common within everyone." And second: "One object cannot survive without a second object. In fact, we depend upon everything. Everything affects us." If you understand what is called the El Niño effect, perhaps you understand what I am hinting at.
----

== The Three Upāsanās of the First Chapter ==
That is the purpose of this Upāsanā, slowly to expand. Expansion means identifying. Expansion means removing the separatedness and achieving the feeling that there is no difference between me and that object.

So first we are accepting the creation. Then we are accepting that creation alone as the real not God as real. But when our intelligence grows a bit, then we understand through discrimination there is something wrong with me ,I am missing something. Then we approach humbly a teacher who says: "Yes, you are right. But this is the meditation you practise." Then slowly you understand ,you are non-separate from other things.

So this first chapter, this first section is called Adhyāropa i.e., accepting the creation as it is and slowly taking one to the next step until we reach that state where we know we are the infinite.

The second chapter is going to speak about Upavāda, which we will see. The first chapter called Madhukāṇḍa we have seen already. There are three Upāsanās mentioned here: Aśva Upāsanā, Agni Upāsanā, Prāṇa Upāsanā.
----

== The Nature of Contemplation and the Mind ==
Upāsanā means contemplation. Contemplation means in our imagination, through our mind, we have to think because we act and interact with this whole universe, with our body, with our own possessions, with our own mind, only through the mind. मन एव मनुष्याणां कारणं बन्धमोक्षयोः। बन्धाय विषयासक्तं मुक्त्ये निर्विषयं स्मृतम्॥ Mind alone is the root cause of ignorance. Mind alone is the root cause of liberation.

So in this first chapter called Madhu Brāhmaṇa, in the first three Brāhmaṇas, three specific contemplations are given. They are in this order: first, Horse — Aśva Upāsanā; second, Agni or Fire Upāsanā; third, Prāṇa or Vital Force Upāsanā.

Here I have to tell you something that these words and these terms and these understandings seem to be very strange to us. But in the olden days, the Ṛṣis — as Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa describes are extraordinarily pure, intelligent, capable of understanding and they pray with the Gāyatrī Upāsanā: ''धियो यो नः प्रचोदयात्॥ Dhiyo naḥ pracodayāt'' — "May you give me the right understanding so that you can guide each one of us to your own real nature."
----

== Karmāṅga Upāsanā and Svātantra Upāsanā ==
So an Upāsanā — first, Aśva Upāsanā, and just for information: it is called Karmāṅga Upāsanā. So Aśva Upāsanā is not an independent contemplation ,it is a part of a bigger ritual called Aśvamedha Yajña Yaga.

Yesterday I explained: a horse is let out and it is made to roam, and if everybody accepts it and pays homage to it , pays some annual rent, etc. — only a very powerful, rich, intelligent Kṣatriya king can perform it. Part of that Aśvamedha Yajña is this Aśva Upāsanā.

Now, why this Aśva Upāsanā? The question comes because only one in perhaps a billion can do this Aśvamedha Yajña, and part of that Yajña is this Aśva Upāsanā. But what about the other people? Why should we talk about the other people? This question comes because any king who successfully concludes his Aśvamedha Yajña will attain the highest Loka called Brahmaloka ie.,incomparable happiness for a long time, unbroken bliss , but even that falls under finiteness, Saṃsāra. Therefore one has to probably still move upward towards Brahman. Brahmaloka is not Brahmanloka, we have to understand that distinction.

So for others? For that purpose, the scripture says: anybody can attain to this same Brahmaloka, provided they do this Aśva Upāsanā. When a contemplation is prescribed and is performed as part of a ritual, it is called Karmāṅga Upāsanā — a part of the entire big ritual. But when it is done separately, without any ritual, that is called Svātantra Upāsanā. So for a king, he can do both the Aśvamedha Yajña as well as, as part of it, this Upāsanā. But for everybody — including Brāhmaṇas — they cannot afford to do it. And therefore they also say: "I also want to go to that Brahmaloka." For that purpose, this Aśva Upāsanā is prescribed.
----

== Upāsanā as a Path to Brahman: The Example of Rāmakṛṣṇa ==
As a simple example — probably not entirely appropriate — we need not do so many austerities like Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. But if we can meditate upon him, contemplate him, if we can do it properly — then we attain Rāmakṛṣṇa. We become one with Rāmakṛṣṇa. And since Rāmakṛṣṇa has become one with Brahman, we also become one with Brahman.

Yesterday I explained to one of the questioners: what about the Lokas like Vaikuṇṭha, Kailāsa, or Kingdom of Heaven, or Paradise? I said that we can only reach to this level through Karma, a limited effort can only give this great result of reaching this Loka. After that, nobody can really attain Brahman through effort, through Karma. And that is why Śaṅkarācārya was so vehemently opposed: Karma cannot give Mukti. What can give Mukti? Only complete surrender to God alone can give Mukti. Surrender, oneness with Brahman — ''Neti Neti'' — these are all synonymous words we have to understand.
----

== The Aśva Upāsanā: Seeing the Horse as Virāṭ ==
So we will briefly deal with what is this Aśva Upāsanā.

In Aśva Upāsanā ,contemplation on the horse. We should not see that horse as a mere horse. If you see a stone as a mere stone, then it is not Upāsanā. If you see a cross as mere two pieces of wood arranged crosswise, that is not Upāsanā. If somebody sees Christ and his life of Sannyāsa and sacrifice, that is called Upāsanā.

If somebody can see — as the first step — Virāṭ Upāsanā: we have dealt with it elaborately in the Taittirīya Upaniṣad when we were talking about the Pañcakośas. How one ascends to the peak of the Annamayakośa, then he becomes Annabrahma. Then only he has the right, he has the capacity, he has what you call Yogyatā, fitness to enter into the next higher Upāsanā. That is: "I am Prāṇa" — not "I have Prāṇa" but "I am Prāṇa." Not "I am an individual Prāṇa," but "I am the universal Prāṇa." That is called Prāṇabrahma. "I am the universal mind" — that is called Manobrahma. Then,"I am the right understanding, absolutely truth understanding" — and not only my own individual understanding but I am that same understanding which is manifesting as understanding in the whole universe. That is called Vijñānabrahma. And then: not only I am happy, but I am ,anybody's, everybody's happiness is my happiness. That is called Ānandamayabrahma.

But even at that stage, "I am there, but Brahman also is there", in a faint separation. Only a person who has reached Ānandamayabrahma can ascend the next step. So the teacher, according to the fitness of the student, gradually takes him step by step — however long it takes, it doesn't matter. Like a loving mother who helps some children learn quickly to crawl, then to stand up, then to run; but some people take longer time. So the mother patiently, joyfully, leads the small child until the small child also can reach. But it may not be in one life — it can be in several lives.
----

== The Method of Aśva Upāsanā: Seeing the Universe in the Horse ==
So we should not see a horse as a mere horse. Then what should we do? If we see the horse as Virāṭ, as Hiraṇyagarbha, as Prajāpati ,these are three names — as Mahat, then it becomes an Upāsanā. A small stone, to look upon as a small stone is not Upāsanā . I just mentioned. But to look upon it as a veritable Viṣṇu, a cross as a veritable Christ — that is called Upāsanā. A small object glorified as a greater object is the Upāsanā.

Now the question here is: we are discussing about Aśva Upāsanā, contemplation on a horse. Naturally the question comes: why did they choose a horse? Because just as a few years earlier a bicycle was the most common vehicle , practically everybody knew how to ride a bicycle — so in those golden days, in any part of the world, east or west, a horse was the vehicle. And a horse not only helps us in travelling, it helps in cultivation, and even mare's milk is used.

You know, these Mongolians — the Genghis Khans — they used to ride small, short mares of extraordinary capacity, which could move faster even under the most difficult climbing situations. These Mongols used to prefer these mares. Why? Because when they were hungry, they could just take a bit of the milk and blood, mix them, that is the highest protein supplement they discovered in those days, probably better than anything else in the world. So everybody requires that strength, that stamina. And horses were very common animals used for different purposes: for cultivation, for travel, for milk, for so many other purposes. Even the dung of the horse is one of the greatest fertilisers.

And therefore they have taken this one. So therefore, in the olden days and nowadays too, if we want to do contemplation, we take what is most commonly available. In those days, this horse is used. And even if some people could not afford a horse, they knew what a horse was.

So horses are used, cows are used, bulls are used in these special worships called Gomedha, Aśvamedha, even we hear of Nāramedha, Nṛmedha, human beings also as vehicles and instruments of higher contemplations. So, Aśva Virāṭ Upāsanā: seeing in that horse, how to see the universal in this one simple horse. You take every part of the horse and compare each part of the horse with the corresponding part of the universe. By comparing the parts of the horse with Virāṭ, seeing the horse is considered equal to seeing the Virāṭ and this is what the Upaniṣad wants to tell us.
----

== Freedom of Choice in Upāsanā ==
So if we do not like a horse, we can take Kṛṣṇa, we can take Rāma, we can take Kālī — any. If you are born as a Hindu or if you adopt Hinduism, then what is called 330 crores of objects are available for your Upāsanā. No doubt about it.
----

== Salutation to the Ṛṣis ==
Let me first of all salute all those who discovered these highest truths, including these Upāsanās. They are called Ṛṣis. Therefore, we are today able to get help because of their effort. They are like the mother who eats food for the baby, produces milk and that milk nourishes the baby. We are like that baby. These Ṛṣis are like our mothers.

That is why Śāstra is compared to a mother — just as a loving mother lovingly guides the child to grow up in every way, physically, mentally, emotionally, etc. So these Ṛṣis want us to slowly manifest our divinity within. That was what that Ṛṣi brought from the Saptarṣi Maṇḍala by Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, later on called Svāmī Vivekānanda said:उत्तिष्ठत जाग्रत प्राप्य वरान्निबोधत।''Uttiṣṭhata, Jāgrata, Prāpya Varān Nibodhata.'' We have to understand that.
----

== The Salutation Mantra ==
So this is the salutation mantra:

ॐ नमो ब्रह्मादिभ्यो ब्रह्मविद्यासम्प्रदायकर्तृभ्यो वंशऋषिभ्यो महद्भ्यो नमो गुरुभ्यः॥ ''Oṃ Namo Brahma Divyo, Brahma Vidyā Sampradāya Kartṛbhyo, Vaṃśa Ṛṣibhyo, Mahadbhyo, Namo Gurubhyaḥ.''

Salutations to all the Gurus. What type of Gurus? ''Mahadbhyaḥ'' — the greatest people on earth. They are called Vaṃśa Ṛṣis. Through their vaṃśa — through their lineage — they propagated those highest truths which are beneficial to everybody, not only to their own lineage, to their own disciples. And that is called ''Sampradāya Kartṛbhyo'' — Sampradāya means unbroken tradition from the teacher to the disciple.

And what type of knowledge were they propagating? ''Brahma Vidyā Sampradāya Kartṛbhyo.'' This is coming from time — unimaginable, timeless time. And so, ''Namaḥ. Brahma Divyo'' — they are none other than Brahman themselves. So, right from Brahman, Brahman manifested through these Ṛṣis and then revealed little by little to each Ṛṣi; and what they realised, they passed it on to their disciples. And that came, passed on to Totapuri Mahārāj, passed on to Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, passed on to Svāmī Vivekānanda, passed on to Svāmī Brahmānanda. And through other disciples it came to all of us. If I am speaking today, it all belongs to them. The thankfulness should only go to them because I am only a pipe. That is how we have to understand.
----

== The First Brāhmaṇa: Recitation and Meaning ==
Very briefly — because even the recitation of these mantras are highly purifying, even when we do not understand their meaning — here is the first Adhyāya, Madhukāṇḍa, first Brāhmaṇa. It has two mantras and we will first chant the first mantra.

''ॐ''

''उषा वा अश्वस्य मेध्यस्य शिरः । सूर्यश्चक्षुः । वातः प्राणः । व्यात्तमग्निर्वैश्वानरः । संवत्सर आत्माश्वस्य मेध्यस्य । द्यौः पृष्ठम् । अन्तरिक्षमुदरम् । पृथिवी पाजस्यम् । दिशः पार्श्वे । अवान्तरदिशः पर्शवः । ऋतवोऽङ्गानि । मासाश्चार्धमासाश्च पर्वाणि । अहोरात्राणि प्रतिष्ठाः । नक्षत्राण्यस्थीनि । नभो मांसानि । ऊध्यम् सिकताः । सिन्धवो गुदाः । यकृच्च क्लोमानश्च पर्वताः । ओषधयश्च वनस्पतयश्च लोमानि । उद्यन् पूर्वार्धः । निम्लोचञ्जघनार्धः । यद्विजृम्भते तद्विद्योतते । यद्विधूनुते तत्स्तनयति । यन्मेहति तद्वर्षति । वागेवास्य वाक् ॥ १ ॥''

This is the first mantra, and I will just read out its plain simple meaning:

''Oṃ.'' Verily, the head of the sacrificial horse is the dawn — the eastern side. Its eye is the sun. Its vital breath is the wind. Its open mouth is Vaiśvānara, the fire. And the trunk of the sacrificial horse is the year. The back is the heaven. The belly, the intermediate region. The hoof, the earth. The sides, the four quarters. The ribs, the intermediate quarters. The limbs, the seasons. The joints, the months and half months. The feet, the days and nights. The bones, the stars. The flesh, the clouds. Its half-digested food is the sand. The blood and the cells are the rivers. The liver and lungs are the mountains. The hair, the herbs and trees. The fore part of the horse is the rising sun, and the hinder part of the horse is the setting sun. Its yawn is lightning. Its shaking of the body is thunder. Its water is rain. And its neighing is indeed voice.
----

== The Meaning of This Description ==
What does all this description really mean? You look at this universe and you will see all these things. All the four directions are there: East, West, South, North. The mountains are there. The rivers are there. The five elements are there. Everything that you can imagine and everything; if something is lacking, this universe will not be complete. All that is attributed.

"You think of this part of the horse as this" — what is happening? When we contemplate like that, a horse disappears. What appears? This whole universal Ātmā — Virāṭ. So when we look at the horse, it is nothing but Virāṭ.

And lest we may still be confused, I can tell you one thing: take any object ,it doesn't matter. Take a small image. There is a head, there is a neck, there is a backside, there is a front side, there are hands. We have seen in the Pañcakośa Vyāvaraṇa — like a human being: left hand, right hand, left leg, right leg, the middle back and the front part, the head and the neck and the ears and the eyes. You can take anything, provided your purpose is to transform that particular person.

That is how: when we say "Let me think of my mother as Brahman, as Devī" — ''Mātṛdevo Bhava'' — whenever you look at the mother, you first of all compare every part of the mother to every part of the entire Divine Mother. Identify one's own mother as the Divine Mother. "M" once asked Sri Ramakrishna : "Can I meditate upon my own mother as the Divine Mother?" Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa said: "Why not? She is the best symbol and representation of the Divine Mother."

So this horse is only one object but it is not restrained to that object.
----

== The Fruit of Aśva Upāsanā: An Illustration ==
What is the result of it? I will tell you very briefly. Suppose a person who is doing this contemplation has to ride a horse — what do you think that person does? "I am being carried by God Himself." You think Bhagavān Viṣṇu comes from Vaikuṇṭha flying through Garuḍa , these are all symbols. What is the symbolism of the symbol? Garuḍa means our Guru — he who carries God, brings God nearer to us, like Hanumān. He has brought the news of Mātā Sītā by flying across the Saṃsāra, and then only Rāma went there because we cannot go to God; God has to come to us. So that is the purpose of the Upāsanā.

So he thinks: "You are carrying me from a lower place to a higher place." Suppose that Kṣatriya is fighting a war ,how should he think of the animal? "You bring me victory, because the sword I am carrying is Bhagavān's sword — Bhagavān's Cakra, Bhagavān's Sudarśana Cakra, Gadā." If he is using a stick, that is Bhagavān's Gadā. If he does the contemplation like that, then it will be wonderful.

Such things really happen. Actually it happened and if you remember Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's wonderful story: there was a king who was a Kṛṣṇa Bhakta. Somehow the enemy king came to know that this person will not come out of the shrine room of Kṛṣṇa until noon. So: "If I attack then, nobody will oppose me — because without the king's commandment nothing moves. He has to say 'let us go and fight'; otherwise nobody will move one millimetre from wherever he is until the king commands."

So the enemy was killing the soldiers wherever he could find. Then suddenly the king had a very special horse, and that horse — nobody dared to ride it or touch it, excepting those who looked after it. Suddenly a young man came and took hold of that horse and immediately ran away before anybody could stop him. He alone fought with the enemy king, destroyed the enemy forces. And then, when the king came out, he saw his horse — from its mouth foam was coming out, as if it had been heavily used.

The king got angry. He asked: "Who has been using my horse?" They said: "We don't know. A stranger came — an extraordinary person that we could not do anything; we were just rooted to this spot. He rode the horse, he conquered that enemy king who had attacked your kingdom, and then he came back after felling everything, destroying all these enemies, and then when the king came he had disappeared."

The king was astonished. He understood — probably a little bit. So he again went to the battlefield. He saw the enemy king ,he was not harmed, but he was lying prostrate. As soon as the enemy king saw the victorious king, he fell at his feet and said: "Who is that soldier? He alone destroyed all my armies. I wanted to fight him but absolutely I had no power. Not only that I wanted to offer myself as a slave to that person. He is so immensely attractive that I cannot separate myself from him and that thought of him doesn't leave me. Please tell me about that soldier. I want to fall at his feet and beg him to take me as his servant."

Then the king understood: when he was absorbed in Kṛṣṇa Upāsanā, Kṛṣṇa himself had taken the form of the soldier and not only destroyed the enemy army, he destroyed the enmity of the enemy king himself.

This is not a story ,this is one of the most marvellous illustrations of the Upāsanā Phala. Everybody becomes the friendliest person because we are the greatest friends of our own self. Beautiful thoughts. There are many such thoughts and in the course of time we shall talk about them.

== Closing Prayer ==
ॐ जननीं शारदां देवीं रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुम् ।

पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहुः ॥

''Om Jānānāṃ Śāradāṃ Devīṃ Rāmakṛṣṇaṃ Jagadgurum''

''Pada Padme Tayo Śṛtvā Praṇamāmi Muhur Muhuh''

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

'''Jai Ramakrishna!'''
[[Category:Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]]

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.1.4 Lecture 29 on 02 May 2026

2026-07-11T10:23:33Z

Geetha: punctuation

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

== Opening Invocation ==
ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात् पूर्णमुदच्यते

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः

OM PŪRṆAMADAḤ PŪRṆAMIDAM PŪRṆĀT PŪRṆAMUDACYATE PŪRṆASYA PŪRṆAMĀDĀYA PŪRṆAMEVA VAŚIṢYATE OM ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTIH

OM That Brahman is infinite, and this universe is also infinite. The infinite proceeds from the infinite. Taking the infinitude of the infinite universe, it remains as the infinite Brahman alone.

OM Peace, Peace, Peace be unto all.

== The Essence of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad ==
We have been discussing the very essence of the entire Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, which has been condensed, as it were, in the two mantras in the fourth section of the first chapter ie., mantras 9 and 10.

What is the essence? ''Ahaṃ brahma āsmi.'' This is one of the four great Mahāvākyas.

As I mentioned many times, Mahāvākyas are not only four but hundreds and hundreds of Mahāvākyas are there. What is a Mahāvākya? That which tells us that each soul is potentially divine. "Potential" is the word Swami Vivekananda has used.

