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Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.2 4.14-5 Lecture 69 on 19 September 2026

2026-10-11T20:35:27Z

Gopi:

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

== Opening Invocation ==
ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात्पूर्णमुदच्यते ।

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ॥

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

'''OM PŪRṆAMADAḤ PŪRṆAMIDAM PŪRṆĀT PŪRṆAMUDACYATE'''

'''PŪRṆASYA PŪRṆAMĀDĀYA PŪRṆAMEVA VAŚIṢYATE'''

'''OM ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI'''

'''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 Completion of Maitreyī's Doubts==
In our last class, we were discussing the dialogue between Yājñavalkya and Maitreyī. Yājñavalkya cleared every single doubt of Maitreyī. So we must understand that Maitreyī completed its first two stages.
===The Fit Adhikārī and the Guru===
A fit ''adhikārī'' – a person fit for receiving the highest knowledge of ''Brahman'' – must approach a Guru, take shelter at his feet, and he must hear the highest truth. This is a fundamental law.
===The Illusion of Artificial Intelligence===
Nowadays, on the social media, we are hearing so many people talking about God‑consciousness. Even some of the most intelligent persons are shamelessly declaring that artificial intelligence is about to become, or has become, real intelligence – ''caitanya''. As Yuval Harari pointed out, intelligence is different; wisdom is quite a different affair. Probably we can take this word "wisdom" as real ''jñānam'' – that is extremely rare.
===The Guru-Paramparā System===
So this is the ''Guru-Paramparā'' system all over the world, in every religion – especially if you study the Sufi religion, the mystical path in Islam. You find out what marvellous lives these great people had led, and how they tested their disciples. And then only when they found them fit, they accepted them, trained them continuously, transformed their understanding, and that is how they made the path easily transcendable by their chosen disciples.
===Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's Sanyāsa===
And for that purpose only, Rāmakṛṣṇa had taken ''sanyāsa''. Remarking about this, Swami Śaradānandaji Mahārāja tells: the day, the night that Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa had received the ''Mahāvākya'' from his Guru Totāpurī Mahārāja, the Ganges started flowing joyously: "Today I am going to witness one of the greatest events in world history – another great soul is going to make my burden light."
===Why Sanyāsa?===
So we have to understand this very clearly. Why? Because if a person is married, then he will not be accepted – he is not acceptable by most of the people as an authority. Even if a person, a ''sanyāsī'', is not a realised soul, but a real sincere ''sanyāsī'' is far higher than any householder. That is the view of Hindus – real Hindus. There are fake Hindus also – plenty of them. So this is the real view of every true Hindu.
===Yājñavalkya's Sanyāsa===
And even though Yājñavalkya need not have taken to ''sanyāsa'' after the attainment of the knowledge of ''Brahman'' – really, there was no need for anybody to take ''sanyāsa'' – but they wanted to keep the system propagated by the ''Vedas'' of the four divisions: the student life, the householder's life, the withdrawal life, and the all‑renouncing life – as an ideal. So Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa taking to ''sanyāsa'', Yājñavalkya taking to ''sanyāsa'', is not for their own benefit – because they had already become free in the beginning itself. It is for the good of the world. So that is why Yājñavalkya had taken it, and he found out Maitreyī was an apt disciple. She was no longer playing the role of a wife, but a most earnest ''mumukṣu'' – yearning ''mumukṣu''.
==The Threefold Teaching – Śravaṇa, Manana, Nididhyāsana==
And first he taught ''ātmā vā are draṣṭavyaḥ'' – "God realisation is the only goal of life," in Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's words. And then he also taught ''śrotavyaḥ, mantavyaḥ, nididhyāsitavyaḥ''.
===The Necessity of a Realised Teacher===
That is, first the highest truth must be heard by a fit disciple from a realised soul, who is called a ''śrotavyaḥ'' – a real ''Brahmajñānī'', ''śrotriyah'', ''brahmaniṣṭhaḥ''. Then whatever he received, he should not blindly follow. He should remove every single doubt from his mind.
===Maitreyī's Doubt===
We have seen how Maitreyī – she understood mostly, but when Yājñavalkya told "after the individuality is totally melted away in the universal, then there would be no consciousness" – perhaps he should have added "there would not be particular individual consciousness, but the individual will now have universal consciousness," which in Sanskrit words, if every placeable Sanskrit word, is ''Aham Brahmasmi''. And Maitreyī had this doubt: "If I lose consciousness, what is the point?"
===The Resolution===
Then he cleared it – only when there is duality, then one is conscious of the other, one hears the other, one sees the other, etc. Meaning any type of thought in the mind – because the whole ''saṃsāra'', transmigratory cycle, is nothing but a movement of thought in our minds. So long as there is a mind, that is not the final knowledge. But when mind is not there, who is even there to distinguish and say "I am different from everybody else"?
===The River and the Ocean===
So that is what I said – that once you have ascended to ''Advaita'', then ''Advaita'' measurements do not apply there. But it does not mean you are dead. It does not mean you have lost your individuality – like a river loses itself. Previously it was called a river; now it goes by the name ocean – ''aham samudro asmi'' – "I am the ocean." That would be the realisation.
===Maitreyī's Attainment===
And Maitreyī understood it, and she must have attained that. How do we know? Because if the conversation had – the conversation between Maitreyī and Yājñavalkya – Maitreyī did not ask any further questions. Had there been any lingering doubts that needed clarification from the side of Maitreyī, surely we would have expected that Maitreyī would have enquired from Yājñavalkya. Therefore we presume that she was free of doubts, and that automatically takes one to the realisation of the Self – ''Aham Brahmasmi''. Or to put it the other way: only after the realisation of the Self, all doubts, all ''karmas'', everything will vanish: ''tasmin dṛṣṭe parāvare'' – and once that highest realisation "I am ''Brahman''" arises, then all doubts – ''vidyante hṛdaya-granthīḥ, chidyante sarva-saṃśayāḥ''. So all doubts, all camouflage which belong only to the transmigratory individual self, will be totally eradicated.
==The Important Points of the Dialogue==
So just for us to recollect what are the important points of this particular section, the dialogue between Yājñavalkya and Maitreyī:
#God realisation is the only goal of life.
#A Guru is an absolute necessity.
#Only when the disciple is ready, the teacher – or the union, the meeting between the disciple and the teacher – will happen. As Swamiji used to say: "When the field is ready, the seed must come." Either the teacher will come to the disciple, or the disciple will find the right Guru.
#Thus this Hindu system of ''Guru-Śiṣya Paramparā'' is an absolute necessity. When the disciple is absolutely fit, the teaching from a Guru only then will transform the disciple into a realised soul.
===A Universal Truth===
This is a universal truth – not only is it a universal truth in Hinduism; whichever is the religion – whether it is Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, Judaism – that is the universal truth. Perhaps people have heard very little about Judaism; at least about Islam we have heard about Sufism, many Sufi saints. I have already sent many incidents and teachings from Sufism. Nowadays, of course, I am sending from the Buddha's teachings – especially from the ''Dharma'', ''Dhammapada'', ''Dharmapatha'' – the way of truth.
==Introduction to the Madhu Brāhmaṇa==
But today we enter into a new section in this second chapter. This is called ''Madhu Brāhmaṇa''.
===The Structure of the Text===
Remember that this ''Kāṇḍa'' – ''Kāṇḍa'' means a chapter. There are six chapters, and in the second chapter this is the fifth ''Brāhmaṇa'', called ''Madhu Brāhmaṇa''. Why did this name come? Because the very ''mantras'' describe to us that everything is dependent upon everything else. ''Madhu'' means honey. ''Madhu'' means ambrosia. ''Madhu'' means that which gives us the greatest pleasure. ''Brāhmaṇa'' means a section – a section dealing with the ''Madhu Brāhmaṇa''.
===What Is Madhu?===
What is the ''Madhu''? Everything in this universe is completely, totally, one hundred percent dependent upon everything else. This is what nowadays the scientists call – how much they really understand by that word we do not know – is called the holistic view. If one little part is missing, then it is like one little part in a jigsaw puzzle – it makes no meaning at all to the entire puzzle – one little bit.
===The Interdependence of Everything===
So in this section, the second chapter, fifth section, there are nineteen ''mantras'', and the essence, as I said, is the interdependence of everything upon everything else. In the shortest summary, this is what we should say: the object is dependent upon the subject; the subject is dependent upon the object. Even the very existence of either the subject or the object – they disappear. When the other disappears, no object – there is no subject. Of course, no subject, there is no object. So each one of us depends upon everything else.
===The Example of the Body-Mind===
We usually call ourselves human beings. Just to take this example: I am this body and mind. Without mind, body cannot exist. But without the body holding the mind, mind also has no existence. So both depend upon each other.
===Dream and Waking===
A dream depends upon the waking state. The waking state also depends upon a dream. These are the highest truths. What do I mean by dream? Everybody dreams: "I want to become a scientist, I want to get married, I want to have children. I want to grow healthily, wealthily, happily old, and I want to die in peace."
===Thought and Mind===
First, it starts with the thoughts. Thought means ''vṛtti''. There is no ''vṛtti'' without mind; there is no mind without ''vṛtti''. They are not two separate things. Mind becomes ''vṛtti'', ''manas'' becomes ''vṛtti'', ''vṛtti'' becomes the ''manas''. But to illumine both, there must be the reflected consciousness called ''cidābhāsa''.
===The Sun and the Object===
So the sun depends upon the object which receives the sunlight. Supposing I do not know that I cannot see the sun, and so far as I am concerned, the sun does not exist. So far as the sun is concerned, I do not exist. We are dependent upon.
===The Philosophical Question===
This is a beautiful saying. Rather, a philosophical question is posed in English philosophy. Supposing there is a remote thick forest, dense forest, and in the middle of that forest, there is a beautiful creeper which gives the most fragrant flower. Now, nobody had ever entered into that forest – just imagine – and then the flower had bloomed. It has the most divine fragrance, but nobody knows about it. So the philosophical question is: is that fragrant flower existent or not? Because there is nobody who is experiencing it.
===Dependent Existence===
So it is dependent. "Oh, here is a most fragrant creeper. It yields the most fragrant flowers" – that knowledge should come. Then only the existence will be revealed. So there must be a subject in order to experience the object.
===Forgetting and Existence===
That is why here is some food for thought: the moment I forget about some object, somebody – that somebody, until I remember that object, until I remember – does not exist at all. This is something we have to keep in mind.
==Madhu Vidyā – The Honey Doctrine==
So that is why this is called ''Madhu Vidyā''. ''Madhu'' means honey. Honey is not the direct meaning of this word ''Madhu''. What we have to understand: my very existence depends upon something else, and something else exists because it is dependent upon somebody to recognise it. In short, subject and object are interdependent, and the whole world can be the seer and the seen, the knower and the known, the experiencer and the experienced. That is how we have to understand.
===God Depends on Awareness===
Even God does not exist so long as I am not aware of God. It may look blasphemous, but it is an absolute truth. So when a worldly person is sleeping, there is no God. Of course you may analyse and say that state itself is God – but in that state of deep sleep, that person is not self‑aware: "I am God." When he becomes aware "I am God" in the deep sleep state, that state is called ''samādhi''. Otherwise, upon waking up, the person becomes aware and says: "I slept well, and it was a very happy, happiest, most happy experience."
===The Three States===
See – just to illustrate – if there was no waking state, there would be no dream nor deep sleep. Similarly, all the three states are dependent upon the other two states.
==The Interdependence of Identity==
Now, how do we understand it in our normal day‑to‑day experience? One of the questions. Suppose you meet somebody. First, I will give this example. You meet somebody who does not know you, and then you want to introduce yourself. What do you say? "I am Mr. so‑and‑so. I am this particular body‑mind complex. My name is so‑and‑so."
===Who Gave You That Name?===
Who gave you that name? Your parents. So even though you did not tell about parents – and many times you do that: "I am a doctor, I am a lawyer, I am a computer scientist, I am an engineer, I am a student, I am a teacher, I am a husband, I am a wife." All these are completely dependent things.
===Dependent Identities===
An unmarried person cannot become either a father or a mother. And an unmarried man cannot say "I am the husband of so‑and‑so," etc. When we want to reveal our identity to somebody, we have to tell: "My parents are so‑and‑so. I have completed this college or university in this particular subject. I am working as a doctor or an engineer. I am a married person. I am the father of children, or I am the grandfather of so many."
===Something Must Certify===
Something should be there. "I am an engineer" – whatever it is, the job certifies "you are so‑and‑so," and the parent certifies "he is my son." Just imagine for a second you do not remember anything of these things because of some peculiar disease. All your memory is gone totally. Then who are you? Where do you live? Which house? The person will not be able to answer at all.
===The "I" Depends on Relationships===
Because what we call this self‑identity "I" depends upon the relationships of all these things: my father, my mother, my children, my job, everything in that particular city. "I live in that city" – there is a relationship. "I live in that particular locality, building" – everything is totally dependent. And the whole thing can be compressed into the subject‑object relationship.
===The Deep Thought===
So that is what this particular section wants to explain to us so beautifully – how little philosophers think about this deep thought – that without somebody to certify with their relationship to us, we are nobody.
===The Body Also Depends===
Even to say "I am a body" depends upon – so I must have hands, I must have legs, I must have eyes. If these parts are missing, to that extent my personal identity is lost. So even to say "I am so‑and‑so," I require all these interdependent relationships.
===Parents Also Depends===
Similarly, if we ask our parents, "Who are you?" – "Oh, I am your father." I am required to certify that he is somebody who is a father. Suppose he has nobody and does not know, completely forgets. That is why the disease called forgetfulness.
===Total Forgetfulness===
Total forgetfulness means if he is caught wandering in the streets, if the police want to assist him – "Sir, where do you live? Who are you?" – he would not be able to give the answer. So they will have to trace him out by sending a photograph, and somebody may identify. Usually they do, then they know "this is that person."
===Everything Is Interdependent===
So everything is interdependent. This is called the holistic view, and scientists understand it to some extent. But we do not understand – most of us do not understand, though we might pretend to understand.
===The Butterfly Effect===
When a butterfly flutters its wing here in some part of the earth, the course of the stars may be altered. How many of us understand what is the relationship? And this interdependent relationship is beautifully explained in a beautiful book that came many years back. The title of that book is ''The Silent Spring''. Everything depends upon everything else. What a marvellous concept!
===The Beginning of the Teaching===
But that is not only the end – that is the beginning of this instruction in this particular section, the fifth section of the second chapter.
==Vedānta's Analysis of Difference==
According to ''Vedānta'', anything that is dependent falls under ''dvaita'' – duality – and everything that is dual is bound by time, space, and object – ''deśa'', ''kāla'', ''vastu pariccheda'' – and everything is separate, different, distinct.
===The Three Types of Difference===
For that, ''Vedānta'' identified three types of differences:
#''Vijātīya Bheda'' – a mango and a coconut tree are totally different. An apple and a cherry tree are totally different.
#''Sajātīya Bheda'' – even if there are one hundred cherry trees side by side, vast difference can be found in health, in the capacity to give flowers, in size, in quantity, in everything. This difference is called ''Sajātīya Bheda''.
#''Svajātīya Bheda'' – even if you examine one cherry tree, there are roots, there is a trunk, there is a huge trunk branched out into smaller and still smaller and still smaller branches. And then there are innumerable leaves. No two leaves are alike – and some are new leaves, some are just coming out and growing up.
===The Varieties of Green===
You must have seen the tender leaves – light green, dark green, or copper‑like green – and slowly it turns into some type of green. And how many types of green colour itself you can see! You just glance around – how many different greens can I identify myself?
===Differences Within the Same Tree===
So like that we can see the vast differences within the same tree. It is called ''Svajātīya Bheda'' – differences within oneself. Our own body is – our hands are not legs, legs are not the back, back is not the eyes or ears or tongue or nose, nostrils, etc. Every part has its own role to play, but they are all totally different.
===The Collection===
A collection – that is ''samūha'' or ''saṅghāta'' – that is called. The body – all the parts together – is called the body. All the people together in a small place is called a village. All the bigger villages, towns, cities, countries, the whole world – is all totally dependent upon each other.
===The Whole World Is Interdependent===
So that interdependence – the whole world is nothing but interdependent. ''Jīvātman'' is dependent upon the entire creation. Each one of us as an individual soul is dependent upon this entire universe. And to a great extent the scientists had understood. That is why it is called the holistic concept.
==The Vedāntic Conclusion==
But ''Vedānta'' does not rest there, and it comes to a very strange conclusion. What is that conclusion? That conclusion is: whatever is dependent is changeable. Whatever is changeable, that is ''mithyā''.
===Mithyā Is Not Non-Existence===
Again, I have to remind you: ''mithyā'' is not non‑existence, but something which is changing all the time, not remaining exactly as it is. That is called ''mithyā''. Everything is appearance, nothing is the truth – truth and appearance, ''mithyā'' and ''satyam''.
===The Need for a Changeless Witness===
Because if something is changing – changeable means it is changing – it is changing means how do we know it is changing? Because there must be an unchanging agent who remains completely independent, not part of the changing phenomena, and then goes on witnessing. That is the truth – ''sākṣī''. ''Sākṣī'' means one who does not change himself but can go on observing what changes are taking place – he can go on doing.
===The Two Roles===
So we are playing the roles of both – identifying with the changing on one side simultaneously, and identifying with that which is unchanging. So one is ''sākṣī jīva'', another is ''kartā-bhoktā jīva'' – experiencer ''jīva'', experiencer experiences, ''sākṣī'' witnesses that experiencer experiencing, identifying them both without changing.
===The Conclusion===
So what conclusion? Everything is dependent upon everything else, and whatever is dependent is changing, changeable.
==The Example of Hunger==
Let me give an illustration. Suppose you are hungry – and that is your present status. And then some food comes, then you start eating. That is where you have to listen carefully. You have eaten a few handfuls. There is no more food. So it brought about a change. Now partially your hunger, thirst are quenched. To that extent you are a changed person.
===Partial Satisfaction===
But still hunger is lingering, thirst is lingering. And until your stomach is full, both with food and water, still you are not satisfied – partially satisfied, not completely satisfied. So you may be expecting: "If I get some more food, it would be really nice." So you are a changed person now.
===Fully Changed===
Before food came, you were one type of person. A little bit of food entered into you, and then you are a changed person to that extent. If you are fortunate to obtain the required amount of food and water, and you are a totally changed person with respect to food and water.
===Everything Changing Depends===
So everything that is changing depends upon something. First of all, it is called ''mithyā''. ''Mithyā'' means it is not permanent. Whatever is not permanent is not the truth. So the ''mithyā'' changing depends upon the ''satyam'' – truth.
===The Rope and the Snake===
Like a misperceived object called "snake" totally depends upon the rope. It is nothing but rope, which is the ''satyam'', perceived because of certain conditions in three different ways: it is semi‑darkness, then there is a resemblance, and then whatever we superimpose upon that real object was already experienced by us beforehand. We can never superimpose something which was never experienced by us on anything that appears. So three conditions limit that object called rope, and that is what happens – that is called ''mithyā'' snake. But when light is brought, all the three limitations disappear.
===The Dependency of Mithyā===
So that is just an example. Everything is interdependent. Whatever is dependent is changing. Whatever is changing is called ''mithyā''. And whatever is ''mithyā'' is totally dependent upon ''satya'' or truth. And that is what this particular section wants to illustrate.
==The Eye-Opening Truth==
So it is a marvellous fact that opens our eyes straight away. We are dependent. So we have no right to say "I alone exist, others do not exist." That is the truth.
===The Critic===
But even a funny example I can give you. Supposing there is a person who has developed the attitude of criticising everything – not a "critic" (the English word critic means thorough examination), but here not Q‑E, but I‑C – critic. So a critic will not be a happy person unless he finds some object, some people, to criticise. So he is totally dependent. Such a person, at the end of the day, if he does not encounter any object to find fault with, he becomes thoroughly disgruntled. And he goes on telling: "Today my day is wasted. I did not find a single person whom I can criticise."
===The Need for Objects===
Just see – for good or bad, we are totally dependent. You want to do good, you want to become a good donor – you must find out somebody to whom you can donate. Whether there is a poor man, you can share your wealth, clothes, or food, or objects, or your school books, your college books, your used furniture.
===The Western Practice===
In the Western countries, there is a marvellous phenomenon. When people want to buy new furniture, there is no space to put both old and new. If they had them, perhaps they might not have kept them back, but they give freely. Whoever wants, they can take it away – and often that furniture is absolutely usable, and there are people who do not have that. So happily, they bring their own vans, etc., and then take away whatever they want – including beautiful televisions, everything, anything, computers.
===The Boot Sale===
That is what they call it – I forget the term in America – what is called "boot sale" or something like that they call it. So that is a good thing. They are doing a good thing.
===The Indian Contrast===
In India, they will steal even an empty kerosene tin, not to speak of other things. But that also shows how poor these people are.
==The Essence of Madhu Vidyā==
So this is the essence, the essential point. Everything is changing, everything is dependent. Therefore, everything dependent is ''mithyā'', and every ''mithyā'' must be based upon ''satyam''. And if we can find that ''satyam'', then only we can achieve permanent peace. Otherwise, it will be only a temporary peace for some time.
===Everything Becomes a Source of Joy===
So this is the essence of this ''Madhu Vidyā''. Then once we realise, what happens? Everything becomes an absolute source of joy, because such a person understands ''satyam'' – everything is ''satyam''.
===What Is Satyam?===
So what is ''satyam''? ''Ātman'', ''Brahman'', God, ''Īśvara'', Divine Mother. That is also called Kingdom of Heaven, Paradise, etc.
===The Teaching===
So what is the teaching? That everything is dependent; you are dependent. So get out of this dependency and achieve independence. In plain words, that is called realisation of God – in Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's words, etc. That is the goal of life.
==Who Taught This Madhu Vidyā?==
So then we have to go through who taught this ''Madhu Vidyā'' to whom. ''Idaṃ vai madhu dadhyaṅ aṅgirase aśvibhyām uvāca'' – there was a sage; he was called ''Dadhyaṅ''. And he taught this ''Madhu Vidyā'', honey doctrine, to two gods – they are called usually the divine physicians – ''Aśvini Kumāras'', twins, ''Aśvini Devatās''. So the ''ṛṣi Dadhyaṅ'' is also called ''Ātharvaṇa'' – that means he was famous as a knower of ''Atharvaveda'', or perhaps he was the creator or the author of – we know ''Atharvaveda''. We call it the fourth ''Veda'', because he was a knower of the ''Atharvaveda''.
===Atharvaveda Not Always Accepted===
As I said, for a long time this ''Atharvaveda'' was not accepted. That is why even in the ''Bhagavad Gītā'': ''traividyā māṃ soma-pāḥ pūta-pāpāḥ, yajñair iṣṭvā svar-gatiṃ prārthayante'' – "Through these three ''Vedas'', by performing ''yajñas'' prescribed in those three ''Vedas'', many people attained heaven – ''pūta-pāpāḥ'' – they became devoid of any impurities, so they ascended to higher ''lokas'', enjoyed them. So having enjoyed – ''te taṃ bhuktvā'' – then they have to come back – ''kṣīṇe loke mṛtyu-lokaṃ viśanti, kṣīṇe puṇye'' – and there, virtue or ''puṇyam'', good merit, is exhausted; they will have to come back again. Only a realiser of God or ''Ātman'' need not come back after realisation.
==What Does the Honey Doctrine Mean?==
So what does this honey doctrine mean? That the entire world is mutually dependent on each other, and because it is thus dependent, the world is illusory – ''mithyā''. And every illusion must depend upon a truth, its substratum – ''adhiṣṭhānam'' – that is called ''Ātman'' or ''Brahman''.
===A Special Teaching===
And this teaching did not happen in the usual way. Usually a disciple goes to a Guru and asks, and the Guru teaches. But this ''Madhu Vidyā'' was taught in a special situation, and there is a story about this.
===The Story of Dadhyaṅ===
There was a ''ṛṣi'' called ''Dadhyaṅ''. He knew this honey doctrine, ''Madhu Vidyā'' – that means he must have been a realised soul. Once these ''Aśvini Kumāras'' wanted to obtain this ''Madhu Vidyā''. They approached the ''ṛṣi Dadhyaṅ'', and they surrendered themselves to him, took refuge at his feet, and said: "Sir, teach us this ''Madhu Vidyā''."
===Indra's Warning===
But the ''ṛṣi Dadhyaṅ'' had a problem. He was willing to teach. But then he learned this ''Madhu Vidyā'', probably from Indra. So it is said: after imparting this knowledge to this ''Dadhyaṅ'' ''ṛṣi'', Indra warned him: "Do not teach this doctrine to anyone without my permission." This knowledge must be kept secret.
===Why Secrecy?===
Why? Is it because of selfishness? No. Because only Indra meant only if the people are fit to receive – after examining, testing them – then only. Yājñavalkya tested Maitreyī. "I am giving you this whole wealth." It was a test. Suppose she said: "All right, I accept it, but tell me about ''Ātman''." No – he would not have. "What shall I do? That which does not confer upon me immortality – I do not wish this. You teach me what you know" – that means "I want to become what you became."
===The Example of Rāmānuja===
So Indra warned this ''Dadhyaṅ'' ''ṛṣi'': "Do not teach it to anybody, but keep it secret." Not only he gave a warning – because we see that Rāmānuja's Guru, he had initiated Rāmānuja into the ''Aṣṭākṣarī mantra'', ''Oṃ Namo Nārāyaṇāya'', and warned him: "You should not impart it to anybody." Then Rāmānuja asked: "What happens if I happen to impart it?" "Then that person will go to Vaikuṇṭha, but you will go to hell."
===Rāmānuja's Compassion===
Immediately, Rāmānuja ran and climbed to a higher area in the temple, and he must have been having a tremendously great voice, powerful voice, and called: "Hey, please come – I know how you all can go to Vaikuṇṭha!" And there was an authority in his voice. So the people all gathered, and immediately he said: "Repeat after me – ''Oṃ Namo Nārāyaṇāya, Oṃ Namo Nārāyaṇāya, Oṃ Namo Nārāyaṇāya''. And you go on repeating it. I can guarantee you that at the end, straight Bhagavān will come and carry you to Vaikuṇṭha."
===The Guru's Anger===
The Guru came to know about this. He became angry. He called and asked: "I warned you – why did you do that?" Rāmānuja's large heart is expressed here: "Sir, by helping many other people to ascend to Vaikuṇṭha, and by that act if I have to go to hell, I would gladly go to hell."
===Swami Vivekananda's Words===
This was what Swami Vivekananda said: that if I could help even one dog on the street, I am ready to be reborn a thousand times. But we have to understand: such a person who helps other people to go to heaven – you think God is so ignorant, He will throw him into hell? Because if he goes into hell, then Nārāyaṇa Himself will go and serve.
===Indra's Threat===
So we have to understand this Indra's warning, and he said that he threatened: if this ''Dadhyaṅ'' ''ṛṣi'' teaches this ''Madhu Vidyā'' to anyone, he would cut off his head. Therefore, this sage explained his helplessness to the ''Aśvini Kumāras''.
===The Aśvini Kumāras' Solution===
But the ''Aśvini Kumāras'' did not give up. They were the divine physicians. Therefore, they said that they had a solution. What was the solution? Because they are physicians, they said they could remove any part of anybody's body and replace it with something – what you call kidneys can be replaced, lungs can be replaced, hands can be replaced. Probably in future even the brain can be replaced. Already we are being replaced by algorithms, no doubt about it.
===The Plan===
Then what happens? After – when Indra comes to know, definitely he will come and cut off your head. "But what we will do: we will replace your head with either an elephant's head or a horse's head, and Indra comes and cuts off that animal's head. Then we will replace it with your head, which we are going to preserve." This is the solution.
===The Horse's Head===
So they would carefully cut off their Guru's head, hide it somewhere, then bring a horse's head, attach it, and then he should teach them through that horse head.
===Hayagrīva Upāsana===
And does a horse head really teach? Yājñavalkya himself was taught – what is called – he was a ''upāsaka'' of ''Hayagrīva'', ''Sūryadevatā''. So there was a great soul in Andhra – he was called Rāmarāya Kavi. He was one of the most brilliant persons. He wrote many commentaries on Śaṅkarācārya's ''bhāṣyas'', but unfortunately he passed away at a very young age. Wonderful story – I will not narrate it in this session.
===The Restored Head===
But then this is the solution. So Indra will come – he said he will cut off the head of you – but you will be having a horse's head, and he will cut off this horse's head, and we will carefully preserve your original head, and we will restore this. So this way you teach us ''Hayagrīva Upāsana'' – Lord in the form of a horse's head only, the rest of the body will be human body only. So his head would remain safe in this way. This is the story.
===The Teaching===
So what happened? So this is how they did it. This is how the ''Dadhyaṅ'' ''ṛṣi'' imparted this marvellous Upaniṣadic secret to the ''Aśvini Kumāras''. This is the story that we have seen.
==Do Not Worry About the Story==
Now do not worry about the story. Maybe it is taught as a – this one. What is meant is that you sacrifice by sharing. This is called ''Ṛṣi Yajña''. Whatever you know can help other people – impart it to the fit people, of course. Then you are getting rid of the debt we owe to the other ''ṛṣis''. And that is how a person becomes a ''ṛṣi'' himself or herself.
==Conclusion==
We will discuss these wonderful teachings in our next class tomorrow.