We have to understand it carefully. Potentiality, if I compare it to a seed then that conveys the meaning okay but not completely. Why do I say that? Because a seed is an effect. It is an effect of a tree and the tree is again an effect of the seed. But Brahman cannot be defined like that. It is neither a cause nor an effect.
----

== The Advaita Teaching: Brahman and the World ==
Then what is this? All this we have been talking about for so long that the entire creation has come out of Brahman, that Brahman is manifesting itself as this entire universe. In Advaita Vedānta and we are emphasising only Advaita Vedānta. From the viewpoint of Advaita Vedānta, seemingly it has come. Like we mistake a rope for a snake and get scared, but when light is brought out, we understand: there was, there is, there would be no snake; there was, there is, and there would be only the rope.

This bold teaching of Advaita Vedānta is the very root of every religion, by whatever name it goes, whether people understand it or do not understand it.

So, to indicate, that you are none other than Brahman and again, the essence of it is that it is not that Brahman had suddenly come under the limitations of time, space and object. From our viewpoint, we feel everything in this world is different from everything else. Even in this one body, the hands are different from the legs and so on. The mind, every millisecond, how many different thoughts and sometimes completely opposite thoughts, are running their course!

So which is real? Only that which is lending consciousness, lending awareness — that consciousness which witnesses the waking, the dream, as well as the deep sleep state ,that alone is the reality and it never undergoes any change whatsoever. It never underwent change, and it will never undergo any change.

But because of our viewpoint ,our mind, which comes under the influence of ''avidyā.'' It is our thinking about Brahman that Brahman had become the world. And after some time, one realises: "I am suffering. I must get out of suffering. I must realise that I am of the nature of ''sat-cit-ānanda'', or ''satyaṃ jñānaṃ anantaṃ brahma.''"
----

== The Spiritual Awakening: Turning Inward ==
So, only a person who has experienced both the joys and sorrows of this world becomes wiser after millions of births and then wakes up from that state. "This is not what I really am after. I am not getting what I want from this. So I must get what I want but I am looking in the wrong place. Therefore," he says, "I have searched here, it is not there. So it must be elsewhere."

Where did he search? In the external world. Now the entire external world the search was exhaustive and he did not find it. Then he must search within. He approaches a Guru, or the grace of God comes to him in the form of a Guru and gives him the right knowledge in the form of ''śraddhā'' — intellectual conviction.

Unless a person is ready to believe in what the scripture or the teacher says, he will not be fit to receive. Then we become fit, automatically, as if by magic, the teaching flows into us. Of course, through definitely an instrument whom we call ''ācārya'', Guru, and so on. And that is called ''śravaṇa''.

Thereafter, we have to either think for ourselves or with the help of the teacher, the details are to be found in many of the secondary scriptures, ''smṛtis etc,'' and so on. That is how, slowly, through practice, we progress.
----

== The Five Powers of Gāyatrī and the Practice of Manana ==
I will briefly touch on this as background. So there were some people who were very keen on escaping the bondage of this world. They must have gathered under the umbrella of a teacher in a ''gurukula'' and the Guru must have taught them. Then they were discussing what they were taught. This is called ''mananam.'' Mananam does not mean purely that a person closes his eyes, no. Even what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa calls ''satsaṅga'' is also a mananam.

If we study the Gospel of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa as an example, it is not that Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was speaking to some people 150 years back. Rāmakṛṣṇa is speaking right to me at the present time and all his words are addressed to me alone. How do I understand it? I have to pray to him. Because — ''dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt,'' only by his grace, not only will I get the essential teaching but even the methodology of how to understand this teaching properly that also should come only through the grace of the Divine Mother. ''Dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt.''

I told you about the five powers of Gāyatrī. What is the first? That is ''samyak jñānam'' ,right understanding. Then ''samyak smṛti'' , I must remember what I have understood rightly. Then I have to go on remembering it at the right time. When some danger comes or some unhappy event takes place, I should be able to recall it not like a student who has memorised everything, but as soon as he enters the examination hall, he hangs all his memories outside on a tree, and his mind becomes blank. As soon as the exam paper is presented, nothing comes to mind. But as soon as he comes out of the hall, all the memories spring back. That is not going to be useful.

So right memory — this is called ''samaya sphurti:'' the flashing of right memory at the right time alone can help us. That is the third power. Then we have to put it to good use but with a right motivation and not with any selfish motive. This is called ''niḥsvārtha buddhi prayogaśakti.'' After ''samaya sphurti'', we must be able to apply it all the time. Then the last thing, we must remember it is only by the grace of the Divine Mother that we will be able to succeed in our plan.

So — grace at the beginning, grace in the middle, grace in the end. That is what Totāpurī Mahārāj realised on the last day of his stay at Dakṣiṇeśvar: "I thought, all by myself, I obtained this ''samādhi.''" Then the Mother showed him the error of his thinking.

So from the beginning itself we must understand: the grace of God awakens us; the grace of God takes our hand and makes us progress; it is the grace of God which presents the obstacles — so that, like a gymnasium where we can strengthen our muscles through hard effort to overcome obstacles, we gain physical and mental strength and are able to keep our mind focused on God. Then through God, slowly, higher and higher realisations will come, and finally all realisations will be merged in one final realisation that there is no you and me, only one reality: ''satyam, jñānam, anantam, brahma.''
----

== The Seekers and Their Discussion ==
So this was the discussion which is also ''satsaṅga and'' which is also equated to ''mananam.'' So they were thinking: our teacher retained Brahma-jñāna — what did he become? What did he gain? He became everything. How did he become everything? Only by understanding: "I am everything."

Now the word "everything" is not used by a Brahma-jñānī, it is used by ignorant people like us. Because there is no question of "everything" from the viewpoint of a knower of Brahman. From the viewpoint of Brahman, there is no second — ''ekaṃ evādvitīyam.'' So therefore there is no second. Even the very outlook of a ''jīvanmukta'' is ''sarvaṃ khalvidaṃ brahma.'' That ''sarvam'' — "everything" — we have to understand clearly, is only our attribution of our understanding of this world from the viewpoint of the ''jīvanmukta.''

So it is not that the ''jīvanmukta'' says: "I have become everything." Just, Brahman means everything; there is no second. But since we are in the world, we cannot cross a limit and then understand what is unlimited. If we want to correctly understand the unlimited, we have to become the unlimited. But until that time, we have to guess and a sincere, honest, humble guess ,that is what these people are discussing.

Since there is only Brahman, God must be everything. ''Īśvaraḥ sarvabhūtānāṃ hṛddeśe arjuna tiṣṭhati.'' ''Īśāvāsyamidaṃ sarvaṃ yat kiñca jagatyāṃ jagat.'' Excepting Īśvara, there is nothing else.
----

== Vāmadeva's Realisation: Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi ==
So this was the discussion they were having. Then they understood: what did this realised soul — it can be one's own Guru or somebody else — what did he realise? ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' And as a result of that realisation, what did he gain? He became everything. What does that sentence really mean? It means, I have no death; I am pure, eternal existence; I am all knowledge, infinite knowledge and I am ''ānanda-svarūpa.''

And that is what has to be expressed. Because we have to keep in mind that until we come across a person who is spiritually progressing, we will not have any right idea about what we are thinking ,let alone understanding; even our thinking will not be correct. So we have to cultivate ''satsaṅga.''

What is ''satsaṅga?'' Find out a person who is more spiritually advanced than us and be in his presence — that is called ''satsaṅga.'' How do we know this person has advanced spiritually? Anybody who talks about spiritual life, about God, about Upaniṣads,however well the person might speak — that is not ''satsaṅga''. Of course it is a kind of ''satsaṅga'', but not real ''satsaṅga.''

What is real ''satsaṅga?'' That which transforms , that which influences, even to some slight degree, our behaviour that is called ''satsaṅga''. If you approach a blazing fire, you feel the heat. If you enter into an air-conditioned room, you must feel the cold breeze. If you say, "I am in the air-conditioned room but I don't feel the cold breeze," either you are unconscious, or you are dead, or you don't know what you are talking about.
----

== Characteristics of a Spiritually Advanced Person ==
So,what are the characteristics? I have already discussed so many characteristics — in fact, from the last part of the description of ''sthitaprajña lakṣaṇa'' at the end of the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gītā, from Arjuna's question until the end — it is the description of a realised soul. And such a realised soul is what we are talking about as ''satpuruṣa.''

But we may not get a completely realised soul. For us, it is enough to find out somebody who is one step ahead of us. So don't go on reading books and say, "I must get a ''sadguru'' who is a realiser of Brahman" — you may not get him. But find out somebody. How do we know what that somebody is?

First of all, he is always happy, whatever be the circumstances. Secondly, even if there are great problems — whether it is summer heat, political heat or oppression by enemies — the person will never lose his coolness. Nobody can affect his happiness because it is not influenced by outside circumstances but is coming from within himself, as a result of his realisation, which comes in the form of unshakeable knowledge. And then he understands: "I am such a happy person" — and we also feel that happiness so long as we are in his presence.

Then we also understand: this person doesn't expect anything from me. Because, remember — when we expect something from somebody, that shows our ignorance: that "by getting this thing from this person or object I will be more happy." That is not the truth. Here, you are getting happiness — you don't need to ask. Just like if you are near a fire, you don't say: "I am a beggar — please give me a little bit of heat." The fire, unconsciously , doesn't even think as it is its nature to distribute itself. To whomever approaches, it is ready to receive as much as the person is ready to receive.

So this person may not be joyful like a Brahma-jñānī but he will be much, much, much more joyful than us. How is he able to be joyful? Because he understands: if anything is happening, it is not because of some action — it is purely the grace of God. He feels the presence of God and God is ''ānanda-svarūpa.'' So he says: "Somebody is criticising me, that is the grace of God. Somebody is praising me , that is also the grace of God." He doesn't attribute anything to himself.

So he will be loving everybody equally because that critic of good and bad is much reduced in such an advanced person. Then there is nothing that a person cannot give you — he will give everything. Why? Because a person can give everything if a person owns an ocean. That person should not have any selfishness: "If I give one thimble full of water to this person, so that much will be less for me." No, he will be like an ocean: "Take as much as you want, and I will be full only."

And lastly, we have to understand that his only anxiety , if at all you find anxiety — is: "How to help anyone who sincerely approaches me advance towards God? I know what is good for them. How can I help this person? How can I convey this idea?" So what I am trying to tell you is that if anybody is spiritually progressing, one of the signs will be that he will be a joyful person. And when we approach such a person, willy-nilly, unconsciously, we become joyful. That is what we need to understand here.
----

== Vāmadeva and the Expression of Realisation ==
This is just the background — ''satsaṅga'' is very important, and this is the ''satsaṅga'' these seekers of Brahman are having.

Then ,how do we know that a person becomes everything? The only proof: Brahman doesn't come and say, "I have given realisation to this person; he has become everything." We have to be fortunate to come across some people.

So the mantra continues: there was a Ṛṣi called Vāmadeva, and he realised Brahman and he understood: "I am everything." And then he is expressing his realisation: "I am the originator" — that means, I am Brahmā; "I am Sūrya." Only two are mentioned, but we have to add by guessing — I am Indra, I am Chandra, I am Varuṇa, I am Viṣṇu, I am Rudra, I am the Divine Mother, I am Jesus Christ, I am Buddha.

That is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was expressing that he who has come as Rāma and Kṛṣṇa. Don't stop with only Rāma, Kṛṣṇa. How many millions of times have ''avatāras had'' come in the past? God alone knows. Even in this ''yuga'' itself, how many great people have come. Anybody who is more unselfish, anybody who is more loving, anybody who is dedicating his life to the service of God, such a person has a special manifestation of God. But what we call an ''avatāra'' — Christ, Buddha, all these were included in that word Rāma and Kṛṣṇa.

So Vāmadeva became imbued with that realisation of Brahman. "I am" — he is telling Sūrya — "I am Manu." In other words, he is saying: "I am this, I am you, you are not different from me." But that knowledge only he has. Manu has the knowledge, "I am you," but Manu doesn't have the knowledge, "I am Vāmadeva Ṛṣi." But we have to believe in him — that is also ''satsaṅga.'' Belief in the lives of great spiritual people is also ''satsaṅga.''
----

== The Devas and the Spiritually Advancing Soul ==
So since "I have become everything, I don't need anything because I am ''ānanda-svarūpa,'' I am ''jñāna-svarūpa,'' I am ''ānanta-svarūpa'' — ''pūrṇamadaḥ pūrṇamidaṃ.''"

Then the next idea: such a person who is sincerely advancing, gods gladly aid him; they would not put any obstructions. Then the mantra is explaining why they do not put obstructions.

He who thinks, "I am different — God is different" — I have discussed this point in great elaboration in my last class — such a person says, "This person is different from me and therefore I would like to keep him under my control." We like to do that — like a chicken farmer: where does he raise chickens? He wants to eat, he wants to sell, he wants to make profit. There is no animal, no bird on earth, which man is not using for his selfish enjoyments. Even colourful, feathered birds ,in millions and millions — man has honed his skill to make huge factories and farms, where on an industrial scale, we take advantage of them. And how much ''pāpa'' we are accumulating through this! That is why when we suffer, we don't understand what is the real cause. Unless we have done something wrong to one or many — usually many, and for a long time — the suffering also will be absolutely equal to the amount of evil we have done. Our happiness will also be equal to what good deeds we have done.

So therefore the Upaniṣad wants to say that the Devas really do not want to put any obstruction. What is the wonderful reason the Upaniṣad gives? They also understand you are not different from them. So you have become the Ātmā — their own self and they understand it. Therefore, just as we do not wish to do any harm to ourselves, we do not wish to create any unhappiness to ourselves .On the contrary, we only wish to promote happiness, however small or however short a time. So the Devas also feel: "May we help this person."
----

== The Story of Viśvāmitra and the Nature of Obstacles ==
Earlier I gave so many examples of how Indra had put obstructions. Why did he put them? You will have to go back and read this many times. It is not really an obstacle — he is helping Viśvāmitra. "You, person — your intention is good but your unconscious is rebelling against you. You are hiding so many things. And without gaining knowledge of what you are hiding, without passing the third class, you can't get promoted to the fourth class, let alone to the PhD." Otherwise, your ''permanent head damage'' will be there if you attempt prematurely!

And Viśvāmitra — as we can say — first understood his mistake and overcame it. Then a second time he understood his mistake that his desire had created another obstacle in the form of anger, like Mahiṣāsura. So he overcame that. Then he progressed. That is how slowly he became a Brahmarṣi. Then Vasiṣṭha pronounced him as a Brahma-jñānī, a Brahmarṣi. But Viśvāmitra was not happy, so he said: "If Brahmā comes and certifies, then I will accept." So Brahmā came and said: "Yes, truly and really you have become a Brahmarṣi." Thereafter we see in the Yoga Vāsiṣṭha — Viśvāmitra and Vasiṣṭha became what you call the closest friends. The whole Yoga Vāsiṣṭha Rāmāyaṇa is a marvellous episode — if we get the opportunity in the future, we will select some ślokas and go through them.
----

== Vidyā and Avidyā: The Two Sūtras ==
But for now — anybody who thinks, "I am everything; I am the Devas; I am the human beings; I am the ''manuṣyas'' — everything" — then he has attained ''sarvam.'' But if anybody thinks, "I am different from everybody else," that is called ''avidyā.''

So there are two ''sūtras.'' A ''sūtra'' means a brief teaching. ''Vidyā-sūtram'' — and ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi'' is called the ''vidyā-sūtram.'' "I am different" — ''atha anyadeva devatā, anyaḥ asau, anyaḥ aham asmi'' — "He is different, I am different." But now what we need to understand here: "Devatam" — if I worship Indra, I will get a lot of things. Are we not doing it in our day-to-day life? Of course we are not worshipping that Indra whom the Upaniṣad mentions here. No. What we are saying is: "If I worship this prime minister, if I flatter this president, if I flatter this chief minister, if I flatter this minister, I get a job" — even the smallest thing, the post of a peon. People are ready to pay black money. Blackening everybody — and every day a new scandal is breaking out. Such a person is under the spell of ''avidyā'' or ignorance, because there is nothing else excepting Brahman. If there is only Brahman, there are no many. That is called ''sarvam.''

''Sarvam'' is a special linguistic word we use from our ignorant point of view because we experience this infinite number of things. ''Sarvam'' means Ekam eva advitiyam — so Vāmadeva realised. Not only Vāmadeva — millions and millions of Ṛṣis, in every religion: Saint Francis of Assisi and so many Muslim saints. Govinda was one of them — Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa took initiation from him. Mishra was one of them, he had the vision of Jesus Christ. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa blessed him and gave him the vision of Jesus Christ.

And then anybody who follows the same footprints, follows the same pathway, experiments like a scientist in the same way — and what is that experiment? Moving from individuality to universality that is called ''virāṭ.'' Moving from lower ''kośa'' to higher ''kośa.'' Finally, he overcomes all the five ''kośas.'' He overcomes all identification with all three bodies — gross, subtle, and causal and then he understands: "I am everything."
----

== The Concept of Jīvanmukta ==
And what is the concept of ''jīvanmukta?'' God — out of compassion, ''Saguṇa Brahma Īśvara'' — out of compassion, keeps some of the ''jīvanmuktas'' for the propagation of ''śāstra.'' Actually, ''śāstra'' means ''śruti.'' ''Śruti'' means that which is given little by little to different knowers of Brahman: "You propagate this much." The essence is the same. All essences of every realised soul is only the Mahāvākya: That God alone exists; Brahman exists. I, you, anything else — it doesn't exist.

So that is ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' Any person who has this knowledge exhibits certain characteristics in the form of understanding. What are those things?

First — ''brahma eva avidyayā saṃsarati:'' Brahman alone thinks because of ignorance, that "I am coming from Brahman, I am in ''saṃsāra,'' I am moving from one birth to another birth." But ''brahma eva vidyayā mucyate'' — the same ''jīvātmā,'' when Brahman is under the spell of ''avidyā,'' is called ''jīvātmā.'' And the same ''jīvātmā,'' when he acquires knowledge — ''vidyayā mucyate'' — ''mucyate'' means he becomes liberated. Liberated means,he doesn't attain liberation. It is to say: "My thinking was wrong. I thought I was bound, I was never bound."

Like a king who, after a nice dinner, has a troubled dream where he was dragged to a dungeon and was being beaten black and blue. Suddenly he wakes up because somebody gives him, in that dungeon, a terribly big blow — and he wakes up and starts smiling: "What a foolish dream! I was imagining, I was never in the dungeon. And I am awake now — I was here only, all the time." So that is what it means.
----

== Śaṅkarācārya's Bhāṣya: Who Is Really in Bondage? ==
Then there is a discussion. Śaṅkarācārya, as usual, gives a marvellous ''Bhāṣya'' — it is called ''Mahāvākya-Bhāṣya.'' And then he says: who keeps one really in bondage? Who is in bondage — is it gods? is it God? Is it ''kāla?'' Is it birth?

So what is this discussion for? He says: earlier we discussed that a person who thinks, "I am different from the gods — of course God also — I am different from God; I am small, he is big; I am having very little power, he has every power; he can help me, so I worship him" — anybody thus dependent becomes a ''paśu.'' And I also mentioned in my last class — because it is such an important mantra — we are not only slaves through worship of external Gods. Everything upon which we depend is a ''devatā.'' If I cannot function properly without tea or coffee — bed tea or bed coffee — that is my ''devatā.'' If I cannot live happily without YouTube, YouTube is my Google ''devatā.'' Like that, you can imagine: anything which makes you unhappy when absent — that is the ''devatā.'' As soon as that ''devatā'' is present — coffee is present, tea is present, YouTube is present, stomachache is removed that medicine becomes ''devatā.''