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

पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहुः ॥

''Om Jananīṁ 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.2 4.1-5 Lecture 61 on 22 August 2026

2026-10-11T19:59:34Z

Gopi:

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

== Opening Invocation ==
ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात्पूर्णमुदच्यते ।

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ॥

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

'''OM PŪRṆAMADAḤ PŪRṆAMIDAM PŪRṆĀT PŪRṆAMUDACYATE'''

'''PŪRṆASYA PŪRṆAMĀDĀYA PŪRṆAMEVA VAŚIṢYATE'''

'''OM ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI'''

'''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 Dialogue of Maitreyī and Yājñavalkya==
So we are studying this most marvelous dialogue between Maitreyī and Yājñavalkya. Even if somebody does not study any other Upaniṣad but only the Bṛhadāraṇyaka — not even the entire Bṛhadāraṇyaka, but only this particular section called the Maitreyī Brāhmaṇa — that is more than sufficient.

So we have seen; we must recollect the story. Maitreyī had become a disciple and wanted to follow her guru, Yājñavalkya. Following does not mean going anywhere. Sannyāsa is not going anywhere; sannyāsa is not putting on any particular dress. Sannyāsa is a particular state of mind in which a person remains completely identified with God and God alone, with Brahman alone. Yājñavalkya, as we have seen, was a person who remained identified completely with Brahman, with God, whether in the waking state, the dream state, or the dreamless state. For a realised soul, realization never changes; his knowledge that "I am Brahman" never disappears, and at the same time, as a jīvanmukta, he can also perceive this entire creation. But then his way of looking at it is just like we look at a wax garden.
==The Wax-Garden Analogy==
We have two kinds of knowledge there. There are many varieties of trees, plants, creepers, animals, birds, etc. There may even be some houses, but they are all different from one another. So what is the cost of a house or a tree? It is not valued as a brick house, a silver house, or any other variety — it is valued only as wax, as one kilogram of wax. That is its value. That means one has the knowledge that this is merely an object, but that it is actually nothing but wax with a particular form and a particular name. That is a Brahmajñānī. If he becomes a jīvanmukta, that is, if he uses the body and mind by the will of Brahman, then he sees everything as Brahman, and at the same time enjoys everything as līlā.

It is like watching the most horrible things on a cinema screen or in a drama, but knowing that it is all a play, not reality. And when something is not real, anything goes; the most horrible crimes can be committed, and the more exquisitely a role is played, the more enjoyable it becomes. For example, in the Rāmāyaṇa drama, two people act as Rāma or as Rāvaṇa. We do not give awards according to the character, but according to how well a person has played that particular role — that is what draws the attention of the judges. Even in cinema, awards are given, and certain actors and actresses are recognised as superb in a particular film or drama. But these are all for the sake of enjoyment. Since nothing is real, there is no one killed, no one else is the killer, no one is the doer, no one is the enjoyer.

And that is the knowledge a person has during the three states, because if a person is a jīvanmukta, one cannot say he is in samādhi; he will be going through all the three states, knowing well, "aham sadā brahmāsmi" (I am always Brahman), no one else. And that is the goal to be reached; it is the only goal to be reached by everybody and anybody, even a mosquito, even a clod of earth. In course of time it becomes organic, it evolves, and one day it realizes it.
==The Story of Nārada and the Brahmajñānī Insect==
There is a beautiful story in our Purāṇas. Once Nārada came across a small, minute insect, and it was a jñānī of Brahman; only, it used to call that Brahman as Nārāyaṇa. Nārada took pity on it and said, "May you become a jñānī of Brahman." The moment those words escaped his mouth, the insect fell down dead on the spot, instantaneously. Nārada was troubled, because he himself was a Brahmajñānī. But if I or you were present, what type of yogi would we be? We would only think: he uttered some words, and this poor fellow, at least, was alive; now it is dead. And once something is dead, we are blind; we have no eyes to see what happens to it afterward. And the same condition applies with regard to ourselves also. That is why we are afraid; death means, "as if I may not exist henceforward."

That is why Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa assures us:

य एनं वेत्ति हन्तारं यश्चैनं मन्यते हतम् । उभौ तौ न विजानीतो नायं हन्ति न हन्यते ॥

ya enaṃ vetti hantāraṃ yaś cainaṃ manyate hatam, ubhau tau na vijānīto nāyaṃ hanti na hanyate.

So we have to understand this beautiful concept. It is not a concept, it is the reality; it is the only reality. "Somebody is dead, somebody is the killer" — this is not the reality.

So, as Nārada watched, he saw that insect immediately die and become a bird, and then, as soon as it was born, it died again, and then it became an animal. And then it died and became the lowest of human beings, that is, a Śūdra, so to say. And then it instantaneously became a Vaiśya, then a Kṣatriya, then a Brāhmaṇa, then a brahmacārī, then a householder, then a vānaprastha, then a sannyāsī, and it became realized in the twinkling of an eye. It became a realized soul.

So it is the grace of a Brahmajñānī. The grace of a Brahmajñānī is none other than the grace of God, because there is no question of his being apart from Brahman. So, when Holy Mother says, "Whosoever's responsibility I have taken up, that person is bound to get mukti at the last moment," she used to say it is like a person who is carried in darkness. He was asleep, but somebody carried that cot, and when he woke up, he found himself in a completely new place. Like that, an ordinary person becomes a jñānī of Brahman by the grace of any one of these Brahmajñānīs. Remember, a Brahmajñānī is never different from Brahman.
==Everything is Brahman: The Six Rejections==
That is the goal, and that is why Yājñavalkya concludes and says: nobody loves anybody. Why? Because there is nobody other than me. It is as if everybody, every mind, is a mirror, and I am looking into so many mirrors. But every mirror is made up of a different material, so the reflection appears different, depending upon the opacity, the colour, and the dirt, etc. That is what we have seen: everything is allowed for the sake of the Self.

To make this point clear, Yājñavalkya again teaches Maitreyī that if anybody — let me quote here:

ब्रह्म तं परादाद्यो ऽन्यत्रात्मनो ब्रह्म वेद ।

brahma taṃ parādād yo 'nyatrātmano brahma veda.

Here "brahma" [means] a Brāhmaṇa — the word "Brahma" should not be mistaken for "Brahman"; it is a Brāhmaṇa. If anybody thinks, "I see a Brāhmaṇa, he is different from me," then, instantaneously, that object also turns him into an object. A subject means pure consciousness; object means without consciousness — an object is inert. That is the truth. So, if we consider that there is something, even one single thing, apart from us, separate from us, then instantaneously we become finite. Infinity does not mean a collection of many finite things. Infinite means:

एकमेव सत् इदमग्र आसीत् एकमेवाद्वितीयम् ।

ekam eva sat idam agra āsīt ekam eva advitīyam.

There is no variety, and this "variety" in the Upaniṣads has been expressed as threefold. First of all, there is what is called differentiation between two species, vijātīya bheda. Then, there is a difference even between the parts of one single object; for example, a man and a tree are different, but within the man there are hands, legs, face, and so many parts, and every part is different. The name for the entire collection of every single part is called the body, śarīra. This is the difference within, sajātīya bheda. But within oneself, too, there is difference; our mind is different at different times, the body is different at different times — there is infinite variety within oneself, so to say, and this is svagata bheda. So: vijātīya bheda, sajātīya bheda, svagata bheda — and Brahman is bereft of all three of these differentiations. That is the definition of infinity, the infinite.

So, if somebody, while claiming to be a seeker of Brahman, has to practice — whatever practice we see, that practice starts with, first of all, "my mother is Brahman," then "my father is Brahman," "my teacher is Brahman," then "everybody is Brahman." But there is a point to remember: unless, first, I look upon myself as Brahman, I will not be able to look upon anything as Brahman. So I put on the lens of Brahman, and then only will I be able to see Brahman reflected through that lens of time, space, and causation. That is what spiritual progress means: progressively removing the differentiation and achieving unity.

And if anybody does not succeed in it, then we have to say immediately, an object makes a subject also into an object, and several examples are given. I told you, six examples are given, six rejections are given: if a person rejects a Brāhmaṇa, the Brāhmaṇa rejects him — it is not that he is rejecting; I myself am making him separate from me. So, I am doing the same thing with the Kṣatriya, and with the entire world, all the gods, every being in this world, living and nonliving. And then, in the end, he concludes:

सर्वं तं परादाद्यो ऽन्यत्रात्मनः सर्वं वेद ।

sarvaṃ taṃ parādād yo 'nyatrātmanaḥ sarvaṃ veda.

So everything has to be completely made one with oneself, because everything is Brahman. This fact may escape our attention; that is why Yājñavalkya now concludes: why should I not look upon anything else as separate from me? Because:

इदं सर्वं यदयमात्मा ।

idaṃ sarvaṃ yad ayam ātmā.
==The Wax and Ornaments: Names and Forms==
Taking the example of the wax garden, children may look at this tree, this plant as different from every other tree, every other plant, every other insect, every other animal, every other human being, every other house, etcetera. But a person who knows that everything is made up of only wax — what is the value of this one? Wax. Now substitute the word "wax" with "Brahman": everything is Brahman.

What is the nature of Brahman? Saccidānanda. The person is always bliss; he does not obtain bliss, he does not experience bliss — he says, "I am bliss." When I am bliss, the experience is continuous, constant. Whenever we use this word "experience," we have to remember there are two meanings: the external meaning and the internal meaning. When we say, "I am experiencing another person, another object," it means that my knowledge of that object is different, and it is only the knowledge of one particular object. In this creation, there are millions of such objects, and the moment I say, "this object is different from me," I lose my subjectiveness and become an object myself, because when I look at you, you are an object; when you look at me, I am an object.

So, Yājñavalkya wants to emphasise:

इदं ब्रह्म इदं क्षत्रम् इमे लोकाः इमे देवाः इमानि भूतानि इदं सर्वं यदयमात्मा ।

idaṃ brahma idaṃ kṣatram ime lokāḥ ime devāḥ imāni bhūtāni idaṃ sarvaṃ yad ayam ātmā.

So he says, at last: this Brāhmaṇa, this Kṣatriya, these worlds, these gods, these beings, and the entire creation — all this is the Self, I am the Self. It is nothing but the Self. Because of my ignorance, I am helplessly seeing everything as different from myself. And what is the result?

द्वितीयाद्वै भयं भवति ।

dvitīyād vai bhayaṃ bhavati.

It is only from the second that fear comes; fear always comes from the second. Very interesting examples can be given to make this point crystal clear. Suppose I am very much attached to my money in the bank; then, if that money becomes less for whatever reason, or if somebody hacks my account and empties it, for whatever reason, I feel depressed — I feel I should commit suicide. Many people commit suicide because they think they are nothing but their property: if property is not there, I am not there; if property is there, I am there; if less property is there, I am less there; only when there is more than what I can count, then only am I there. I am my property. Similarly, I am my family; similarly, I am my religion; similarly, I am my body; similarly, I am my mind. These are all wrong notions we have to understand.

But Yājñavalkya says: why should anybody not think everything else is Brahman? Because that is the truth:

सर्वमेतदयमात्मा ।

sarvam etad ayam ātmā.

He concludes; he summarizes his six rejections into one, "sarvam" — the whole creation is nothing but Brahman. And for that, logic is also employed. What is the logic? An effect cannot be different from its cause, because, whatever number of objects are there in that example of the wax garden, everything is nothing but wax only. When we say "wax garden," we see so many things; they are called forms and names, and we have seen in the Chāndogya that it is nothing but words — words trap us, that is all. So the reality is that it is only one. Kāraṇa and kārya — cause and effect — there is absolutely no difference between them. The only difference is nāma and rūpa, name and form.

Gold and ornaments — what is the difference? The weight of the ornament is the weight of the gold; the substance of the ornament is the substance of the gold. It is not separate from gold. And therefore, what is this earring, nose-ring, anklet, bangle, necklace, waist-belt made of, Gold. I have seen — my mother had one; it was so heavy, I don't know how much it weighed, one-fourth of a kilogram or whatever it was, and extremely costly even in those days; nowadays the price has gone through the roof. But it is all nothing but nāma-rūpa. There is no object called "ornament"; it is only gold in a particular form, and to separate it, to distinguish it from other ornaments, we give it a name. Every form is only for a particular utility — you cannot wear a waist-chain made of gold around your neck, only a necklace. That is what Yājñavalkya wants to teach: there is no Brāhmaṇa, Kṣatriya, Vaiśya, Śūdra — we have to add those words, they are not given here — everything in this world is the manifestation of Brahman, and it is nothing but Brahman. The quality, the nature of Brahman, is only manifesting as this creation. This is what we have seen before.
==Scripture and Reason==
Then, how do we understand, how do we realise the relationship between Brahman and this creation? Creation is the manifestation of Ātman, or Brahman. So how do we know? One important point we have to keep always in mind is that these things are not evident to our normal, ignorant mind; we have to have faith in scripture — no reasoning works there. As I mentioned earlier, what is the relationship between scripture and reason? Reason does not make the scripture real and true; no, the reasoning process is there to help us, to aid us, so that we can understand the scripture in a better way, that is all. Reason never made anything real; reason is only there to remove the "stuff" called untruth from the truth. It is just like when there is a stain: you apply the reasoning medicine, which is called the stain remover, and when you apply the stain remover, it does not make something different — it just reveals what was not so clear because of the stains, outer coverings, etcetera. This is śāstra-sammita tarka, logic sanctioned by scripture. Logic is always used by everyone; pure scripture, of any religion, uses logic only to help us understand scriptural truth properly. That is what we have to know.
==The Three Examples: Drum, Conch, and Vīṇā==
Now, to make this point clear, remember always: the greater the teacher, the clearer will be their teaching, and just as Śrī Ramakrishna gives plenty of similes and examples to make his listeners understand things, he used many, many instruments for making a point clear: sometimes bhajanas, sometimes explanations, sometimes examples, sometimes logic, etc. So, Yājñavalkya wants to make the understanding of Maitreyī clearer, and what does he do, how does he do it? He gives three examples, and it is interesting that through these examples also we can know what we can know. When an example is cited by an author in a book, we have to understand that that particular object existed even then. So here, three examples: a drum, a conch, and a vīṇā. So there must have been drums, there must have been a conch — we see in the Bhagavad Gītā, in the very first chapter, that Arjuna had his own conch, Kṛṣṇa had his own conch, the Pāṇḍavas had their own conches, and Duryodhana, Duḥśāsana, Bhīṣma, Droṇa, each one had their own named conches. That means conches were being used to make this sound, and even today all of these are available. The vīṇā is there — the vīṇā is especially popular in South Indian music, Karnataka music. That means even in those days the vīṇā was there, the flute was there, and many other instruments were also there, and this vīṇā is a marvelous thing — how beautifully one can bring out different bhāvas.
==Music, Rasa, and the Nine Emotions==
By the way, Indian music is divided so as to be a vehicle to express nine types of emotion, called navarasa. Romanticism, or separation, or humor, or heroism, or terribleness — bhīṣaṇa — all these are the emotions that have been, are, or will be experienced by any human being. They are all classified into nine rasas, called rasa. What does "rasa" mean? Happiness. Why is it called happiness? Because, as you all know, when somebody tells a beautiful joke, then everybody enjoys it. But suppose a painter paints a very painful picture: an old man without eyes, without limbs, suffering from a cancerous condition, or what is called leprosy, his limbs falling off, insects eating his live flesh, and the person in terrible agony. When you look at the picture, what happens? It makes you feel it is so real, and it makes you feel like weeping. So there are some songs — these are called, when two lovers are separated, the song of separation; that is the main theme in Vaiṣṇava literature, Vaiṣṇava songs. Union — first comes separation, viraha, then comes union, milana, then comes Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. So an expert musician, a great musician, can bring out effortlessly nine types of feelings, and every one of these feelings brings tremendous joy. That is why music is called next to spirituality; music is the greatest thing, because you can experience, even in spirituality, all these things.
==Art as Līlā: The World as Divine Sport==
What is the connection between kalā, the art, aesthetic enjoyment, and Brahmānanda? The sāmya, or similarity, is that it is not reality, it is only a depiction of reality. A drama, a poem, a sculpture, a bhajana, a song, a piece of literature — these are all nothing but expressions of different bhāvas, different emotions. But when we study them, when we experience these feelings, they all end up giving us indescribable joy. How is it that, even when there is such a tragic drama, like the Shakespearean dramas, etc., they can give joy? Because they are dramas, they are cinemas — they are not real. They bring us the aspect of reality. And by the way, why has this kind of art developed? It is to bring our mind to a higher spiritual point: everything is a drama, everything is a cinema, everything is a līlā. What is līlā appears terribly real, but is not real. Perhaps I should not have used the word "terribly real," because only some bhāvas are painful; some bhāvas are the opposite, very positive — hāsya rasa. Nobody thinks that a joke will not produce what is called joy; if a joke does not bring out that joyful laughter, not forced laughter, but joyful laughter, then we know that it is not real, it is a joke.

So, in this whole world, the whole creation is Bhagavān's joke. Is Bhagavān joking with us? No — do not mistake this: you do not exist; Bhagavān is joking with himself, and that is the greatest spiritual practice we have to develop. If only we can objectify ourselves and ferret out all the foibles, all the defects covering our eyes — "I am great, everybody is not so" — but if we can look at our own foibles... As some sage had said, if we can only look at ourselves, we will never lack entertainment. But only a spiritual person can look at oneself and then say all these things. So, according to Hindu scripture, the whole creation is a joyous sport, and in this creation there are tragedies, there are comedies, so many other things are there.

These are just a little bit of introduction, but from now onward, in these three mantras, Yājñavalkya is going to describe how, or what is, the relationship between cause and effect, and for that, a beautiful example is given, and it requires a little bit of thought for us to understand it.
==Sound and Modification: The Analogy of the Flute==
Let me first give an example. When sound is coming through a flute, let us say, then it is a flute sound; there is one sound, what is called sāmānya śabda, a general sound, because the sound that comes from a flute and the sound that comes by beating a drum, or by playing a vīṇā, are quite separate. Flute sound is separate: the moment you hear the flute sound, immediately you understand it is a flute. If you know the vīṇā a little bit, you understand — "yes, that is a vīṇā." Violin — "yes, it is a violin sound." Tabla — "yes, it is a tabla sound." So here, "drum" can be taken to mean the tabla sound, whatever it is. So, a drum, a conch — in India, conches are extensively used for temple purposes, for any celebrations, any maṅgala karma, even weddings; they are used, and when a sādhu visits a devotee's house, this conch is blown as a sign of a very special celebration.

So just imagine a sound is coming from a flute, and that sound, we can say, is the sound of a flute. But then the flute is played according to what are called the sapta svara, the seven notes: sa, ri, ga, ma, pa, dha, ni. And there are the upper seven notes, the middle seven notes, the lower seven notes. Everybody should be familiar with these seven notes, and every note is considered as a goddess, a devatā — that is why they have very special names also. The second note, for example, is called Ṛṣabha; the fifth note is associated with the call of the koel bird. Like that, every note has its own special name, and every note modifies the general sound in a particular way.

So, as I was giving the example: when "sa," the first note, is played on a flute, you hear the normal flute sound, the natural sound, sāmānya śabda. But the moment it goes up, the pitch becomes a little higher, and it is altered; and if you go to the third note, it becomes higher-pitched, and like that, higher still, and by the time you reach "ni," the seventh note, it becomes high-pitched. Now, what I want to convey is: whenever you hear a flute being played, you have two types of knowledge. One is the general cognition, "this is a flute sound," and then that flute sound is expressed in different ways, and the combination of these things is what makes a rāga such a beautiful Indian composition. The same thing applies to any instrument, even vocal music.

As you all know, Indian music is divided into southern Indian, Karnataka music, and Hindustani music — one is Hindustani music, called bhāva-pradhāna, in which emotion is given more importance, and South Indian music is called laya-pradhāna, in which rhythm is given a little more importance; but bhāva is present in both, though they developed in totally different ways. But what Yājñavalkya wants to say is that there were, first of all, drums prevalent, conches prevalent, and the vīṇā was also prevalent — how many thousands of years back was Yājñavalkya teaching this? — that means the vīṇā was already present then.

So, as I was explaining, when we hear the sound of a flute, there is a general sound, and soon that general sound is modified to come out at a higher, and still higher, pitch. But still, we have that general knowledge along with the specific knowledge — the general sound expressed through seven different notes. So what is the point? The point is: we are aware, first of all, "this is the sound of a flute"; second, "this is the third note of the flute sound," "this is the fifth note of the flute sound," "this is the seventh note of the flute sound," etcetera. So, in and through, there is what is called a normal sound, normal to the flute, and a special sound, when the flute sound is modified.

So, take the harmonium: there is a harmonium sound, and as you go on, you can hear a harmonium sound being played, a piano sound — there is a general piano sound, and there is a played piano sound. So, in everything that we see, this difference is there. But let me give you one more example. Suppose you are very fond of sweets: sweetness is the very normal, general type of taste, as opposed to salty, bitter, sour, etcetera. But what is it that makes the difference between various sweets? Some are mixed with fragrant spices, etc. — cloves, or what we call elāchī. Like that, there are an infinite number of varieties of sweets, and how do we distinguish them? Because every sweet is expressed in a different way; some prefer one type of sweet, others a different type. Sweetness is the general taste, and its variation is the special taste.

So, this same principle applies with regard to everything in this world. Take another example: a friend is a human being, and this human being, as a human being, is the normal, sādhāraṇa, that is, the very common knowledge. But this person may be a smiling person, a frowning person, an angry person, a happy person — the same human being in different expressions. But we never forget who it is: how do we know we are not forgetting, whether it is the angry person, etc.? So I hope I have given you this idea of the normal expression and the same, general sound implied in different, modified ways — but we are aware of both. That is the first point. The second point is: first, we are aware of the normal sound, then only are we aware of its modified sound.

So, in spite of there being a flute being played, a tabla being played, a harmonium being played, somebody singing — there may be more than a hundred or five hundred instruments in a concert — we can distinguish every instrument from every other instrument by its normal sound, natural sound, and the variations in that natural sound. Through this, what does Yājñavalkya want to convey? Brahman is the very natural, normal existence, Brahman as existence, and then there are the modifications: modified in the form of a cat, it is Brahman in the form of a cat; Brahman modified in another way as a rat; Brahman as a tree, Brahman as a rock, Brahman as water. To revert to our normal understanding: Brahman as ākāśa, space; Brahman as vāyu, air; Brahman as agni, fire; Brahman as jala, water; Brahman as earth — everything is nothing but a manifestation of Brahman. So the existence is common.
==Brahman as the Common Substratum==
Another way of looking at it is that, even from a modern scientific point of view, anything that we experience in this creation can be reduced — first they reduced it to atoms, then they reduced it to electrons, protons, etcetera, then to particles, and now to certain concepts. But whatever it is, let us take atoms as an example: here is a man, here is a dog, here is a tree, here is a rock — reduce these different living creatures, they are all atoms; reduce the non-living, inert things, like a rock, etc., they are also reducible to only atoms. Everything is an atom; that is the common ground. I am using the word "atom" instead of saying "the concept in the mind," "the idea in the mind." A great scientist said that the whole universe is nothing but an idea, a thought in our mind — he hit the target, as it were; that is the highest truth. Even the concept of Brahman is only a thought in our mind. Whatever we are experiencing is only a concept; "concept" means different thoughts in our mind, that is all, nothing else. Because, when we cease equating, seeing everything as separate, then we ourselves disappear — there would be nobody to say, "I exist."

Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa expressed this beautiful idea: suppose there are ten pots full of water, out in the open, under the sky, and there is one real sun and ten reflections. You go on breaking one pot after the other; finally, there is only one pot with water, one reflected sun. Break that tenth one also — how many suns will there be? And some clever devotee said, "only one sun." Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa corrects him: "No — even when you say there is one sun, that is only when you have the reflected sun. But once that reflection disappears, there would be nobody to tell who that reflection is. You, who are answering the question, are that last reflection."

So, through these three examples, Yājñavalkya wants to convey the idea that everything is nothing but Brahman, and Brahman is reduced to sat, existence. And what we experience is called existence: not only am I experiencing the existence of the external world, I am also experiencing the existence of my own self, the subject. So what is the great difference between the existence of an object and the existence of a subject? From the existential point of view, the point of view of existence, there is no difference. That is the idea. That means:

सर्वं खल्विदं ब्रह्म ।

sarvaṃ khalvidaṃ brahma.

Having said this — "sarvam idam ātma" —

सर्वमिदमात्मा ।

sarvam idam ātmā —

instead of "Brahman," Yājñavalkya used, in this Bṛhadāraṇyaka, the word "ātman" more than the word "Brahman." But ātmā is Brahma, Brahman, and Brahman is nothing but ātmā — we have to keep this in mind.
==Conclusion==
We will discuss these three examples tomorrow, but if you have grasped what I have tried to express, then it should be a walkover in tomorrow's talk.

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

पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहुः ॥

''Om Jananīṁ 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.2 1.9-13 Lecture 47 on 04 July 2026

2026-09-13T19:25:38Z

Gopi:

== Opening Invocation ==
ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात्पूर्णमुदच्यते ।

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ॥

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

'''OM PŪRṆAMADAḤ PŪRṆAMIDAM PŪRṆĀT PŪRṆAMUDACYATE'''

'''PŪRṆASYA PŪRṆAMĀDĀYA PŪRṆAMEVA VAŚIṢYATE'''

'''OM ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI'''

'''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: Review of the Upāsanas==
In our last class, we have been studying different upāsanas—contemplations—which first Gārgya wanted to confess: "I contemplate Hiraṇyagarbha in this form." And Ajātaśatru said: "That is fine, but you should also add some more qualities and contemplate." And that was what, we guess, Gārgya was doing. So we have discussed some of them. So just to recollect one or two.
==The Eighth Upāsana: Ādarśa (Mirror)==
So from what is this upāsana? "I contemplate—I will do upāsana—considering Hiraṇyagarbha as a mirror." So Hiraṇyagarbha is a mirror. Who is Hiraṇyagarbha? Who is consciousness? That consciousness—Saguṇa Brahma's consciousness—is manifesting within each one of us. So when I am thinking, that consciousness is inseparably united with our thoughts. Otherwise, the mind will not function; the mind will not know "I am thinking" because the mind is completely inert—''jaḍa''. When that consciousness, which is mixed up with the mind, is extended to the body—body means sense organs, every sense organ—for example, the eye thinks "I am able to see," not understanding that the eye is only merely a window. It has no capacity to see unless consciousness from within makes it, gives it the ability to see, and consciousness from outside makes it capable of seeing in the form of giving the light. So there should be light, and there should also be consciousness behind each of the sense organs. And all the sense organs combined together are called ''prāṇa''.
===The Mirror Analogy===
So first contemplate: what happens when we look into a mirror? We see our reflection. What type of reflection? If the mirror is full of dust, the reflection is distorted. If the mirror has less dust, it is still more clean; then as it becomes more and more pure, we see ourselves also. That means we see our own reflection also as it is, without any distortion.
===Chidābhāsa===
So what happens? That Hiraṇyagarbha really reflects through each one of our body and mind, even through Suṣupti—the waking state, the dream state, and the deep sleep state. In all these states, what makes these states possible is that reflected consciousness called ''cidābhāsa''.
===The Reflection and the Original===
Now, just as when we look into a clean mirror, we see ourselves—but supposing I have put on a green dress. How do I see myself in the reflection? As dressed in green. So if I have got a monkey face, I see the reflection of a monkey. That means even though the mirror is absolutely impartial, depending upon who is standing in front of it, it accurately reflects.
===The Hindi Song===
That is why there is a beautiful Hindi song—even though it is a cinema song, it is extraordinarily philosophical. What does the song say? ''Manā dara-paṇo kahalāye''—"The mind is like a mirror." Very beautiful, and most beautifully sung by, I think, Lata Mangeshkar's sister. So the mind reflects—the mirror reflects. Not only should it be pure, but the object in front of the mirror must also be the original face. So otherwise, we see only our reflection. If you are smiling, a smiling reflection; if you are frowning, a frowning reflection, and we become identified with that.
===The Result of This Meditation===
Therefore, Ajātaśatru teaches Gārgya: "Meditate upon it, and you will understand—as the result of meditation—what happens: you are able to find out your innermost thoughts." This is called ''Rociṣṇu''. It is a Sanskrit word. ''Rociṣṇu'' means clear, shining—''svaccha-svabhāvaḥ'', ''śuddha-svabhāvaḥ''—pure reflection. So as the upāsaka's mind becomes pure, then it reflects. If he is a good person, he will understand: "I am a good person." If a person is evil, that also the mirror will not lie; it will tell the correct thing.
===Awareness of Thoughts===
And in spiritual practice, the first thing is we must know where we are. We must know what type of qualities we have, what type of personality we are cherishing—we have developed through our ''saṃskāras''. That is what Swami Yatiswarananda Mahārāj used to say: "Find out always—be aware what thoughts are arising. Once you are aware, you will be able to understand whether you are having good thoughts—you are a good man—or impure thoughts—you are an impure person." It does not matter. Even if you are an impure person, the first progress in spiritual life is to be aware: "I have so many impure thoughts."
===I Am Not My Thoughts===
But one point we have to keep in mind: I am not my thoughts. My thoughts are only temporary things. They can be changed. In fact, they are changing all the time. So a sinner can become a great saint. The greater a person, the more that person becomes aware. And when we have concentration, concentration is one means of finding out what obstructive thoughts are obscuring our achieving the goal we set for ourselves. So this is called ''Rociṣṇu'', and in simple words, what I would say is: "Observe your thoughts, and then take action depending upon what type of thoughts are arising most of the time."
==The Ninth Upāsana: Yantam Paścāt Śabdaḥ==
So we move on to the ninth upāsana: ''Yantam Paścāt Śabdaḥ''. What it really means is: when a person is running for whatever reason, he soon becomes breathing heavily—frequent breath, deeper breath—and a peculiar sound emanates. Because ''yantam'' means one who is running fast; ''paścāt'' means after a few feet, he starts having trouble breathing in. Breathing in means oxygen, and that oxygen converts itself into energy. That energy is consumed by the act of running. So I need more oxygen; I try to get more oxygen through frequent breathing, faster breathing, and then it emanates a particular sound.
===The Upāsana on Gasping===
And this is one upāsana: the sound of gasping which comes from a running person. So when it comes, you meditate upon it. What is this particular thing? Gasping comes because the person understands: "If I do not take ''prāṇa-vāyu''—oxygen—my ''prāṇa'', my life, is in danger. There is something that is reducing the quality of my ''prāṇa'', my life energy." So Hiraṇyagarbha is nothing but full of life. Life is called ''āyu''. So when a person meditates upon it, he gets more than sufficient oxygen. That means that person will have a long, healthy life, which of course is very important for all of us because we have so many ambitions, and nobody wants to die midway. But it can help us if we can really get not only a long but healthy life.
===Prāṇāyāma===
And that is why ''prāṇāyāma'' is connected here. ''Prāṇāyāma'' really helps us to maintain a long and healthy life, and ''prāṇāyāma'' is nothing but regulating how we breathe in and breathe out. So this is one upāsana, and it is connected to Hiraṇyagarbha because Vāyudevatā—Vāyu means oxygen, the God of oxygen—is one manifestation of Hiraṇyagarbha, Saguṇa Brahma. So if we can meditate, automatically we get the result of ''prāṇāyāma''—beautiful ''prāṇāyāma'', great ''prāṇāyāma'' as a result. Our appetite becomes stronger; our capacity to enjoy Sāttvika food becomes greater. So in every way, our life becomes longer.
==The Tenth Upāsana: Dik (Directions)==
Then we enter into the tenth upāsana. Here the directions are taken for upāsana. What are directions? They are called ''dik''—the east, the west, the south, the north, and in between. So according to the Hindu calendar, eight directions are there. So all these are manifestations—thoughts on space. Really, in space, there is no east or west. These are all human conventions. When I see the sun rising, we decided to call it the east. When it sets—the direction in which it sets—we decided to call it the west. And so wherever we are facing, say for example we are facing towards the east—so my front direction is east, back direction is west, right direction is the Dakṣiṇa-dik, and the left direction is the northern part. These are all human conventions for practical living. Otherwise, if you have to go somewhere, you have to find out from where you are standing in which direction you have to go: "You go to the east, turn to the north." Even today, the GPS is nothing but purely a human convention. That is all. It all depends upon how the cities are planned, or the roads are planned, buildings are planned, etc.
===The Connection with Space===
So what is the connection here? Hiraṇyagarbha is manifesting as space. Space actually, as we have seen—Ākāśa—is infinite, it is one without a second, it is indivisible, it is uncontaminated. So many qualities are there. But the most important thing is, from the viewpoint of the directions, the east can never be without the west; the south can never be without the east and west; the north cannot be without the east and west. Like that, all the directions—even though for the sake of practical life we divide them—they are always together, one with the other, because space is indivisible.
===The Result: Dvitīyavān===
So what happens when Hiraṇyagarbha is contemplated upon as Ākāśa Devatā? What happens? What is the result? The Upaniṣad tells us we get a peculiar result as a result of this deep contemplation for a long time and becoming—or feeling—our unity with Ākāśa space. What happens? One always becomes ''dvitīyavān''. That is to say, one will never be forced to live alone. Loneliness will not be there, whether there is a person or not. He feels everybody is all around me: "I am not alone." ''Dvitīyavān''.
===The Benefit for Householders===
So if he is a married person, by the grace of Saguṇa Brahma, both husband and wife will live together for a long time. And if children are there, children also will be there as long as I am alive. That means children also will not die so long as I am alive. Many times we see when one of the couple—husband, for example, or wife—dies, very soon the other person cannot tolerate that separation and dies—after six months, three months, one year, or two years, but not for a very long time. What causes the death? "I am without a second"—and who is this person? He is one who is not contemplating upon this space. And therefore he becomes spaceless. So a person who contemplates on Hiraṇyagarbha—remember, these are all Saguṇa Brahma Upāsanas—Ajātaśatru is thus slowly training Gārgya in obtaining the qualifications so that he can take the completely new step from Saguṇa Brahma to Nirguṇa Brahma.
===Always with Company===
So one will always be ''Dvitīyavān''—always there would be somebody or other to give him company, not an enemy, but always somebody who is a well-wisher, who serves him, who supplies him everything. So that is called ''anapagaha''—''na apagaha''—one is never without the company of somebody. That means he will be inseparable from somebody who loves him, whom also this person loves. That means he will never suffer from that peculiar psychological condition called loneliness.
===The Scriptural Statement===
''Sa ya etam evam upāste dvitīyavān bhavati nāsya gaṇāś chidyate.''

So what is the result? So whoever contemplates—if a guru contemplates, there will be disciples to serve him. And if a ''gṛhastha''—a householder, a married person—if a wife contemplates, then by the virtue of her upāsana, the husband also will not leave her, and they will be both very loving. Otherwise, "we are together but always quarrelling"—that is not going to be helpful. But it would be a very satisfactory, joyful life. So without any loneliness—that is the result of contemplating upon the directions which are nothing but Ākāśa.
==The Eleventh Upāsana: Chāyā (Shadow)==
Then we enter into the eleventh upāsana. This is called ''Chāyā''. ''Chāyā'' means shadow. So ''Chāyā''—Hiraṇyagarbha as ''Chāyā''. What is ''chāyā''? Whenever you walk in light, there inevitably follows your shadow. Now, what is it that follows us? Our ''karmaphala''. Wherever we go, it follows us. ''Karmaphala'' is one which brings us happiness or unhappiness, health or ill-health, life or death. So always where there is life, there would be death. Always. Are you a young person? Then the shadow—that is old age, middle age, old age—the hair becoming grey first and then white. So this is inevitable.
===Death Is Always Shadowing===
Whoever can contemplate Hiraṇyagarbha as ''Chāyā'', what happens?

''Sarvam ha evāsmin loke āyuriti, nainaṃ pūrākālān mṛtyur agacchati.''

Death is always shadowing every one of us, and we are thinking we are going to live a long time.
===The Sufi Story===
It is a beautiful story—a Sufi story. There was a great Sufi. One day a young prince went to meet him in some other place. So suddenly he started shivering because he saw Death approaching. You know Death is symbolized like a black shadowy figure with a sickle in hand, etc. So the man understood: "I am going to die." But Death also became shocked, surprised. As soon as this young prince saw Death in that form, immediately he jumped upon his horse and ran towards Bahrain. Now the Sufi—he had no fear. So he was, of course, surprised. "Why is Death surprised?" Then he asked: "Why were you surprised by seeing this young prince?" And then Death replied: "I am surprised because I have an appointment with him in Bahrain. And what is he doing here sixty miles away today?" Now what happened? This young man is going to meet his appointment in Bahrain. Very soon. So death is always shadowing.
===The Song of Sri Ramakrishna===
That is why when Mani Mallik's son died, he came straight from the crematorium, and Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa broke into a beautiful song:

"Jīb sajo samare" O man - dear—get ready for battle—death has surrounded you; anytime it is going to defeat you."

In fact, there is a very beautiful story which I will tell on some other occasion where Death, then Old Age—all these are wonderful stories. In the Bhāgavatam, we get a person—a nameless person like that. So we will come to that sometime later on.
===The Result of This Upāsana===
He who contemplates upon this ''chāyā''—shadow—as Hiraṇyagarbha, manifestation of Hiraṇyagarbha. Remember: life comes from Hiraṇyagarbha; death also comes from Hiraṇyagarbha. So also babyhood, adolescence, youth, middle age, old age, disease—everything comes only—''ṣaḍ'' vikara we call—we call it sixfold changes. They are all the law of Hiraṇyagarbha only. But whoever meditates upon it, this ''chāyā'' will not come earlier—means ''apāmṛtyu'', that means accidental, premature death will never happen. That means he will live all his time happily.
===The Purpose of Upāsanas===
And if you notice all these contemplations that we have been discussing, we can see clearly that every upāsana not only is purifying the mind of this aspirant, but it is making his life the happiest life without surrounding, without all the paraphernalia of wealth—a palace, beautiful cars, yachts, aeroplane, bank balance, lot of power. No—a person can also attain to all these things and be extraordinarily happy, much more happy, because he is not worried. "God—I am surrendering myself to God." And upāsana is nothing but surrendering to that particular quality. So that is how this person becomes what is called ''niścinta''.
===Yoga-Kṣema===
योगक्षेमं वहाम्यहम्.

''yogakṣemaṃ vahāmyaham.''

So a person who always thinks about God unceasingly and delights in God's name—he is not able to think: "What am I going to eat? Where from food will come? Who will bring it to me?" Like a baby—a baby never thinks. It knows: "My mother is looking after me. That is more than enough for me." ''Śaraṇāgati'' is total dependence upon God. That is all.
===The Full Span of Life===
So ''etam Hiraṇyagarbham chāyā-rūpeṇa evam upāste sarvam āyur evāsmin loke ayate''—so this person lives his full span of life. ''Nainaṃ pūrākālān mṛtyur agacchati''—before his full span of life is exhausted, death will not come. He will not be a prey to untimely death.
===Untimely Death===
In fact, you have to understand—since the topic has come—there is nothing called untimely death. There is only one type of untimely death. That is called suicide. Suicide is ''Mahāpāpa'' according to Hindu scriptures. I think according to every scripture. So this person happily—it depends—"You want to take me, take me." He is not frightened of death, and he is very happy. Why is he happy? Living also he is happy; dying also he is happy. Why is he happy? Because when a baby is happy when he is in deep sleep, completely forgetful of mother, father, everything, but when the baby is awake, he is also very happy. Why? Because the mother is there to take care. So it is like a person living, contemplating upon Hiraṇyagarbha as a shadow. He is like the person who is slowly, steadily progressing towards God.
===The Fate of the Jīvātman===
But suppose death comes. Death means fall of the body. That ''jīvātman'' is not going to die. He will be going to Hiraṇyagarbha because he is contemplating only Hiraṇyagarbha—of course, one aspect of Hiraṇyagarbha. So what is the result he gets? He will never be subjected to what is called untimely death. It will never come. But as I said, everybody's death comes only timely death. Somebody is murdered because of his ''karmaphala''. Somebody, some car hits—that is also because of ''karmaphala''. But there is only one type of death which is called suicide, and that is a great sin. We should never do that because the purpose of committing suicide is "I will escape suffering," but the suffering will not go away until that karma exhausts its result. There would be no relief even if he is born, reborn somewhere. So his unexhausted ''karmaphala'' follows him there also. Only he is postponing it instead of finishing it.
===The Will of God===
So if we are suffering, we have to think it is not somebody, something which is creating it; it is my own ''karmaphala''. This is a fact we have to emphasise again and again—that nobody can make us happy, nothing can make us happy, nothing can make us unhappy, nobody can make us miserable. If we are feeling miserable because we are attributing it to somebody else's agency, now it is only my own ''karmaphala'' coming at the exact right time by the will of God. We have to understand that. That is why in other religions, it is called "the will of God"—"Let Thy will be done." Even Jesus Christ—it is said he was terrified of the crucifixion. So it is said he prayed: "If it is Thy will, let this cup pass away from me." But then he understood: "It is the will of the Father." Then he said: "Let Thy will be done." And that means he accepted: "If it is God's will, it must be for good only."
===Why Did Christ and Sri Ramakrishna Suffer?===
So why did Christ suffer? Why did Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa suffer? M says—and that is probably the final answer—because it is not the ''karmaphala'' of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa or Jesus Christ or Buddha. Because out of infinite compassion, they have taken the ''karmaphala'', especially the negative ''karmaphala'', of other people.
===The Result===
So what is the result? ''Ātmanvī bhavati''—he will never attain what is called untimely death.
==The Twelfth Upāsana: Prajāpati==
Then we move on to the last—the twelfth upāsana. The last upāsana is called contemplating on Prajāpati or Hiraṇyagarbha as Saguṇa Brahma—''Prajāpati-rūpeṇa'', ''samaṣṭi-rūpeṇa''—upāsana. So when somebody meditates like Bhrigu meditated on Anna Brahma—Anna Brahma means Virāṭ; Anna means my own body—Anna Brahma. The moment we say Anna Brahma, it is every type of body. Anna means body; body is nothing but food. Any body—a plant's body, an animal's body, a human body, a mosquito body—everybody is nothing but food only. So all the bodies together is called Virāṭ—Virāṭ Brahma. So if somebody contemplates on Virāṭ, he becomes Virāṭ. That means if somebody dies, it does not affect him. If he dies, he says: "This is one of my manifestations. I am alive in everybody who is alive."
===Beyond Life and Death===
So if somebody is alive, death does not make any sense because we divide: "A person is either living or dead. One cannot be in both states at the same time." But as Virāṭ Brahma, this duality is far below—it is transcended, where life and death are only changes of matter. That is all. That is a very beautiful teaching.
===I Am Prajāpati===
So this twelfth upāsana that Ajātaśatru had taught to Gārgya is that "Ātman—contemplate as Prajāpati. I am Prajāpati. So I am ''samaṣṭi-rūpeṇa''—Prajāpati. All the creation together is called Prajāpati. Prajāpati is another name for Hiraṇyagarbha. Do not think he is somebody separate. Prajāpati, Hiraṇyagarbha, Saguṇa Brahma, Śakti, Kālī—these are all synonymous words.
===The Result of This Upāsana===
So one who succeeds in this—"I am Prajāpati"—he will succeed. Why should he succeed? Why will he succeed? Because he has been honing his art of contemplation through so many other smaller things. But this is the biggest contemplation. Therefore, all the past experiences help him; very easily he will attain.
===The Story of Dr. Mello===
There was one beautiful incident. Once a devotee came to Laṭu Mahārāj. He was Dr. Mello, and he was asking: "One day I was sitting for meditation. Suddenly I saw my chosen deity—Jesus Christ. Then very soon he turned into Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. Then very soon he turned into Buddha—like that, one after the other. Am I deluded? Is it my imagination?" That was the question he put to Laṭu Mahārāj. And Laṭu Mahārāj immediately—no, master used to say—Rāmakṛṣṇa used to say: "If anybody is so bestowed with grace that he could have a darśana of one particular devatā, then to see other manifestations of the same devatā will not be difficult at all."
===Vivekananda's Vision===
So Vivekanandaji also had the same. One day he saw Vaikuṇṭha darśana—that is all the gods and goddesses. When he came and reported this to Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa said: "From now on, you have gone beyond the Saguṇa Brahma; you will not have this kind of visions anymore. You will only have ''bhāva''—that is pure knowledge."
===Dr. Mello's Question===
So Dr. Mello was given this answer: "You are on the right track. Go on meditating the way you do." Then the second question is a beautiful question. Here psychology works. How the function of a guru really comes into effect. Dr. Mello asked: "I have a confusion—I am confused. So I love Christ and Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa equally. So who should be my Iṣṭa Devatā?" Then Laṭu Mahārāj put a question: "Whom have you been meditating upon a longer time—means since your childhood?" Immediately Dr. Mello answered: "I was born in a Christian family, so I imbibed a great love for Jesus Christ—the form of Jesus Christ. So I meditate; I love him." And then Laṭu Mahārāj said: "You go on meditating on Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ and Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa are not two separate beings."
===The Vision of Sri Ramakrishna as Christ===
And this we see clearly. One day, one Mishra—a Christian devotee—came and met Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, and then Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa stood up and shook his hand, and what transpired there nobody knows. But that Mishra says: "I am a sannyāsī. Outside I am putting these layman's clothes, but I am a pure sannyāsīn. I was a Hindu. I fell in love with Jesus Christ." And do you know, he was addressing the other devotees who were there: "You do not understand. I have seen Jesus Christ in him. He is none other than Christ." Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa also said: "You will achieve everything." Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa shook his hands in a Western manner that day with Mr. Mishra. So many people had the vision of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa as Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ as Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. This is something we have to appreciate.
===The Result of the Final Upāsana===
So whoever contemplates this Prajāpati—that contemplation is equivalent to contemplating every other deity already mentioned by Ajātaśatru. With these qualities, besides, every presiding deity is nothing but this Prajāpati—creator—called in the Purāṇas as Brahmā. And Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Maheśvara are not three different beings. They are three different names of three different functions: creative function—Brahmā; maintaining function—Viṣṇu; and absorbing function—Śiva. So these are the profound truths we have to contemplate.
===Hinduism and Other Religions===
We Hindus have no problem with any religion, with any god or goddess. That is why a true Hindu can have Jesus Christ, Buddha, and many other saints and sages, even though his Iṣṭadevatā may be one. And a good Hindu could also keep a photograph of Muḥammad. But the Muslims take offence at it—"No image should be there." So they can do violence, and that is why neither they keep nor others dare to keep the photo of Muḥammad. But they do not understand the philosophy behind it.
===The Final Result: Ātmanvī===
Okay, so if somebody, after succeeding through all those previously taught upāsanas, when he comes to this last upāsana—''Prajāpati-rūpeṇa'', ''samaṣṭi-rūpeṇa'' upāsana—what does he become? ''Ātmanvī bhavati''. That means he becomes a master of his mind—total mastery over one's own self. That means his mind will never deviate from the divine; always his mind is filled with divine thoughts.
===Gārgya's Transformation===
So ''sa ya etam evam upāste ātmanvī asya prāyā bhavati sahotāś nim asa Gārgyaḥ''—so Gārgya was given this qualification, and Ajātaśatru had taught him: "You meditate upon him as ''samaṣṭi'', and then you will become ''samaṣṭi''. That is called ''ātmanvī''. So with this, he feels his identity." Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa felt identity with Mother Kālī, Jesus Christ, with Śiva, with Śakti, with Kṛṣṇa, with Rāma—everybody.
===Summary of the Twelve Upāsanas===
So we have seen twelve upāsanas. Through twelve upāsanas which were known to Gārgya—he wanted to teach, but he was given more than what he had given. Really, he did not give, because Ajātaśatru knew even what Gārgya knew but added to his fund of knowledge. So from the second to the thirteenth, we have discussed twelve upāsanas. And with this, Gārgya's knowledge is exhausted. And lastly, Gārgya says he would keep quiet because his fund of knowledge is exhausted. But a tremendous revolution had taken place within him. He understood the limitation of his knowledge, and his eyes opened to further knowledge—to the knowledge of the Infinite.
===The Reversal of Roles===
And then, not only did he keep quiet, he reversed the roles and said: "I want to learn from you not only what you taught until now, but what will be beneficial for me to progress in spiritual life." So I am already foretelling about the conclusion: by that time, Ajātaśatru would have finished with Gārgya; he also would have been like Ajātaśatru—a full knower of Brahma. Though it is not mentioned, we have to understand: as the contemplation, so also will be the result.
===The Next Stage===
That teaching—how Ajātaśatru wants to teach what is the real nature of Jīvātman—is going to come from the fifteenth onwards. But here—thirteenth—so we have discussed through twelve upāsanas. Ajātaśatru taught nineteen special ''guṇas'' to contemplate Hiraṇyagarbha. That means Gārgya had acquired nineteen special ''guṇas''—qualities. More or less, he became a fit disciple, a fit mind, a pure mind. Now nobody can jump to Nirguṇa Brahma without climbing the stairs. Rāmakṛṣṇa gives this beautiful example. So if there is a five-storied house—and it is very symbolic also of the Pañca-kośas—so he has to climb to the next higher step. So that is called Prāṇamaya Kośa, etc. And even the last—Ānandamaya Kośa—has to be crossed over. So the fifth story is equated with Ānandamaya Kośa. But that is also limited. Even though it is full of bliss, it is limited. But to go beyond that limitation, as Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa says, until one goes to the roof—steps onto the roof—his knowledge will not be complete.
===The Roof Analogy===
Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, in his own inimitable manner, says that once a person reaches the roof—reaches the roof means understands the material of the roof—then he connects it with all the stories below and says: "Whatever is the material with which the roof is constructed, all the building is nothing but constructed with the same material." Only when a person reaches that—"Everything is Brahman—''sarvaṃ khalvidaṃ Brahma''"—then only he understands that there is nothing called an individual body, a man, a tree, an animal, an insect, etc. Everything is nothing but Brahman.

यत्र यत्र चक्षुर्गच्छति तत्र तत्र ब्रह्मदर्शनम्.

''yatra yatra cakṣur gacchati tatra tatra brahmanudarśanam.''

"Wherever the sight turns, there a person says nothing but pure Brahman."
===Gārgya's Request===
So now Gārgya—Ajātaśatru asks: "Anything further you want to teach me?" But what happened to Gārgya? He became silent. Not only that, he said: "Please teach me. I would like to be your disciple, and you be my Guru." This is also symbolic for us. Whatever be the caste, even a ''caṇḍāla'' can teach the highest truth. Did not a ''caṇḍāla'' teach Śaṅkarācārya the highest truth? If you interpret that story—which the followers of Śaṅkarācārya, especially the Maṭhādhipatis, never accept even today: "No, it is only Śiva." When did Śaṅkarācārya come to know that "Caṇḍāla was a Śiva" when he saw him? No—only when he gave out that question—his wisdom, his knowledge, his depth of knowledge—and then only Śaṅkarācārya suddenly woke up and said: "What you say is correct. Everything is Śiva."