So he becomes like a ''paśu,'' like a slave — enslaved. What is the essence? Dependence is slavery; slavery means dependence. A ''jīvanmukta'' is one who overcomes this slavery, and then finds out: "There is nobody other than me — it is only my wrong thinking."
----

== Divine Providence and Karma ==
And this is beautifully given — then: why do people suffer? From our ignorant point of view, who is responsible? Is it the gods? Is it time? Is it circumstances? No.

That is why in the Bhagavad Gītā we are told: is the body responsible? Is the ''jīvātmā'' responsible? Are the sense organs responsible? Are our efforts in the form of many actions responsible for our life here? No,it says only Divine Providence. And what is Divine Providence? That according to the ''pūrva-janma-karma,'' the result is allotted to us by ''vidhātā'' and that is called Divine Providence. It is God who bestows whether a person is a happy person or an unhappy person. And it is God who gives — here is a grand musician, here is a grand symphony writer like Beethoven, here is a grand singer like M.S. Subbalakshmi, here is a grand tabla player, a great scientist.

Consider nowadays how AI has become so popular — how these people are using their brain, honing it to the highest degree of sharpness, so that we cannot even think what they are doing. Only after they create it and then out of that the technologists create various gadgets — then we understand: "My God — if the gadget itself is giving me so much of result, good or bad, how much will be the creator of the gadgets?" Creator means knowledge. So we understand how people get these gifts. God doesn't sit and give them at random, like an American lottery ticket. No — he gives us completely in accordance with our ''karma-phala'' only.

So our ''karma-phala'' alone is responsible for our bondage; therefore our ''karma-phala'' alone will be responsible for our liberation.
----

== The Stages of Spiritual Progress ==
How does this spiritual progress go forward? First, from ''deha-abhimāna'' to ''ātma-abhimāna.'' Through the imagery of the three bodies: from ''deha-abhimāna'' to ''mano-abhimāna,'' from ''mano-abhimāna'' to ''prajña-abhimāna.'' In other words — from ''deha-ātma-buddhi'' to ''virāṭ,'' from ''virāṭ'' to ''Hiraṇyagarbha,'' from ''Hiraṇyagarbha'' to ''Īśvara,'' and beyond ''Īśvara,'' beyond ''Saguṇa Brahma'' also.

Or, from the other imagery — the ''pañca-kośas:'' from ''jīva-bhāva'' to ''Brahma-bhāva,'' through the five ''kośas'' as we were seeing in the Taittirīya Upaniṣad. So from ''annamaya-kośa'' to ''prāṇa,'' to ''mano,'' to ''vijñāna,'' to ''ānandamaya-kośa.'' And then: go beyond — ''ānandaṃ brahma, ānandaṃ brahma'' — that is not a ''kośa,'' that is Brahman. ''Ānandaṃ.''

So the seeker doesn't travel to Brahman, produce Brahman, or become Brahman. He merely discovers — through the destruction of ignorance or ''avidyā'' — that he has never been anything other than Brahman. He was, he is, and he would be Brahman only.
----

== Gauḍapāda's Kārikā: The Absolute Truth ==
This is the essence that he gives. And this was beautifully summarised by Gauḍapāda in our Māṇḍūkya Kārikā — if you remember, in the second section, the 32nd verse, he summarised this whole thing. What is it?

'''न निरोधो न चोत्पत्तिर्न बद्धो न च साधकः ।'''

'''न मुमुक्षुर्न वै मुक्त इत्येषा परमार्थता ॥ ३२ ॥'''

''na nirodho na cotpattir na baddho na ca sādhakaḥ |''

''na mumukṣur na vai mukta ity eṣā paramārthatā || 32 ||''

Brahman is never in bondage. Brahman never becomes ''jīvātmā.'' Brahman never realises, "I am bound and I have to get out." Brahman never practises spiritual practice. This is all within the realm of the ''jīva's'' thought processes. This is what he says — 2.32:

''"This is the highest spiritual truth: there is no dissolution, there is no birth, there is no bondage, there is no aspiring to become Brahman, there is no seeker of liberation, and there is none liberated."'' This is the absolute truth.
----

== Śaṅkarācārya's Bhāṣya: Karma and Jñāna Cannot Change Brahman's Nature ==
Now I just want to elaborate on this subject, and then we will go to the next. This one — actually, Śaṅkarācārya has a very tough ''Bhāṣya'' on this — 1.4.10, the 10th mantra, ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' And therein he raises many opponents. There was one opponent called Bhartṛprapañca and he was very powerful.

So all those things we were discussing — that Brahman became ''jīvātmā,'' that ''jīvātmā'' realised "I am in bondage," that ''jīvātmā'' understood "I have to get out of this bondage" and approached a Guru — so he was not Brahman but through ''sādhanā'' he became Brahman — and then Śaṅkarācārya gives some of the most marvellous psychological insights into it.

So what is the first thing he says? That ''karma'' cannot change one's nature. Any action you do, any amount of action — the sweetness of sugar will never become bitter. You cannot call it sugar and say it is bitter. Sweet means sweet — that sweetness is its very nature and no amount of ''karma'' can change it.

We have got a beautiful wisdom saying in the Telugu language by a great poet called Vemaṇa, wherein he says: you bring a black-coloured rat and then, through all the processes of first-class soap, first-class powders, first-class scents — do everything — and the skin is not going to become white. It will remain that same — it will not change at all.

So ''karma'' doesn't change nature. And what does ''karma'' do? It removes all the obstacles.

Then what about ''jñānam'' — will ''jñānam'' give ''mokṣa?'' No — ''jñānam'' also will not give ''mokṣa.'' The essence of ''jñāna'' — knowledge — is not to give liberation or ''mukti.'' What does it do? Just like what does light do: when you are mistaking that here is a snake and you are terribly scared, then somebody brings the light. Does the light change the snake into a rope? Never. Knowledge cannot change anything. What does it do? Through right knowledge — by bringing light — it destroys all the wrong knowledge. On the contrary, what does wrong knowledge do? It destroys all the right knowledge. But it doesn't change. ''Avidyā'' does not make a rope into a snake; light does not make a snake into a rope. Their function only is: making us understand right knowledge as wrong knowledge, or wrong knowledge as right knowledge.

So therefore what he wants to say is: neither ''karma'' nor ''jñāna'' — both will not help us in realising that we are Brahman. But what does ''jñānam'' do? It brings us light. And in the light of that light, we understand: we were Brahman, we are Brahman, we will be Brahman — and that is by nature; it can never change.
----

== The Four Mahāvākyas and Their Progression ==
So this is one of the most marvellous Mahāvākyas — ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' Just to remind — there were other three chosen out of hundreds, just to represent them. What are they? ''Prajñānaṃ brahma, ayamātmā brahma, tattvamasi'' and then of course ''ahaṃ brahmāsmi.''

So I told you earlier, I will just dwell upon that. In a way, actually, any Mahāvākya can destroy the ignorance and bring us to know who we really are. But in a way of speaking, there is an order.

''Prajñānaṃ brahma'' — consciousness; be conscious, be aware; cultivate continuous awareness — ''prajñānaṃ brahma'' — and that leads to Brahman.

And then what does the consciousness say? Consciousness is not separate from you. ''Ayamātmā brahma'' — "I am; my consciousness is Brahma; your consciousness is Brahma; everybody's consciousness is Brahma." Since I am still deeply embedded, caught in the net of ''avidyā,'' I am still going on thinking that I am a ''jīvātmā.'' But no — in this ''jīvātmā'' there are two: ''jīva'' — body-mind — and ''Ātmā'' — pure consciousness. The separation of these two, where ''jīva-bhāva'' is temporary and ''Ātmā-bhāva'' is permanent — that is called ''Ayamātmā brahma.'' Pure consciousness, which goes through the gross body, waking state, dream state, dreamless state — but never gets involved within it. That is ''sākṣī-kevalāham.'' That is called ''Ayamātmā brahma.''

When we progress a little bit — when a seeker goes still further — then the Guru directly points out: ''tattvamasi'' — "You think you have consciousness, you think you are not consciousness, but Guru removes that and says: you are not having consciousness — you are consciousness." That is called ''tattvamasi'' — "That thou art."

And then through further spiritual efforts, by the grace of God, a person — a seeker — realises: ''ahaṃ brahmāsmi'' — "I was Brahma, I am Brahma, I will be Brahma." These are marvellous ideas.
----

== The Methodology of Scripture: Rapport and Guidance ==
Now, from the next class onwards we will take up a little more of the details. As you understand, I am paying so much attention because this first chapter is called ''Upadeśa-kāṇḍa.'' The entire essence of every Upaniṣad is embedded in this first chapter and especially in this fourth chapter, especially in the mantras 9 and 10. That is why this is the very essence, the sum and sum total of every scripture in the world.

Then, how to attain that? ''Sādhanā'' is necessary. That is what comes. So this scripture — what is called the methodology — says: "Yes, yes, yes — Brahman has become the world." Not really agreeing, but just to help us, like a psychologist. A successful psychologist first tells: "Yes, yes, you are right. You have every right. Those other people are the causes of your misery." Then the patient gains rapport. And once that process of rapport is complete, then the psychologist slowly tells: "You can deal with that. You don't need to suffer. You can overcome it, you can rise above it." Then only the real psychological help starts.

Until that time, until rapport is established,what my Guru tells is that absolute true spiritual progress will not come. Beautiful ideas are there ,we will talk about them in our next class.
----

== Closing Prayer ==
ॐ जननीं शारदां देवीं रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुम् ।

पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहुः ॥

''Om Jānānāṃ Śāradāṃ Devīṃ Rāmakṛṣṇaṃ Jagadgurum''

''Pada Padme Tayo Śṛtvā Praṇamāmi Muhur Muhuh''

May Rāmakṛṣṇa, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekānanda bless us all with Bhakti.

''Jai Rāmakṛṣṇa!''
[[Category:Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]]

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.1.4 Lecture 29 on 02 May 2026

2026-07-09T12:40:25Z

Geetha: punctuation, added 32nd shloka from the Māṇḍūkya Kārikā

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

== Opening Invocation ==
ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात् पूर्णमुदच्यते

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः

OM PŪRṆAMADAḤ PŪRṆAMIDAM PŪRṆĀT PŪRṆAMUDACYATE PŪRṆASYA PŪRṆAMĀDĀYA PŪRṆAMEVA VAŚIṢYATE OM ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTIH

OM That Brahman is infinite, and this universe is also infinite. The infinite proceeds from the infinite. Taking the infinitude of the infinite universe, it remains as the infinite Brahman alone.

OM Peace, Peace, Peace be unto all.

== The Essence of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad ==
We have been discussing the very essence of the entire Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, which has been condensed, as it were, in the two mantras in the fourth section of the first chapter — mantras 9 and 10.

What is the essence? ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' This is one of the four great Mahāvākyas.

As I mentioned many times, Mahāvākyas are not only four, hundreds and hundreds of Mahāvākyas are there. What is a Mahāvākya? That which tells us that each soul is potentially divine. "Potential" — that is the word Swami Vivekananda has used.

We have to understand it carefully. Potentiality — if I compare it to a seed, then that conveys the meaning, okay, but not completely. Why do I say that? Because a seed is an effect. It is an effect of a tree and the tree is again an effect of the seed. But Brahman cannot be defined like that. It is neither a cause nor an effect.
----

== The Advaita Teaching: Brahman and the World ==
Then what is this? All this we have been talking about for so long — that the entire creation has come out of Brahman, that Brahman is manifesting itself as this entire universe. In Advaita Vedānta — and we are emphasising only Advaita Vedānta — from the viewpoint of Advaita Vedānta, seemingly it has come. Like we mistake a rope for a snake and get scared, but when light is brought, we understand: there was, there is, there would be no snake; there was, there is, and there would be only the rope.

This bold teaching of Advaita Vedānta is the very root of every religion, by whatever name it goes, whether people understand it or do not understand it.

So, to indicate, that you are none other than Brahman — and again, the essence of it is that it is not that Brahman had suddenly come under the limitations of time, space, and object. From our viewpoint, we feel everything in this world is different from everything else. Even in this one body, the hands are different from the legs, and so on. The mind, every millisecond, how many different thoughts and sometimes completely opposite thoughts, are running their course!

So which is real? Only that which is lending consciousness, lending awareness — that consciousness which witnesses the waking, the dream, as well as the deep sleep state — that alone is the reality, and it never undergoes any change whatsoever. It never underwent change, and it will never undergo any change.

But because of our viewpoint — our mind, which comes under the influence of ''avidyā'' — it is our thinking about Brahman that Brahman had become the world. And after some time, one realises: "I am suffering. I must get out of suffering. I must realise that I am of the nature of ''sat-cit-ānanda'', or ''satyaṃ jñānaṃ anantaṃ brahma.''"
----

== The Spiritual Awakening: Turning Inward ==
So, only a person who has experienced both the joys and sorrows of this world becomes wiser after millions of births and then wakes up from that state. "This is not what I really am after. I am not getting what I want from this. So I must get what I want but I am looking in the wrong place. Therefore," he says, "I have searched here — it is not there. So it must be elsewhere."

Where did he search? In the external world. Now the entire external world has been exhausted in the search, and he did not find it. Then he must search within. He approaches a Guru, or the grace of God comes to him in the form of a Guru and gives him the right knowledge in the form of ''śraddhā'' — intellectual conviction.

Unless a person is ready to believe in what the scripture or the teacher says, he will not be fit to receive. Then we become fit — automatically, as if by magic, the teaching flows into us — of course, through definitely an instrument whom we call ''ācārya'', Guru, and so on. And that is called ''śravaṇa''.

Thereafter, we have to either think for ourselves or with the help of the teacher — the details are to be found in many of the secondary scriptures, ''smṛtis'', and so on. That is how, slowly, through practice, we progress.
----

== The Five Powers of Gāyatrī and the Practice of Manana ==
I will briefly touch on this as background. So there were some people who were very keen on escaping the bondage of this world. They must have gathered under the umbrella of a teacher in a ''gurukula'' and the Guru must have taught them. Then they were discussing what they were taught. This is called ''mananam.'' Mananam does not mean purely that a person closes his eyes — no. Even what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa calls ''satsaṅga'' is also a mananam.

If we study the Gospel of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa as an example, it is not that Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was speaking to some people 150 years back. Rāmakṛṣṇa is speaking right to me at the present time and all his words are addressed to me alone. How do I understand it? I have to pray to him. Because — ''dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt'' — only by his grace, not only will I get the essential teaching but even the methodology of how to understand this teaching properly — that also should come only through the grace of the Divine Mother. ''Dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt.''

I told you about the five powers of Gāyatrī. What is the first? That is ''samyak jñānam'' — right understanding. Then ''samyak smṛti'' — I must remember what I have understood rightly. Then I have to go on remembering it at the right time. When some danger comes or some unhappy event takes place, I should be able to recall it not like a student who has memorised everything, but as soon as he enters the examination hall, he hangs all his memories outside on a tree, and his mind becomes blank. As soon as the exam paper is presented, nothing comes to mind. But as soon as he comes out of the hall, all the memories spring back. That is not going to be useful.

So right memory — this is called ''samaya sphurti:'' the flashing of right memory at the right time alone can help us. That is the third power. Then we have to put it to good use but with a right motivation and not with any selfish motive. This is called ''niḥsvārtha buddhi prayogaśakti.'' After ''samaya sphurti'', we must be able to apply it all the time. Then the last thing, we must remember it is only by the grace of the Divine Mother that we will be able to succeed in our plan.

So — grace at the beginning, grace in the middle, grace in the end. That is what Totāpurī Mahārāj realised on the last day of his stay at Dakṣiṇeśvar: "I thought, all by myself, I obtained this ''samādhi.''" Then the Mother showed him the error of his thinking.

So from the beginning itself we must understand: the grace of God awakens us; the grace of God takes our hand and makes us progress; it is the grace of God which presents the obstacles — so that, like a gymnasium where we can strengthen our muscles through hard effort to overcome obstacles, we gain physical and mental strength and are able to keep our mind focused on God. Then through God, slowly, higher and higher realisations will come, and finally all realisations will be merged in one final realisation that there is no you and me, only one reality: ''satyam, jñānam, anantam, brahma.''
----

== The Seekers and Their Discussion ==
So this was the discussion which is also ''satsaṅga and'' which is also equated to ''mananam.'' So they were thinking: our teacher retained Brahma-jñāna — what did he become? What did he gain? He became everything. How did he become everything? Only by understanding: "I am everything."

Now the word "everything" is not used by a Brahma-jñānī, it is used by ignorant people like us. Because there is no question of "everything" from the viewpoint of a knower of Brahman. From the viewpoint of Brahman, there is no second — ''ekaṃ evādvitīyam.'' So therefore there is no second. Even the very outlook of a ''jīvanmukta'' is ''sarvaṃ khalvidaṃ brahma.'' That ''sarvam'' — "everything" — we have to understand clearly, is only our attribution of our understanding of this world from the viewpoint of the ''jīvanmukta.''

So it is not that the ''jīvanmukta'' says: "I have become everything." Just, Brahman means everything; there is no second. But since we are in the world, we cannot cross a limit and then understand what is unlimited. If we want to correctly understand the unlimited, we have to become the unlimited. But until that time, we have to guess and a sincere, honest, humble guess ,that is what these people are discussing.

Since there is only Brahman, God must be everything. ''Īśvaraḥ sarvabhūtānāṃ hṛddeśe arjuna tiṣṭhati.'' ''Īśāvāsyamidaṃ sarvaṃ yat kiñca jagatyāṃ jagat.'' Excepting Īśvara, there is nothing else.
----

== Vāmadeva's Realisation: Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi ==
So this was the discussion they were having. Then they understood: what did this realised soul — it can be one's own Guru or somebody else — what did he realise? ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' And as a result of that realisation, what did he gain? He became everything. What does that sentence really mean? It means, I have no death; I am pure, eternal existence; I am all knowledge, infinite knowledge and I am ''ānanda-svarūpa.''

And that is what has to be expressed. Because we have to keep in mind that until we come across a person who is spiritually progressing, we will not have any right idea about what we are thinking ,let alone understanding; even our thinking will not be correct. So we have to cultivate ''satsaṅga.''

What is ''satsaṅga?'' Find out a person who is more spiritually advanced than us and be in his presence — that is called ''satsaṅga.'' How do we know this person has advanced spiritually? Anybody who talks about spiritual life, about God, about Upaniṣads,however well the person might speak — that is not ''satsaṅga''. Of course it is a kind of ''satsaṅga'', but not real ''satsaṅga.''

What is real ''satsaṅga?'' That which transforms , that which influences, even to some slight degree, our behaviour that is called ''satsaṅga''. If you approach a blazing fire, you feel the heat. If you enter into an air-conditioned room, you must feel the cold breeze. If you say, "I am in the air-conditioned room but I don't feel the cold breeze," either you are unconscious, or you are dead, or you don't know what you are talking about.
----

== Characteristics of a Spiritually Advanced Person ==
So,what are the characteristics? I have already discussed so many characteristics — in fact, from the last part of the description of ''sthitaprajña lakṣaṇa'' at the end of the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gītā, from Arjuna's question until the end — it is the description of a realised soul. And such a realised soul is what we are talking about as ''satpuruṣa.''