मनोबुद्ध्यहंकार चित्तानि नाहम्, न च श्रोत्रजिह्वे न च घ्राणनेत्रे | न च व्योमभूमिर्न तेजो न वायुः, चिदानन्दरूपः शिवोऽहम् शिवोऽहम् ||

''mano-buddhy-ahaṅkāra-cittāni nāham, na ca śrotra-jihve na ca ghrāṇa-netre |'' na ca vyoma-bhūmir na tejo na vāyuḥ, cid-ānanda-rūpaḥ śivo 'ham śivo 'ham ||

Who wrote this? Only Śaṅkarācārya. So Gārgya says: "You please teach me." And that means the Upaniṣad very quickly passes. He did everything that a śiṣya is supposed to do. Then what happened? Ajātaśatru did not want to upset the tradition. So he said: "You do not need to sit down at my feet, bow down to me. There is no need. I know you are a fit person. I will teach you whatever I know."
===The Sleeping Man===
But then he took him by hand, and he went—and the person was deeply asleep. And then Ajātaśatru called him—no response. Called him loudly—no response. Then he shook him mildly—no response. Then he shook him wildly, violently—then the man woke up. And then Ajātaśatru, turning to Gārgya, asks: "This Jīvātman—of whom you know Saguṇa Brahma—where was he when I called him by the name of Prāṇas? He never responded. When I shook also, it took time for him to come out. So where was he, and how did he come back?"
===The Highest Teaching===
And through that, the highest teaching of Nirguṇa Brahma—which has nothing to do with the waking, dream, or dreamless state—is being reiterated in this Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, of which we will proceed to talk about in our next class.
== Closing Prayer ==
''ॐ'' जननीं शारदां देवीं रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुम् ।

पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहुः ॥

''Om Jananīṁ 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.2 1.14-15 Lecture 48 on 05 July 2026

2026-09-13T19:22:01Z

Gopi:

== Opening Invocation ==
ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात्पूर्णमुदच्यते ।

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ॥

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

'''OM PŪRṆAMADAḤ PŪRṆAMIDAM PŪRṆĀT PŪRṆAMUDACYATE'''

'''PŪRṆASYA PŪRṆAMĀDĀYA PŪRṆAMEVA VAŚIṢYATE'''

'''OM ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI'''

'''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: Gārgya Becomes a Fit Disciple ==
In our last class, we completed all the twelve upāsanas. Gārgya had enumerated what he knew, and Ajātaśatru went on adding, and then Gārgya became a fit disciple. Now Ajātaśatru has to take him from Saguṇa Brahma to Nirguṇa Brahma.
===Ajātaśatru's Question===
Then Ajātaśatru, after hearing about the twelve upāsanas from Gārgya, asks him: "''Etāvān nu''—Only this much? Do you know anything more?" Gārgya kept silent. He lowered his head, but then he must have practised all the upāsanas. So he had developed tremendous amount of ''viveka'', ''vairāgya'', and humility. And he said: "I thought I knew much more, but you have opened my eyes. Now please lead me further, because I am eager to realise Brahman."
===The Real Teaching Begins===
Let us remember: no teacher will ever lead a person to what he cannot desire or cannot even attain. Everybody has to go step by step to that highest reality. So the real teaching starts from here. Just as a brief introduction: Gārgya becomes silent, and how he became the student.
==The Fourteenth Mantra: The Reversal of Roles==
In the fourteenth mantra, in the second chapter, first section, we get:

स होवाचाजातशत्रुः, एतावन्नू३ इति; एतावद्धीति; नैतावता विदितं भवतीति; स होवाच गार्ग्यः, उप त्वा यानीति ।। १४ ।।

''Sa ha vācājātaśatrur etāvan nu iti.''

Ajātaśatru asked: "Do you know anything more than this?" And then the truthfulness comes out:

''Etāvadīti''—"I know, sir, only this much."

And Ajātaśatru rejoins:

''Naitāvatā viditam bhavati''—"With this much only, you are not going to become a knower of Brahman. This is only the knowledge of Saguṇa Brahma. That means you will not get ''mukti''."

''Sa hovāca Gārgya upatvāyanīti''—Hearing this, Gārgya said: "''Upatvāyanīti''—'You.' ''Upāyanīti''—'I am approaching you, eager to learn from you. Accept me as your student, and out of your boundless grace, enlighten me.'"
===The Teacher's Duty===
And when a teacher really gets a fit student endowed with all these Sādhana-catuṣṭaya-sampatti—the fourfold qualities of a true sādhaka—he would never reject. If you remember, Rāmakṛṣṇa knew very well. One day he was scolding Hāzrā: "These are the small children in spiritual life. Do you think they understand the highest truth that you are trying to inject into them?" Because this Hāzrā used to say: "I am Brahman, I am that." Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa did not reveal the truth: "You are a fool. You are not even as much advanced as these people. You are full of egotism, and you are only thinking that you are a great spiritual person."
===Swamiji's Ridicule===
Swamiji used to ridicule him: "Hāzrā Dādā, elder brother, I have not seen anybody with such big, big rudrākṣa mālā—huge beads." And then this fool did not understand. Swamiji was making fun of him because the bigger the beads, the greater is the devotion and knowledge—that is what he thought. But Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's ''līlā'' is difficult to comprehend. So out of His infinite compassion, He kept him, and He told later on: "I keep him because without these buffoons—Jatila and Kuṭila—the play will not be complete."
===The Gentle Rejection===
And whenever Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa finds people who are neither willing nor capable of understanding, He used to gently tell them: "There are beautiful things in this Dakṣiṇeśvara temple compound—please go and enjoy them. You enjoy." It is not a rejection by Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa; He is simply telling: "You will be wasting your time. I will be wasting my time."
===Ajātaśatru's Training===
But Ajātaśatru himself trained Gārgya by inculcating into him all these marvellous qualities through upāsana. What is upāsana? Tremendous amount of training the person to think with deep concentration on a particular quality. So whatever we think deeply, that is what we end up becoming. So Ajātaśatru must have recognised—in fact, Ajātaśatru must have found out the potentiality of Gārgya even before that. "Here is a very fit student. It is my duty to lead him."
===Authorisation to Teach===
Here also we have to understand: everybody and anybody, even a knower of Brahman, cannot be a teacher unless he is authorised by God. Authorisation means there will be power. There will be clarity, and the teacher understands the minds of each one of his pupils, and he will give the appropriate training. Some people you may say: "You meditate"; some people will say: "Do not meditate, just do japam." So according to the fitness, the teacher will tell—that special capacity to understand and direct. That is a great quality in any type of teacher, be it physics, chemistry, etc.
===Gārgya Accepts His Limitation===
So Gārgya accepted his lack of knowledge: "Let me now come to you as a student." There is a beautiful saying you might have heard: ''Guru mile lākh lākh, celā nāmile ek''—"In this world, we may get teachers in millions, but a true disciple is extremely rare." So Gārgya realised his limitation, and he was humble enough to acknowledge this. Unlike Śvetaketu—remember, in the Chāndogya Upaniṣad, Śvetaketu, when his defects were pointed out by his own father and then he said "let us go and learn," he refused to come. So much of arrogance was there.
===The Eager Student===
An eager student is always open to sit under the feet of anyone who has the desired knowledge. So here something peculiar: even at that time, brāhmaṇas were what you call the teachers, and they made themselves the teachers—they authorised themselves. Some good they have done, but a lot of harm also they have done, instead of saying "anybody who knows can be a teacher." They said: "No, only brāhmaṇas can be teachers." And that is a kind of arrogance, ignorance. That is what in the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad we get: blind people, and they do not recognise that they are blind, but they take upon themselves the role of leading others.

अन्धैव नीयमाना यथान्धाः.

''andhaiva nīyamānā yathāndhāḥ.''

I do not remember—it may be in the Kaṭha Upaniṣad or the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad.
==Ajātaśatru's Reaction==
Now Ajātaśatru's reaction. Ajātaśatru was a realised soul, and it is unnecessary to say that he was a fit person. Every knower of Brahman will be a fit person only. He said: "The tradition is brāhmaṇas will teach, and everybody else will sit humbly and try to learn. But then you are asking me to upset the tradition. ''Pratiloma'' means the opposite way: a kṣatriya becomes a teacher, a brāhmaṇa will become a student. ''Yath etat brāhmaṇaḥ kṣatriyam upayāt, brahma me vakṣyatīti''—'You are a brāhmaṇa. I am a kṣatriya. That a brāhmaṇa can approach a kṣatriya: "You teach me especially about Brahman." ''Vā ava tvā vijñāpayiṣyāmi''—But you are an earnest student. When an earnest student comes, there is a rule: he should never be rejected.
===Dronacharya's Mistake===
Droṇācārya committed this terrible mistake. Ekalavya was even more fitted, but in his arrogance, Droṇācārya behaved extremely badly. Not only he refused to teach, when he came to know that Ekalavya had chosen him as the guru and made a small image of his own guru out of clay, as if he was teaching (because the real teacher, we can understand, is neither Ajātaśatru nor Droṇācārya nor Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa—it is only Mother Sarasvatī who teaches), then he demanded ''guru-dakṣiṇā'' without teaching. And what ''guru-dakṣiṇā''? "You cut off your thumb"—without which Ekalavya would be incapable of practising archery.
===Lessons from the Mahābhārata===
We have to learn these lessons. In the Mahābhārata also, there are so many defects of character—even though Arjuna revered him so much, there was a defect in Droṇācārya, even in Bhīṣmācārya. But we have become blind. What do the Purāṇikas tell us? The Bhāgavatars tell us: "Oh, Bhīṣma was an unparalleled person. Droṇācārya was a great ācārya." No—Droṇācārya, for example, should never have taught his own son Aśvatthāmā, who was completely unfit, because a man of character alone can be taught this highest of the Brahmāstra. Arjuna was okay, and we know what was the result, what had happened. But because of his blind love—"This is my son"—and also the child did not learn fully. He only knew how to discharge, not how to stop.
===Bhīṣma's Failure===
What about Bhīṣma? Bhīṣma was supposed to be an incarnation of ''dharma''. He knew ''dharma'', but he was never an incarnation of ''dharma'' because he saw so many things even after knowing how much of injustice, how much of cruelty his Kauravas were practising. Either he should have joined the Pāṇḍavas, or he should have gone to a forest and lived. But neither did he do. He stuck, he fought along with the Kauravas, and then he destroyed so many of the army of the Pāṇḍavas. From a historical point of view, that is not acceptable at all. Anyway, coming back.
===Ajātaśatru's Acceptance===
So Ajātaśatru said: "This is not in the tradition." But there is something we have to understand. There are certain duties incumbent upon brāhmaṇas. What are they? First of all, ''adhyayana'' and ''adhyāpana''—so a brāhmaṇa has to be engaged in continuous learning. And then whatever he understands, he should give it freely, not expecting any fees or anything. That is called ''adhyāpana''. Then ''yajana'' and ''yājana''—he can do ''yajñas'' etc. by himself, and if somebody, a king for example, employs him, he should do it. ''Yajana'' means he should do himself; ''yājana'' means if somebody requests him to perform, then he should perform it. Then ''dāna''—that is, he can accept charity because he does not accumulate anything, he does not possess anything. So he should live a simple life—as Socrates tells the philosophers: very simple life—simple living, high thinking. And then ''tapasyā''—he must always perform austerity so that he will be revered.
===Kṣudirām's Example===
Kṣudirām was such a person; he never expected anything from anybody. That is why God Himself wished to be born as this child of Kṣudirām. It is not only the life of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa; the life of his parents was unparalleled. Just meditate on Kṣudirām, meditate on Candramaṇī—then you will understand what I am talking about. Such a guileless person was the mother of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. Nothing will be hidden in her—as they say ''pete kichu rākbenā''—she will not keep anything hidden. That is the meaning. Everything she tells openly, and people used to ridicule: "You are such a foolish woman, so innocent. You should not talk to people what is in your mind." But Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa loved that and said: "My mother is an example of what is called ''satya''. They thought the speech and the action should be one and never deviate from each other."
===Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa on His Father===
Śudhiram, he said—Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa said: "Before this storm of spiritual sādhana, like a ghost caught hold of my head and made me go through, I used to think I will follow the footsteps of my father." Most of the ancient ṛṣis were like that. So even though a brāhmaṇa—what is it? He should learn, he should teach, he can—he has to perform special ''yajñas'', and if he is employed, he can assist a mahārāja, a great prince, etc., and he must accept. If he has more, he can also give, distribute it with others. And at the same time, he must do ''tapasyā''—because such a person is called a brāhmaṇa.
===Ajātaśatru's Response to Gārgya===
Now in this case, Ajātaśatru said: "''Sā ayam ikṣatriyaḥ''—even though I am a knower of Brahman, I will accept you because you are a proper person, a fit student. But you do not need to sit below me. You do not need to make praṇāms to me. On the contrary, I will just treat you as my friend, and I will tell you." Then he said: "''Vā eva tvā jñāpayiṣyāmi''—that is, 'I will definitely teach you. ''Vijñāpayiṣyāmi''—I will let you know whatever I know.'"
===The Real Teaching Begins===
Then what did he do? ''Tam pāṇau ādāya utthastau''—probably both were sitting. So Ajātaśatru caught hold of the hand of Gārgya because he wanted to teach him something, and then he said: "Come with me." So anybody can be a teacher. Even from a ''caṇḍāla'', even from a baby we can learn. From now onwards, the real teaching about the Nirguṇa Brahma starts.
==The Teaching Method: Deep Sleep as an Example==
What steps did Ajātaśatru take to prove that man's real nature is actually divine? Swami Vivekananda says: "Each soul is potentially divine." So that means each soul is none other than Ātman or Brahman—''Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi''. But "potential" means for now it is hidden, like a huge tree is hidden inside a tiny seed—like a banyan seed. So what did Ajātaśatru do to teach Gārgya Bālāki that the Jīva—everyone of us, not only Gārgya—each one of us is Brahman, the highest ultimate reality?
===The Brilliant Process===
So Ajātaśatru used a very brilliant process of elimination followed by practical demonstration, using deep sleep as an example. What did he do? So to demonstrate the truth that Jīva is no other than Brahman, Ajātaśatru takes Gārgya by the hand and leads him to a man who is fast asleep. When you read this particular portion, you may get the word ''Bālāki''. So Gārgya and Bālāki—at the very beginning it is mentioned—they are one and the same person. I am using frequently the word "Gārgya," but you might come across "Bālāki" also.
===The Three States of Experience===
So approach a person who is deeply asleep. This, as we know, is the third state of experience. ''Jāgrat''—waking state—where the body, mind, all the sense organs function. Then only mind functions with the impressions gathered during the waking state, either in this life or in many of the past lives. That is called ''Svapnāvasthā''—the state of dreaming. And then we all enter—these are all our day-to-day experiences. So what is the third stage? Deep sleep.
===Deep Sleep as an Illustration===
So here he found a person, and then he wanted, through this deep-sleep person—that means taking deep sleep as an example—Ajātaśatru wanted to teach what happens in this state of deep sleep. Now we should not equate deep sleep with abiding in Brahman, because this is also a temporary state only. But it will do as an illustration. What is deep sleep? Absolutely, there is no mind. When we say there is no mind, no body awareness is there. No awareness of the mind—that means no awareness of the entire creation—and the person is beyond time, space, and causation, and he abides—that is the nearest state to the real state of Brahman.
===Deep Sleep vs. Nirvikalpa Samādhi===
So we must always keep in mind deep sleep—that is all we can say. You cannot take a person, a student, and say when Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was in Nirvikalpa Samādhi, "Look, this is the Nirvikalpa Samādhi person." No, even if you take a knife and pierce him, he would not be awake from that state, because deep sleep can be woken up even with a little bit of beating. But the state of Brahman—you can never wake him up. You have to understand these words properly. Because once a person enters Nirvikalpa Samādhi, it is not that like deep sleep he will come back and then act like an ignorant person.
===Your Own Experience===
Whenever you see a person who is awake—you take your own case. You are so peaceful. Several hours you have slept so deeply. You have gone out of time, space, and causation, and that is the real cause why you are so happy. Because there is no ''dvitīya''—there is no second. And what happens when there is a second, whether it is in the dream state or waking state? When a person is experiencing a second—"second" means any number, not only one—then the person's mind can be happy, unhappy, and an infinite number of moods can happen. But when a person—even if he is so-called Jīvanmukta—his mind is permanently anchored in that knowledge "I am Brahman." And this state Ramana Maharshi used to call Sahaja Samādhi. ''Sahaja'' means what? Once a person gets this experience, he cannot be separated from it.
===The Cinema Analogy===
So even in the waking state, a Jīvanmukta perceives the waking state like you are perceiving a cinema. Supposing you yourself have acted—or a better example would be: supposing you are acting in a cinema, and in that cinema your life is being shown. So it is 10 o'clock at night, and you go to bed, and you are deeply asleep—many things happen around you, but you are not aware of it. Then you wake up. When your waking state starts, after some time you sit and go on either daydreaming, or if you go to lie down on bed, you will be having invariably some kind of dream. Imagine you are acting all these states, but you are also watching. So you are watching them, and yet you know that you are the watcher—the continuous watcher of all the three states. Which is not the case in our case: when I am in the waking state, I become a participant and a witness of the waking. So also in the dream, so also in the deep sleep state.
===Consciousness in Deep Sleep===
"Am I conscious of myself in the deep sleep state?" I have dealt with this subject so many times. Yes, you are completely conscious. So if somebody asks you when you are taking a leisurely walk in your waking state: "Are you in the waking state?" He says: "Of course, I can see you, I can hear you, I can reply to you." And when you are in the dream state, then in dream also you feel exactly the same thing: "I am awake." You feel only when you wake up from the dream and come back to the waking state—then you say: "That was all my mental imagination, but it is not the real waking state." But so long as we are dreaming, that is pure, just like the waking state—no difference at all. But when it comes to the deep sleep state, we have a problem because "I do not remember anything."
===Remembering Deep Sleep===
Do not you remember? Definitely you remember. You do not remember something, but you remember something. What is it you do not remember? That tomorrow morning I have to go to work; I have got a lot of pending work in the office, and my boss told me to complete it. That you do not remember because the entire world—both waking and dream—have disappeared. But what do you say when you wake up? "Oh, I was so happy. I did not know anything." Did you not know I was experiencing happiness? Definitely, you know it. Did you not know I did not know anything? Because to know something, and as well not to know something, only a knower can tell. Because if a knower does not know what he does not know, he cannot tell: "I do not know."
===The Knower of Both Knowledge and Ignorance===
But we always are telling: "Do you know such and such a person?" "No, I do not know." "Do you know such and such a person?" "Of course, I know him very well." So you are knowing one person very well and not knowing anything about the other person. "I know, I do not know"—both you are the knower of both these. When there is light, I see so many things; when there is darkness, I do not see anything. So what do you say? "I know I cannot see anything." That is a very valid knowledge.
===Abhāva Pratyaya===
A book, for example, is not found in a room. I discussed also this point. This is called ''abhāva-pratyaya''. This is also a ''pramāṇa''. Usually you keep a book in your own bedroom, but one day you do not find it. You know that nobody had taken it out of the house. That means this is a knowledge: "I know my book is here. I know my book is not here." You have complete knowledge about these experiences, and this knowledge—"the book is not there"—leads you: "Then it must be somewhere else." So usually I saw my family member reading. So you will go to that room, and invariably you find that book there. So you see, even in the deep sleep state, it is not that we are unconscious; we are completely conscious.
===The Consciousness That Witnesses All States===
This consciousness which is witnessing all the three states never becomes absent. That is why in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, 1.4.10, it says: this ''vijñāna''—that is pure consciousness—will never be absent. But the secondary consciousness—that is the borrowed consciousness of the mind—is not only changing, but it is also borrowed. Therefore, the mind can have a non-conscious state, but that consciousness—pure consciousness—which the mind is borrowing, can never be absent, because it is beyond time, space, and causation. We are aware of time because of that consciousness. We are not aware of time—that is also because of that consciousness. So deep sleep also, we are completely aware. These are some of the important points we have to keep in mind. I hope you will keep them in mind; then only the teaching of Ajātaśatru becomes easier for us to understand.
==The Sleeping Man Incident==
So Ajātaśatru goes and finds a sleeping person. This is all for teaching Gārgya. And then he calls, addressing the sleeping man by the names of Prāṇa. We have seen in the second upāsana—Chandra upāsana—the person of the moon. These are the ''Bṛhat'', ''Pāṇḍaravasa'', ''Somarāja''. These are the three epithets given to Chandra. ''Bṛhat'' means very big. ''Pāṇḍaravasa'' means pure white. ''Somarāja'' means a very enjoyable state of mind. So when we look at the moon, our joy becomes—because there is no object. "Oh, I want to eat the moon, I want to fry it and then eat"—such things will not be there. It is just a pure joy, and everybody can enjoy it—the same moon. Which is if you are enjoying a sweetmeat, everybody cannot enjoy the same sweetmeat which you have. But this moon can be enjoyed by everybody—there is no doubt about it. That is called ''Somarāja''. That is why this ''somarasa'' they call it. ''Somarasa'' is the result of the influence of the moon, and that gives a very pleasant intoxication where you can have divine visions. That is why they used to frequently use it in the ''yajñas'' and ''yāgas'', and there are even horrible descriptions: Indra drank so much of this wine, he became—he started talking irrelevantly. So that is also possible. There is a ''mātrā''—there is a measurement beyond which you lose your control.
===Calling the Sleeping Man===
So Ajātaśatru, pointing out to the sleeping man, calls names, and by the way, the same names are applicable to ''samaṣṭi'' Prāṇadevatā also, which is Hiraṇyagarbha. So he addresses by these names. Of course, the man cannot hear. Then Ajātaśatru lightly touches the man. He strikes him lightly, and every time he increases the pressure, the force, and he did not wake up. And after some time, he shakes him very violently, and then the man wakes up. That is all the necessary event for Ajātaśatru to teach about. That incident is closed.
===Ajātaśatru's Question===
When Ajātaśatru asks, addressing Gārgya, he says: "Now this ''jīvātman''—because this person—where did he go? Where was he residing when he could not respond? Either to calling his names, calling, touching, shaking—only violently shook. And how did he come? Where was he, and how did he come?"
===Deep Sleep as a Hypothesis===
So taking deep sleep as a model, as a hypothesis, he wants to point out: if deep sleep itself can give so much of joy, so much of knowledge—knowledge of Brahman—I will shortly come to that. Then if a person really has Brahman knowledge, how much he can gain! Because the nearest state where Brahman—pure consciousness—can manifest is this deep sleep state, and the next is the dream state. Remember, what is the difference between waking and dream state? In the waking state, time, space, and causation are heavily restricted, whereas in the dream state, you can fly to Mars, the United States; you can become anything you want; you can embrace anybody you want; you can eat anything you want; you can become a great king, etc., etc. But the moment you come to the deep sleep state—I am forestalling what is about to come. Beautiful description this Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad gives us.
===The Same Experience for All===
So this person—whether a mahārāja, a great king, is sleeping; a baby is sleeping; a dog is sleeping; a sinner is sleeping; an evil person is sleeping; a mosquito is sleeping; a tree is sleeping—it makes no difference. They have exactly the same experience. So in deep sleep, there is no world. That means there is no second—''ekam eva advitīyam''—of course, until it lasts. And then it is a state where the person is aware that "I am." I am not a man, I am not a dog, I am not a mahārāja, I am not a baby, but just "I am." What type of "I am"? I exist, and then I am so happy, and I know I exist and I am very happy. So I am ''Sat'', I am ''Cit'', I am ''Ānanda''.
===Poor Man's Samādhi===
This is the nearest state—that is why senior swamis call it "poor man's samādhi"—"poor man's Nirvikalpa Samādhi." Anybody, everybody, we all get it, and then we are experiencing it, but the tragedy is we never study it. And it is only these great Hindu scriptures—practically every Upaniṣad: Chāndogya, Bṛhadāraṇyaka, Māṇḍūkya especially—made it a special subject of its study, because nobody studies what is this phenomenon called deep sleep.
===The Analogy of the Unknown Animal===
So through deep sleep, he wants to give an example. Like: "You know, have you seen this animal?" "No, sir. But do you know anything about this animal?" "No, sir, I will tell you. This animal which lives in a deep forest looks like a cow. It is not a cow, but in many respects it looks like a cow—many similarities are there." So next time when this person goes into the forest and suddenly happens to see this animal, he knows definitely this is not a cow. But he remembers the words of the wise person: "This must be that special type of animal about which my friend, my teacher told me—it looks like a cow, but absolutely not a cow at all."
===The Only Way===
So that is how through this analogy—taking the analogy of deep sleep—that is the only way; there is no other way. You cannot—''manu ito vāco nivartante aprāpya manasā saha''. So Ajātaśatru wants to give this example of deep sleep through the model of deep sleep; he wants to convey: just imagine that a person continuously will be abiding in that deep sleep state—a deep sleep state where a person does not come out of it to experience another state, and it is a state experienced with full consciousness as we experience the waking and the dream states, and yet he knows. In fact, this person experiences all the three states completely, and he watches: "I am only manifesting as the waking, I am only manifesting as the dream, I am only manifesting as the deep sleep."
===The Special Characteristics of Deep Sleep===
But this deep sleep has got some very special characteristics. Through them, through meditation on them, through upāsana on them, one will finally attain Brahmajñāna. So Ajātaśatru asks, pointing out—that incident was over—so is this ''Vijñānamaya Puruṣa''. That means the real man—that means the pure consciousness within this ''jīvātman'' is called ''jīvātman''. ''Vijñānamaya''—pure consciousness, ''Caitanya''—Jīva. And this is the highest manifestation in human beings, and especially in awakened human beings. Where was it buried, and from where did it return and identify itself with the physical body after this person was violently shaken? Bālāki Gārgya was unable to comprehend the mystery; he admits he simply does not know.
===Waking and Dream States Analysed===
Waking state, dream state were analysed. Why are we not able to understand this deep sleep state? Ajātaśatru tells, teaches Gārgya: that discovering the true human being or the true Self is an exceptionally difficult task because it is not something visibly or easily intelligible. He clarifies why he specifically chose a sleeping man rather than a waking person or even a dreaming person to illustrate the knowledge of Brahman.
===The Waking State===
What happens in our waking state? During our waking hours, our consciousness is scattered outward, behaving much like sparks of fire spread over millions of different things. We become acutely aware of external space, the passage of time, and we identify with myriads of objects outside ourselves. And this is a point we have to clearly understand. When I see a man, I become that man. That means my eyes go and take an impression of that object and present it to the mind, and the mind becomes one with that photo, so to say, and then for the time being it becomes—when a person says, when we say "I know this person," whenever we say that, we have to identify ourselves with that person, our ''vṛtti'' and the object outside—''artha'' and ''jñāna''—''vāk'' and ''artha''—''iva sampṛktau''—inseparable. Mentally you can separate discriminatingly; actually you cannot separate. So we become identified. Then we may like—we may become attached, or we may become—we may hate, we may not like that person. Whatever it is: "I like this person. I do not like this person." Then I become love of that person; I become hatred of that person—love and hatred. Then we forget—our consciousness forgets "I am pure consciousness"—and then remains identified, thinks in that delusory way, and reacts with that delusory knowledge. That is why the waking state cannot be a right model to describe consciousness.
===The Dream State===
So then the waking state is constant distraction, fragmentation—time, space, and causation, everything is fragmented. That is why waking state is not a good example to teach about Brahman. What about the dream state? So during withdrawal of ourselves into the dream state, there also we create—our own mind creates—exactly the same physical world. We get attached there also. We get attached to places, persons, events, emotions, experiences—everything. And that is complete opposite knowledge to Brahma knowledge.
===The Deep Sleep State===
But when a person withdraws himself from the waking, from the dream, and enters into deep sleep—the state of deep sleep serves as the perfect symbol for understanding the true Self or the Ātman or Brahman. So in both waking and sleeping, the individuals possess the self, and then we separate ourselves: "I am different, everything else different." In deep sleep, the central consciousness withdraws all external experiences into itself, and not only that, along with that, the mind—all our sense organs excepting the ''prāṇa''—completely withdraw inwards. Senses such as speech, sight, hearing—all other things cease to function entirely, and even the thinking mind is deactivated. All transactions and communications with the external world are definitely put to an end.
===The Self Rests in Its Own Pristine Purity===
The self no longer wanders; it rests in its own pristine purity within the cosmic space—the ''dhaharākāśa''—ether of consciousness located in the centre of the heart:

हृदय-कमल-मध्ये राजितं निर्विकल्पं सदा सदिकाल-भेदातीतं एकस्वरूपम्.

''hṛdaya-kamala-madhye rājitaṃ nirvikalpaṃ'' sadā sadikāla-bhedātītaṃ ekasvarūpam.

In this profoundly quiet state, there is a practical non-existence of the individual, because an individual is an individual only in comparison with the world. When there is no world, I do not think "I am an individual." For all conceivable external purposes, the self alone remains.
===Temporary vs. Permanent===
But remember, even here also, that awareness is broken temporarily, as if we are in Nirvikalpa Samādhi. So temporary Nirvikalpa Samādhi is called Suṣupti, and permanent Suṣupti can be called as Nirvikalpa Samādhi.
===Conclusion: The Circulation of States===
Beautiful thoughts—some more are there. So let us take our own time to understand this properly. What we are talking is not theory; it is what we are experiencing every day of our life. We are circulating from one state to the other—not only at night we go into deep sleep, but in between two thoughts, we also go into that same state, about which we will talk in our next class.
== Closing Prayer ==
''ॐ'' जननीं शारदां देवीं रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुम् ।

पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहुः ॥

''Om Jananīṁ 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.2 Introduction Lecture 41 on 13 June 2026

2026-08-15T23:06:58Z

Gopi:

== Opening Invocation ==

ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात्पूर्णमुदच्यते ।

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ॥

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

'''OM PŪRṆAMADAḤ PŪRṆAMIDAM PŪRṆĀT PŪRṆAMUDACYATE'''

'''PŪRṆASYA PŪRṆAMĀDĀYA PŪRṆAMEVA VAŚIṢYATE'''

'''OM ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI'''

'''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 to the Second Chapter of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad==
In our last class, we started this second chapter of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad. From one point of view, this has got three chapters, three sections. From another point of view, it includes another three sections, what you call Yājñavalkya-Maitreyī Saṃvāda. But in this, we are only taking these three sections, and it is a conversation—a dialogue between a would-be disciple who thought he knew everything and a real knower of Brahman.

We can recollect the very first meeting of M, or the second meeting. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa asks M: "Do you believe in the personal aspect of God or the impersonal aspect?" And Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's question made M think. Sir, I prefer only the Nirākāra Brahman, the formless aspect of Brahman. But then he went to teach Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa that persons like you, who are in a position accepted by a large section of society as a capable teacher—an authorised teacher—should preach to people that they should not worship images. This same ignorance, unfortunately, is continuing even today. The Ārya Samāj was completely against the worship of images. Then Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa says that is also necessary. So God should not be limited. He is with form, He is without form, He is beyond both form and formlessness. This is the unique teaching of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa.

Just like Gārgya, M was also thinking that "I know everything." It is impossible that that which is with form can be formless, and that which is formless can also be with form. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa once for all cut M's ignorance, as it were; but that is only from the side of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. From M's side, it took a long time. How do we know? Because Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa much later asked, "How is your meditation going on?" By this time, M had accepted Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's teachings as the highest teachings and accepted Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa as his guru, as Gārgya had done. And he said, "I understand, though I am inclined to think about the formless aspect of God, I am not capable of focusing, concentrating, or thinking about the formless." M, I think, is yet to learn. It is not that it is your choice—"I will think of the formless." First of all, one has to be extraordinarily expert, a great expert, in thinking of God with form. Spiritual progress is like climbing successive steps. So he did not perhaps understand it at the time, or intellectually understood: "I understand it is not easy to think of the formless aspect." I would say it is impossible. Why? Because you cannot jump to the roof from where you are standing.

So this is the same essence of the story that is going on. Here was a person whose name was Gārgya. He was also called Bālāki, and he was proud, almost bordering on arrogance—but I would say not really. Why? Unlike Śvetaketu (just like Śvetaketu's father in the Chāndogya), this man, as soon as he was made to understand, understood everything and accepted his limitations. He said, "I need to learn a lot." So immediately he said, "You are my guru." He came to teach, but he became a pupil, a student. That is the greatness and true nature of every sincere aspirant.

So in this second chapter, what does it want to tell us? It tells us that whatever we see here, whatever we experience here, either physically or mentally, is nothing but Brahman. But we are experiencing only Brahman with form. To be a little more elaborate: Brahman with names and forms. So Sat-Cit-Ānanda plus Brahman with names and forms—that is called Sṛṣṭi Prapañca (creation). But Prapañca minus names and forms is Brahman. So the highest realization cannot be reached until we understand the final cause, the causeless cause of everything. So what is the relationship? What does the second chapter want to tell us?

We have to take the whole three sections into consideration and have an overview of these three sections. It is called in Sanskrit ''Siṃhāvalokana''—the outlook of a lion, the king of animals. A lion sits on an elevated place, a rock or something, surveys his whole domain like a king and has an overall picture: where are the other animals, where are certain animals whom I have to hunt later on, how far away they are, what are they doing. It has a mind-map of its whole kingdom, and leisurely it decides, when it is hungry, where to go. It knows. This is called ''siṃhāvalokana''.

So this second chapter of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad begins, as we know, with the famous dialogue between Gārgya (also known as Bālāki), the learned sage. He was learned really, and he was not a paṇḍit merely; he was an upāsaka. We have to keep always this distinction between a learned man, a professor, and a real sādhaka. And this person was a real sādhaka. We know it by what happened very soon. When he came to know that "my knowledge is extremely limited," immediately the roles were reversed. So he thought he knew, and out of goodwill, he came to King Ajātaśatru, who was a jñānī (a knower of Brahman). We do not know who taught him. We know how Janaka became a jñānī—Yājñavalkya himself gives the certificate: ''abhayaṃ vai prāpto'si Janaka''. But we don't know who was the guru of Ajātaśatru. But one thing we know: both Ajātaśatru and Janaka were more or less contemporaries. How do we know? Because when Gārgya comes there and says, "I will teach you about Brahman," immediately upon hearing this, Ajātaśatru promises, "I will give you one thousand cows even for this your expression, whether you teach me or not." That is a separate issue. Everybody is recognizing only Janaka; they are running to Janaka. But who is running? Not ordinary people—people like Yājñavalkya. So many people have run, and many of them must have been tempted by the offer of one thousand cows. Every cow's horn is completely adorned with a golden ornament. To get one thousand cows, one has to prove that one is not only the greatest knower of Brahman but also the greatest expounder of Brahman. So there must be a capacity to teach. Swami Vivekananda was given that capacity. Not only was he a learned person—he squeezed the very essence of the scriptures—but he also has the capacity, the voice, the understanding, the diction, the power of the voice (''kaṇṭha-kaṇṭheśvara''), and he was a realised soul.

Once, Swami Vivekananda had indicated to one of his devotees, saying, "By God's grace, I have all the five." If one wants to be an effective teacher, one must possess these five—a marvellous definition of who could be a teacher. First, he touched his head, then forehead, then lips, then his throat (''kaṇṭha''), and then his heart, indicating: one must have correct, right intellectual understanding; one must be authorised by God (this is called ''fate''); even the greatest singers, if they are not authorised by God, they will not become famous; so many speakers become very famous, not because of their mere intellect, but by God's grace; one must have proper words which express exactly what this person wants to convey; and one must have that capacity of the voice to clearly carry out unmistakable sound—not only selected diction, but every word should come out as the ringing of a bell. In Andhra, there was a great singer, a male singer; he was called Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao—''ghaṇṭa'' means like the ringing of a very beautifully made bell. His voice was so powerful and yet so melodious, and none could be compared to him. Some of his songs are available, so one can also listen to them. But above all these intellectual things, one must—by touching the heart—Swamiji indicated that one must have that personal realisation. Only then will the teacher be perfect.

Ajātaśatru was such a soul, but Gārgya did not know. So what did he not know? He knew a little. He was doing upāsanās (contemplations), and he succeeded in realising something. He was not merely a professor, because he himself confesses in nearly twelve ślokas what he had realised, what he had been doing. That means he had successfully attained the result of those limited contemplations. Why did I use the word "limited contemplations"? I will come to that very soon.
==The Meeting of Gārgya (Bālāki) and Ajātaśatru==
So this learned Gārgya insisted that he would teach Ajātaśatru about Brahman. What Ajātaśatru understood was that he would teach him about the Nirguṇa Brahman. But Gārgya did not even know about Nirguṇa Brahman; he knew only Saguṇa Brahman, also called Īśvara, Hiraṇyagarbha, sometimes Virāṭ also, and that too, there are gradations of understanding. The same person can be graded. For example, a student of music approaches his guru, who is also a quite famous musician—that much he can recognise. But besides being a musical teacher, not only does he know how to teach, but he knows the rarest of the rāgas. He may be an extraordinarily good person, an unselfish person, a great devotee of God like Tyāgarāja, Purandara Dāsa, etcetera. So there are so many aspects to each person, so many wonderful qualities that must be there, might be there, but we do not recognise them. We recognise only probably one or a few limited qualities. If we can open our eyes and see beyond, we will be greatly benefited by ourselves.

So this Gārgya insisted upon certain forms of which he knew and which he was practicing in meditation. But we find, through this dialogue, that the king was more educated in this line, emphasising on the other hand that no form, no particular manifestation can be regarded as complete in itself unless its universal background is also taken into consideration. To simplify this statement, what it means is: every atom is a manifestation of Brahman. It is not separate from Brahman, but we are incapable of seeing it as one indivisible infinite. At the beginning of this peace-chant (Śānti Mantra), they say: ''pūrṇāt pūrṇam adakṣete''—from that infinite Brahman has come out this creation, an infinite world. But we do not see it as infinite; we see it as vast, but not infinite, and everything is separate from everything else. No, the infinite cannot be divided. The infinite is indivisible; the infinite can never be broken. Infinite minus infinite, infinite multiplied by infinite, infinite divided by infinite—infinite minus retracted can only be infinite because it is indivisible.

So the whole conversation between Gārgya and Ajātaśatru is on this particular theme: recognising the universal in every particular mode of manifestation. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa—how did he look upon every one of his disciples? As the Divine Mother. Even a cat as the manifestation of the Divine Mother, not to speak of his own father, his own mother, and his own teachers. That is why whoever has taken refuge in him have been saved. So everything is nothing but Brahman. But Brahman as such is not understandable by us. So we have to remove what makes us incapable of recognising Brahman in this finite. What we call finite is not really finite; it is our mind surrounding it, breaking it into pieces with the instruments called time, space, and causation. The highest universal is nothing but consciousness, pure consciousness. That is the theme of every Upaniṣad: ''īśāvāsyam idaṃ sarvaṃ yat kiñca jagatyāṃ jagat''.

So that consciousness, whose faint inklings are observable only in the state of deep sleep—that is why deep sleep is the nearest analogy to understand what is called pure consciousness. Why? Because time, space, and causation are thrown out in the waking state and dream state. They gross, subtle minds, but are completely out of this deep sleep state. That is why we do not recognise or cognise time while we are deeply asleep. Only when we come out do we recollect: "I went to sleep at such and such a time; now I woke up, so I must have slept six hours, seven hours, whatever it is." But that awareness of time, of space (divided space), and of separation of objects is completely absent, and that is expressed as "I did not know anything." It doesn't mean he does not know what he is experiencing; it means "I did not know time, space, and causation." But I am fully aware. How do I describe when the awakened person from deep sleep issues a statement? "I do not know anything." What we need to understand is that he was not ignorant of what he experienced—there can be no experience in a state of ignorance. What we need to understand is that there is no way to describe what I have experienced: ''na kiñcid avediṣam''. But how do I know I experienced it? ''sukham aham asvāpsam''—I was joyous; it was unbroken happiness from the beginning to the end, unbroken by time, space, and causation.

So this is the essence of the discourse between Gārgya and Ajātaśatru (Bālāki and Ajātaśatru). Why do we use "Bālāki"? Because the very first mantra says: ''dṛptaḥ Bālākiḥ''. ''Dṛptaḥ'' means arrogant—arrogant means that he thought he knew everything, and he did not know that he did not know so much. Only a little bit of it he knew, and little knowledge cannot be compared as all knowledge.
==The Teaching: Universal in the Individual (Brahmāṇḍa and Piṇḍāṇḍa)==
So this is a very useful instruction: that everything that is in this cosmic world is also present in the individual. We will come to this very important point. For example—I am fond of giving these illustrations so that we understand what we are talking about—the whole Brahman, infinite Brahman, is unmanifested, invisible, but unknowingly it is there in every part of the body. One simple example we have already talked about: the triangle of the individual, of the physical world, and of the presiding deities. A combination of all these three is called Īśvara. The complete full name for the triangle—Adhyātmika, Adhibhautika, and Adhidaivika—is called here Hiraṇyagarbha or Saguṇa Brahma, Īśvara.

Now this is the example. My eye, for example, is my individual eye, and I am seeing a tree. The tree is part of Adhibhautika, the external, complete external world. Even though I am in the same world, I feel that I am somehow separate: I am the subject, I am the seer, and this world is an object of my experience. And we have thoroughly understood this one in the earlier portions: everything is the enjoyer, everything is the enjoyed; everything is the subject, everything is the object; everything enjoys everything. So that is the relationship between the whole universe. That means you cannot separate it; you cannot live without a single thing.

So in this example, my eye cannot see a tree. That means there must be something in the external world. Even if it is there, I cannot see it if I do not have light. That light transforms itself in the form of the capacity to see in my eye, and that same power transforms itself into the power of revealing (called light) in the external world, and that presiding deity is called the Sun (Sūrya Devatā)—not merely a star, but it is a Devatā. So there is an indivisible, irrevocable, undividable relationship between my eye, the external world, and the light. And all these three are represented by the Sun. In fact, the Sun alone gives the light; the whole external world is the manifestation of the Sun, and I am part of that manifestation. So that Sun is in the form of the eye of each one of us; that Sun is in the form of the manifestation of the external world; and again, He is the presiding deity who gives light so that my eye—which is nothing but the power of light, the capacity to see—belongs to the power of light. Because a blind person, even when there is light, cannot see anything. So that seeing capacity, that light, and that external object are three in one, one in three.

So imagine extending the same example to all the five sense organs of knowledge: the ear and sound, and that universal sound which is called Ākāśa. Similarly, my individual capacity to think (called my mind) and the capacity to think—the same mind is nothing but a manifestation of Candradeva. And very interestingly, Chandra is cool. When does a person really develop deep thinking? When he is cool, quiet, unperturbed; his mind is focused, which is called a state of calmness, quietness, peacefulness. These are conditions when knowledge becomes deeper, or the discovery of knowledge—revelation—becomes deeper. So extend to all the five sense organs of knowledge.

Similarly, as we get in the ''Gospel of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa'', the ''adhiṣṭhāna''—my capacity to hold and do things with my hand. That power which is endowed in my hand, in your hand, in everybody's hand, and the objects which we have to catch, and that power which is manifesting in each one of us as the holding power and in the world as the power to be held—that is called Indra. That is why there is the famous story: a brāhmaṇa kills a cow, and with his half-knowledge of this Vedāntasāra, he said, "It is the hands which killed," and the presiding deity is Indra, etcetera. You know this story; I am not going to repeat it.

So every part of our body includes every part of the physical world, includes the whole of that presiding deity. Therefore, I am no more an individual; I am the universal. But because of ignorance, I think I am the subject and everything is the object. The first thing for us to awaken to is to realise that everything is a subject and everything is an object. So there is an unbreakable relationship between the subject and object. If the object is not there, the subject will disappear automatically, and vice versa. And one subject-object also disappears. "Subject" means my individuality; "object" means that which is called Adhibhautika, the world that we experience, the creation we are interacting with. This is possible only because of the ''anugraha'' (power, grace) of the presiding deity. So the presiding deity is manifesting in each individual, in the whole world, and it unifies everything in this world. That is called the cosmic view. That is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa experienced: "Am I not eating through every mouth?"

So this interesting instruction comes: everything that is cosmic and universal is also present in the individual. It is in Sanskrit in beautiful terms—that is why I repeat them. What is in the ''Brahmāṇḍa'' is in the ''Piṇḍāṇḍa''. Brahmāṇḍa is a collective name for all the piṇḍāṇḍas. Piṇḍāṇḍa means individual; Brahmāṇḍa means universal. Without the universal, the individual cannot exist. Without the individual, there is no universal. Just as subject and object are dependent upon each other, the individual and the cosmic whole are totally interdependent. That is why Swami Vivekananda's beautiful talks in his ''Jñāna Yoga''—I do not remember if it is the seventh or eighth talk, but two talks are there: "The Microcosm and the Macrocosm." And both, he says, are the outcome of the same principle. What is in the Brahmāṇḍa is in the Piṇḍāṇḍa, and vice versa. When a person realises, he sees God everywhere because we see God in ourselves; now we have to see God in everything else.
==The Saptarṣis and Deities Within==
Not only that, in this very three sections, we are also told that Hinduism very highly praises all the Saptarṣis (seven ṛṣis), of which we believe, according to Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, that Swami Vivekananda was one of the ṛṣis. But all the ṛṣis are already located in each one of us. So when I get a particular quality, one particular ṛṣi is manifest in us, and every ṛṣi (seer) is an embodiment of a particular quality. So the text goes on to say: Vasiṣṭha, Viśvāmitra, Bharadvāja, Atri, Jamadagni, Gautama, and Kaśyapa—all the seven are in our bodies. They are superintending over the different limbs of our personality. They are all situated in our own senses. Even every god is located in our own body. Say, for example, the Sun is located in our eye; Ākāśa is located in our ear; the Moon is located in our mind; Indra is located in our hands; Viṣṇu is located in our legs, because the movement of the legs is the power of Viṣṇu.

So you see, all the gods, deities, gods and goddesses are also present. That is what Swami Vivekananda meant: "Each soul is potentially divine." So if we do sādhana (spiritual practice) in our own lives, in our own selves, we can recognise these cosmic realities, and God can be realised in our own being. That is what Swami Vivekananda meant. The more a person advances in spiritual life, God also grows along with him. That means as our understanding capacity about the world and myself grows, our understanding of God also grows. That understanding is that the God whom I thought was outside me—now I find, as I approach Him nearer and nearer, that I am part of that God, and that God is also a part of me.

Similarly, the Upaniṣad tells us that the five elements which we already know from the Taittirīya—earth, water, fire, air, and ether—can be classified and located in each object. Every particle, every atom of this creation is a combination of these five elements. And these five elements again are further divided into the manifest and the unmanifest, the experienceable and the inferable (''mūrta'' and ''amūrta''). Earth, water, and fire can be directly experienced by us, but air and especially space (Ākāśa) can only be inferred by sharp logic. They can be experienced because we are breathing Vāyu, but we do not see Vāyu Devatā; we infer because my experience is ''pramāṇa'' for me. What a marvellous analysis is doing!

And then there is a relationship between the ''mūrta'' and ''amūrta'', and then the triangle—that is to say, Adhyātmika, Adhibhautika, and Adhidaivika. All these three completely combined is called Hiraṇyagarbha, Saguṇa Brahma, Īśvara. And there is an indefinable, inexpressible connection between these two—an unbreakable connection. Where there is individuality, there is universality; where there is universality, there is individuality. Take the example of a body. If you remove every single cell in the body, there will be nothing called the body. Or if you remove one by one all the limbs—the hands, the legs, the eyes, the ears, the nostrils, the tongue, everything—there will be no object called the body. The body is called the cosmic, and different parts are part of this body. They combine the name for all the parts into that which is irrevocably unified, and that is called the cosmic Brahmāṇḍa.
==The Purpose of Upāsanā==
So what is the point? Now Ajātaśatru wants to enlighten Bālāki (Gārgya), his son (after he became the student of Ajātaśatru). It is a marvellous incident. First, in twelve mantras, Bālāki teaches: "I worship Saguṇa Brahma in this manner—in the Sun, in the Moon, in the lightning, in the waters, in the earth, etcetera." And at every mantra, Ajātaśatru listens and says, "What you are doing is right; it is not wrong, but it is very limited. I worship exactly in the same way with some higher qualities." Why was Ajātaśatru telling this? Because, my child—a teacher has a right to call the pupil, however old he is—"My child, you will not reach the goal of your life if you stop only with this much knowledge."

So first, one must develop those extraordinary qualities which in the Bhagavad Gītā (chapter 16) are called ''Daivī Sampat'' (divine wealth), and remove and destroy all the opposite qualities which keep us in ignorance. This sādhana is nothing but destroying unspiritual qualities and developing spiritual qualities. Once we develop, our understanding becomes crystal clear, and then we do not learn anything new, but we recollect what we have forgotten: ''Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi''. Remember, before creation, Brahman knows "I am Brahman"—''aham Brahmāsmi''. But for whatever reason, we cannot fathom that secret of how Brahman became the creation. These are all, from our viewpoint only, umpteen number of times I have told you: you should not question why Brahman has fallen; we should question how I have come to forget my own true nature. Instead of wasting time, how can I recollect? And unconsciously we are recollecting:

असतो मा सद्गमय, तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय, मृत्योर् मा अमृतं गमय.

asato mā sadgamaya, tamaso mā jyotirgamaya, mṛtyor mā amṛtaṃ gamaya.

So this is the essence—how to see the universal in the individual. This is the purpose of all the upāsanās, of all the Upaniṣads, of every scripture practically in the world.

And not only that, we cannot but help think about these qualities whenever we talk about meditation. Just imagine a Christian devotee, say Saint Teresa of Ávila, or Saint John of the Cross, or Saint Francis of Assisi. When they are supposed to be meditating on the figure of Christ and completely merged in Christ, what do you think they are doing? "This is Christ, this is Christ, this is Krishna, this is Rāma"—no. What am I talking about? You think of any person, say a wife is thinking about the other person, her husband. What is she thinking? "This is my husband"—a special relationship, and this relationship is a special quality. It cannot be applied to other brothers or other men; it is only available to this wife. For the wife, the husband is everything, and that is an upāsanā of which I mentioned in my last class how Swami Vivekananda quotes it. When a brāhmaṇa sage wanted to do tapasyā, neglecting the service of his old parents who required it, he went for bringing food in front of a house, and the house-lady said, "Please kindly wait; soon I will finish my service to my husband." This is called developing or becoming a ''satī''. ''Satī'' means ''satyā''—satyā means what? You no longer look upon the husband as a mere individual, as a mere husband fulfilling certain biological and social functions. But look upon the same husband, elevate him to the position of God. This is the technique of upāsanā: elevate the qualities of a lower object into the highest quality. So in this particular case, the husband is looked upon as Brahman. Is it imagination? If we think it is imagination, we are totally wrong. We are only reminding a person who has forgotten that you are really the son of a king. We are not telling him, "Thereafter, even though you are not a prince, you are going to become a prince"—that is not the case. You were a prince; you are a prince, but you have forgotten temporarily because of your circumstances, because you grew up with some people who are not belonging to the royal family. This is the most marvellous thing: to think of the forgotten truth in the form of attributed truth—superimposed quality on a lower object. This is called Upāsanā.
==The Qualities of a True Seeker==
So that is what upāsanā is about. And this boy Gārgya (Bālāki) practiced it and progressed. He must have progressed; otherwise, he would not have felt that. Remember always: these personalities that we come across in the Upaniṣads are not people like professors. They practiced something, and they realised something. That means they progressed in spiritual life somewhat, and then only—either they come, if they realise their knowledge is not complete, to learn more, or if by mistake they think that they have reached the highest goal, they presume that they can teach others. Sometimes they are lucky to get people who know better than themselves, and those greater people also realise that this is a sincere spiritual aspirant. And so they guide them step by step to reach the highest truth. Always the goal is Brahman, Nirguṇa Brahma.

This is what we understand: "Each soul is potentially divine. Manifest this divinity with the help of a guru and remain as Brahman, as divine." That is what we have to understand. So King Ajātaśatru is a knower of Brahman, and a knower of Brahman does not go on saying, "I am a knower of Brahman; you please come to me." Because even if he broadcasts day and night through YouTube, most people are not interested in becoming Brahman; they are more interested in becoming Brahmā, not Brahman. So this boy was sincere; he came.

And then how do we understand the next twelve mantras? So Ajātaśatru said very humbly, very sincerely, "Please teach me." And this boy Gārgya said, "I worship the Sun as Brahman." And he did not know that there are two aspects of Brahman—Saguṇa Brahma and Nirguṇa Brahma. That is the first mistake—ignorance. The second ignorance is that even in Saguṇa Brahma, within Saguṇa Brahma, there are qualities which this person did not realise: "I know only some qualities; I do not know the higher qualities; I know only the lower qualities." This Gārgya was thoroughly ignorant of this difference. So that is how we have to understand it.

Now, before going further, I will just give you—because only three minutes are there—the mantra itself is a beautiful mantra:

ॐ दृप्तः बालाकिः

oṃ dṛptaḥ Bālākiḥ.

''Dṛptaḥ'' means arrogant, proudful. But there is a difference between arrogance and pride. A person who is arrogant does not have any quality, but he goes on declaring himself: "I am the owner of such and such qualities; I am the owner of this company; I am the owner of so much bank balance"—without having anything. He wants to get rid of his inferiority complex. But a proud person is one who knows what he is, what he has, and what he knows, and he knows very few people are there equivalent to him; therefore he becomes proud. That is why in the Bhartṛhari Subhāṣita—even in the ''Gospel of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa'' we get it—if somebody is so great, soon another person comes who proves he is greater; and if he thinks he is the greatest, some other person comes. So a person who understands "I am not the greatest"—that is called ''vidyā''. And what does ''vidyā'' do? ''Vidyā dadhāti vinayam''—Vidyā gives complete humility.

As I remember, if you still remember the great Western scientist who discovered gravity—he was approached and said, "Sir, you know everything," and then he said, "No, I am like a person sitting by the side of a sea, and whenever any thirsty person comes, I give one or two cupfuls of this salt-water." A similar better story is regarding Socrates. He was declared by the Delphi Oracle that he was the wisest man in this whole world, and he became curious to know: "How did I earn this title? Do I really earn it?" So he wanted to find out. He met all the greatest so-called wise people—they are called philosophers—and he put certain adroit questions. Then he came back and declared: "The Oracle is absolutely right. I am the wisest person." And lest he might be mistaken, he declared: "Why do I say I am the wisest? Because the wisest person is one who knows definitely that I am not the wisest person. I met so many people, and they did not know that they are not wise, but they are under the delusion that we are all great wise people."