But we may not get a completely realised soul. For us, it is enough to find out somebody who is one step ahead of us. So don't go on reading books and say, "I must get a ''sadguru'' who is a realiser of Brahman" — you may not get him. But find out somebody. How do we know what that somebody is?

First of all, he is always happy, whatever be the circumstances. Secondly, even if there are great problems — whether it is summer heat, political heat or oppression by enemies — the person will never lose his coolness. Nobody can affect his happiness because it is not influenced by outside circumstances but is coming from within himself, as a result of his realisation, which comes in the form of unshakeable knowledge. And then he understands: "I am such a happy person" — and we also feel that happiness so long as we are in his presence.

Then we also understand: this person doesn't expect anything from me. Because, remember — when we expect something from somebody, that shows our ignorance: that "by getting this thing from this person or object I will be more happy." That is not the truth. Here, you are getting happiness — you don't need to ask. Just like if you are near a fire, you don't say: "I am a beggar — please give me a little bit of heat." The fire, unconsciously , doesn't even think as it is its nature to distribute itself. To whomever approaches, it is ready to receive as much as the person is ready to receive.

So this person may not be joyful like a Brahma-jñānī but he will be much, much, much more joyful than us. How is he able to be joyful? Because he understands: if anything is happening, it is not because of some action — it is purely the grace of God. He feels the presence of God and God is ''ānanda-svarūpa.'' So he says: "Somebody is criticising me, that is the grace of God. Somebody is praising me , that is also the grace of God." He doesn't attribute anything to himself.

So he will be loving everybody equally because that critic of good and bad is much reduced in such an advanced person. Then there is nothing that a person cannot give you — he will give everything. Why? Because a person can give everything if a person owns an ocean. That person should not have any selfishness: "If I give one thimble full of water to this person, so that much will be less for me." No, he will be like an ocean: "Take as much as you want, and I will be full only."

And lastly, we have to understand that his only anxiety , if at all you find anxiety — is: "How to help anyone who sincerely approaches me advance towards God? I know what is good for them. How can I help this person? How can I convey this idea?" So what I am trying to tell you is that if anybody is spiritually progressing, one of the signs will be that he will be a joyful person. And when we approach such a person, willy-nilly, unconsciously, we become joyful. That is what we need to understand here.
----

== Vāmadeva and the Expression of Realisation ==
This is just the background — ''satsaṅga'' is very important, and this is the ''satsaṅga'' these seekers of Brahman are having.

Then ,how do we know that a person becomes everything? The only proof: Brahman doesn't come and say, "I have given realisation to this person; he has become everything." We have to be fortunate to come across some people.

So the mantra continues: there was a Ṛṣi called Vāmadeva, and he realised Brahman and he understood: "I am everything." And then he is expressing his realisation: "I am the originator" — that means, I am Brahmā; "I am Sūrya." Only two are mentioned, but we have to add by guessing — I am Indra, I am Chandra, I am Varuṇa, I am Viṣṇu, I am Rudra, I am the Divine Mother, I am Jesus Christ, I am Buddha.

That is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was expressing that he who has come as Rāma and Kṛṣṇa. Don't stop with only Rāma, Kṛṣṇa. How many millions of times have ''avatāras had'' come in the past? God alone knows. Even in this ''yuga'' itself, how many great people have come. Anybody who is more unselfish, anybody who is more loving, anybody who is dedicating his life to the service of God, such a person has a special manifestation of God. But what we call an ''avatāra'' — Christ, Buddha, all these were included in that word Rāma and Kṛṣṇa.

So Vāmadeva became imbued with that realisation of Brahman. "I am" — he is telling Sūrya — "I am Manu." In other words, he is saying: "I am this, I am you, you are not different from me." But that knowledge only he has. Manu has the knowledge, "I am you," but Manu doesn't have the knowledge, "I am Vāmadeva Ṛṣi." But we have to believe in him — that is also ''satsaṅga.'' Belief in the lives of great spiritual people is also ''satsaṅga.''
----

== The Devas and the Spiritually Advancing Soul ==
So since "I have become everything, I don't need anything because I am ''ānanda-svarūpa,'' I am ''jñāna-svarūpa,'' I am ''ānanta-svarūpa'' — ''pūrṇamadaḥ pūrṇamidaṃ.''"

Then the next idea: such a person who is sincerely advancing, gods gladly aid him; they would not put any obstructions. Then the mantra is explaining why they do not put obstructions.

He who thinks, "I am different — God is different" — I have discussed this point in great elaboration in my last class — such a person says, "This person is different from me and therefore I would like to keep him under my control." We like to do that — like a chicken farmer: where does he raise chickens? He wants to eat, he wants to sell, he wants to make profit. There is no animal, no bird on earth, which man is not using for his selfish enjoyments. Even colourful, feathered birds ,in millions and millions — man has honed his skill to make huge factories and farms, where on an industrial scale, we take advantage of them. And how much ''pāpa'' we are accumulating through this! That is why when we suffer, we don't understand what is the real cause. Unless we have done something wrong to one or many — usually many, and for a long time — the suffering also will be absolutely equal to the amount of evil we have done. Our happiness will also be equal to what good deeds we have done.

So therefore the Upaniṣad wants to say that the Devas really do not want to put any obstruction. What is the wonderful reason the Upaniṣad gives? They also understand you are not different from them. So you have become the Ātmā — their own self and they understand it. Therefore, just as we do not wish to do any harm to ourselves, we do not wish to create any unhappiness to ourselves .On the contrary, we only wish to promote happiness, however small or however short a time. So the Devas also feel: "May we help this person."
----

== The Story of Viśvāmitra and the Nature of Obstacles ==
Earlier I gave so many examples of how Indra had put obstructions. Why did he put them? You will have to go back and read this many times. It is not really an obstacle — he is helping Viśvāmitra. "You, person — your intention is good but your unconscious is rebelling against you. You are hiding so many things. And without gaining knowledge of what you are hiding, without passing the third class, you can't get promoted to the fourth class, let alone to the PhD." Otherwise, your ''permanent head damage'' will be there if you attempt prematurely!

And Viśvāmitra — as we can say — first understood his mistake and overcame it. Then a second time he understood his mistake that his desire had created another obstacle in the form of anger, like Mahiṣāsura. So he overcame that. Then he progressed. That is how slowly he became a Brahmarṣi. Then Vasiṣṭha pronounced him as a Brahma-jñānī, a Brahmarṣi. But Viśvāmitra was not happy, so he said: "If Brahmā comes and certifies, then I will accept." So Brahmā came and said: "Yes, truly and really you have become a Brahmarṣi." Thereafter we see in the Yoga Vāsiṣṭha — Viśvāmitra and Vasiṣṭha became what you call the closest friends. The whole Yoga Vāsiṣṭha Rāmāyaṇa is a marvellous episode — if we get the opportunity in the future, we will select some ślokas and go through them.
----

== Vidyā and Avidyā: The Two Sūtras ==
But for now — anybody who thinks, "I am everything; I am the Devas; I am the human beings; I am the ''manuṣyas'' — everything" — then he has attained ''sarvam.'' But if anybody thinks, "I am different from everybody else," that is called ''avidyā.''

So there are two ''sūtras.'' A ''sūtra'' means a brief teaching. ''Vidyā-sūtram'' — and ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi'' is called the ''vidyā-sūtram.'' "I am different" — ''atha anyadeva devatā, anyaḥ asau, anyaḥ aham asmi'' — "He is different, I am different." But now what we need to understand here: "Devatam" — if I worship Indra, I will get a lot of things. Are we not doing it in our day-to-day life? Of course we are not worshipping that Indra whom the Upaniṣad mentions here. No. What we are saying is: "If I worship this prime minister, if I flatter this president, if I flatter this chief minister, if I flatter this minister, I get a job" — even the smallest thing, the post of a peon. People are ready to pay black money. Blackening everybody — and every day a new scandal is breaking out. Such a person is under the spell of ''avidyā'' or ignorance, because there is nothing else excepting Brahman. If there is only Brahman, there are no many. That is called ''sarvam.''

''Sarvam'' is a special linguistic word we use from our ignorant point of view because we experience this infinite number of things. ''Sarvam'' means Ekam eva advitiyam — so Vāmadeva realised. Not only Vāmadeva — millions and millions of Ṛṣis, in every religion: Saint Francis of Assisi and so many Muslim saints. Govinda was one of them — Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa took initiation from him. Mishra was one of them, he had the vision of Jesus Christ. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa blessed him and gave him the vision of Jesus Christ.

And then anybody who follows the same footprints, follows the same pathway, experiments like a scientist in the same way — and what is that experiment? Moving from individuality to universality that is called ''virāṭ.'' Moving from lower ''kośa'' to higher ''kośa.'' Finally, he overcomes all the five ''kośas.'' He overcomes all identification with all three bodies — gross, subtle, and causal and then he understands: "I am everything."
----

== The Concept of Jīvanmukta ==
And what is the concept of ''jīvanmukta?'' God — out of compassion, ''Saguṇa Brahma Īśvara'' — out of compassion, keeps some of the ''jīvanmuktas'' for the propagation of ''śāstra.'' Actually, ''śāstra'' means ''śruti.'' ''Śruti'' means that which is given little by little to different knowers of Brahman: "You propagate this much." The essence is the same. All essences of every realised soul is only the Mahāvākya: That God alone exists; Brahman exists. I, you, anything else — it doesn't exist.

So that is ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' Any person who has this knowledge exhibits certain characteristics in the form of understanding. What are those things?

First — ''brahma eva avidyayā saṃsarati:'' Brahman alone thinks because of ignorance, that "I am coming from Brahman, I am in ''saṃsāra,'' I am moving from one birth to another birth." But ''brahma eva vidyayā mucyate'' — the same ''jīvātmā,'' when Brahman is under the spell of ''avidyā,'' is called ''jīvātmā.'' And the same ''jīvātmā,'' when he acquires knowledge — ''vidyayā mucyate'' — ''mucyate'' means he becomes liberated. Liberated means,he doesn't attain liberation. It is to say: "My thinking was wrong. I thought I was bound, I was never bound."

Like a king who, after a nice dinner, has a troubled dream where he was dragged to a dungeon and was being beaten black and blue. Suddenly he wakes up because somebody gives him, in that dungeon, a terribly big blow — and he wakes up and starts smiling: "What a foolish dream! I was imagining, I was never in the dungeon. And I am awake now — I was here only, all the time." So that is what it means.
----

== Śaṅkarācārya's Bhāṣya: Who Is Really in Bondage? ==
Then there is a discussion. Śaṅkarācārya, as usual, gives a marvellous ''Bhāṣya'' — it is called ''Mahāvākya-Bhāṣya.'' And then he says: who keeps one really in bondage? Who is in bondage — is it gods? is it God? Is it ''kāla?'' Is it birth?

So what is this discussion for? He says: earlier we discussed that a person who thinks, "I am different from the gods — of course God also — I am different from God; I am small, he is big; I am having very little power, he has every power; he can help me, so I worship him" — anybody thus dependent becomes a ''paśu.'' And I also mentioned in my last class — because it is such an important mantra — we are not only slaves through worship of external Gods. Everything upon which we depend is a ''devatā.'' If I cannot function properly without tea or coffee — bed tea or bed coffee — that is my ''devatā.'' If I cannot live happily without YouTube, YouTube is my Google ''devatā.'' Like that, you can imagine: anything which makes you unhappy when absent — that is the ''devatā.'' As soon as that ''devatā'' is present — coffee is present, tea is present, YouTube is present, stomachache is removed that medicine becomes ''devatā.''

So he becomes like a ''paśu,'' like a slave — enslaved. What is the essence? Dependence is slavery; slavery means dependence. A ''jīvanmukta'' is one who overcomes this slavery, and then finds out: "There is nobody other than me — it is only my wrong thinking."
----

== Divine Providence and Karma ==
And this is beautifully given — then: why do people suffer? From our ignorant point of view, who is responsible? Is it the gods? Is it time? Is it circumstances? No.

That is why in the Bhagavad Gītā we are told: is the body responsible? Is the ''jīvātmā'' responsible? Are the sense organs responsible? Are our efforts in the form of many actions responsible for our life here? No,it says only Divine Providence. And what is Divine Providence? That according to the ''pūrva-janma-karma,'' the result is allotted to us by ''vidhātā'' and that is called Divine Providence. It is God who bestows whether a person is a happy person or an unhappy person. And it is God who gives — here is a grand musician, here is a grand symphony writer like Beethoven, here is a grand singer like M.S. Subbalakshmi, here is a grand tabla player, a great scientist.

Consider nowadays how AI has become so popular — how these people are using their brain, honing it to the highest degree of sharpness, so that we cannot even think what they are doing. Only after they create it and then out of that the technologists create various gadgets — then we understand: "My God — if the gadget itself is giving me so much of result, good or bad, how much will be the creator of the gadgets?" Creator means knowledge. So we understand how people get these gifts. God doesn't sit and give them at random, like an American lottery ticket. No — he gives us completely in accordance with our ''karma-phala'' only.

So our ''karma-phala'' alone is responsible for our bondage; therefore our ''karma-phala'' alone will be responsible for our liberation.
----

== The Stages of Spiritual Progress ==
How does this spiritual progress go forward? First, from ''deha-abhimāna'' to ''ātma-abhimāna.'' Through the imagery of the three bodies: from ''deha-abhimāna'' to ''mano-abhimāna,'' from ''mano-abhimāna'' to ''prajña-abhimāna.'' In other words — from ''deha-ātma-buddhi'' to ''virāṭ,'' from ''virāṭ'' to ''Hiraṇyagarbha,'' from ''Hiraṇyagarbha'' to ''Īśvara,'' and beyond ''Īśvara,'' beyond ''Saguṇa Brahma'' also.

Or, from the other imagery — the ''pañca-kośas:'' from ''jīva-bhāva'' to ''Brahma-bhāva,'' through the five ''kośas'' as we were seeing in the Taittirīya Upaniṣad. So from ''annamaya-kośa'' to ''prāṇa,'' to ''mano,'' to ''vijñāna,'' to ''ānandamaya-kośa.'' And then: go beyond — ''ānandaṃ brahma, ānandaṃ brahma'' — that is not a ''kośa,'' that is Brahman. ''Ānandaṃ.''

So the seeker doesn't travel to Brahman, produce Brahman, or become Brahman. He merely discovers — through the destruction of ignorance or ''avidyā'' — that he has never been anything other than Brahman. He was, he is, and he would be Brahman only.
----

== Gauḍapāda's Kārikā: The Absolute Truth ==
This is the essence that he gives. And this was beautifully summarised by Gauḍapāda in our Māṇḍūkya Kārikā — if you remember, in the second section, the 32nd verse, he summarised this whole thing. What is it?

'''न निरोधो न चोत्पत्तिर्न बद्धो न च साधकः ।'''

'''न मुमुक्षुर्न वै मुक्त इत्येषा परमार्थता ॥ ३२ ॥'''

''na nirodho na cotpattir na baddho na ca sādhakaḥ |''

''na mumukṣur na vai mukta ity eṣā paramārthatā || 32 ||''

Brahman is never in bondage. Brahman never becomes ''jīvātmā.'' Brahman never realises, "I am bound and I have to get out." Brahman never practises spiritual practice. This is all within the realm of the ''jīva's'' thought processes. This is what he says — 2.32:

''"This is the highest spiritual truth: there is no dissolution, there is no birth, there is no bondage, there is no aspiring to become Brahman, there is no seeker of liberation, and there is none liberated."'' This is the absolute truth.
----

== Śaṅkarācārya's Bhāṣya: Karma and Jñāna Cannot Change Brahman's Nature ==
Now I just want to elaborate on this subject, and then we will go to the next. This one — actually, Śaṅkarācārya has a very tough ''Bhāṣya'' on this — 1.4.10, the 10th mantra, ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' And therein he raises many opponents. There was one opponent called Bhartṛprapañca and he was very powerful.

So all those things we were discussing — that Brahman became ''jīvātmā,'' that ''jīvātmā'' realised "I am in bondage," that ''jīvātmā'' understood "I have to get out of this bondage" and approached a Guru — so he was not Brahman but through ''sādhanā'' he became Brahman — and then Śaṅkarācārya gives some of the most marvellous psychological insights into it.

So what is the first thing he says? That ''karma'' cannot change one's nature. Any action you do, any amount of action — the sweetness of sugar will never become bitter. You cannot call it sugar and say it is bitter. Sweet means sweet — that sweetness is its very nature and no amount of ''karma'' can change it.

We have got a beautiful wisdom saying in the Telugu language by a great poet called Vemaṇa, wherein he says: you bring a black-coloured rat and then, through all the processes of first-class soap, first-class powders, first-class scents — do everything — and the skin is not going to become white. It will remain that same — it will not change at all.

So ''karma'' doesn't change nature. And what does ''karma'' do? It removes all the obstacles.

Then what about ''jñānam'' — will ''jñānam'' give ''mokṣa?'' No — ''jñānam'' also will not give ''mokṣa.'' The essence of ''jñāna'' — knowledge — is not to give liberation or ''mukti.'' What does it do? Just like what does light do: when you are mistaking that here is a snake and you are terribly scared, then somebody brings the light. Does the light change the snake into a rope? Never. Knowledge cannot change anything. What does it do? Through right knowledge — by bringing light — it destroys all the wrong knowledge. On the contrary, what does wrong knowledge do? It destroys all the right knowledge. But it doesn't change. ''Avidyā'' does not make a rope into a snake; light does not make a snake into a rope. Their function only is: making us understand right knowledge as wrong knowledge, or wrong knowledge as right knowledge.

So therefore what he wants to say is: neither ''karma'' nor ''jñāna'' — both will not help us in realising that we are Brahman. But what does ''jñānam'' do? It brings us light. And in the light of that light, we understand: we were Brahman, we are Brahman, we will be Brahman — and that is by nature; it can never change.
----

== The Four Mahāvākyas and Their Progression ==
So this is one of the most marvellous Mahāvākyas — ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' Just to remind — there were other three chosen out of hundreds, just to represent them. What are they? ''Prajñānaṃ brahma, ayamātmā brahma, tattvamasi'' and then of course ''ahaṃ brahmāsmi.''

So I told you earlier, I will just dwell upon that. In a way, actually, any Mahāvākya can destroy the ignorance and bring us to know who we really are. But in a way of speaking, there is an order.

''Prajñānaṃ brahma'' — consciousness; be conscious, be aware; cultivate continuous awareness — ''prajñānaṃ brahma'' — and that leads to Brahman.

And then what does the consciousness say? Consciousness is not separate from you. ''Ayamātmā brahma'' — "I am; my consciousness is Brahma; your consciousness is Brahma; everybody's consciousness is Brahma." Since I am still deeply embedded, caught in the net of ''avidyā,'' I am still going on thinking that I am a ''jīvātmā.'' But no — in this ''jīvātmā'' there are two: ''jīva'' — body-mind — and ''Ātmā'' — pure consciousness. The separation of these two, where ''jīva-bhāva'' is temporary and ''Ātmā-bhāva'' is permanent — that is called ''Ayamātmā brahma.'' Pure consciousness, which goes through the gross body, waking state, dream state, dreamless state — but never gets involved within it. That is ''sākṣī-kevalāham.'' That is called ''Ayamātmā brahma.''

When we progress a little bit — when a seeker goes still further — then the Guru directly points out: ''tattvamasi'' — "You think you have consciousness, you think you are not consciousness, but Guru removes that and says: you are not having consciousness — you are consciousness." That is called ''tattvamasi'' — "That thou art."