अन्धैव नीयमाना यथान्धाः दन्द्रम्यमानाः परयन्ति मूढाः.

andhaiva nīyamānā yathāndhāḥ dandramyamānāḥ parayanti mūḍhāḥ.

In the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad we get this one. So like that, I went and met everybody; they did not know that they are fools, but they think they are wise. I know I am a fool because my knowledge is very little. That is what makes him a wise person.
==Conclusion: The Wise Know Their Limitation==
So in conclusion, what is the essence? A wise person is one who knows, "I know very little." A great bhakta knows, "I am a small bhakta, but it is all again not by my effort, but by the grace of God." A greatest jñānī thinks, "I am the least of the jñānīs, and that is also by the grace of Īśvara-kṛpā only that I have become a jñānī." That is why Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa said, "O Mother, I am a fool—''āmi boka, āmi kichu jāni nā''—You please hold my hand, and You operate through me; let me be an instrument." Beautiful thoughts. We will talk about them in our next class.

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

पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहुः ॥

''Om Jananīṁ 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.1.5 Lecture 35 on 23 May 2026

2026-08-04T22:49:53Z

Gopi:

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

== Opening Invocation ==
ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात्पूर्णमुदच्यते ।

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ॥

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

'''OM PŪRṆAMADAḤ PŪRṆAMIDAM PŪRṆĀT PŪRṆAMUDACYATE'''

'''PŪRṆASYA PŪRṆAMĀDĀYA PŪRṆAMEVA VAŚIṢYATE'''

'''OM ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI'''

'''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 Great Discussion in the Ashrama==
Let us not forget: a great discussion was going on in a great ''āśrama''. And then, under the guidance of a great teacher, all the ''śiṣyas'' (disciples) were discussing the only subject that is worthy of discussion: how to progress in spiritual life, how to realise God. Only in Upanishadic terms, they call it ''Brahman'' and knowledge of ''Brahman'' (''brahma jñānam'').

We discussed already earlier that who is a real householder? Whoever identifies with ''anātman'', which manifests in the form of this body and mind complex, is a householder. In other words, whoever thinks that "I am not the ''ātman''; I am not divine; I am not potentially divine" – he is a householder. So it is incumbent upon every householder, even from the social point of view (not to speak of the spiritual point of view), that they should perform ''pañca mahāyajñas'', because we are dependent upon five important factors.
==The Fivefold Dependence and Pañca Mahāyajñas==
We are dependent upon great teachers (''ṛṣis''), our ancestors, and presiding deities who are sustaining us from birth to death. We are indebted to every human being, directly or indirectly. We are also indebted to the whole world of what scientists call "non-living": the mountains, the rivers, the forests, the ice caps – everything. Because everything is related to everything. Everything is dependent upon everything.

We have seen, if you recollect in our Wednesday class (''Taittirīya Upaniṣad''), that in this world, everything can be divided into two: the supporter and the supported, the experiencer and the experienced. So, there is nobody exclusively an experiencer or a supporter, and exclusively a supported or the experienced. The whole universe is a beautiful drama, a cinema.
==The Essence of Spiritual Life==
Every aspirant here (householder means a ''sādhaka'' aspiring to conquer death, ignorance and suffering) – that is what is the essence of spiritual life – he must get rid of the debts he owes to these five factors, beautifully called ''pañca mahāyajñas''. Therefore, the proper discharge is called ''karma yoga'':

स्वकर्मणा तमभ्यर्च्य सिद्धिं विन्दति मानवः ।

svakarmaṇā tam abhyarcya siddhiṃ vindati mānavaḥ |

as Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa categorically states in the ''Bhagavad Gītā'' – that without discharging one’s duties in the form of worshipping God, one cannot progress not only in spiritual life but also in secular life. This is called ''karma yoga'':

शिव ज्ञाने जीव शिव । śiva jñāne jīva śiva |

So to perform that is the duty of every aspiring ''sādhaka''.
== Everything Is Fivefold==
And then, everything in this world is divided into five categories:

यज्ञः पङ्क्ताः, पशु ह पङ्क्ताः, पुरुषः पङ्क्ताः, इदं सर्वं इदं किञ्च ।

yajñaḥ paṅktāḥ, paśu ha paṅktāḥ, puruṣaḥ paṅktāḥ, idaṃ sarvaṃ idaṃ kiñca |

So the sacrifice is fivefold; fivefold is the animal, fivefold is the person, and fivefold is all this – whatever exists. And he who knows it,

तदिदं सर्वमाप्नोति य एवं वेद ।

tad idaṃ sarvam āpnoti ya evaṃ veda |

One who really understands, realises; then he is the greatest performer of ''paṅkta''. ''Paṅkta'' is, in other words, ''ahaṃgraha upāsanā'': "I am my neighbour, I am my God, I am the whole creation, I am everything." Nothing is excluded. That is the essence of the fourth section of the first chapter of the ''Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad''.
==The Fifth Brāhmaṇam – Introduction==
Now comes the fifth ''brāhmaṇam'', equally important. It is very beautiful, but at the same time very essential points are presented here by the Upaniṣad. This fifth section (a section in the ''Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad'' is called a ''brāhmaṇam''). If you remember, there are six chapters; every chapter is called ''kāṇḍa'', and every section within every ''kāṇḍa'' is called ''brāhmaṇam''. So this is the first chapter (''prathama kāṇḍa''), and this is the fifth ''brāhmaṇam'', and it has got twenty-three mantras. A beautiful idea is presented here.

We saw, not only in ''Bṛhadāraṇyaka'' but even more explicitly in the ''Taittirīya Upaniṣad'', how Bhagavān (I am using the word deliberately; Upaniṣads do not use the word ''bhagavān'' – either they say ''Brahman'' or, to be more precise, ''saguṇa brahma'', i.e., ''īśvara'') – but it doesn’t matter. We saw God created this universe, or even to be more precise, God Himself is manifesting in the form of these five great elements, the subtle as well as the gross. So He became the creation. He became the gods, humans, non-humans. This is called beautifully in Sanskrit: ''ādhidaivika, ādhibhautika, adhyātmika''.
==The Threefold Creation: Adhyātmika, Ādhibhautika, Ādhidaivika==
The whole creation is nothing but interdependence of these three:
*''Adhyātmika'' means I – each individual (I, you, everyone of us).
*''Ādhibhautika'' means this world which we are experiencing and which also, of course, is experiencing all of us.
*''Ādhidaivika'' means every creation, every organisation, every social institution requires a plan. Certain rules and regulations must be enforced for the wellbeing of that organisation. That is called ''ādhidaivika''. Some rules are there – "do this, do not do this" – they are also called ''vidhi'' and ''niṣedha''.
So God has become this creation. God has become each individual soul (''jīva''), which is called ''adhyātmika''. He became the creation, which is called ''ādhibhautika''. And the one who connects, enables the individual to interact with this creation external to each one of us – that is called ''ādhidaivika'', like a triangle. A triangle cannot be called a triangle if even one angle is missing. So the entire creation, according to the Vedantic perspective, is for ease of understanding divided into this triangle: the creation, the experiencer of the creation, and He who regulates. This we have seen.
==Involution and Evolution==
Then everything is ready, but one thing is lacking. We are all created fine, but after creation we have to function. What is the function? Swami Vivekananda had explained beautifully: when God or Brahman started descending, manifesting Himself into grosser and still grosser until He became the grossest, that process is called involution. Once the rock bottom is reached, now evolution has to start. So inorganic became organic. First it was one-celled, then multi-celled. Then we can see how the plant kingdom, insect kingdom, bird kingdom, animal kingdom, finally human kingdom – and we are not separate from the non-living. We are all a mixture of living and non-living: consciousness plus ''prāṇa'' plus what you call ''pañcabhūtas''. Everything is mixed up.

Somebody has to maintain this, enforce that the organisation called creation runs properly. So we had created certain enforcers; they are called presiding deities. But if we have to survive, we require food – and that is what is going to be beautifully, symbolically, spiritually explained in this fifth section (fifth ''brāhmaṇam'').
==The Theme: Creation of Food (Annakāṇḍa)==
This fifth ''brāhmaṇam'' has twenty-three mantras, and we saw how God created this universe by manifesting Himself in the form of the ''pañcabhūtas''. He became the gods, humans, non-humans, living, non-living, but He must create food for the creation to continue. That is the theme of this fifth section. That is why this fifth section of the ''Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad'' is popularly known as the ''Sapta'' ''Annabrāhmaṇam'' (''Sapta'' means Seven, ''annam'' means food, ''brāhmaṇam'' means section). This is the section where Bhagavān Himself became the ''annam''.
==From Involution to Evolution – The Purpose of Life==
In the preceding sections, we saw the ''jīva'' depicted as a ''bhogyavastu'' (an object of experience) meant to serve the world in the form of the ''pañca mahāyajñas''. Now he has to evolve. What is the purpose of creation? Involution. What is evolution? Now what should be done? Evolution. What is evolution? First, to understand that I am potentially divine. But until the evolution manifests as an intelligent human being, it is not possible to understand that we are potentially divine. We may read any number of books, but bookish knowledge is not going to really enlighten us.

Slowly we are evolving, and we discussed how we evolved, first in the form of four castes. That is to say, the first stage is ''tamoguṇa'' dominant, the second stage is ''rajoguṇa'' dominant, and the third stage is ''sattvaguṇa'' dominant. All the three ''guṇas'' are involved in every caste, but which ''guṇa'' is prominent (bosses, dominates) and which ''guṇas'' are assistant (subsidiary) makes the ''varṇas''. Then from ''varṇa'' we come to the ''āśrama''. ''Āśrama'' means our different stages of progress in life.
==The Three Fundamental Questions==
The first factor that we have seen is: one has to, with faith, sit under the feet of a teacher and learn at least three facts:
#Who am I?
#What is life?
#What is the goal of life?
That is what Swami Vivekananda said: "Each soul is potentially divine." Who are you? Who am I? I am divine, but I am not aware of it. But now I am learning for the first time from the mouth of the teacher (who is nothing but a mouth of the scriptures, a vehicle). And then, what is life meant for? Why am I given this body, this mind and this food? That is called body + mind + food = living. Here I have to clear the point: food means in Sanskrit ''annam'', but food doesn’t mean only what we eat physically to keep the physical body alive. Food means whatever is experienced is food. Whole life is nothing but billions and billions of experiences, and every experience is a teacher. But all experiences are to help us to evolve, to aid our progress towards God – or even better, towards knowing and knowing only who we are, who we really are – like the prince who was lost in babyhood and later found out: "You are not a beggar; you are the prince, the would-be king of this very kingdom."

So life is an opportunity, a destination, a travel towards unfolding our own true nature. And that is the purpose of life.
== How to Progress: The Four Yogas==
How to progress in life? Through ''karma'', more precisely ''karma yoga''. Whether it is the path of devotion, path of yoga, or path of knowledge – everything involves only ''karma''. Everything is ''karma yoga'' only:
*''Bhakti yoga'' is nothing but ''karma yoga'' in the form of devotion to God.
* ''Rāja yoga'' is nothing but ''karma yoga'' involving the control, concentration, and refocusing of the mind towards unravelling our own true nature.
*''Jñāna yoga'' is to develop all the requisite qualities; then only we can succeed.
So every yoga of the four yogas involves all the other four yogas. Every faculty of a human being – whether emotion, activity, willpower, or intellect – they are all inseparable. We have to find out which is dominant and take the help of the other three, and that is how we have to proceed. That is the methodology.
== The Deeper Meaning of Annam (Food)==
Thus, the three important answers:
#Who am I? I am divine, but at this moment I am only called "potentially divine" or "would-be realiser of God or Brahman" (would-be ''brahmajñānī'').
#The goal of life: whatever I do – whether I eat, whether I breathe, whatever I do – has only one purpose: how to slowly progress.
The whole universe is nothing but ''annam''. How do we understand it? Suppose I eat food: what for? I get strength. Then I have to use this strength (energy) to express myself. Every expression of myself falls into three categories: I do not want to be unhealthy or subject to death – at least prolong as long as possible. Gradually, I must expand my knowledge, and that knowledge is not knowledge of many, but knowledge of my own self.

Every experience, if analysed, makes me a better person. If I am an intelligent person, then I want to be happy. Every creature wants to live. Every creature wants to know. Why does the creature want to know, want to live? No creature wants to live or much less know that "I am subject to suffering." So:

आनन्दाद्ध्येव खल्विमानि भूतानि जायन्ते ।

आनन्देन जातानि जीवन्ति ।

आनन्दं प्रयन्त्यभिसंविशन्तीति ।

ānandāddhyeva khalvimāni bhūtāni jāyante |

ānandena jātāni jīvanti |

ānandaṃ prayantyabhisaṃviśantīti |

These were the teachings we have been studying in the ''Taittirīya Upaniṣad''. So that is the answer: God has created us so that we can realise.

But don’t ask inconvenient questions: "God was God; He knew 'I am God'. Where was the need for Him to involve, come down, forget Himself and again struggle to remember Himself?" First of all, the answer: there is no answer. Secondly, we are asking that question because we are already in the situation of ignorance. God doesn’t ask the question, "Why am I? Why have I forgotten myself?" God will never ask. Brahman is pure knowledge, and there is no time when He can forget Himself. Our doubts about God, our doubts about Brahman, all stem from only one factor: our mind. And the mind is severely limited. Limitation is another name for ignorance.

So we are here, and we know we are subject (as body, as mind) to death (death means change), to ignorance, to suffering. So evolution really means: how can I reach such a state where I know I have no death, no ignorance, no suffering? Call it ''nirvāṇa'', call it paradise, call it kingdom of heaven, call it ''mukti'', ''mokṣa'' – by whatever blessed name you want to call it. So we have this purpose.
==Annam as All Experience==
Now, to continue in life we require food. As mentioned, the normal meaning of the word "food" is that which sustains our body, but the deeper meaning of the word ''annam'' is: whatever helps us to evolve towards our true nature – that is called ''annam''. So now this whole universe can be divided into gods, human beings and non-human beings. For these three types of ''jīvas'' (living creatures), three types of food are necessary, and that is being said. The ultimate mystical, esoteric meaning of these ''saptānnas'' (seven types of food) is how we can progress through our experiences.

Every experience is an ''annam''. Just as ''annam'' gives us strength and then understanding – without strength the body will not be healthy, without strength the mind will not be healthy. By the way, if somebody is arrogant, egotistic, proud – actually that person is to be more pitied, because he is more in the downward spiral rather than progressing towards God. The more the identification with the body and mind, the worse the ''ahaṃkāra''; therefore the struggle is also hard. But an ordinary person who is not that egotistic, his struggle becomes less. That is how we have to understand.
==The Seven Types of Food (Saptānnas) – Symbolical Meaning==
The Upaniṣad now cleverly gives a symbolical meaning of the seven types of food. As we see that briefly (which is the essence of this fifth section of the first chapter of the ''Bṛhadāraṇyaka''), we will understand it. Otherwise, it can create a lot of confusion: "What is this 'foods' talking about?" I am eating food, and that is good for the body – that is what we call proteins, carbohydrates, minerals, etc. But when I am looking through my eyes, that is called form, and that form is the food for the eye. And that knowledge is the food for the mind. A thought is generated there: "I see this is a friend; I see this is a tiger, a dangerous animal; I see that this is my pet, my beloved child." So this knowledge comes through our five sense organs. God has given us ten sense organs: five of input, five of output. A combination of these is what we call ''pañcakośas'', and that is what the body plus mind is. Five of action, five of knowledge, plus mind – this is the personality of each one of us.

So we require food. Anything that is seen, heard, smelled, tasted, touched – that is all nothing but food. And to aid this knowledge, our legs have to take us, our hands to grasp, etc. So the whole body is designed exclusively to experience this ''annam'' (or what we call "experience"). And through this experience, we have to analyse what these experiences really are, then exercise discrimination, discard what is not useful, strengthen what is useful. That is how progress is maintained, life after life, until we expand identifying ourselves with everything in this universe. One day will come when I do not say anything other than "myself". That is the ''ekam eva'' – the highest ascent of the soul into its own nature. That is called ''brahmajñānam''; call it ''nirvikalpa samādhi''. Thereafter, if still the body-mind functions, then that person says nothing but "Brahman everywhere".
==Bhogya Universe Divided into Seven Categories==
For the convenience of spiritual practice and progress, the Upaniṣad now divides this entire creation (''bhogya'' universe) into seven distinct categories of objects of experience. As said, ''annam'' means food, but here food means whatever is experienced – ''anubhūyate'' is the ''annam''. So the ''pitā'' (creator of the universe) generates these seven foods through ''medhā upāsanā'' (meditation) and ''tapas'' (action). We have seen earlier, especially in the ''Taittirīya Upaniṣad'', that Brahman created this universe through ''tapasyā'' – He thought deeply, and through ''tapasyā'' (awakening the intelligence, honing it to the finest point and using it: "How best can creation be made?"). This is what we do also in our dreams.
==The Phenomenon of Dream and Mind==
Beautiful example: we have to understand the phenomenon of dream much more than what we understand our waking state. In fact, our whole waking state – and I dare say even the deep sleep state – is dependent upon our mind. Simple example to illustrate what I just stated: Suppose my mind is full of agitating, worrying, fearful thoughts. Then my dreams will be disturbed dreams, and my understanding of the physical universe will be distorted – just like a person who fears snakes sees snakes everywhere; even a rope appears to be a snake because of fear.

I gave you this illustration; you must recollect it. Suppose there is a person who is terribly frightened of snakes. Anything resembling a snake – whether a garland lying down in semi-darkness, a streak of water, or a piece of rope coiled up – instantaneously he remembers "a snake!" and then he gets scared. He suffers from fear. But reverse the example: suppose a snake-catcher whose living is totally dependent upon snakes beholds it, and his heart swells in joy: "I can add one more collection to my snakes." So it depends upon what previous experience we had. Everything depends upon our mind. What is our mind? Nothing but a conglomeration of thoughts. This is what is called ''vṛtti prapañca'' – everything is a ''vṛtti''. What is God? That is also a ''vṛtti''.

How much blood – rivers of blood – has flowed because good people understood or misunderstood about God, about religion, about dogmas. If you study the fight between Catholics and Protestants, how many people have been tortured so inhumanly – perhaps even Nazis did not do it. But you know, we are such innocent, so-called innocent people; we don’t even open our eyes to not only what happened but even what is happening even today. So what are we talking about? That our world is nothing but a world of thoughts. A dung-beetle is living in the world of dung. An ordinary worldly person is living in the world of worldliness. Ramakrishna, Holy Mother, Swami Vivekananda, myriads of saints and sages (men and women) – they were all living in the world of saintliness, in the world of God, in the world of angels. Same creation, but looked at through the stained windows of our prison of time, space, and causation – that makes our world.
==The Process of Discrimination ==
Here we have to understand what food means. What are we talking about? Every experience that we have, we have to separate from it, then think about it, analyse it, see what can be discarded and discard it, what can be accepted and accept it. That is called Viveka. This is called the process of discrimination. But before we proceed, keep this in mind: food means not merely proteins and carbohydrates. Any experience is food. Through normal what we call "food", we keep the body healthy. When the body is healthy, mind is healthy. When the mind is healthy, it can think rationally. We have to train our mind to think discriminately – ''viveka'' and ''vairāgya'' – and we must have that willpower to give up attachment to what is not conducive for our own progress or welfare.
==Summary of the Fifth Brāhmaṇam (23 Mantras) ==
With this background, let us briefly summarise this fifth section consisting of twenty-three mantras. The ''Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad'' in this fifth section summarises seven types of food – only seven types of food:
*One for humans,
*One for all humans and ''paśus'',
*Two for ''devatās'',
*Three for every ''jīva''’s spiritual progress (internal progress).
== Two Categories: Sādhya Anna and Sādhana Anna==
All these seven types of foods (or experiences) must be divided into two categories:

# '''Sādhya Prapañca (Sādhya Anna):''' That which I want to attain – the desired state of consciousness. For example, our goals: to manifest, to know progressively, to approach nearer and nearer to self-knowledge, to know who I am.
# '''Sādhana Anna:''' What should I do in order to obtain what I decided to obtain? How to fulfil my desire?

First of all, we have to understand why should I attempt? Because if I don’t know what I want, I will not even attempt to obtain it. At first, a human being thinks that if he can get five objects which can satisfy him through the five sense organs (tasting, smelling, looking, hearing, touching), but then he understands these are only symbols. These symbols must have a meaning. What is that? I am looking for myself in the mirrors of these objects. Every object is a food. So am I looking? I am looking. Do I reflect well? No – so discard it. Try to find out something.

Simple example: If I go to a worldly person, then the attempt to know myself will be much hampered. But if I go to Sri Ramakrishna, for example, then my chances of knowing myself will be better. So my desire (''sādhya prapañca'') should be: I want to cultivate holy company; I want now and then to go into solitude; I would analyse this world and discriminate what is permanent and what is not; and finally, how am I to conduct my life in this world? This is called ''sādhya prapañca''.

What is the ''sādhanā''? I must first cultivate slowly. The scripture is telling: even at the lowest level, even for a child (suppose a child has entered elementary school or nursery school), the teaching starts: "Do this, don’t do that; you must do this, you must never do that." So the training starts there.
==Learning from History, Science, and Life==
In high school, for example, we are taught history. What is the point of teaching history? It is not to know certain facts – "such and such people were living at such and such place, certain events like war etc. have taken place, and how some persons tried to destroy others causing terrible pain, suffering, inflicting unimaginable pain like it happened in the 1940s in Germany by Hitler and his party" – no, that’s not the point. What can we learn from this history? How to avoid such mistakes. Whole life is nothing but to look at the history of our own selves and find out: where have I gone wrong? Let me take care not to repeat the same thing. Where have I done right? Because by the results I will know where I have done wrong and where I have not done wrong. That is the process of discrimination; that is called learning the lessons. That is the purpose of learning history. History includes everything; nothing else is left out.

For example, science: nobody would think science is history. No – study the history of science: what people have learned, how they learned printing press, how they learned to make gunpowder, then guns, then destructive weapons. Now they are using AI to inflict punishment. Nobody is thinking: "How can we help our own people?" Billions of people in the most powerful countries are suffering untold difficulties, and there is something we can do about it. But these rulers are not thinking about anybody else except themselves. So we are repeating the same story within our lives. Don’t think the Prime Minister or president of some country is an evil person. We are all mini vice-presidents, mini presidents, mini prime ministers. In our own life, we are doing it. This is called learning history, and if we do it intelligently, discriminatively, there is a good chance that we progress in life quickly.
==Sādhya Annāni and Sādhana Annāni==
This is called ''sādhya annāni'' – those experiences I have to deliberately try for, through the foods provided by the creator. For that purpose, ''sādhana annāni''. For example:
*If I eat healthy food, my body becomes healthy.
*If I eat healthy mental food (read healthy books, listen to healthy things):
भद्रं कर्णेभिः शृणुयाम देवाः । भद्रं पश्येमाक्षभिर्यजत्राः । स्थिरैरङ्गैस्तुष्टुवांसस्तनूभिर्व्याशेम देवहितं यदायुः । bhadraṃ karṇebhiḥ śṛṇuyāma devāḥ | bhadraṃ paśyemākṣabhir yajatrāḥ | sthirair aṅgais tuṣṭuvāṃsas tanūbhir vyāśema devahitaṃ yadāyuḥ |

May I worship gods who are providing for me; may I listen to what is conducive to my own development; may I see everything and derive the lesson, and see that we do not repeat. By seeing what we are doing and by seeing what others are doing, we can learn great lessons.

So these are called ''sādhana annāni''. God has provided ''sādhana'' and ''sādhya''. This is the purpose of these seven kinds of food.
==The Seven Foods Explained Briefly==
How it works out, very briefly, we will discuss:
===First Annam: Common Physical Food===
The first ''annam'' is the regular common food consisting of proteins, carbohydrates, minerals, etc., for all living beings including humans. Anything that is living – if you analyse the food of even an insect – is nothing but proteins, minerals, carbohydrates, and other elements that are needed. So it applies to every living creature. Therefore, there is a strong moral value: any ''jīva'' who is selfish and wants to enjoy this kind of physical food only for oneself and doesn’t want to share it with anybody – that person is called a selfish person, in the ''Gītā'' what is called a ''sthena'' (a thief), because God is giving this food, and without showing our gratitude to the gods (God in the form of gods like the seasons, etc.), we become sinners, and the result of sin is suffering. So one should never eat alone without sharing with others.

We have seen also in the ''Taittirīya Upaniṣad'':

अन्नं न कन्याच्छवास्थौ प्रत्याक्षाक्षीत । annam na kanyācchavāsthau pratyākśākṣīta |

If somebody comes, one should never reject that person without sharing one’s own food.

अन्नं बहु कुर्वीत । annam bahu kurvīta |

अन्नं न परिचक्षीत । annam na paricakṣīta |

Food should not be criticised, food should not be wasted; food is a vow to God; food must be multiplied as much as possible with the sole idea of sharing it with somebody else. And if somebody approaches, then we will have to share that food. Never reject that person. This idea is beautifully brought out in the ''Kaṭha Upaniṣad'' in the form of three boons granted to Naciketā by Yamadharmanāja himself.
===Second and Third Annam: Offered to the Gods===
Then two types of food are given to the gods. What are the two types?
#''Hutam'' – that which is offered (if you have seen ''homa'' etc., you take and dip a bilva leaf in clarified butter and put it; that is called ''hutam'').
#''Prahutam'' – the same type of ritual, but with devotion: "O Indra, O Varuṇa, O Śiva, O Viṣṇu, You are my protector, You are my provider." This is like saying grace in Christian rituals (sacraments). These two types (''hutam'' and ''prahutam'') are the true types of food offered to the gods.
===Fourth Annam: Animal Food (Milk)===
The fourth ''annam'' is called ''paśu annam'' – animal food, that is milk. Every living creature requires milk, practically in one shape or another. So not only human beings but non-human beings – everything whatever is necessary for the baby to live and grow satisfactorily. That is the fourth ''annam'' (the external ''annam''). Therefore, the gods should be pleased because they are the providers, and it should be shared; nobody should be deprived of food.

There is a curious custom (mentioned quite a number of times): when an orthodox ''brāhmaṇa'' sits to eat food, he takes small parts of it and, using the word ''tapāyāmi'', says: "I offer this to the five beings" – ''ṛṣis'', ''pitṛs'', etc. – indirectly mentioning the living, non-living, everything symbolically. It is symbolically offering, but it should be put into practice actually whenever the occasion comes for us to practise it.
===Common Food: Milk for Sustenance===
Then one food is common – milk – for sustenance, etc.
===Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Annam: Mental Food (Mind, Speech, and Prāṇa)===
Then there are three types of food which are called mental food – for the mind, for speech (''vāk''), and for ''prāṇa'' (action). The external food is meant to strengthen our mind, our speech, and our ''prāṇa'' (thoughts, speech, and action). These beautiful ideas we will further explore in our next class.
== Closing Prayer ==
''ॐ'' जननीं शारदां देवीं रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुम् ।

पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहुः ॥

''Om Jananīṁ 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 Introduction Lecture 06 on 08 February 2026

2026-07-17T23:41:38Z

Gopi: Added sanskrit mantras and minor edits

== Opening Invocation ==
ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात्पूर्णमुदच्यते ।

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ॥

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

'''OM PŪRṆAMADAḤ PŪRṆAMIDAM PŪRṆĀT PŪRṆAMUDACYATE'''

'''PŪRṆASYA PŪRṆAMĀDĀYA PŪRṆAMEVA VAŚIṢYATE'''

'''OM ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI'''

'''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 to Śabda Pramāṇa ==
In our last class, we have been discussing śabda pramāṇa. Śabda pramāṇa means the ultimate and only means of knowledge for super-sensuous knowledge, and they are called Upaniṣads. Veda, Upaniṣad, and śāstra are all synonymous words here.

=== The Meaning of Upaniṣad ===
Brahmavidyā Upaniṣad means Brahmavidyā—that is the first meaning. The second meaning of Upaniṣad is "the book." A book is nothing but the teachings of the guru, and what the guru teaches is only the scriptures through his own spiritual struggles and experiences. He guides the would-be aspirants, but ultimately it is all traceable to the scripture.

=== The Nature of the Vedas ===
Veda and Vedas are called apauruṣeya—not human inventions or works of human beings, but revealed by divine grace to sincere aspirants over a long period of time.

Here we have to understand one very important point: even though our ancestors had drawn a line and said that after this, the experiences as recorded by their disciples (which used to be called Upaniṣads) only they will remain as Upaniṣads. They retain the name Upaniṣads, but henceforward it is not possible to call them Upaniṣad.

=== Universal Nature of Spiritual Truth ===
But we have to understand: the Gītā is an Upaniṣad, even though it is called the essence of all the Upaniṣads. In fact, the experiences of seers, saints, sages, and ṛṣis across space and time, in whatever religion, they are all nothing but Upaniṣads. If we take the meaning of Upaniṣad as "that which is the highest truth as revealed to these people by the grace of God," then we have to understand they are nothing but Vedas.

Second, the meaning of Upaniṣad is ātmajñānam, brahmajñānam, brahmavidyā. Therefore, the teachings of Christ, Rāma, Kṛṣṇa, Buddha, Caitanya, Jesus Christ, Śaṅkarācārya, Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, every ācārya—every realized soul is nothing but the highest truth. Once a person becomes identified with God, God only manifests through that particular instrument, the body and mind. Languages may differ, but the truth they point out is exactly the same.

=== Modern Upaniṣads ===
So the Gospel of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa and especially the important works of Swāmī Vivekānanda—that is, the four yogas (of course, other things also)—they are nothing but Upaniṣads. The Gospel of Holy Mother is nothing but the Upaniṣad. The Eternal Companion and the conversations with Swāmī Śivānanda, For Seekers of God, that is also nothing but an Upaniṣad. The Imitation of Christ, the Practice of the Presence of God, and the works of Rūmī—they are all nothing but pure Upaniṣads.

When these Upaniṣads are interpreted in their own local languages, they by convention are called secondary scriptures. But whosoever's teaching, whichever type of book leads us to the highest truth, that must be entitled as Upaniṣad. And this is also called śabda pramāṇa.

== The Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad ==
We said about the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad: it contains all the ideas contained in a broader Upaniṣad, and this also contains a mahāvākya. That is, a sentence which points to the complete identity between the individual and Brahman, jīvātma and Paramātmā, is called a mahāvākya. "Aham brahmāsmi" is that mahāvākya.

=== Śaṅkarācārya's Commentaries ===
As mentioned yesterday, Ādi Śaṅkarācārya had chosen ten Upaniṣads to comment upon, and the essence of all these Upaniṣads is only one: "Thou art that—practice and experience for yourself I am that, aham brahmāsmi." And this commentary of Śaṅkarācārya is voluminous because the Upaniṣad itself is voluminous.

=== Sureśvarācārya's Vārtika ===
On that Upaniṣad, one of his own disciples, Sureśvarācārya, had commented again, and that is what we discussed yesterday. It is called vārtika. What is the speciality of this vārtika?

'''Uktam, anuktam, duruktam:'''

# '''Uktam''' - Whatever has been said is again commented. If the writer feels that probably ordinary people like us may not understand Śaṅkarācārya's writings or certain passages, so he elaborates them, tries to simplify them for people like us.
# '''Anuktam''' - Śaṅkarācārya either deliberately or unintentionally might have omitted something, and which maybe his disciple thinks is a very important point. Then it is called anuktam—not said by the original commentator, so he also completes it. In any case, it is very good for all of us. It doesn't matter even if it is a repetition.
# '''Duruktam''' - Sometimes the disciple may think this is probably not correct. So the teacher—suppose he comes to know—does he feel bad? "My own disciple, instead of accepting as gospel truth, has he dared to criticize me?" No! "I am so happy you corrected me. I should have expressed it better." Because a guru is like a father. When does a father become happiest? Most happy when his children surpass him in every way. Similarly, a guru will be more than a father. When his disciple's understanding or expression or whatever in any way better than his own, he would be thousandfold happier. And if anybody is not happy, he is not a real ācārya; he is a duṣṭācārya. But all ācāryas are like that.

So this is duruktam—not wrongly interpreted but not completely interpreted. So with all due respect, the disciple doesn't lose his respect even in the slightest. With the highest respect, "This probably is a better meaning than what my guru had commented upon." That is called duruktam, doha uktam, duruktam.

We had discussed until that point.

== Śaṅkarācārya's Introduction (Sambandha Bhāṣya) ==
Then Śaṅkarācārya, before writing any commentary on any Upaniṣad, he wants to introduce the subject. And an introduction, as we all know, like a foreword, etc., tries to encapture—encapsulate—the very essence of what he understood. That is, in a few words, like an aphorism, he wants to express: "This should be the real essence of this entire Upaniṣad."

Can we do that? Such a huge voluminous book, Bṛhat aryanakam—can we compress it? Śaṅkarācārya himself had expressed it so beautifully. No one else can do it any better.

=== The Essence in Half a Sentence ===
Once it is said, someone approached him—doesn't matter whether it is true or not, but it serves the purpose for our understanding: "Sir, you have written voluminous commentaries, cart loads of books. My brain is small, memory is small, understanding is little. Please summarize."

And Śaṅkara, being what he is, he said, "I will summarize to you. I do not even require one full sentence. In half a sentence I will summarize:

'''Brahma satyam, jagan mithyā, jīvo brahma eva na aparaḥ.'''"

Brahman alone is the truth. This world is nothing but the same Brahman looked at from the viewpoint of the mind, and mind is limited. So the way we look at the world, at ourselves, both are limited. That limitation is called mithyā. It is not untruth, it is not unreal, but it is partial reality. That is called mithyā.

And if Brahman alone is the truth, you do not exist, I do not exist, no one else exists—everything is Brahman. Therefore you are Brahman, every individual is nothing but Brahman.

=== The Living and Non-Living ===
What about the whole world? Yes, the whole world can be divided into the living as well as the non-living. What is the difference between these two? Absolutely none. It is like the difference between a just-born baby and a 99-years-old man with full intellect.

So what we call the non-living, the inorganic, in course of time evolves into organic, evolves further. The whole life is but spiritual evolution, finally leading to spirituality. Even worldly evolution is a part of that spiritual evolution.

=== The Purpose of Suffering ===
Very interesting for us to understand this simple fact: we are being made to forget God, but that is also part of the spiritual evolution. Because there is something inside which cannot tolerate this kind of dominance, slavery, limitation. And when we are dominated like this, our freedom is suppressed, and automatically our real being becomes—what is called—it brings about revolution. It rebels against, and then it turns its attention: "What is it I am seeking?"

And ultimately, every form of suffering is a spiritual aid. Every form of suffering pushes us a little bit nearer to God. That is why God has created, out of His infinite love—out of His infinite love for this infinite universe.

=== Is This Universe Infinite? ===
Brahman is looked at through the prism of the mind, which consists of time, space, and causation. Then it may look like we are looking at a finite universe, but it is nothing but the infinite Brahman, which is beautifully illustrated by the very peace chant we are going to see shortly.

== The Three Stages of Spiritual Evolution ==
So Śaṅkarācārya has written, "This is the essence of what this Upaniṣad is going to tell, and I would like to endeavor to the best of my ability, in the simplest language I can manage, so that I can convey what I understand to people who are sincere and who would like to take the guidance."

As I explained yesterday, according to Swāmī Vivekananda, everything is interconnected. Everything is step-by-step, and evolution progresses through three steps:

# '''First: Duality'''
# '''Second: Qualified non-dualism'''
# '''Lastly: Advaita'''

When a person knows who he is, the evolution falls away. Because like an evolutionary escalator, once we reach the upper floor, then it goes back to bring other people. This is the very purpose of the world: the purpose is to slowly bring everything in this world to its true nature. And there is your home, and then it goes back again and again and again to help everybody.

=== For Whom is This Teaching? ===
So Śaṅkarācārya wants to tell, exclusively for people who have reached a certain type of maturity, where they have reached the culminating point of unity in diversity, or they have identified themselves with the personal God through rituals, through upāsanā. And now they see that there is something much higher, about which of course nothing can be talked about, but there is something—even though we are not able to talk about it—and a tremendous longing comes.

Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa explains it through a beautiful analogy: that when the kuṇḍalinī reaches the sixth cakra, he perceives the reality, the truth, Brahman, as if "I can just touch, but there is an obstruction—a very thin piece of glass, like the lamp protected by the outward glass." But by God's grace, that very light pulls the person inside, breaking open. And that glass case perhaps we can compare to Saguṇa Brahma.

But until that point, effort becomes not only needed but absolutely essential. But once we reach, then all efforts fall away. That is called complete self-surrender. And then the person attains not by his effort, but by the grace.

That's why Swāmījī understood it and expressed it in four sentences in the hymn "OM̐ hrīṃ hṛtham," etc.

== Debate with Other Schools of Philosophy ==
Now what Śaṅkarācārya wants to say: first of all, in Śaṅkarācārya's time there were several other schools, of which we do not hear nowadays. For example: Nyāya and Vaiśeṣika and Yoga and Sāṅkhya, Pūrva Mīmāṃsā. These are the five schools of philosophy. They have their own limited theories about what is the world, what is Brahman, and what is their own real nature.

But as I said, they have to evolve further. But stubbornly they refuse to evolve, so they are trying to propagate their own ideas as the ultimate truths. That's where Śaṅkarācārya comes and then tries to—not oppose them, not to suppress them—but to make them evolve further, to expand their hearts, to expand their intellects so that they can understand the truth.

Initial resistance might be seen, but then if a person is sincere, he will definitely come to the viewpoint of the Advaita.

=== Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's Affirmation ===
How do we know? Because Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa says, first of all, he says Advaita is the very last word of realization. And then secondly, he says, "By whichever path a person attains to that state, he expresses in a funny way: all jackals howl exactly the same way." That means what they speak is nothing but about Brahman: satyam, jñānam, anantam, brahma.

=== The Sambandha Bhāṣya ===
In this sambandha bhāṣya (bhāṣya means commentary, sambandha means relationship)—that is, what is the relationship—that is what we are going to study and what he is going to counter. So especially two important points he wants to argue and clarify. Remember, not trying to defeat them, but to help them out of infinite compassion, so that they can enlarge their view.

=== The Story of Maṇḍana Miśra ===
And one of his own disciples, who was called Maṇḍana Miśra earlier, one of the greatest living scholars of his time in Kāśī or some other place—Śaṅkarācārya had to counter him. And several days the debate had gone on, and then Maṇḍana Miśra was a very, very sincere person, and he was convinced. So he wanted to realize that Advaita, so he became a monk.

But whether he becomes a monk or not is not the important point. The important point is this: sanyāsa, or renouncing, or developing total detachment to whatever is unreality—that is called sanyāsa. He has taken up, chosen. And his wife, a very greatly learned lady called Ubhaya Bhāratī, she also accepts, understands, and disappears. Wonderful stories are there about it. You can Google and find out the conversation, dialogue between Maṇḍana Miśra and Śaṅkarācārya. It is there, thanks to the AI.

== Countering the Pūrva Mīmāṃsaka Position ==
So in this sambandha bhāṣya, Śaṅkarācārya wants to emphasize—rather, to enlarge the understanding of the Pūrva Mīmāṃsaka and also others, especially Pūrva Mīmāṃsaka.

As we discussed earlier, Veda is divided into two parts:

# '''Karma kāṇḍa''' - the ritualistic section of the Veda
# '''Jñāna kāṇḍa''' - the knowledge portion

And in some people's opinions, there is a total opposition between these two. But enlightened people do not take that view. Just as a baby has to grow to become a young man, an old man—old man means a mature man; a mature man means growing up from immaturity to maturity—we have to understand only in that way.

=== The Position of the Pūrva Mīmāṃsakas ===
So in Pūrva Mīmāṃsakas, there are a few important points:

First of all, what they say is that the Veda is a pramāṇa—entire Veda is a pramāṇa, that is, an authority on super-sensory knowledge. No doubt about it. But they have developed a peculiar idea that whatever sentences we get in this Veda, they must be guarding one to action. If there is a sentence where no action is indicated, that is not a pramāṇa or valid piece of knowledge.

Every ritual falls under vidhi. Vidhi means injunction: "You must do this." And there are several types of vidhis:

* Daily vidhis
* Occasional vidhis
* Special vidhis
* And of course, there are certain actions which one should never do, called niṣedha

So the whole Veda is meant only for action—that is their view. And through action, one can obtain liberation or highest knowledge.

=== Summary of Their Position ===
So what are the points here?

# First of all, Veda teaches only one thing: that is commandments. "You perform this action." It is action-oriented.
# Whatever sentences we find which do not command "you do this" or "you do not do this," they are not to be counted as Veda.

There is a beautiful summary of this particular philosophy.

== Śaṅkarācārya's Counter-Arguments ==
So for that, Śaṅkarācārya had to defend himself in two ways.

First of all, he asks the opponent, Pūrva Mīmāṃsaka—he is called the opponent—"So do you accept the jñānakāṇḍa, the Upaniṣads, for example the mahāvākya, as part of the Veda, which is the authority for human guidance?"

The opponent says, "No. Because 'You are that'—what action is it leading you to? It is not leading to any action. So therefore, whichever action—they are only laudatory. So they do not really fall under Veda vākya, Veda pramāṇa."

=== Two Types of Sentences in the Veda ===
Then how does Śaṅkara counter it?

First of all, he says, "Oh opponent, you say the whole Veda is a pramāṇa. Do you say that part of the Veda has to be accepted as authority and those sentences like these mahāvākyas, they are not to be counted as authority? What do you say?"

Of course, the opponent says, "They are there, but they are not to be relied upon, counted upon."

Then how does Śaṅkarācārya counter? Very interesting. This is only just very shortly I want to tell you.

So we convey our knowledge through words, and words must become sentences. Words themselves do not give any meaning; words do not convey any meaning. It is only when certain words are combined in a particular way—that is called grammar—then only the words become a sentence. Unless words become a sentence, they cannot be conveying any meaning.

==== Example ====
For example: Rāma, Rāvaṇa. Suppose you hear these two words. Man, city. Hear these two words. "Sir, Śaṅkarācārya, what do these two words convey to you?"

Yes, you are getting: Rāma is there and also Rāvaṇa is there. Man is there, city is there. But what does it convey to you? They must be made into a sentence, and a sentence must contain a verb which connects these two words together.

For example: "Rāma killed Rāvaṇa." Now it makes a meaning. "The man traveled to a city." Now it makes a meaning.

So this is what the Pūrva Mīmāṃsaka says.

=== Kārya Bodhaka and Siddha Bodhaka Sentences ===
Śaṅkarācārya counters: "So there are two types of sentences in the Veda throughout the Veda. What are they?"

# '''Kārya bodhaka''' - One is called kārya bodhaka
# '''Siddha bodhaka''' - Another is called siddha bodhaka

What does it mean?

"Go and perform this ritual." This is called kārya bodhaka. If this sentence is commanding one: "You want to go to svargaloka, then you must perform this ritual, agnihotra." That's a commandment.

But the other sentences which do not teach any of these action-oriented orders, commands, are not to be counted.

=== Śaṅkarācārya's Response ===
And Śaṅkarācārya counters. He says, "You are wrong. There are words and there are sentences, and they are indicating a truth, some truth is there. How do you say that they do not create what is called knowledge to you? There is no commandment there."

For example, we are told, "There is a beautiful mountain peak called Everest." It is a fact, and it is just a piece. There is nothing to say you have to go there, you have to climb. No, it is there.

"There is a—you are traveling—there is a traffic jam on this particular road at this point of place, space." It is a fact.

Now Śaṅkara asks, "What are you trying to do now? Once you hear that, either you want to go back home or you want to change your route. Even though it is not commanding you to do anything, but it is a statement of fact."

Similarly, Śaṅkarācārya says, "Tat tvam asi—the word—is it to be accepted as Veda pramāṇa?"

"No."

"Once you know the truth, after knowing the truth you don't need to do anything, because knowledge itself gives tremendous fulfillment."

=== The Power of Knowledge ===
So once you know you are Brahman, what is the result you get? The result you get is you are completely, totally freed from every sort of bondage. You will be freed from the clutches of tritāpa—three types of sufferings. All the three sources are negated, and you don't need to run anywhere. You will overcome death, you will overcome ignorance, you will enjoy eternal, infinite, unbroken bliss. That is the power of knowledge. And in Vedas, they are all there.

Earlier I mentioned that the opponent's fixed, firm opinion is: "The Vedas teach only actions. Whatever sentences do not convey an action, they are meaningless. Every sentence in the Vedas is geared only to make a person do something." That means sentences like "I am Brahman" are not authoritative. Therefore, they do not have any power.

"No," says Śaṅkarācārya. "Once you get knowledge, you get tremendous benefit, just as you get benefit by practicing the rituals. You get the same or even much more benefit by hearing the truths. Therefore, he says, the whole of Veda is pramana."

=== Both Types of Sentences are Valid ===
And Vedas contain these two types of sentences:

* Some command you, order you to do something or to refrain from something. They are also valid.
* But there are some who point out to the highest goal, called mahāvākyas. They are also pramanas.

In fact, the whole life is only to attain this. Because the four ultimate—what is called goals—to be desired by every human being is called dharma, artha, kāma, and mokṣa.

Dharma, artha, and kāma belong to this worldly experience. Mokṣa is the final goal, because you are that. So long as you remain ignorant of your true nature, you are bound to suffer.

=== Why Karma Cannot Give Liberation ===
So this is what he wants to convey: that karma cannot give liberation. Why? Because karma is done through the instrumentality of body, mind, and in time and space. How much time can you do karma? Therefore, with limited cause, unlimited effect cannot be had. This is the simple truth about it.

And then Vedas in different Upaniṣads, again and again, quote and tell you: "You are Divine. Each soul is potentially Divine."

== The Role of Logic ==
But to understand that, as we already discussed, types of logic are used. Through logic, first of all, one cannot prove God. But logic is helpful to understand the teachings of the Vedas, which are called Vedānta or Upaniṣads, much better.

So logic is not to prove the existence of Brahman or anybody. Logic cannot prove what is beyond our sense organs. But logic can help us understand the teachings of the scripture much, much better.

This is called:

* '''Śruti sammata tarka''' - Logic in accordance with śruti
* Or also called '''sambhāvanā yukti''' - Logic based on and in accordance with the Veda

The other is '''śuṣka tarka''' - dry logic.

That is why there is a beautiful song in Bengali: "Who can understand what Mother Kālī is? Even the six schools of philosophy are unable."

Mother can be understood only by whom? By Śiva. Who is Śiva? Brahman. Brahman alone can understand Brahman. No one else can understand.

== The Relationship Between Karma, Upāsanā, and Jñāna ==
So Ādi Śaṅkarācārya says there is a relationship again between the karma kāṇḍa and jñāna kāṇḍa. And we have to remind ourselves: between karma kāṇḍa and jñāna kāṇḍa, there is a bridge. That is called upāsanā kāṇḍa.

So: '''Karma kāṇḍa → Upāsanā kāṇḍa → Jñāna kāṇḍa'''

What is the relationship?

=== Benefits of Karma Kāṇḍa ===
Karma kāṇḍa improves our concentration and makes us believe in God more and more. And sincerely practicing the injunctions and avoiding the prohibitions, a man experiences:

* Greater health
* Greater knowledge
* Greater bliss

This is experienceable. As we also discussed, the five types of ānanda, each much higher than the other. And that is the burden of what is going to come in the eighth section of the Taittirīya Upaniṣad, second chapter—that is ānanda mīmāṃsā.

So there are vast degrees of difference between the lowest ānanda and highest ānanda. And it has nothing to do with what a person possesses. Possessions have no meaning in ānanda. Sometimes possessions themselves become the very source of great suffering. Power, position, wealth—everything can also help, can also hinder.

=== What Do Rituals Do? ===
So this is what we have to understand. So rituals—what do they do?

# They improve our concentration
# They improve our comprehension
# They purify our heart, slowly but surely
# Most important, they give us the result of what is promised

And once we understand that what the karma kāṇḍa of the Vedic part is telling the truth, our faith in that grows. And then the very Vedas, like a loving mother, gently lead: "So you have done all these external rituals, you reaped the result. Now every physical action involves tremendous amount of what is called labor, time, energy. But the same thing can be attained without losing time, without wasting energy, without spending long time."

"How, sir?"

=== The Transition to Upāsanā ===
"Now you do the same ritual inside, which is called upāsanā."

But we have to be extraordinarily careful: without going through the actual, physical, external ritualistic part, it is not possible to jump. Like you cannot jump into college from kindergarten to high school to college, to university. No, you cannot do it. You will have to, step by step, class by class, you have to evolve further. We should not forget that.

Only when a person has sufficiently spent time, experiences the promised results, and looks forward to even greater improvement—for them, at the appropriate time, the guru comes and tells, "Now is the time for you to turn your attention inward," which is indicated by the vānaprasthāśrama.

And slowly you do the same things here. Even better results are there, because the very saṃskāras are being purified and directed upwards. So it doesn't take time. You can do much better worship:

* Mental worship
* The best flowers
* Best fruits
* Best food
* Best environment
* Best decoration

All sitting, closing your eyes, and in your imagination—since the whole universe is an imagination, this also is nothing but a wonderful imagination. But this imagination will give the highest type of joy. Slowly it leads to oneness with the reality of the chosen deity. The devotee becomes one with the deity through this process of mānasika upāsanā. Upāsanā means mānasika only.

=== The Transition to Jñāna ===
This is the second stage, which the guru introduces to the student. Then he becomes qualified. And then when he beholds the glory of God, the chosen deity, and then guru comes and tells, "Now even in upāsanā, there is a difference between the devotee and the deity. And that is the final obstruction, and that should be completely destroyed. And that which destroys this difference between the devotee and the deity is called jñānam."

What is that jñānam? "There is no two. I and you—there is only one. I can call it sarvam brahma, or I can call it aham brahma." Even that is an expression in our day-to-day language.

== The Guidance of the Veda ==
So this is how the development takes place. So Veda guides every aspirant, provided he is sincere. That is the only requirement. From wherever the sincere aspirant is, to the next step, to the next step, to the next step. And analogically, it is explained as:

# Dualism
# Qualified non-dualism
# Non-dualism

So this is how Veda or Upaniṣads guide a person.

=== Should We Discard Karma kāṇḍa? ===
So even though karma kāṇḍa itself can help us but not give us liberation—because the unlimited cannot be attained by the limited—there is a Vedic expression, Upaniṣadic expression: "The uncreated cannot be attained by the created." That is the ultimate.

So should we discard karma kāṇḍa? No. There should be no hatred, no attachment to rituals.

Karma not only implies ritualism, which we may mistake—sitting there and drawing some lines and then offering. No. One's own duties according to one's own station in life also falls under karma. But if it is directed towards a higher end, it becomes karma yoga.

So karma leads to karma yoga, and anybody can attain to God through that karma yoga.

=== The Proper Relationship ===
So what should be the relationship? Karma helps us gradually to detach ourselves from this world and our longing to be united with God. That is the purpose of any type of rituals. And the nearer we approach God, the knowledge becomes stronger.

So that is why, for the beginners, Veda directs all beings to perform action. Finally, when the person is ready, it leads to tat tvam asi. Therefore, without practicing these rituals, one cannot jump to the jñānakāṇḍa. But jñānakāṇḍa cannot be attained, jumped at, without karmakāṇḍa. It is like a staircase.

So one should not stop with rituals. One should progress further. This is the relationship between rituals and knowledge.

=== Summary of the Progression ===
So karma means:

* One's own duty
* Plus also all the rituals, worships, etc.

This leads to upāsanā. Upāsanā further helps the aspirant to move towards what is called fitness to understand that final truth, mahāvākya tat tvam asi. And that is what this Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad teaches. Of course, Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad teaches—finally it culminates in that knowledge: aham brahmāsmi.

== The Peace Chant of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad ==
And as usual, every Veda, every Upaniṣad has its own specialized śānti pāṭha—peace chant. And this is a beautiful peace chant. And this is a very peculiar, very special peace chant.

ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात्पूर्णमुदच्यते ।

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ॥

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

'''OM PŪRṆAMADAḤ PŪRṆAMIDAM PŪRṆĀT PŪRṆAMUDACYATE'''

'''PŪRṆASYA PŪRṆAMĀDĀYA PŪRṆAMEVA VAŚIṢYATE'''

'''OM ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI'''

=== Why Is It Peculiar? ===
Why is it peculiar? Because there is no prayer here. "Please remove all the obstacles. Let there be no misunderstanding between my teacher and myself. Let my body and mind be strong. Let all the divine qualities grow in me." They are all prayers to God.

But here, the highest mahāvākya itself is the peace chant. What is that?

'''PŪRṆASYA PŪRṆAMĀDĀYA PŪRṆAMEVA VAŚIṢYATE'''

So the infinite has given birth to this universe, as if, as it were—not really. From infinite, you deduct infinite, it remains infinite. You combine two infinites, it remains only infinite. Like zero: zero plus zero is zero, zero multiplied by zero is zero, zero divided by zero is zero, zero subtracted by zero is also zero. And that is why zero is the symbol of infinity.

This beautiful chant we will talk about in our next class.

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

पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहुः ॥

''Om Jananīṁ 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 25 on 18 April 2026

2026-07-17T23:05:41Z

Gopi:

== Opening Invocation ==
ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात्पूर्णमुदच्यते ।

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ॥

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

'''OM PŪRṆAMADAḤ PŪRṆAMIDAM PŪRṆĀT PŪRṆAMUDACYATE'''

'''PŪRṆASYA PŪRṆAMĀDĀYA PŪRṆAMEVA VAŚIṢYATE'''

'''OM ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI'''

'''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.
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== Introduction: What is Love? ==
In our last class, we have started a most marvellous topic. And it is so appropriate. Why is it appropriate? Because nowadays, whether it is movies or it is songs or it is a dress or it is conversation, everybody is talking about love, love, love. Do people really understand what is the meaning of love? What is the psychology of love? What is the origin of love? What really a person loves, and why he cannot love?