And then through further spiritual efforts, by the grace of God, a person — a seeker — realises: ''ahaṃ brahmāsmi'' — "I was Brahma, I am Brahma, I will be Brahma." These are marvellous ideas.
----

== The Methodology of Scripture: Rapport and Guidance ==
Now, from the next class onwards we will take up a little more of the details. As you understand, I am paying so much attention because this first chapter is called ''Upadeśa-kāṇḍa.'' The entire essence of every Upaniṣad is embedded in this first chapter and especially in this fourth chapter, especially in the mantras 9 and 10. That is why this is the very essence, the sum and sum total of every scripture in the world.

Then, how to attain that? ''Sādhanā'' is necessary. That is what comes. So this scripture — what is called the methodology — says: "Yes, yes, yes — Brahman has become the world." Not really agreeing, but just to help us, like a psychologist. A successful psychologist first tells: "Yes, yes, you are right. You have every right. Those other people are the causes of your misery." Then the patient gains rapport. And once that process of rapport is complete, then the psychologist slowly tells: "You can deal with that. You don't need to suffer. You can overcome it, you can rise above it." Then only the real psychological help starts.

Until that time, until rapport is established,what my Guru tells is that absolute true spiritual progress will not come. Beautiful ideas are there ,we will talk about them in our next class.
----

== Closing Prayer ==
ॐ जननीं शारदां देवीं रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुम् ।

पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहुः ॥

''Om Jānānāṃ Śāradāṃ Devīṃ Rāmakṛṣṇaṃ Jagadgurum''

''Pada Padme Tayo Śṛtvā Praṇamāmi Muhur Muhuh''

May Rāmakṛṣṇa, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekānanda bless us all with Bhakti.

''Jai Rāmakṛṣṇa!''
[[Category:Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]]

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.1.3 Lecture 18 on 22 March 2026

2026-06-28T07:07:25Z

Geetha: edited the whole page. marked the last word in bold where Maharaj has spoken more but only one line is added as a gist here. whether to add that fully or leave it like this

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

== Opening Invocation ==
'''ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात् पूर्णमुदच्यते ।'''

'''पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ॥'''

'''ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥'''

'''OM PŪRṆAMADAḤ PŪRṆAMIDAM PŪRṆĀT PŪRṆAMUDACYATE'''

'''PŪRṆASYA PŪRṆAMĀDĀYA PŪRṆAMEVA VAŚIṢYATE'''

'''OM ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTIHI.'''

Om. That Brahman is infinite, and this universe is also infinite. The infinite proceeds from the infinite. Taking the infinitude of the infinite universe, it remains as the infinite Brahman alone.

OM Peace, Peace, Peace be unto all.

== Recap: The Essence of the Third Section ==
We have been studying the third section of the first chapter of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad. In our last class, we have given the essence of it.

The essence of this third section is: we have all come from God, and our destiny is to go back to God. But we are somehow caught in the net of ignorance. Ignorance means that we we are not Brahman, that we are not from Brahman, that we are separate from Brahman. But every evidence proves that we are nothing but individual manifestations of Brahman but in the form of his manifestations called presiding deities: Ākāśa, Vāyu, Agni, Āpaḥ, and Pṛthvī.

=== The Presiding Deities and the Individual ===
What is the difference between a presiding deity and each one of our individualities? Every part of our both body and mind is a manifestation, individually, of these presiding deities. For example:

* The mind is the manifestation of the moon.
* The ears are the manifestation of space, or Ākāśa.
* The sense organ of touch is the manifestation of Vāyu.
* The heat in our body, called Prāṇa, is the manifestation of Agni.
* The watery part of our body belongs to the Jala Devatā.
* The physical body is the part of the Pṛthvī Devatā.

The mind also contains all these five parts, but they are called Tanmātras — very subtle, so subtle that we cannot feel them. We can experience them only through these physical sense organs.

=== The Longing to Return ===
The individual body and mind is ever longing to go back to its origin. Every effect longs to go back to its origin, and that is called evolution. The third section tells this in the form of a small allegory — that there are two types of people: selfish and unselfish.

What keeps us as individuals bound in this net of ignorance called Māyā is selfishness. What is selfishness? "I am different from everything else." What is unselfishness? "I am one with everything." When any one of us succeed in getting rid of this selfishness, which means we become unselfish, which means we identify ourselves with everything else, which means there is no "me" and "everything else," it is all but one. When we slowly progress towards that identity:

* First we become Virāṭ.
* Then we become Hiraṇyagarbha.
* Then we become Mahat.
* Then we become Īśvara.
* Finally, we also become one with Brahman, to declare -''Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi.''

And if this body-mind still persists as individuality, then that individual person, he knows not only "I am Brahman," but also: there is nothing else excepting Brahman — everything is nothing but Brahman.
----

== The Nature of a Jīvanmukta ==
That is how a Jīvanmukta — one liberated while still having a body and mind — understands reality. He knows that others call him a Jīvanmukta, but a Jīvanmukta never calls himself, "I am a Jīvanmukta."

Our concept of a Jīvanmukta is this: previously this person was ignorant and he he did some spiritual practice, obtained guidance from the right Guru, and through practice slowly came to know he is Brahman — as if we had lost our Brahmanhood, our true nature, and through some great merit we came across a teacher, obtained his instruction, followed the path shown by him, and came to realise, "I am Brahman." This is our concept of what a Jīvanmukta is.

But once a person understands, thereafter — if the body-mind remains — such a person whom we call a Jīvanmukta never feels that way. He never feels, "At one time I was Brahman, then I forgot I was Brahman, then I remembered I am Brahman, and ever since I am living with the knowledge I am Brahman." These are not his thoughts. For him, time does not exist, limitations do not exist, mind does not exist, Māyā does not exist. He never thinks, "Somehow I fell into something called Saṃsāra, and somehow by the grace of God and Guru I came out." That would not be the thoughts of a Jīvanmukta. This is the distinction we have to know.
----

== The Path: Manifesting Our Divinity ==
So what is the essence of the third section? We have to manifest our divinity. And how do we manifest it? By practising certain spiritual disciplines called Yogas. How do they help us? By getting rid of our selfishness — which is, in other words, "I am separate from you."

Gradually, as we progress: "No, I am not separate from you. I am part of you. You are part of me." That is a higher step. And then still, the last step is, "There is no I and you. Everything is God alone. God alone. There is nothing else."

If you analyse any type of Sādhanā — whether it is Christian, Islamic, Hindu, Buddhist, or any other — their opinions about God might differ, and what happens after death might differ. But in Sādhanā there is no difference. Progress in spirituality means progress in getting rid of, reducing selfishness. Reducing selfishness means reducing the distinction between me and the others. That is the essence. Such a person, in course of time, will become a Jīvanmukta.

=== The Graduated Path of Symbols ===
Since every one of us has to start somewhere, the Upaniṣads tell us: first you take a very gross symbol, called a horse. Then you take another symbol that is even better, that is called Agni, or fire. Then take an even better symbol, which is the very personification of unselfishness, called Prāṇa. And in the end, when I become identified with Prāṇa, I become Prāṇadevatā, which is called Virāṭ. Virāṭ realises, "I am Hiraṇyagarbha." And Hiraṇyagarbha realises, "I am none other than Īśvara." And Īśvara knows, "I am none other than Brahman." This is the process we have.
----

== Śaṅkarācārya's Intellectual Refutation: The Pot Analogy ==
Then Śaṅkarācārya gives us an intellectual exercise — a refutation. Remember, earlier he has refuted through a commentary called the pot commentary (''Ghaṭabashyam'') that in the beginning Brahman alone was, and the whole creation came from Brahman like a pot has come from clay. The pot is absolutely one with clay. A pot has no special separate existence. But because of our concept that it is small, that it is square, etc., we give a particular form for a particular purpose, give it a name, and we think it is separate from clay. Through analysis, however, Brahman is alone manifesting as this entire universe, like the waker manifests as the entire dream world, which is a very common experience for all of us.

The conclusion is: I am the waker. The dream world is nothing but me, idly, uselessly dreaming that I have become separate from myself. When I wake up, I realise that everything I thought I created is none other than me. I am the intelligent cause. I am the material cause. I am the instrumental cause.

Then, Śaṅkarācārya wants to refute another ''Pūrvapakṣa'' — a prior objection. As I said, this discussion may or may not directly help in spiritual life, but definitely, we have to cultivate our intellect, for the simple reason that God has already provided us with the capacity to understand. Whatever God has given, we have to use that faculty to manifest our divinity. This is the purpose, and that is what we need to do.
----

== Two Types of Knowledge ==
So, wherefrom are we getting knowledge? Whatever knowledge we are getting is divided into two parts:

# What we are experiencing.
# What we hope — such as: "There must be a God. He must have created the entire universe and me also. And he who created me is my father and mother. And whenever I am suffering, I have to pray to him to help me stop this suffering."

And we are also not happy with the happiness we have at present — we want to increase it to the optimum or maximum level. These are the struggles.

=== The Three Unconscious Prayers — The Abhyāroha Mantras ===
That will be discussed at the end of the very last mantra — the 28th mantra — called the ''Abhyāroha Mantra''. The three unconscious prayers of every living creature are:

* ''Asato mā sadgamaya'' — Let me not have death; lead me from the unreal to the real.
* ''Tamaso mā jyotirgamaya'' — Let me never be ignorant of anything. Ignorance is death; ignorance is suffering.
* ''Mṛtyormā amṛtaṃgamaya'' — Let me never have any interruption or break in my happiness.

So: I am Ānanda Svarūpa — Sat, Cit, Ānanda Svarūpa — expressed through these three prayers called the Abhyāroha Mantras, which happen to come in the last mantra of this third section, which we will discuss later.
----

== The Schools of Philosophy: Pūrva Mīmāṃsā and Uttara Mīmāṃsā ==
There are several schools of philosophy, and some among them have very peculiar positions. They say there is no God, there are no Gods — but the Veda is a Pramāṇa, a valid means of knowledge. And what does the Veda give us? Science gives us correct, uncontradictable knowledge about this world; only when it is right knowledge, it is called scientific knowledge. But we are not happy with this alone. We want to know whether there is a God, whether there is a higher state of happiness, whether there is another world where conditions are where there are no wars and just like a club and programs are designed to make us happy.

Whatever happiness I attain, I am never satisfied. I want higher and still higher happiness, until I become one with pure happiness, which is called Ānanda. So that subject we will discuss later on.

=== What Is Vedānta? ===
Now, "Vedānta philosophy" is a common word. There is Pūrva Mīmāṃsā and Uttara Mīmāṃsā — both are schools of Vedānta only. Why do we call them Vedānta? Because the teachings of the Vedas are accepted b'''y both.'''

=== Who Is a Believer in Hinduism? ===
According to Hinduism, who is a believer? If you ask a Christian — one who believes in Christ, God and the Bible — he is a Christian. The same goes for Islam and many other religions. But according to Hinduism, a person who believes in the Vedas ie, who holds the Veda to be the ultimate scripture, not created by human beings (''pauruṣeya''), but it is divine (''apauruṣeya'') '''is a believer.'''

There are three types of believers:

# Those who say, "I believe in God, but I do not believe in the scriptures."
# Those who say, "I believe in the scriptures only; I do not believe in God."
# Those who believe both in God as well as in the scriptures.

Most of us belong to this third group. According to Hinduism, one need not accept that God exists. It is more than enough if a person accepts, "I am divine." That is the real teaching. For if I think I am not divine, I am bound and I can be freed by action. The indications for how I can be freed through certain actions are indicated by the scriptures, and for me those indications are absolute '''authority'''.

So a Pūrva Mīmāṃsaka says: "I believe in some parts of the Veda — those parts only which indicate that life is meant for rituals, ''Karma Pradhāna'', ''Karma Codhanā''. I do not believe in the other statements." Because such a person says he believes in the Veda, Hinduism accepts him as a believer, unlike many other religions. That is the distinction.
----

== Śaṅkarācārya's Refutation of Pūrva Mīmāṃsā ==
Now, Śaṅkarācārya wants to correct this wrong and irrational thinking.

=== The Pūrva Mīmāṃsā Position ===
If you ask the Pūrva Mīmāṃsakas what is the use of believing in only one part of the Veda then their clipped answer would be: "We are all free people; we are Ātman. And to know that I am the Ātman or Brahman and become free forever, that is the goal of life. The Vedas distinctly provide me a pathway for that, and that pathway lies through the performance of rituals."

So, every sentence which does not connect us with some action, with some ritual is merely a vain word, a meaningless word, a useless word. So every word, directly or indirectly, must connect us with some action, some ritual. This is the Pūrva Mīmāṃsā's main view.

As I mentioned, because they believe in the Vedas — and the teachings of the Veda are called Vedānta — they are also called Vedāntins. But they are Pūrva Mīmāṃsā Vedāntins, believing only in the Karmakāṇḍa part of the Veda.

As opposed to them — like Śaṅkara, Buddha, Sri Rāmakṛṣṇa, and others — we believe in the second part. What is the role of the first part called the rituals? It is to purify us, gradually to make the body and mind fit instruments, to prepare us to become ''Adhikārīs'', fit persons, by endowing us with the fourfold qualities called ''Sādhana Catuṣṭaya Saṃpatti''. Then an experienced teacher will come. Whether we want it or not, as soon as I am ready, God himself will come in the form of a Guru.

All Gods and Goddesses are true according to our view — not according to the Pūrva Mīmāṃsā's view. Then the Guru will teach:

* '''Śravaṇa''' — "This is your path; do this."
* '''Manana''' — If any doubts are there, they must be completely destroyed and removed until we know it is one hundred percent truth.
* '''Nididhyāsana''' — How to make our life one with our faith — in other words, to transform our life into pure unselfishness.

This is the view of the Uttara Mīmāṃsakas. So,Pūrva Mīmāṃsā specialises in the ritual portions of the Veda, called Karmakāṇḍa. And we who stand in the other part — Uttara Mīmāṃsā, which is Vedānta,dealing with the Jñānakāṇḍa, the knowledge portions of the Veda. Advaitins like Gauḍapāda, Govinda Bhagavatpāda, Śaṅkarācārya, Totāpurī, Rāmakṛṣṇa, and Swami Vivekananda , all of us, we all belong to this Uttara Mīmāṃsā school.
----

== The Core Pūrva Mīmāṃsā Argument ==
So let us take up, very briefly but with crystal clear understanding, the Pūrva Mīmāṃsā position.

The Pūrva Mīmāṃsaka says: only rituals matter. Everything else is completely '''unimportant.''' Every sentence which does not prescribe or connect us to some action or ritual is just merely a vain, meaningless, useless word. One gets rid of ignorance only through rituals and actions. That is why it is called ''Veda Kārya Paraḥ'' — the Veda is nothing but centred in prescribing and making all of us do rituals or actions.

There was a person called Jaimini , a very disciple of Vedavyāsa — who propagated this philosophy and summed up the entire Pūrva Mīmāṃsā theory in this one verse:

'''आम्नायस्य क्रियार्थत्वादानर्थक्यमतदर्थानाम्।'''

''Āmnāyasya kriyārthatva anarthakya atatarthanaḥ.''

''Āmnāya'' means the Veda. The entire purport of the Veda is ''kriyārtha'' — for the sake of making us undertake some action. Action here means ritual, not any ordinary action such as "I am walking" or "I am breathing." Only actions performed to ensure my evolution through some ritual that alone,deserve the name "action."
----

== Vidhi and Arthavāda: The Two Types of Vedic Statements ==
Based on this belief, the Pūrva Mīmāṃsakas divide the entire statements of the Vedas into two types: '''Vidhi''' and '''Arthavāda'''.

* '''Vidhi''' means commandments or injunctions that prescribe rituals. These alone are valid, these alone are authoritative, and these alone constitute the real teaching of the Veda.
* '''Arthavādaḥ''' — all other statements, such as descriptions of Gods, other worlds, many stories, praising passages and cosmological accounts, these are all considered secondary, irrelevant, non-factual, and invalid.

In their framework, the Pūrva Mīmāṃsakas note that there are statements at every step in the rituals, even in their own ritualistic portions — such as: ''Indrāyasvāhā, Varuṇāyasvāhā, Agnayesvāhā'' , "I offer this to Indra, I offer this to Varuṇa, I offer this to Agni" (as we also do in Pūjā and Homa time). When questioned, they say these are just imaginary, decorative, and useful only to motivate a person to perform a ritual. The gods, do not exist. The ritual — the Karma alone — is the giver of the fruit.

So a Pūrva Mīmāṃsaka does not believe in the very existence of gods, not to speak of God. And yet he believes in Mokṣa — that is, that one can become completely free from all suffering through actions alone. If you ask them how a ritual produces its result — for example, when you offer something saying ''Indrāyasvāhā'' — they say: the action itself, the Karma itself, is so powerful that it gives the result.

In fact, we also believe this — every Karma brings its own result. That is one of the fundamental pillars of Hinduism, the fourth pillar which is '''Karma Siddhānta''': we are all what we are because of where we were born; however our fates are already determined by the actions we have done in our past lives. So Karma itself is capable of giving its own result there no need for gods and goddesses etc.
----

== The Role of Arthavāda: An Example ==
So all other things — other than what prescribes actions — is Arthavādas: secondary, merely praising, or irrelevant, unless they are connected with a ritual. For example: suppose we hear, ''Brahma Lokah asti'' — "There is a world called Brahmaloka." If you put this sentence to a Pūrva Mīmāṃsaka, he says it is Arthavāda. But does it not serve any purpose? Yes, not directly but indirectly. It is like saying there is a restaurant where the food is very tasty,that is Arthavāda. But when you want to enjoy something, you remember it and it makes you go to that restaurant. You have to carry some money to pay, and then you will be served.

So similarly: "There is a Brahmaloka; there the highest enjoyment is available." That goads us: "Oh, it is a wonderful place — the finest of all, and I would like to go there." But to go there, we have to pay a very high price, and that price can be obtained only through '''rituals'''. So Arthavāda indirectly goads one toward ritual action. This they accept.
----

== Epistemology: The Science of Right Knowledge ==
The Pūrva Mīmāṃsakas also state an epistemological argument. Epistemology is that branch of philosophy which deals with: what is knowledge, what is right knowledge, what is wrong knowledge, how to obtain right knowledge. It is the science of right knowledge.

So when Śaṅkarācārya wants to establish that the whole Veda — every single word written in it — is a Pramāṇa, an authority, and absolutely true, he has to address this. Not as the Pūrva Mīmāṃsakas think — that only the rituals are true and the givers of results but that every sentence in the Veda is absolute '''truth'''.

=== How Do We Obtain Knowledge? ===
How do we get our ordinary knowledge? You see a tree you have never seen before. You ask somebody what that object is, and the person knows. He says, "It is called a tree; it belongs to the species called plants and it yields beautiful fruits which are most desirable. It gives fruits only at a particular season. In summer, it is called a mango tree." Now you have heard: "This is a mango tree." The next time whenever you see that or a similar tree, you say, "This is a mango tree." Slowly you go on getting more knowledge — "This is a neem tree, this is an apple tree, this is a berry plant, this is a lemon plant"etc and so on. You are accumulating millions of pieces of knowledge. Every word indicates a particular object.

=== Words, Sentences, and the Role of the Verb ===
Now the Pūrva Mīmāṃsakas tell us something important. Suppose you know: "Rāma" is one word, "Lakṣmaṇa" is another word, "Sītā" is another word. Individually, if someone says to you, "Rāma, Sītā, Lakṣmaṇa" — what do you understand? Because these have not become a sentence; they remain as meaningless words. The meanings are there, but they do not make any sense '''together'''.

But: "Rāma is walking along with Lakṣmaṇan and Sītā in a forest called Daṇḍakāraṇya." Now that is a sentence. Every word in the sentence must be connected. And what is it that connects? The verb. That is why there must be a subject, there must be an object, and there must be that which connects both of them which is the verb. That is called Kartā, Karma, and Kriyā.

In this example: "Rāma is walking with Lakṣmaṇan and Sītā" — that makes sense. "Kṛṣṇa and Gopīs",if you hear those two words, you know the meaning of Kṛṣṇa and the meaning of Gopīs but together they make no sense. "Kṛṣṇa is dancing with the Gopīs" — now the ''Kriyā'', the verb, "is dancing," connects everything and makes it a sentence.

So a sentence is a Pramāṇa. Every sentence connects all the words, and what connects all the words in a sentence is the verb. Every verb indicates an action. A verb without fail always must be there; without that, words are '''meaningless'''. And the verb's purpose and its utility, lies in connecting the subject and object through the action. These are called Kārakas or Vibhaktis.

So Śaṅkarācārya is trying to analyse and say: "These sentences make meaning." The Pūrva Mīmāṃsakas make this absolutely crystal clear: a word is not a Pramāṇa — not an authority — because without a verb it remains meaningless. But a sentence is an authority. And what does the sentence do? Every sentence reveals the relationship among the objects denoted by its words.

=== An Extended Example: The Kārakas ===
Consider: "Rāma killed Rāvaṇāsura with arrows with the help of a bow." Here, Rāma becomes the subject (nominative), Rāvaṇa becomes the object (objective), and Rāvaṇāsura is defeated and destroyed — but with the help of bow and arrows (instrumental case). And through that action, Rāma removed the evil that brought on suffering to so many '''people.'''

The grammar divides it thus: nominative case, objective case, instrumental case, dative case, locative case, and so forth. "Where did Rāma kill?" — In Sri Laṅkā. That is the location. These sentences, which contain verbs and reveal their relationships , that alone is Pramāṇa, according to the Pūrva Mīmāṃsakas. Everything else is completely meaningless.
----

== Pramāṇa: The Right Means of Knowledge ==
A Pramāṇa means the right means of knowledge. If you want to see very minute things, you require an instrument called a microscope. If you want to see objects at a very long distance, you require another instrument called a '''telescope.''' These instruments only extend the range of my eye, making it capable of seeing both the very small and the very distant. Therefore, the instruments are required for what purpose? To get knowledge about small living creatures like bacteria or long-distance stars etc , which even the human eye can never see. That is how science is progressing.

Therefore the Pūrva Mīmāṃsakas believe that through the seven Kārakas (called "cases" in English grammar) and the structure of meaningful sentences, the Vedas teach us. They describe precisely: you gather some firewood from a particular tree, place it at a particular spot, sit facing the east, perform certain rituals, offer certain things and then you are sure to obtain the result, because it is Karmakāṇḍa Prāmāṇya. But all other things — "Indra is great, Candra is great, Brahman is great, Īśvara is great" these are all Arthavādas, because they do not directly or indirectly goad a person to do some ritual action.
----

== The Two Conditions for Vedic Authority ==
So what is a Pramāṇa? What is the right means of knowledge? For this, two conditions are put:

# The knowledge obtained through a particular instrument should not have been available before through any other instrument.
# It should not contradict what has already been known.

For example: if my eyes can see that the sun rises in the east, I don't need the Veda. My ordinary eyes, everybody's eyes can see the sun early in the morning; we gave the name "eastern direction" to that. For that, the Veda need not come and tell me. I am eating a sweet ,the Veda need not come and say, "This is a sweet dish and it will give you pleasure." I can experience that through my sense organs.

So if the Veda has to give us right knowledge, it must fulfil these two conditions: it should not give us knowledge already obtained through other means (our five sense organs, mind, etc.), and it should never contradict what we already know. If the Veda says, "The sun rises in the west," simply throw it out, because it contradicts what we already know.

Naturally, these two conditions lead to a third conclusion: the knowledge that the Veda gives is never available through any other means, and it never contradicts what we already know. And what is the type of knowledge ? That you are divine — that you are coming from Brahman (or rather, not really "coming," you are Brahman, you will always be Brahman alone) and this knowledge, no science can give. Science can neither prove God nor disprove God. Why? Because that is not its field. The instruments used through science are nothing but our five sense organs and '''mind'''.

Therefore, the Veda gives very specific knowledge which is not available through any other means. Therefore it cannot be contradicted. So Veda is a Pramāṇa.
----

== The Central Dispute: Arthavāda vs. Absolute Vedic Authority ==
But what is the crux of the problem? The Pūrva Mīmāṃsakas say only one part of the Veda is real; everything else is Arthavādas or Bhūtārthavādas. The Pūrva Mīmāṃsakas say,all sentences in the Veda which do not directly or indirectly lead to some form of action are called Arthavādas ie. secondary knowledge, not necessary unless they are connected with a ritual.

For that, one of the clinching arguments that Śaṅkarācārya will give ,which we have to discuss in our next class — is this:

Wherefrom has this universe come, which consists of you — the Pūrva Mīmāṃsaka — and me, the Uttara Mīmāṃsaka — and which gave you your body and mind? It has come from a cause. Whether you choose to call that cause Brahman or nature is a different issue. But you are in effect; you must have come from a particular cause. And what is the nature of that cause? You don't know. Like the pot does not know, "I am from clay; I am of the nature of clay; I am never different from clay."

So if our final cause is Brahman, what is the nature of Brahman? It is described in the Taittirīya Upaniṣad, second chapter, as: ''Satyaṃ Jñānam Anantaṃ Brahma.'' And every Upaniṣad tells us it is Sat, Cit, Ānanda. You have no death. You have no ignorance. You are all-knowing. You are all-powerful because knowledge is power. And your very nature is Ānanda.

Now, what are you doing? You are trying to get Ānanda through some object ,either a small object or a higher, bigger one — going through Svargaloka, heavenly worlds and so on. But that is not the point. The point is: you are not merely seeking happiness, you are of the nature of happiness itself — and you are trying to squeeze happiness from some other object. Whereas Vedānta- Uttara Mīmāṃsā tells us: you are coming from Brahman. The nature of Brahman is Sat, Cit, Ānanda. You are of the nature of eternal existence, infinite knowledge, and unbreakable bliss. That is your very nature.

Now, is this description of Brahman a ''Brāhmaṇa'' — a valid Vedic statement — or not? The Pūrva Mīmāṃsaka says: No, it is not a Brāhmaṇa; it is an Arthavāda — because by knowing Brahman exists, what action does it prescribe? By knowing "I am free," what action is it prescribing? It is not prescribing any action.

Śaṅkarācārya answers: Yes, it is prescribing action — because if I am coming from Brahman, and my nature is pure existence, knowledge, and bliss, then I have forgotten this, and I have to do something to get back that memory. Getting back that memory through particular means is called Sādhanā. So it is indeed leading to action. And furthermore, it is telling me something very high. So you cannot even call it Arthavāda — mere secondary or meaningless sentences. In fact, that is the real goal of even you who are trying to go to higher Lokas to get higher Ānanda. And how do you attain it? Through Yajñas, Yāgas, and other rituals.
----

== Words, Sentences, and Vedic Authority: Summary ==
So this beautiful discussion will be ongoing. Words give us knowledge, but they do not guide us to understand the relationship between individual words unless they are connected by a verb. When words are connected with a verb, they are called sentences. And these sentences must point out to some action for us to understand and then alone are they called Veda Pramāṇa, not otherwise.

It is a marvellous subject, which we will continue in our next class.
----

== Closing Prayer ==
'''ॐ जननीं शारदां देवीं रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुम्।'''

'''पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहुः॥'''

''Om Jānāneeṃ Śāradāṃ Devīṃ Rāmakṛṣṇaṃ Jagadgurum''

''Pada Padme Tayo Śṛtvā Praṇamāmi Muhur Muhuh''

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

'''Jai Ramakrishna!'''
[[Category:Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]]

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.1.3 Lecture 18 on 22 March 2026

2026-06-25T12:36:24Z

Geetha: upto the Sravana mañana para made some small changes

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

== Opening Invocation ==
'''ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात् पूर्णमुदच्यते ।'''

'''पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ॥'''

'''ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥'''

'''OM PŪRṆAMADAḤ PŪRṆAMIDAM PŪRṆĀT PŪRṆAMUDACYATE'''

'''PŪRṆASYA PŪRṆAMĀDĀYA PŪRṆAMEVA VAŚIṢYATE'''

'''OM ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTIHI.'''

Om. That Brahman is infinite, and this universe is also infinite. The infinite proceeds from the infinite. Taking the infinitude of the infinite universe, it remains as the infinite Brahman alone.

OM Peace, Peace, Peace be unto all.

== Recap: The Essence of the Third Section ==
We have been studying the third section of the first chapter of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad. In our last class, we have given the essence of it.

The essence of this third section is: we have all come from God, and our destiny is to go back to God. But we are somehow caught in the net of ignorance. Ignorance means that we we are not Brahman, that we are not from Brahman, that we are separate from Brahman. But every evidence proves that we are nothing but individual manifestations of Brahman but in the form of his manifestations called presiding deities: Ākāśa, Vāyu, Agni, Āpaḥ, and Pṛthvī.

=== The Presiding Deities and the Individual ===
What is the difference between a presiding deity and each one of our individualities? Every part of our both body and mind is a manifestation, individually, of these presiding deities. For example:

* The mind is the manifestation of the moon.
* The ears are the manifestation of space, or Ākāśa.
* The sense organ of touch is the manifestation of Vāyu.
* The heat in our body, called Prāṇa, is the manifestation of Agni.
* The watery part of our body belongs to the Jala Devatā.
* The physical body is the part of the Pṛthvī Devatā.

The mind also contains all these five parts, but they are called Tanmātras — very subtle, so subtle that we cannot feel them. We can experience them only through these physical sense organs.

=== The Longing to Return ===
The individual body and mind is ever longing to go back to its origin. Every effect longs to go back to its origin, and that is called evolution. The third section tells this in the form of a small allegory — that there are two types of people: selfish and unselfish.

What keeps us as individuals bound in this net of ignorance called Māyā is selfishness. What is selfishness? "I am different from everything else." What is unselfishness? "I am one with everything." When any one of us succeeds in getting rid of this selfishness — which means we become unselfish, which means we identify ourselves with everything else, which means there is no "me" and "everything else," it is all but one — when we slowly progress towards that identity:

* First we become Virāṭ.
* Then we become Hiraṇyagarbha.
* Then we become Mahat.
* Then we become Īśvara.
* Finally, we also become one with Brahman, to declare -''Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi.''

And if this body-mind still persists as individuality, then that individual person he knows not only "I am Brahman," but also: there is nothing else excepting Brahman — everything is nothing but Brahman.
----

== The Nature of a Jīvanmukta ==
That is how a Jīvanmukta — one liberated while still having a body and mind — understands reality. He knows that others call him a Jīvanmukta, but a Jīvanmukta never calls himself, "I am a Jīvanmukta."

Our concept of a Jīvanmukta is this: previously this person was ignorant; he did some spiritual practice, obtained guidance from the right Guru, and through practice slowly came to know he is Brahman — as if we had lost our Brahmanhood, our true nature, and through some great merit came across a teacher, obtained his instruction, followed the path shown by him, and came to realise, "I am Brahman." This is our concept of what a Jīvanmukta is.

But once a person understands, thereafter — if the body-mind remains — such a person whom we call a Jīvanmukta never feels that way. He never feels, "At one time I was Brahman, then I forgot I was Brahman, then I remembered I am Brahman, and ever since I am living with the knowledge I am Brahman." These are not his thoughts. For him, time does not exist, limitations do not exist, mind does not exist, Māyā does not exist. He never thinks, "Somehow I fell into something called Saṃsāra, and somehow by the grace of God and Guru I came out." That would not be the thoughts of a Jīvanmukta. This is the distinction we have to know.
----

== The Path: Manifesting Our Divinity ==
So what is the essence of the third section? We have to manifest our divinity. And how do we manifest it? By practising certain spiritual disciplines called Yogas. How do they help us? By getting rid of our selfishness — which is, in other words, "I am separate from you."

Gradually, as we progress: "No, I am not separate from you. I am part of you. You are part of me." That is a higher step. And then still, the last step: "There is no I and you. Everything is God alone. God alone. There is nothing else."

If you analyse any type of Sādhanā — whether it is Christian, Islamic, Hindu, Buddhist, or any other — their opinions about God might differ, and what happens after death might differ. But in Sādhanā there is no difference. Progress in spirituality means progress in getting rid of — in reducing — selfishness. Reducing selfishness means reducing the distinction between me and the others. That is the essence. Such a person, in course of time, will become a Jīvanmukta.

=== The Graduated Path of Symbols ===
Since every one of us has to start somewhere, the Upaniṣads tell us: first you take a very gross symbol, called a horse. Then you take another symbol that is even better — that is called Agni, or fire. Then take an even better symbol, which is the very personification of unselfishness, called Prāṇa. And in the end, when I become identified with Prāṇa, I become Prāṇadevatā, which is called Virāṭ. Virāṭ realises, "I am Hiraṇyagarbha." And Hiraṇyagarbha realises, "I am none other than Īśvara." And Īśvara knows, "I am none other than Brahman." This is the process.
----

== Śaṅkarācārya's Intellectual Refutation: The Pot Analogy ==
Then Śaṅkarācārya gives us an intellectual exercise — a refutation. Remember, earlier he refuted through a commentary called the pot commentary (''Ghaṭavākya'') that in the beginning Brahman alone was, and the whole creation came from Brahman like a pot has come from clay. The pot is absolutely one with clay. A pot has no special separate existence. But because of our concept that it is small, that it is square, etc., we give a particular form for a particular purpose, give it a name, and we think it is separate from clay. Through analysis, however, Brahman alone is manifesting as this entire universe — like the waker manifests as the entire dream world, which is a very common experience for all of us.

The conclusion is: I am the waker. The dream world is nothing but me, idly and uselessly dreaming that I have become separate from myself. When I wake up, I realise that everything I thought I created is none other than me. I am the intelligent cause. I am the material cause. I am the instrumental cause.

Then Śaṅkarācārya wants to refute another ''Pūrvapakṣa'' — a prior objection. As I said, this discussion may or may not directly help in spiritual life, but we have to cultivate our intellect, for the simple reason that God has already provided us with the capacity to understand. Whatever God has given, we have to use that faculty to manifest our divinity. That is the purpose, and that is what we need to do.
----

== Two Types of Knowledge ==
So, wherefrom are we getting knowledge? Whatever knowledge we are getting is divided into two parts:

# What we are experiencing.
# What we hope — such as: "There must be a God. He must have created the entire universe and me also. And he who created me is my father and mother. And whenever I am suffering, I have to pray to him to help me stop this suffering."

And we are also not happy with the happiness we have at present — we want to increase it to the optimum, maximum level. These are the struggles.

=== The Three Unconscious Prayers — The Abhyāroha Mantras ===
That will be discussed at the end of the very last mantra — the 28th mantra — called the ''Abhyāroha Mantra''. The three unconscious prayers of every living creature are:

* ''Asato mā sadgamaya'' — Let me not have death; lead me from the unreal to the real.
* ''Tamaso mā jyotirgamaya'' — Let me never be ignorant of anything. Ignorance is death; ignorance is suffering.
* ''Mṛtyormā amṛtaṃgamaya'' — Let me never have any interruption or break in my happiness.

So: I am Ānanda Svarūpa — Sat, Cit, Ānanda Svarūpa — expressed through these three prayers called the Abhyāroha Mantras, which happen to come in the last mantra of this third section, which we will discuss later.
----

== The Schools of Philosophy: Pūrva Mīmāṃsā and Uttara Mīmāṃsā ==
There are several schools of philosophy, and some among them have very peculiar positions. They say there is no God, there are no Gods — but the Veda is a Pramāṇa, a valid means of knowledge. And what does the Veda give us? Science gives us correct, uncontradictable knowledge about this world; when it is right knowledge, it is called scientific knowledge. But we are not happy with this alone. We want to know whether there is a God, whether there is a higher state of happiness, whether there is another world where conditions are where there are no wars.

Whatever happiness I attain, I am never satisfied. I want higher and still higher happiness, until I become one with pure happiness, which is called Ānanda. So that subject we will discuss later on.

=== What Is Vedānta? ===
Now, "Vedānta philosophy" is a common word. There is Pūrva Mīmāṃsā and Uttara Mīmāṃsā — both are schools of Vedānta. Why do we call them Vedānta? Because the teachings of the Vedas are accepted b'''y both.'''

=== Who Is a Believer in Hinduism? ===
According to Hinduism, who is a believer? If you ask a Christian — one who believes in Christ, God, and the Bible — he is a Christian. The same goes for Islam and many other religions. But according to Hinduism, a person who believes in the Vedas — that is, who holds the Veda to be the ultimate scripture, not created by human beings (''pauruṣeya''), but divine (''apauruṣeya'') — '''is a believer.'''

There are three types of believers:

# Those who say, "I believe in God, but I do not believe in the scriptures."
# Those who say, "I believe in the scriptures only; I do not believe in God."
# Those who believe both in God as well as in the scriptures.

Most of us belong to this third group. According to Hinduism, one need not accept that God exists. It is more than enough if a person accepts, "I am divine." That is the real teaching. For if I think I am not divine, I am bound — and I can be freed by action. The indications for how I can be freed through certain actions are indicated by the scriptures, and for me those indications are absolute authority.

So a Pūrva Mīmāṃsaka says: "I believe in some parts of the Veda — those parts only which indicate that life is meant for rituals, ''Karma Pradhāna'', ''Karma Codhanā''. I do not believe in the other statements." Because such a person says he believes in the Veda, Hinduism accepts him as a believer, unlike many other religions. That is the distinction.
----

== Śaṅkarācārya's Refutation of Pūrva Mīmāṃsā ==
Now, Śaṅkarācārya wants to correct this wrong and irrational thinking.

=== The Pūrva Mīmāṃsā Position ===
If you ask the Pūrva Mīmāṃsakas what is the use of believing in only one part of the Veda, their clipped answer would be: "We are all free people; we are Ātman. And to know that I am the Ātman or Brahman and become free forever — that is the goal of life. The Vedas distinctly provide me a pathway for that, and that pathway lies through the performance of rituals."

So, every sentence which does not connect us with some action, with some ritual — is merely a vain word, a meaningless word, a useless word. So every word, directly or indirectly, must connect us with some action, some ritual. This is the Pūrva Mīmāṃsā's main view.

As mentioned, because they believe in the Vedas — and the teachings of the Veda are called Vedānta — they are also called Vedāntins. But they are Pūrva Mīmāṃsā Vedāntins, believing only in the Karmakāṇḍa part of the Veda.

As opposed to them — like Śaṅkara, Buddha, Rāmakṛṣṇa, and others — we believe in the second part. What is the role of the first part called the rituals? It is to purify us, gradually to make the body and mind fit instruments — to prepare us to become ''Adhikārīs'', fit persons, by endowing us with the fourfold qualities called ''Sādhana Catuṣṭaya Saṃpatti''. Then an experienced teacher will come. Whether we want it or not, as soon as I am ready, God himself will come in the form of a Guru.

All Gods and Goddesses are true according to our view — not according to the Pūrva Mīmāṃsā's view. Then the Guru will teach:

* '''Śravaṇa''' — "This is your path; do this."
* '''Manana''' — If any doubts are there, they must be completely destroyed and removed until we know it is one hundred percent truth.
* '''Nididhyāsana''' — How to make our life one with our faith — in other words, to transform our life into pure unselfishness.

This is the view of the Uttara Mīmāṃsakas. Pūrva Mīmāṃsā specialises in the ritual portions of the Veda, called Karmakāṇḍa. And we who stand in the other part — Uttara Mīmāṃsā, which is Vedānta — deal with the Jñānakāṇḍa, the knowledge portions of the Veda. Advaitins like Gauḍapāda, Govinda Bhagavatpāda, Śaṅkarācārya, Totāpurī, Rāmakṛṣṇa, and Swami Vivekananda — we all belong to this Uttara Mīmāṃsā school.
----

== The Core Pūrva Mīmāṃsā Argument ==
So let us take up, very briefly but with crystal clear understanding, the Pūrva Mīmāṃsā position.

The Pūrva Mīmāṃsaka says: only rituals matter. Everything else is completely unimportant. Every sentence which does not prescribe or connect us to some action or ritual is just merely a vain, meaningless, useless word. One gets rid of ignorance only through rituals and actions. That is why it is called ''Veda Kārya Paraḥ'' — the Veda is nothing but centred in prescribing and making all of us do rituals or actions.

There was a person called Jaimini — a very disciple of Vedavyāsa — who propagated this philosophy and summed up the entire Pūrva Mīmāṃsā theory in this one verse:

''Āmnāyasya kriyārthatva anarthakya atatarthanaḥ.''

''Āmnāya'' means the Veda. The entire purport of the Veda is ''kriyārtha'' — for the sake of making us undertake some action. Action here means ritual, not any ordinary action such as "I am walking" or "I am breathing." Only actions performed to ensure my evolution through some ritual deserve the name "action."
----

== Vidhi and Arthavāda: The Two Types of Vedic Statements ==
Based on this belief, the Pūrva Mīmāṃsakas divide the entire statements of the Vedas into two types: '''Vidhi''' and '''Arthavāda'''.

* '''Vidhi''' means commandments or injunctions that prescribe rituals. These alone are valid, these alone are authoritative, and these alone constitute the real teaching of the Veda.
* '''Arthavādaḥ''' — all other statements, such as descriptions of gods, other worlds, many stories, praising passages, and cosmological accounts — are all considered secondary, irrelevant, non-factual, and invalid.

In their framework, the Pūrva Mīmāṃsakas note that there are statements at every step in the rituals — even in their own ritualistic portions — such as: ''Indrāyasvāhā, Varuṇāyasvāhā, Agnayesvāhā'' — "I offer this to Indra, I offer this to Varuṇa, I offer this to Agni" (as we also do in Pūjā and Homa time). When questioned, they say these are just imaginary, decorative, and useful only to motivate a person to perform a ritual. The gods, they say, do not exist. The ritual — the Karma alone — is the giver of the fruit.

So a Pūrva Mīmāṃsaka does not believe in the very existence of gods, not to speak of God. And yet he believes in Mokṣa — that is, that one can become completely free from all suffering through actions alone. If you ask them how a ritual produces its result — for example, when you offer something saying ''Indrāyasvāhā'' — they say: the action itself, the Karma itself, is so powerful that it gives the result.

In fact, we also believe this — every Karma brings its own result. That is one of the fundamental pillars of Hinduism, the '''Karma Siddhānta''': we are all what we are because of where we were born; however our fates are already determined by the actions we have done in our past lives. So Karma itself is capable of giving its own result — no need for gods and goddesses.
----

== The Role of Arthavāda: An Example ==
So all other things — other than what prescribes actions — are Arthavādas: secondary, merely praising, or irrelevant, unless they are connected with a ritual. For example: suppose we hear, ''Brahma Lokah asti'' — "There is a world called Brahmaloka." If you put this sentence to a Pūrva Mīmāṃsaka, he says it is Arthavāda. But does it not serve any purpose? Yes, not directly but indirectly. It is like saying there is a restaurant where the food is very tasty — that is Arthavāda. But when you want to enjoy something, you remember it, and it makes you go to that restaurant. You have to carry some money to pay, and then you will be served.

So similarly: "There is a Brahmaloka; there the highest enjoyment is available." That goads us: "Oh, it is a wonderful place — the finest of all, and I would like to go there." But to go there, we have to pay a very high price, and that price can be obtained only through rituals. So Arthavāda indirectly goads one toward ritual action. This they accept.
----

== Epistemology: The Science of Right Knowledge ==
The Pūrva Mīmāṃsakas also state an epistemological argument. Epistemology is that branch of philosophy which deals with: what is knowledge, what is right knowledge, what is wrong knowledge, how to obtain right knowledge. It is the science of right knowledge.

So when Śaṅkarācārya wants to establish that the whole Veda — every single word written in it — is a Pramāṇa, an authority, and absolutely true, he has to address this. Not as the Pūrva Mīmāṃsakas think — that only the rituals are true and the givers of results — but that every sentence in the Veda is absolute truth.

=== How Do We Obtain Knowledge? ===
How do we get our ordinary knowledge? You see a tree you have never seen before. You ask somebody what that object is, and the person knows. He says, "It is called a tree; it belongs to the species called plants and yields beautiful fruits which are most desirable. It gives fruits only at a particular season. In summer, it is called a mango tree." Now you have heard: "This is a mango tree." The next time you see that or a similar tree, you say, "This is a mango tree." Slowly you go on getting more knowledge — "This is a neem tree, this is an apple tree, this is a berry plant, this is a lemon plant" — and so on. You are accumulating millions of pieces of knowledge. Every word indicates a particular object.

=== Words, Sentences, and the Role of the Verb ===
Now the Pūrva Mīmāṃsakas tell us something important. Suppose you know: "Rāma" is one word, "Lakṣmaṇa" is another word, "Sītā" is another word. Individually, if someone says to you, "Rāma, Sītā, Lakṣmaṇa" — what do you understand? Because these have not become a sentence; they remain as meaningless words. The meanings are there, but they do not make any sense together.

But: "Rāma is walking along with Lakṣmaṇa and Sītā in a forest called Daṇḍakāraṇya." Now that is a sentence. Every word in the sentence must be connected. And what is it that connects? The verb. That is why there must be a subject, there must be an object, and there must be that which connects both of them — the verb. That is called Kartā, Karma, and Kriyā.

In this example: "Rāma is walking with Lakṣmaṇa and Sītā" — that makes sense. "Kṛṣṇa and Gopīs" — if you hear those two words, you know the meaning of Kṛṣṇa and the meaning of Gopīs, but together they make no sense. But: "Kṛṣṇa is dancing with the Gopīs" — now the ''Kriyā'', the verb, "is dancing," connects everything and makes it a sentence.

So a sentence is a Pramāṇa. Every sentence connects all the words, and what connects all the words in a sentence is the verb. Every verb indicates an action. A verb without fail always must be there; without that, words are meaningless. And the verb's purpose — its utility — lies in connecting the subject and object through the action. These are called Kārakas or Vibhaktis.

So Śaṅkarācārya is trying to analyse and say: "These sentences make meaning." The Pūrva Mīmāṃsakas make this absolutely crystal clear: a word is not a Pramāṇa — not an authority — because without a verb it remains meaningless. But a sentence is an authority. And what does the sentence do? Every sentence reveals the relationship among the objects denoted by its words.

=== An Extended Example: The Kārakas ===
Consider: "Rāma killed Rāvaṇāsura with arrows with the help of a bow." Here, Rāma becomes the subject (nominative), Rāvaṇa becomes the object (objective), and Rāvaṇāsura is destroyed — but with the help of bow and arrows (instrumental case). And through that action, Rāma removed the evil that brought suffering to so many people.

The grammar divides it thus: nominative case, objective case, instrumental case, dative case, locative case, and so forth. "Where did Rāma kill?" — In Laṅkā. That is the location. These sentences, which contain verbs and reveal their relationships — that alone is Pramāṇa, according to the Pūrva Mīmāṃsakas. Everything else is completely meaningless.
----

== Pramāṇa: The Right Means of Knowledge ==
A Pramāṇa means the right means of knowledge. If you want to see very minute things, you require an instrument called a microscope. If you want to see objects at a very long distance, you require another instrument called a telescope. These instruments only extend the range of my eye, making it capable of seeing both the very small and the very distant. Therefore, the instruments are required — for what purpose? To get knowledge about small living creatures like bacteria, or long-distance stars, which even the human eye can never see. That is how science is progressing.

Therefore the Pūrva Mīmāṃsakas believe that through the seven Kārakas (called "cases" in English grammar) and the structure of meaningful sentences, the Vedas teach us. They describe precisely: you gather some firewood from a particular tree, place it at a particular spot, sit facing the east, perform certain rituals, offer certain things — and then you are sure to obtain the result, because it is Karmakāṇḍa Prāmāṇya. But all other things — "Indra is great, Candra is great, Brahman is great, Īśvara is great" — are all Arthavādas, because they do not directly or indirectly goad a person to do some ritual action.
----

== The Two Conditions for Vedic Authority ==
So what is a Pramāṇa? What is the right means of knowledge? For this, two conditions are put:

# The knowledge obtained through a particular instrument should not have been available before through any other instrument.
# It should not contradict what has already been known.

For example: if my eyes can see that the sun rises in the east, I don't need the Veda. My ordinary eyes — everybody's eyes — can see the sun early in the morning; we gave the name "eastern direction" to that. For that, the Veda need not come and tell me. I am eating a sweet — the Veda need not come and say, "This is a sweet dish and it will give you pleasure." I can experience that through my sense organs.

So if the Veda has to give us right knowledge, it must fulfil these two conditions: it should not give us knowledge already obtained through other means (our five sense organs, mind, etc.), and it should never contradict what we already know. If the Veda says, "The sun rises in the west," simply throw it out, because it contradicts what we already know.

Naturally, these two conditions lead to a third conclusion: the knowledge that the Veda gives is never available through any other means, and it never contradicts what we already know. And what is the type of knowledge this is? That you are divine — that you are coming from Brahman (or rather, not really "coming," you are Brahman, you will always be Brahman alone) — and this knowledge, no science can give. Science can neither prove God nor disprove God. Why? Because that is not its field. The instruments used through science are nothing but our five sense organs and mind.

Therefore, the Veda gives very specific knowledge which is not available through any other means. Therefore it cannot be contradicted. So the Veda is a Pramāṇa.
----

== The Central Dispute: Arthavāda vs. Absolute Vedic Authority ==
But what is the crux of the problem? The Pūrva Mīmāṃsakas say only one part of the Veda is real; everything else is Arthavāda or Bhūtārthavāda. The Pūrva Mīmāṃsakas say all sentences in the Veda which do not directly or indirectly lead to some form of action are called Arthavādas — secondary knowledge, not necessary unless they are connected with a ritual.

For that, one of the clinching arguments that Śaṅkarācārya will give — which we have to discuss in our next class — is this:

Wherefrom has this universe come, which consists of you — the Pūrva Mīmāṃsaka — and me, the Uttara Mīmāṃsaka — and which gave you your body and mind? It has come from a cause. Whether you choose to call that cause Brahman or nature is a different issue. But you are in effect; you must have come from a particular cause. And what is the nature of that cause? You don't know. Like the pot does not know, "I am from clay; I am of the nature of clay; I am never different from clay."

So if our final cause is Brahman, what is the nature of Brahman? It is described in the Taittirīya Upaniṣad, second chapter, as: ''Satyaṃ Jñānam Anantaṃ Brahma.'' And every Upaniṣad tells us it is Sat, Cit, Ānanda. You have no death. You have no ignorance. You are all-knowing. You are all-powerful, because knowledge is power. And your very nature is Ānanda.

Now, what are you doing? You are trying to get Ānanda through some object — either a small object or a higher, bigger one — going through Svargaloka, heavenly worlds, and so on. But that is not the point. The point is: you are not merely seeking happiness, you are of the nature of happiness itself — and you are trying to squeeze happiness from some other object. Whereas Vedānta — Uttara Mīmāṃsā — tells us: you are coming from Brahman. The nature of Brahman is Sat, Cit, Ānanda. You are of the nature of eternal existence, infinite knowledge, and unbreakable bliss. That is your very nature.

Now, is this description of Brahman a ''Brāhmaṇa'' — a valid Vedic statement — or not? The Pūrva Mīmāṃsaka says: No, it is not a Brāhmaṇa; it is an Arthavāda — because by knowing Brahman exists, what action does it prescribe? By knowing "I am free," what action is it prescribing? It is not prescribing any action.

Śaṅkarācārya answers: Yes, it is prescribing action — because if I am coming from Brahman, and my nature is pure existence, knowledge, and bliss, then I have forgotten this, and I have to do something to get back that memory. Getting back that memory through particular means is called Sādhanā. So it is indeed leading to action. And furthermore, it is telling me something very high. So you cannot even call it Arthavāda — mere secondary or meaningless sentences. In fact, that is the real goal of even you who are trying to go to higher Lokas — to get higher Ānanda. And how do you attain it? Through Yajñas, Yāgas, and other rituals.
----

== Words, Sentences, and Vedic Authority: Summary ==
So this beautiful discussion will be ongoing. Words give us knowledge, but they do not guide us to understand the relationship between individual words unless they are connected by a verb. When words are connected with a verb, they are called sentences. And these sentences must point out to some action for us to understand — and then alone are they called Veda Pramāṇa, not otherwise.

It is a marvellous subject, which we will continue in our next class.
----

== Closing Prayer ==
''Om Jānānāṃ Śāradāṃ Devīṃ Rāmakṛṣṇaṃ Jagadgurum''

''Pada Padme Tayo Śṛtvā Praṇamāmi Muhur Muhuh''

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

'''Jai Ramakrishna!'''
[[Category:Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]]

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.1.3 Lecture 18 on 22 March 2026

2026-06-25T08:22:51Z

Geetha: Added Devanagari script to opening invocation

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

== Opening Invocation ==
'''ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात् पूर्णमुदच्यते ।'''

'''पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ॥'''

'''ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥'''

'''OM PŪRṆAMADAḤ PŪRṆAMIDAM PŪRṆĀT PŪRṆAMUDACYATE'''

'''PŪRṆASYA PŪRṆAMĀDĀYA PŪRṆAMEVA VAŚIṢYATE'''

'''OM ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTIHI.'''

That Brahman is infinite, and this universe is also infinite. The infinite proceeds from the infinite. Taking the infinitude of the infinite universe, it remains as the infinite Brahman alone.

OM Peace, Peace, Peace be unto all.

== Recap: The Essence of the Third Section ==
We have been studying the third section of the first chapter of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad. In our last class, we have given the essence of it.

The essence of this third section is: we have all come from God, and our destiny is to go back to God. But we are somehow caught in the net of ignorance. Ignorance means that we think we are not Brahman, that we are not from Brahman, that we are separate from Brahman. But every evidence proves that we are nothing but individual manifestations of Brahman — in the form of his manifestations called presiding deities: Ākāśa, Vāyu, Agni, Āpaḥ, and Pṛthvī.

=== The Presiding Deities and the Individual ===
What is the difference between a presiding deity and each one of our individualities? Every part of our body and mind is a manifestation, individually, of these presiding deities. For example:

* The mind is the manifestation of the moon.
* The ears are the manifestation of space, or Ākāśa.
* The sense organ of touch is the manifestation of Vāyu.
* The heat in our body, called Prāṇa, is the manifestation of Agni.
* The watery part of our body belongs to the Jala Devatā.
* The physical body is the part of the Pṛthvī Devatā.

The mind also contains all these five parts, but they are called Tanmātras — very subtle, so subtle that we cannot feel them. We can experience them only through these physical sense organs.

=== The Longing to Return ===
The individual body and mind ever longs to go back to its origin. Every effect longs to go back to its origin, and that is called evolution. The third section tells this in the form of a small allegory — that there are two types of people: selfish and unselfish.

What keeps us as individuals bound in this net of ignorance called Māyā is selfishness. What is selfishness? "I am different from everything else." What is unselfishness? "I am one with everything." When any one of us succeeds in getting rid of this selfishness — which means we become unselfish, which means we identify ourselves with everything else, which means there is no "me" and "everything else," but it is all but one — when we slowly progress towards that identity:

* First we become Virāṭ.
* Then we become Hiraṇyagarbha.
* Then we become Mahat.
* Then we become Īśvara.
* Finally, we also become one with Brahman, to declare: ''Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi.''

And if this body-mind still persists as individuality, then that individual person knows not only "I am Brahman," but also: there is nothing else excepting Brahman — everything is nothing but Brahman.
----

== The Nature of a Jīvanmukta ==
That is how a Jīvanmukta — one liberated while still having a body and mind — understands reality. He knows that others call him a Jīvanmukta, but a Jīvanmukta never calls himself, "I am a Jīvanmukta."

Our concept of a Jīvanmukta is this: previously this person was ignorant; he did some spiritual practice, obtained guidance from the right Guru, and through practice slowly came to know he is Brahman — as if we had lost our Brahmanhood, our true nature, and through some great merit came across a teacher, obtained his instruction, followed the path shown by him, and came to realise, "I am Brahman." This is our concept of what a Jīvanmukta is.

But once a person truly understands, thereafter — if the body-mind remains — such a person whom we call a Jīvanmukta never feels that way. He never feels, "At one time I was Brahman, then I forgot I was Brahman, then I remembered I am Brahman, and ever since I am living with the knowledge I am Brahman." These are not his thoughts. For him, time does not exist, limitations do not exist, mind does not exist, Māyā does not exist. He never thinks, "Somehow I fell into something called Saṃsāra, and somehow by the grace of God and Guru I came out." That would not be the thoughts of a Jīvanmukta. This is the distinction we have to know.
----

== The Path: Manifesting Our Divinity ==
So what is the essence of the third section? We have to manifest our divinity. And how do we manifest it? By practising certain spiritual disciplines called Yogas. How do they help us? By getting rid of our selfishness — which is, in other words, "I am separate from you."

Gradually, as we progress: "No, I am not separate from you. I am part of you. You are part of me." That is a higher step. And then the last step: "There is no I and you. Everything is God alone. God alone. There is nothing else."

If you analyse any type of Sādhanā — whether it is Christian, Islamic, Hindu, Buddhist, or any other — their opinions about God might differ, and what happens after death might differ. But in Sādhanā there is no difference. Progress in spirituality means progress in getting rid of — in reducing — selfishness. Reducing selfishness means reducing the distinction between me and the others. That is the essence. Such a person, in course of time, will become a Jīvanmukta.

=== The Graduated Path of Symbols ===
Since every one of us has to start somewhere, the Upaniṣads tell us: first you take a very gross symbol, called a horse. Then you take another symbol that is even better — that is called Agni, or fire. Then take an even better symbol, which is the very personification of unselfishness, called Prāṇa. And in the end, when I become identified with Prāṇa, I become Prāṇadevatā, which is called Virāṭ. Virāṭ realises, "I am Hiraṇyagarbha." And Hiraṇyagarbha realises, "I am none other than Īśvara." And Īśvara knows, "I am none other than Brahman." This is the process.
----

== Śaṅkarācārya's Intellectual Refutation: The Pot Analogy ==
Then Śaṅkarācārya gives us an intellectual exercise — a refutation. Remember, earlier he refuted through a commentary called the pot commentary (''Ghaṭavākya'') that in the beginning Brahman alone was, and the whole creation came from Brahman like a pot has come from clay. The pot is absolutely one with clay. A pot has no special separate existence. But because of our concept that it is small, that it is square, etc., we give a particular form for a particular purpose, give it a name, and think it is separate from clay. Through analysis, however, Brahman alone is manifesting as this entire universe — like the waker manifests as the entire dream world, which is a very common experience for all of us.

The conclusion is: I am the waker. The dream world is nothing but me, idly and uselessly dreaming that I have become separate from myself. When I wake up, I realise that everything I thought I created is none other than me. I am the intelligent cause. I am the material cause. I am the instrumental cause.

Then Śaṅkarācārya wants to refute another ''Pūrvapakṣa'' — a prior objection. As I said, this discussion may or may not directly help in spiritual life, but we have to cultivate our intellect, for the simple reason that God has already provided us with the capacity to understand. Whatever God has given, we have to use that faculty to manifest our divinity. That is the purpose, and that is what we need to do.
----

== Two Types of Knowledge ==
So, wherefrom are we getting knowledge? Whatever knowledge we are getting is divided into two parts:

# What we are experiencing.
# What we hope — such as: "There must be a God. He must have created the entire universe and me also. And he who created me is my father and mother. And whenever I am suffering, I have to pray to him to help me stop this suffering."

And we are also not happy with the happiness we have at present — we want to increase it to the optimum, maximum level. These are the struggles.

=== The Three Unconscious Prayers — The Abhyāroha Mantras ===
That will be discussed at the end of the very last mantra — the 28th mantra — called the ''Abhyāroha Mantra''. The three unconscious prayers of every living creature are:

* ''Asato mā sadgamaya'' — Let me not have death; lead me from the unreal to the real.
* ''Tamaso mā jyotirgamaya'' — Let me never be ignorant of anything; lead me from darkness to light. Ignorance is death; ignorance is suffering.
* ''Mṛtyormā amṛtaṃgamaya'' — Let me never have any interruption or break in my happiness.

So: I am Ānanda Svarūpa — Sat, Cit, Ānanda Svarūpa — expressed through these three prayers called the Abhyāroha Mantras, which happen to come in the last mantra of this third section, and which we will discuss later.
----

== The Schools of Philosophy: Pūrva Mīmāṃsā and Uttara Mīmāṃsā ==
There are several schools of philosophy, and some among them have very peculiar positions. They say there is no God, there are no Gods — but the Veda is a Pramāṇa, a valid means of knowledge. And what does the Veda give us? Science gives us correct, uncontradictable knowledge about this world; when it is right knowledge, it is called scientific knowledge. But we are not happy with this alone. We want to know whether there is a God, whether there is a higher state of happiness, whether there is another world where there are no wars.

Whatever happiness I attain, I am never satisfied. I want higher and still higher happiness, until I become one with pure happiness, which is called Ānanda. So that subject we will discuss later on.

=== What Is Vedānta? ===
Now, "Vedānta philosophy" is a common word. There is Pūrva Mīmāṃsā and Uttara Mīmāṃsā — both are schools of Vedānta. Why do we call them Vedānta? Because the teachings of the Vedas are accepted by both.

=== Who Is a Believer in Hinduism? ===
According to Hinduism, who is a believer? If you ask a Christian — one who believes in Christ, God, and the Bible — he is a Christian. The same goes for Islam and many other religions. But according to Hinduism, a person who believes in the Vedas — that is, who holds the Veda to be the ultimate scripture, not created by human beings (''pauruṣeya''), but divine (''apauruṣeya'') — is a believer.

There are three types of believers:

# Those who say, "I believe in God, but I do not believe in the scriptures."
# Those who say, "I believe in the scriptures only; I do not believe in God."
# Those who believe both in God as well as in the scriptures.

Most of us belong to this third group. According to Hinduism, one need not accept that God exists. It is more than enough if a person accepts, "I am divine." That is the real teaching. For if I think I am not divine, I am bound — and I can be freed by action. The indications for how I can be freed through certain actions are provided by the scriptures, and for me those indications are absolute authority.

So a Pūrva Mīmāṃsaka says: "I believe in some parts of the Veda — those parts only which indicate that life is meant for rituals, ''Karma Pradhāna'', ''Karma Codhanā''. I do not believe in the other statements." Because such a person says he believes in the Veda, Hinduism accepts him as a believer, unlike many other religions. That is the distinction.
----

== Śaṅkarācārya's Refutation of Pūrva Mīmāṃsā ==
Now, Śaṅkarācārya wants to correct this wrong and irrational thinking.

=== The Pūrva Mīmāṃsā Position ===
If you ask the Pūrva Mīmāṃsakas what is the use of believing in only one part of the Veda, their clipped answer would be: "We are all free people; we are Ātman. And to know that I am the Ātman or Brahman and become free forever — that is the goal of life. The Vedas distinctly provide a pathway for that, and that pathway lies through the performance of rituals."

So, every sentence which does not connect us with some action — with some ritual — is merely a vain word, a meaningless word, a useless word. Every word, directly or indirectly, must connect us with some action, some ritual. This is the Pūrva Mīmāṃsā's main view.

As mentioned, because they believe in the Vedas — and the teachings of the Veda are called Vedānta — they are also called Vedāntins. But they are Pūrva Mīmāṃsā Vedāntins, believing only in the Karmakāṇḍa part of the Veda.

As opposed to them — like Śaṅkara, Buddha, Rāmakṛṣṇa, and others — we believe in the second part. What is the role of the first part, the rituals? It is to purify us, gradually to make the body and mind fit instruments — to prepare us to become ''Adhikārīs'', fit persons, by endowing us with the fourfold qualities called ''Sādhana Catuṣṭaya Saṃpatti''. Then an experienced teacher will come. Whether we want it or not, as soon as I am ready, God himself will come in the form of a Guru.

All Gods and Goddesses are true according to our view — not according to the Pūrva Mīmāṃsā's view. Then the Guru will teach:

* '''Śravaṇa''' — "This is your path; do this."
* '''Manana''' — If any doubts are there, they must be completely destroyed until we know it is one hundred percent truth.
* '''Nididhyāsana''' — How to make our life one with our faith — in other words, to transform our life into pure unselfishness.

This is the view of the Uttara Mīmāṃsakas. Pūrva Mīmāṃsā specialises in the ritual portions of the Veda, called Karmakāṇḍa. And we who stand in the other part — Uttara Mīmāṃsā, which is Vedānta — deal with the Jñānakāṇḍa, the knowledge portions of the Veda. Advaitins like Gauḍapāda, Govinda Bhagavatpāda, Śaṅkarācārya, Totāpurī, Rāmakṛṣṇa, and Swami Vivekananda — we all belong to this Uttara Mīmāṃsā school.
----

== The Core Pūrva Mīmāṃsā Argument ==
So let us take up, very briefly but with crystal clear understanding, the Pūrva Mīmāṃsā position.

The Pūrva Mīmāṃsaka says: only rituals matter. Everything else is completely unimportant. Every sentence which does not prescribe or connect us to some action or ritual is just merely a vain, meaningless, useless word. One gets rid of ignorance only through rituals and actions. That is why it is called ''Veda Kārya Paraḥ'' — the Veda is nothing but centred in prescribing and making all of us do rituals or actions.

There was a person called Jaimini — a very disciple of Vedavyāsa — who propagated this philosophy and summed up the entire Pūrva Mīmāṃsā theory in this one verse:

''Āmnāyasya kriyārthatva anarthakya atatarthanaḥ.''

''Āmnāya'' means the Veda. The entire purport of the Veda is ''kriyārtha'' — for the sake of making us undertake some action. Action here means ritual, not any ordinary action such as "I am walking" or "I am breathing." Only actions performed to ensure my evolution through some ritual deserve the name "action."
----

== Vidhi and Arthavāda: The Two Types of Vedic Statements ==
Based on this belief, the Pūrva Mīmāṃsakas divide the entire statements of the Vedas into two types: '''Vidhi''' and '''Arthavāda'''.

* '''Vidhi''' means commandments or injunctions that prescribe rituals. These alone are valid, these alone are authoritative, and these alone constitute the real teaching of the Veda.
* '''Arthavādaḥ''' — all other statements, such as descriptions of gods, other worlds, many stories, praising passages, and cosmological accounts — are all considered secondary, irrelevant, non-factual, and invalid.

In their framework, the Pūrva Mīmāṃsakas note that there are statements at every step in the rituals — even in their own ritualistic portions — such as: ''Indrāyasvāhā, Varuṇāyasvāhā, Agnayesvāhā'' — "I offer this to Indra, I offer this to Varuṇa, I offer this to Agni" (as we also do in Pūjā and Homa time). When questioned, they say these are just imaginary, decorative, and useful only to motivate a person to perform a ritual. The gods, they say, do not exist. The ritual — the Karma alone — is the giver of the fruit.

So a Pūrva Mīmāṃsaka does not believe in the very existence of gods, not to speak of God. And yet he believes in Mokṣa — that is, that one can become completely free from all suffering through actions alone. If you ask them how a ritual produces its result — for example, when you offer something saying ''Indrāyasvāhā'' — they say: the action itself, the Karma itself, is so powerful that it gives the result.

In fact, we also believe this — every Karma brings its own result. That is one of the fundamental pillars of Hinduism, the '''Karma Siddhānta''': we are all what we are because of where we were born; however our fates are already determined by the actions we have done in our past lives. So Karma itself is capable of giving its own result — no need for gods and goddesses.
----

== The Role of Arthavāda: An Example ==
So all other things — other than what prescribes actions — are Arthavādas: secondary, merely praising, or irrelevant, unless they are connected with a ritual. For example: suppose we hear, ''Brahma Lokah asti'' — "There is a world called Brahmaloka." If you put this sentence to a Pūrva Mīmāṃsaka, he says it is Arthavāda. But does it not serve any purpose? Yes, not directly but indirectly. It is like saying there is a restaurant where the food is very tasty — that is Arthavāda. But when you want to enjoy something, you remember it, and it makes you go to that restaurant. You have to carry some money to pay, and then you will be served.

So similarly: "There is a Brahmaloka; there the highest enjoyment is available." That goads us: "Oh, it is a wonderful place — the finest of all, and I would like to go there." But to go there, we have to pay a very high price, and that price can be obtained only through rituals. So Arthavāda indirectly goads one toward ritual action. This they accept.
----

== Epistemology: The Science of Right Knowledge ==
The Pūrva Mīmāṃsakas also state an epistemological argument. Epistemology is that branch of philosophy which deals with: what is knowledge, what is right knowledge, what is wrong knowledge, how to obtain right knowledge. It is the science of right knowledge.

So when Śaṅkarācārya wants to establish that the whole Veda — every single word written in it — is a Pramāṇa, an authority, and absolutely true, he has to address this. Not as the Pūrva Mīmāṃsakas think — that only the rituals are true and the givers of results — but that every sentence in the Veda is absolute truth.

=== How Do We Obtain Knowledge? ===
How do we get our ordinary knowledge? You see a tree you have never seen before. You ask somebody what that object is, and the person knows. He says, "It is called a tree; it belongs to the species called plants and yields beautiful fruits which are most desirable. It gives fruits only at a particular season. In summer, it is called a mango tree." Now you have heard: "This is a mango tree." The next time you see that or a similar tree, you say, "This is a mango tree." Slowly you go on getting more knowledge — "This is a neem tree, this is an apple tree, this is a berry plant, this is a lemon plant" — and so on. You are accumulating millions of pieces of knowledge. Every word indicates a particular object.

=== Words, Sentences, and the Role of the Verb ===
Now the Pūrva Mīmāṃsakas tell us something important. Suppose you know: "Rāma" is one word, "Lakṣmaṇa" is another word, "Sītā" is another word. Individually, if someone says to you, "Rāma, Sītā, Lakṣmaṇa" — what do you understand? Because these have not become a sentence; they remain as meaningless words. The meanings are there, but they do not make any sense together.

But: "Rāma is walking along with Lakṣmaṇa and Sītā in a forest called Daṇḍakāraṇya." Now that is a sentence. Every word in the sentence must be connected. And what is it that connects? The verb. That is why there must be a subject, there must be an object, and there must be that which connects both of them — the verb. That is called Kartā, Karma, and Kriyā.

In this example: "Rāma is walking with Lakṣmaṇa and Sītā" — that makes sense. "Kṛṣṇa and Gopīs" — if you hear those two words, you know the meaning of Kṛṣṇa and the meaning of Gopīs, but together they make no sense. But: "Kṛṣṇa is dancing with the Gopīs" — now the ''Kriyā'', the verb, "is dancing," connects everything and makes it a sentence.

So a sentence is a Pramāṇa. Every sentence connects all the words, and what connects all the words in a sentence is the verb. Every verb indicates an action. A verb without fail always must be there; without that, words are meaningless. And the verb's purpose — its utility — lies in connecting the subject and object through the action. These are called Kārakas or Vibhaktis.

So Śaṅkarācārya is trying to analyse and say: "These sentences make meaning." The Pūrva Mīmāṃsakas make this absolutely crystal clear: a word is not a Pramāṇa — not an authority — because without a verb it remains meaningless. But a sentence is an authority. And what does the sentence do? Every sentence reveals the relationship among the objects denoted by its words.

=== An Extended Example: The Kārakas ===
Consider: "Rāma killed Rāvaṇāsura with arrows with the help of a bow." Here, Rāma becomes the subject (nominative), Rāvaṇa becomes the object (objective), and Rāvaṇāsura is destroyed — but with the help of bow and arrows (instrumental case). And through that action, Rāma removed the evil that brought suffering to so many people.

The grammar divides it thus: nominative case, objective case, instrumental case, dative case, locative case, and so forth. "Where did Rāma kill?" — In Laṅkā. That is the location. These sentences, which contain verbs and reveal their relationships — that alone is Pramāṇa, according to the Pūrva Mīmāṃsakas. Everything else is completely meaningless.
----

== Pramāṇa: The Right Means of Knowledge ==
A Pramāṇa means the right means of knowledge. If you want to see very minute things, you require an instrument called a microscope. If you want to see objects at a very long distance, you require another instrument called a telescope. These instruments only extend the range of my eye, making it capable of seeing both the very small and the very distant. Therefore, the instruments are required — for what purpose? To get knowledge about small living creatures like bacteria, or long-distance stars, which even the human eye can never see. That is how science is progressing.

Therefore the Pūrva Mīmāṃsakas believe that through the seven Kārakas (called "cases" in English grammar) and the structure of meaningful sentences, the Vedas teach us. They describe precisely: you gather some firewood from a particular tree, place it at a particular spot, sit facing the east, perform certain rituals, offer certain things — and then you are sure to obtain the result, because it is Karmakāṇḍa Prāmāṇya. But all other things — "Indra is great, Candra is great, Brahman is great, Īśvara is great" — are all Arthavādas, because they do not directly or indirectly goad a person to do some ritual action.
----

== The Two Conditions for Vedic Authority ==
So what is a Pramāṇa? What is the right means of knowledge? For this, two conditions are put:

# The knowledge obtained through a particular instrument should not have been available before through any other instrument.
# It should not contradict what has already been known.

For example: if my eyes can see that the sun rises in the east, I don't need the Veda. My ordinary eyes — everybody's eyes — can see the sun early in the morning; we gave the name "eastern direction" to that. For that, the Veda need not come and tell me. I am eating a sweet — the Veda need not come and say, "This is a sweet dish and it will give you pleasure." I can experience that through my sense organs.

So if the Veda has to give us right knowledge, it must fulfil these two conditions: it should not give us knowledge already obtained through other means (our five sense organs, mind, etc.), and it should never contradict what we already know. If the Veda says, "The sun rises in the west," simply throw it out, because it contradicts what we already know.

Naturally, these two conditions lead to a third conclusion: the knowledge that the Veda gives is never available through any other means, and it never contradicts what we already know. And what is the type of knowledge this is? That you are divine — that you are coming from Brahman (or rather, not really "coming," you are Brahman, you will always be Brahman alone) — and this knowledge, no science can give. Science can neither prove God nor disprove God. Why? Because that is not its field. The instruments used through science are nothing but our five sense organs and mind.

Therefore, the Veda gives very specific knowledge which is not available through any other means. Therefore it cannot be contradicted. So the Veda is a Pramāṇa.
----

== The Central Dispute: Arthavāda vs. Absolute Vedic Authority ==
But what is the crux of the problem? The Pūrva Mīmāṃsakas say only one part of the Veda is real; everything else is Arthavāda or Bhūtārthavāda. The Pūrva Mīmāṃsakas say all sentences in the Veda which do not directly or indirectly lead to some form of action are called Arthavādas — secondary knowledge, not necessary unless they are connected with a ritual.

For that, one of the clinching arguments that Śaṅkarācārya will give — which we have to discuss in our next class — is this:

Wherefrom has this universe come, which consists of you — the Pūrva Mīmāṃsaka — and me, the Uttara Mīmāṃsaka — and which gave you your body and mind? It has come from a cause. Whether you choose to call that cause Brahman or nature is a different issue. But you are in effect; you must have come from a particular cause. And what is the nature of that cause? You don't know. Like the pot does not know, "I am from clay; I am of the nature of clay; I am never different from clay."

So if our final cause is Brahman, what is the nature of Brahman? It is described in the Taittirīya Upaniṣad, second chapter, as: ''Satyaṃ Jñānam Anantaṃ Brahma.'' And every Upaniṣad tells us it is Sat, Cit, Ānanda. You have no death. You have no ignorance. You are all-knowing. You are all-powerful, because knowledge is power. And your very nature is Ānanda.

Now, what are you doing? You are trying to get Ānanda through some object — either a small object or a higher, bigger one — going through Svargaloka, heavenly worlds, and so on. But that is not the point. The point is: you are not merely seeking happiness, you are of the nature of happiness itself — and you are trying to squeeze happiness from some other object. Whereas Vedānta — Uttara Mīmāṃsā — tells us: you are coming from Brahman. The nature of Brahman is Sat, Cit, Ānanda. You are of the nature of eternal existence, infinite knowledge, and unbreakable bliss. That is your very nature.

Now, is this description of Brahman a ''Brāhmaṇa'' — a valid Vedic statement — or not? The Pūrva Mīmāṃsaka says: No, it is not a Brāhmaṇa; it is an Arthavāda — because by knowing Brahman exists, what action does it prescribe? By knowing "I am free," what action is it prescribing? It is not prescribing any action.

Śaṅkarācārya answers: Yes, it is prescribing action — because if I am coming from Brahman, and my nature is pure existence, knowledge, and bliss, then I have forgotten this, and I have to do something to get back that memory. Getting back that memory through particular means is called Sādhanā. So it is indeed leading to action. And furthermore, it is telling me something very high. So you cannot even call it Arthavāda — mere secondary or meaningless sentences. In fact, that is the real goal of even you who are trying to go to higher Lokas — to get higher Ānanda. And how do you attain it? Through Yajñas, Yāgas, and other rituals.
----

== Words, Sentences, and Vedic Authority: Summary ==
So this beautiful discussion will be ongoing. Words give us knowledge, but they do not guide us to understand the relationship between individual words unless they are connected by a verb. When words are connected with a verb, they are called sentences. And these sentences must point out to some action for us to understand — and then alone are they called Veda Pramāṇa, not otherwise.

It is a marvellous subject, which we will continue in our next class.
----

== Closing Prayer ==
''Om Jānānāṃ Śāradāṃ Devīṃ Rāmakṛṣṇaṃ Jagadgurum''

''Pada Padme Tayo Śṛtvā Praṇamāmi Muhur Muhuh''

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

'''Jai Ramakrishna!'''
[[Category:Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]]