Everyone is absolutely selfish. The word "selfish" has to be defined as one who is totally preoccupied with the self — one's own self — either from the lower point of view or from the highest point of view.

And this love is equivalent to joy, happiness, ānanda. Everyone only prays for ānanda: ''Asato mā, Tamaso mā, Mṛtyormā.'' So, "Let me live without any break. Let me have infinite knowledge. Let me be having infinite joy." So this is the topic.
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== The Mantra: Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 1.4.8 ==
And this occurs in the first chapter of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, fourth section, eighth mantra. And it doesn't really take away from the value, even if we recite it a few number of times.

तदेतत्प्रेयः पुत्रात्, प्रेयो वित्तात्, प्रेयोऽन्यस्मात्सर्वस्मात् अन्तरतरम्, यदयमात्मा । स योऽन्यमान्मनः प्रिये ब्रुवाणं ब्रूयात्, प्रियं रोत्स्यतीति, ईश्वरौ ह, तथैव स्यात्; आत्मानमेव प्रियमुपासीत; स य आत्मानमेव प्रियमुपास्ते न हास्य प्रियं प्रमायुकं भवति । । ८ । ।

tadetatpreyaḥ putrāt preyo vittātpreyo'nyasmātsarvasmādantarataraṁ yadayamātmā| sa yo'nyamātmanaḥ priyaṁ bruvāṇaṁ brūyāt priya rotsyatītīśvaro ha tathaiva syādātmānameva priyamupāsīta sa ya ātmānameva priyamupāste na hāsya priyaṁ pramāyukaṁ bhavati ||

Even the very positing of the Sanskrit words is most marvellous.

Plainly translated: this self is dearer than a son, dearer than wealth, dearer than everything else, because it is the innermost. So two points are beautifully outlined here. The self is dearer than a son, dearer than wealth, dearer than everything else. Why is it so? Because it is the innermost. It is the most wanted. It is the most desired. It is the most striven for.

Even a man wants to die sometimes — forever — only because when a person is deprived and loses all hope: "Perhaps I will never be happy in my entire life or lives. Then I cannot tolerate it."
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== The Nature of Ātman and Ānanda ==
So we have already discussed a few points, but first I will go through the entire eighth section, eighth mantra of the fourth section, and then we will discuss further points. So there is nothing dearer than one's own self — that is the first point — and it is dearer than everything. And what is that Ātmā, one's own self? And everything other than one's own self is not dear at all. We will discuss about that point.

Such a person who loves one's own self, who realised that "I am the self, I am Brahman, and I am Ānanda Svarūpa" — such a person, looking at another person: who is this another person? There are only two types of persons in this world. One, those who love the self, Ātman, and those who love everything other than the Ātmā.

So, is there really — the question that comes, a very important question — is there really anybody in this world who doesn't love one's own self? Even if somebody says — say, a patriot, or a lover of the society, any society, irrespective of country, religion, language, etc. — and there are a few Mahātmās, great souls, who do that, like Mahātmā Gāndhi. So for them, there is nothing excluded. But the question is: is there anyone who can love anything in this world other than the Ātman?

Now when we use that word Ātman, the intended meaning that we want to discuss may not be clear. To make it clear, we have to use the appropriate words. Ānanda means — Ātmā means Ānanda. Ātmā and Ānanda are not separate things. So even the most worldly person, who doesn't believe in God, believes — because that is the very nature of a person — "I want to be happy, whether it comes from within or from outside."

So from that point of view, if Ātman is equated with Ānanda: Ātman is Brahman, Brahman is Sat, Cit, Ānanda. I already reminded you — these three words, Sat, Cit, and Ānanda, cannot be separated. Those three are not three separate words. If I feel happy, then that means I am alive, Sat. And if I am feeling happy, I have to be aware, I have to be conscious. "I am not an unhappy person, I am a happy person."
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== The Distinction Between Worldly and Spiritual Love ==
Do people know about this? Then what is the difference between — one — everyone wants happiness. What is the difference, then, between a person who loves Ātman and one who doesn't? To put it in plain language, there are people who believe — and they don't use the word Ātman, it is a very special word and that is a better word, actually — but people use the word God. "I love God."

There are many people who might say, "I love God, we love God," but they don't really. They love God in order to get something from Him, and that is not true love. But all Ānanda comes only from God.

What is it? Ātmā is our own true nature. What is our true nature? Ānanda. ''Ānanda Svarūpaḥ. Śivoham Śivoham. Ānandoham Ānandoham. Sacidānandoham Sacidānandoham.'' So we love only Ānanda because that is my nature.

And here is a very, very important point: nobody loves anything else excepting oneself. If my nature is Ānanda, I love Ānanda naturally. I never love the opposite, or anything other than Ānanda. And anything other than Ānanda is called Duḥkha, Kaṣṭa, or Nirānanda. Nobody loves it.
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== Why Nobody Loves Suffering ==
Why is it so? This is a universal law. Nobody loves Duḥkha. Nobody struggles, when one is happy, to get rid of happiness. But even the slightest difficulty — your leg is becoming painful in one particular position — immediately, unconsciously, you change it. Something is itching. Unconsciously, we stretch our hands to scratch and remove that feeling of itch, because itch means unhappiness, suffering, sorrow.

That is why Bhagavān Buddha's words have to be understood carefully. He said, "Life is nothing but sorrow." What does he mean? He means anything that is outside Ātman — that is what we call life. Life in the world, meaning body, mind, our circumstances, our family, our jobs, etc. And everybody is striving for more and more happiness.

So in this background, we have to understand: nobody loves anything other than Ānanda. What is our problem? Or what is the problem of a worldly person? A worldly person in Sanskrit is called ''Anātma Priya''. Does any person really love anything in this world? Not really. It seems he loves, but he doesn't.

But what is the psychology? The person thinks, "I want to be happy, and only this object can give me happiness." It could be husband, wife, children, parents, friends, anything else — possessions, bank balance, house, car, yacht — everything. So the person loves only Ānanda.
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== The Two Things Everyone Loves ==
This is what we discussed. Everybody loves only two things. What are the things? First of all, everybody loves Ānanda and everybody desires only Ānanda. Why do you want to eat a sweet? Because you will get happiness. Why do you want to eat the best mango? Because you want to be happy.

What is the problem? If a person doesn't get what he loves, he will not love. If the same object — and every object is changing — so it might give happiness one time; it is conditional. We will discuss about it later on.

But a person loves, first of all, Ānanda; second, the object through which a person mistakenly thinks that he is getting happiness. And slowly we realise — because of our experiences, through our experiences — that really Ānanda is within ourselves. If we can train our mind to be happy, not to depend — and to understand that happiness doesn't lie in any object, happiness is not the nature of any object.
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== The Nature of Happiness: The Test of Intrinsic Quality ==
How do we know? Because the definition of one's own nature is that which never is lost from oneself — like sweetness is not lost from sugar, and sourness is never lost from tamarind. So, like that, whatever is one's nature, that can never be lost. And whatever is lost is a mistaken identity, not real identity.

So, if an object has got happiness — and eternally that object should give happiness — what is the first problem? The object itself has a birth, has a growth, and has a death.

Simple analysis: suppose somebody loves a sweet mango. What type of mango? It should not be a small flower — pollen has turned into mango — nobody loves it. And the mango should go on growing, should go on acquiring sweetness, and it should be ripe properly. Then only will it give the sweetness. And some mangoes have an extraordinarily attractive flavour. So we are all creatures of smells — smelly persons. We love smells. In fact, the taste is nothing but 99% smell, and the rest is what we call sweet, sour, etc.

So any object doesn't have happiness because it has a birth, it becomes old — the mango becomes old, rotten. Nobody loves it. Only when it is in a particular condition, that is the first condition, will it be desirable, enjoyable.

Can anybody derive happiness from that fact? No. Because the enjoyer must fulfil certain conditions. He should be physically healthy, he should be healthy mentally, and there should be no circumstances which threaten that person. If somebody is sitting with a gun: "You eat this first-class mango, otherwise I blow your head into smithereens" — do you think the person will eat? But do you think he is enjoying? No, he knows.

Therefore, the external conditions must be right; the mango should be in the best condition; and his stomach must be in the best condition, at the best time. Even the healthiest person cannot enjoy anything at all times. So if you wake up a person who is deeply, terribly tired and deeply asleep — "I brought your favourite food, enjoy!" — he is likely to injure you for disturbing a greater happiness.

So so many conditions have to be fulfilled, and it should suit a person. Because even if these conditions are fulfilled, if that object doesn't love this man — this person, me or you — then we regret: "Why did I eat?" Because happiness should be such that before eating, after eating, it should leave a pleasant memory, a ''saṃskāra'' in the mind. But that is not going to happen in every case.
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== The Two Categories of People ==
So the Upaniṣad divides people into two categories. And what is the point I brought out? Everybody loves Ānanda. There is no such thing as a believer in God or non-believer in God. But what is the distinction? A believer in God equates God with happiness. He says, "Since you are happiness, I will love you very naturally."

But suppose, hypothetically, you pray to God, He comes to you, and then He asks you graciously, "Ask a boon of me." And then you say, "I want to be very happy." But God says, "I can't give you happiness because I don't have it, but ask anything — money, jewels, house, best job, power, position, anything else, long life — I'll give you everything."

If we have studied the Kaṭha Upaniṣad, this was the conclusion that Naciketa had come to. Even Yamadharma Rāja says, "I will give you long life. You can enjoy rare objects which are not available on this earth. These heavenly damsels will serve you. Heavenly food will be served to you. Heavenly objects of enjoyment will be constantly at your service." But Yamadharma Rāja knows the psychology of love and Ānanda very well. So he was only testing Naciketa.

But Naciketa says, "All these are useless, because if my mind is disturbed — and the mind can be disturbed in umpteen number of ways — but here, definitely I will be disturbed. How so? Because I have an unfulfilled desire. I want to have self-knowledge. You are evading my question. You are not giving the answer. So without getting the answer, my desire will not be fulfilled. And this desire will be troubling me. And when one desire, a stronger desire, is troubling me, even the fulfilment of all other smaller desires is not going to help me."
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== Erich Fromm and the Art of Loving ==
So once again we will talk very briefly about what we discussed, because this is one of the most wonderful topics. There was a great social psychologist. His name was Erich Fromm. And he wrote a marvellous book — a really great book — ''The Art of Loving.'' And in the last chapter, he summarises the whole book. But the essence of it — even he did not understand what is the nature of Ānanda, because he is talking purely from a psychological point of view. And he says, "It is an art." That is a great teaching we have to take.

It is an art to love anybody, and much less to speak about God — it is the greatest art. And nobody is going to be an artist unless that person fulfils certain hard conditions and for a long time. Then only such a person has a remote chance of becoming a great artist.

But Vedānta tells us: why do we love Ātman? Because Ātman is of the nature of happiness itself. And happiness requires that I should be alive, I should be existing, and I should be aware of it. Sat, Cit and Ānanda. This is the beautiful psychology.
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== Even God Must Be Ānanda ==
So even people will not love God if God were to say, "You can have me, or you can have Ānanda, because I am not Ānanda." If God were to tell this to the devotee — how many devotees would say, "I don't care whether you are happiness or not, I will love you"?

But there are also saints. Caitanya Prabhu was one of them. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was one of them, who used to say, "I don't care whether you make me happy or unhappy. I don't care. But I love you." And why do these people love God? That is a question we have to put and get the answer.

Because: "Whether you give me happiness or not, I don't care. But by loving you" — loving means deriving, squeezing the greatest happiness. If any person is foolish enough to say, "I love such and such, but I don't get happiness," he doesn't know what he is talking about. We love only Ānanda. And we don't love what is not giving Ānanda.

But this giving Ānanda — it is a mistake to think it is coming from outside. I am creating Ānanda by creating a particular mental, psychological environment where I say, "I derive the greatest joy." That is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa says.
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== Nobody Loves Anybody: The Example of the Rich Man ==
Nobody loves anybody. He gives a beautiful example. And we have to study the teachings of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa in the light of the scriptures. What is the benefit? When the scriptures are understood better, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is also understood better.

Suppose there is a rich man. Two sorts of people visit him. One sort of people want to get something from the rich man. They praise him, they extol him, and they say, "You are the moon, you are the sun, you are the greatest." But the rich man is intelligent enough to know that these people are selfish — "They want to get something. They are only praising me to get something. They don't really love me." He will say, "Now you get up and go away."

But there are people — if you ask, "Why are you coming here? What do you want?" — who says, "I don't want anything from you. I just love to see you. I love to be with you. I don't want anything from you." And then the rich man will be very happy: "Here is a true lover."
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== The Sufi Story of Identity in Love ==
It is identity — which again, if you remember, Swami Vivekānanda's Sufi story. A lover once knocked at the door of the beloved. From within came the question, "Who are you?" He said, "It is me." Second time he knocked. Same question, same answer. Third time he knocked. The same question came. This time, he understood. He says, "It is thee, my beloved. It is not me. It is thee." That means: "I love thee. I am there only to love you." That is true love. And then he found there are no doors — there is no door at all. This is the door that is keeping us away from God, from everybody else.

And when Jesus Christ proclaims, "Love thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and love thy neighbour with all thy soul, with all thy heart" — how come? Because that is the Jñāni's love. The Jñāni doesn't see any difference. If God created, He is the creation. And His creation is only God with name and form, as we discussed. And therefore, loving any object is loving God. But we must be continuously aware of that. "I don't love an object as an object. I love an object as a manifestation of Brahman." That is what it is.
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== The Jñāni's Warning: What Is Not the Self Will Perish ==
Let us complete the next part of the mantra.

स योऽन्यमान्मनः प्रिये ब्रुवाणं ब्रूयात्, प्रियं रोत्स्यतीति, ईश्वरौ ह, तथैव स्यात्; आत्मानमेव प्रियमुपासीत;

If one — another person — holding the self dear, what to say to another person who says, "I love everything else other than the self as dear"? Then the knower of God, the knower of the self, if he were to say, "You will lose what you hold dear" — and this knower of Brahman is certainly competent to do so — "it will indeed come true."

Very simple. That is: everything other than God is ephemeral, it changes. A knower of Brahman need not come and say, "So your family members will die. Your body will die. You will also die. Your property also." Actually, it is not necessary to say all this. When a person says, "You will die," that means the whole world will be dead with the death of one's own body.

So, anybody who says "I don't love God, I love the world" — whatever he loves will come to an end. And love means happiness, so whatever happiness he is getting will come to an end. And for that, one need not die. Death means limitation.

So, if there is a beautiful mango at this moment, after three days it may become old, rotten. So that ripe mango is, actually, a dead mango — therefore it loses its capacity to make me happy. Or, my stomach has gone bad. Any number of best mangoes or sweets, or money, or any number of people loving such a person, will not — cannot — make that person happy. What does that show? I'''t shows that when I remove my desires, then I remain as myself. And that is the state of highest happiness.'''
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== The Evidence of Deep Sleep ==
And how do we know? Because in deep sleep, we don't get all these things. There is no object, there is no mind — which means there is no waking state, there is no dream state. That means time, space, and causation are completely removed. Then the person feels unlimited, and then he abides in his own self. That is why, uninterruptedly, we forget time, we forget space, we forget causation. That is called forgetfulness of the world. And that gives the greatest peace.

Man will die for the sake of this sleep. Somebody had said — a wise crack had said — that life is meant only for this kind of deep sleep. That is why it is called Ānandamaya Kośa — and for Ānanda only.

So this part of the mantra says: "O my fellow, love God." Instead of saying "love God," in Purāṇic language it says "love the Ātman," because Ātman — you are the Ātman. So you are not loving anybody. You are loving your own self. But other than your own self, everything is perishable. Perishable means it is limited.

So even if an object is in front of us, at one time we loved it because the limitations were less. Now we hate the same object. We may even turn away our attention, our eyes. We may even hate — and this applies even to God also. So you claim, "I love God." But if God fails to provide safety, security, and happiness, the person will gladly, hastily remove God from his very house, from his very mind: "This God is a useless God." So we are all utilitarians.

So whether a Jñāni tells the worldly person that "what you hold here will die" — there is no need to say. That is happening every millisecond of our life, because our body is changing, our mind is changing, and along with that the external world — everything in this world is changing. Changefulness is the very nature of the world. That is why a great philosopher had said that no man steps into the same river twice.
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== ''Ātmānam Eva Priyam Upāsīta'': Meditate on the Self Alone as Dear ==
Then what should we do?

स य आत्मानमेव प्रियमुपास्ते न हास्य प्रियं प्रमायुकं भवति । । ८ । ।

''Ātmānam eva priyam upāsīta'' — one should meditate upon the self alone as dear. And what is that self? It is infinite. It is one. It is one without a second. And there is no fear, because there is no second. And what is its nature? Sat, Cit, Ānanda — immortality, infinite knowledge, unbroken happiness. That is the nature of the Ātman.

But we may not understand it. So we must have faith in the words of the scripture. But we will not have faith in the words of the scripture just like that — for that we have to choose a person after examination. "This person is an unselfish person. He loves you even if you have nothing to offer. And he is ready to sacrifice his life for your sake." And we have to understand through these signs that he is a knower of Brahman, because his love is not worldly love. His love is: "I love you because you are you." No — "I love you because I am you. There is nobody else other than the Ātman. I am the Ātman. Therefore there is no you, or she, or it, or anything else."

That is why — better understand this — "O Bhṛgu" — or here, disciple: ''Ātmānam eva priyam upāsīta.'' Ātman is the dearest, and it is also dearest because it is the nearest. Nearest means not some object which is near — it is nearer than the body, nearer than the mind. If these are destroyed, the pure consciousness will always be there, and "I am that pure consciousness — ''Śivoham Śivoham.''" Therefore you realise yourself, and then you will get infinite existence, infinite knowledge, infinite joy.
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== ''Yaḥ Ātmānam Eva Priyam Upāste'': What the Jñāni Holds Dear Will Never Perish ==
स य आत्मानमेव प्रियमुपास्ते न हास्य प्रियं प्रमायुकं भवति । । ८ । ।

''Ya Ātmānam Eva Priyam Upāste, Na hi asya priyam pramāyukam bhavati'' — "He who meditates upon the self alone as dear: what he holds dear will not perish." A beautiful expression again. Why does what this person holds dear never perish? Because it is the imperishable Ātman, the deathless Ātman.

So ''yaḥ Ātmānam Eva Priyam'' — Ātman alone is ''Ānanda Sacidānanda Svarūpa'', and it is immortal. And that awareness "I am the Ātman" is called Cit. And he who realises it through Sādhana — ''Na hi asya priyam'' — what he holds dear, this Ātman, ''pramāyukam bhavati'' — it will never ever perish.

So we have already analysed a little bit, and then we go to the beginning. It is dearer than a son, dearer than wealth, dearer than everything else. So why is the Ātmā dearest? How is the Ātmā dearer than everything?
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== The Mistake of Depending on Sense Objects ==
So we have also discussed — I will only briefly remind you — that every creature, every living creature, of course human being better than anybody else, loves only two things. First, he wants to be happy — she wants, he wants — everybody. Secondly, by mistake, we all think this Ānanda is coming through the objects of the five sense organs — beautiful sound, beautiful form, beautiful smell, beautiful taste, and beautiful weather, etc.

But Vedānta tells that we all mistakenly think these five objects of the five sense organs are giving or containing happiness, and therefore they are giving me happiness. As we discussed earlier, this is a mistaken notion. Why? Because every object has a birth, what is called sustenance or duration, and it will die. Therefore, to depend upon something which can be for a second — and it includes our own body as an instrument, our own mind — nothing can be depended upon.

But there is something which has no birth, no death, and that is called the Ātmā. So, only two things: we only love happiness, and temporarily we love that object which we think is giving me happiness. Of these two, which is the best? Happiness alone is primary, and every other sense object is secondary. And why do I like happiness? Because that is my very nature. Because when am I happy? I am happy only when I am myself.
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== The Pañcakośas as a Journey Toward the Ātman ==
That is why: when I identify myself with the Annamaya Kośa, I am a happy person. When I identify myself with Virāṭ, I am even more happy. Then I discover there is the Annamaya Kośa — even Virāṭ is far from Ātmā. But there is something nearer to that Ātmā.

Just as when we approach a blazing fire, even from a distance we start feeling the heat, and the heat goes on increasing — in a similar way, as we approach the Ātman, our happiness also will increase. So when we discard the Annamaya Kośa and identify with Prāṇamaya Kośa, I am a bit nearer to the Ātman, and so on.

When I move to the Manomaya Kośa — the mind, thoughts — in fact, our thoughts make everything. A poor man can be happy if he has happy thoughts. A rich man is unhappy in spite of everything he has, because of the poor thought or poverty-stricken thought: "I am not happy." That is the worst type of thought anybody can have.

And when the person moves to the Vijñānamaya, he is even nearer to the Ātman. When he moves to the Ānandamaya, he is still nearer — only a thin layer is the obstruction. That is why, after entering the Ānandamaya Kośa, he comes to realise: "I am not a kośa. I am Ānanda."

At the level of the Ānandamaya Kośa, a person clearly realises this is a kośa — and as soon as one realises what is kośa — that which limits — no man wants a limitation. So immediately he will cut it off. Then, from Ānandamaya Kośa, if we remove the Kośa, what remains? Ānanda. That is why: ''Ānando hyātmā. Brahma Pucchaṃ Pratiṣṭhā.''
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== The Conditionality of Worldly Love ==
So I love the means of happiness only because it gives me happiness. I love any object so long as it gives me happiness, and the moment it stops giving happiness, I give up loving it — I may even cherish hatred. Look at your everyday life. Whether a husband loses his love for the wife, or a wife loses her love for the husband, or for the children, or for anything in this world — friends are given up, religion is given up, even ultimately God also is given up if I don't get that happiness.

And then, what is the psychology? Once I gain happiness through any object, that object itself loses its importance. Like — as I gave the example — when a person sucks all the sweetness from a sugarcane, he throws it out as obstruction, as rubbish. He just throws it as far a distance as possible.

So our desire for happiness is unlimited and unconditional love, whereas my love for any object — which I mistakenly think gives me happiness — is absolutely conditional. That condition is: "So long as it gives." Whether it gives more or whether it gives less — the less giving, we love less; the more giving, we love more. That is the condition.

But from the Śāstra, from the Guru, we learn that Ātmā alone is happiness, and everything else other than Ātmā is called Anātmā. Anātmā is unhappiness, because the happiness of the Ātmā is its very nature. So it is ''Ekaṃ Sat, Ekam Eva Advitīyam.'' That is why Ātman is eternal, Ātman is secondless — therefore it gives eternal happiness.

So children, possessions, house, everything — the whole world — belong to the realm of Anātmā. And whatever is Anātmā is going to change, and every change is called perishing or death. So why is Anātmā unhappiness? Because it is limited and conditional. Simple example: you buy a car — so long as it serves your purpose, you love it; the moment it doesn't, you give it up. So the same thing applies to God also. Nobody will love even God selflessly.
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== The Love of the Saint: Unconditional and Undifferentiated ==
But if we find a saint who loves God unconditionally, we have to understand a very important point here: his very love for God gives him the greatest happiness, whether God is of the nature of love or not. It doesn't matter. And the same thing applies to worldly love also: if we think this person gives me happiness — whether that person really gives happiness or not, materially — my thinking, "I derive great happiness," my thought that "this person gives me happiness" — that is the only thing that gives happiness. That means I am generating happiness from within myself.

Now a question comes here. The Upaniṣad says a Jñāni loves everybody. A lover, a saint, loves everybody without any differentiation. The four conditions: he loves everybody unconditionally, and he is ready to sacrifice everything, he doesn't make the slightest distinction, and he is ready to undergo any suffering for helping the other person. And the greatest — a saint is always happy whether there are any objects or no objects. In his eyes, the person will not value one object more than the other object, because he starts seeing God everywhere.

So a Jñāni's love is, from one point of view, selfish love. What does it mean? "I love you," a Jñāni says, "because I am you." That is called: "I love you for my sake, because I know I am you, you are me." And a Jñāni is therefore the opposite. Therefore a Jñāni can say boldly: "Whatever you love is going to be destroyed." Why? Because the you who is the lover is also limited, and the object which you claim to love is also limited.

Remember: a subject cannot exist without an object, neither can an object exist without a subject. That division — they both are dependent upon each other. So both will die. But a Jñāni doesn't say "I am the subject," neither does he say "I am the object" — he rises beyond the borders of both subject and object.

Therefore, we must know: everything is the Ātmā. "All that exists in this universe is myself alone." A Jñāni has neither friend nor enemy. In fact, there is no second object that exists for a Jñāni. And a Jñāni — that is a Jīvanmukta — seems to love even an enemy. But how does he love? Not as an object, an Anātmā, but as Ātmā — oneself. That is why Jesus says, "Forgive the enemies, because there are no enemies" — that is what he did not say explicitly. So this is the difference between a Jñāni and a non-Jñāni.
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== How Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa and Holy Mother Loved ==
And how and why did Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa and Holy Mother love their devotees? These people admire us — so they naturally, like a worldly person, return their love. No — because everybody is looked upon as Ātman only. Often they do not express this, but Holy Mother says, "All are my children," when some topic is raised.

Because at that time, the freedom movement was going on, and the argument was that cloth produced in western countries should not be used — only Svadeśī Khāddara, Khādī. Then Holy Mother said, "No, they are also my children," because she will never wish anybody to suffer. They are her children — therefore if anybody suffers, she suffers. Even if a cat suffers, she suffers. "What about a snake?" — yes, that is also true.

But we see in Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa what seems a contradiction — we have to understand it properly. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa said, "I could not sleep for three days after Keśav passed away." Is it a worldly love? No. Why? Because Keśav was an instrument of the Divine Mother. It is because of Keśav, through Keśav, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa came to be known, became popular, and so many people could come to him. And even the followers of the Brahmo Samāj, members, also deserted Keśav Candra Sen — albeit he does not know why it is so — but Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa never loves anybody, cannot love anybody, as separate from himself. This is called Brahman's love, the love of the Ātman.

So we have to understand: every saint, direct disciples, great devotees — there is no distinction between whom they love, etc.
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== Conclusion: The Eternal Happiness of the Jñāni ==
So, in the end, the Upaniṣad says that whoever worships this Ātman — the Jñāni — gains eternal happiness, happiness free from all limitations, and that is also called Mokṣa. So if a person of lesser preparedness slowly practises Sādhana and progresses in Sādhana, and in the end becomes identified with Brahman, and if he is still functioning through this body-mind, he will be called a Jīvanmukta. For him: ''Ānandaṃ Ānandaṃ Paramānandaṃ.''

This is the essence of this eighth mantra in the fourth section. And in our next class, the most marvellous topic of Brahma Vidyā is taken up. There are two more in this fourth section — Mantra 9 and Mantra 10 — and upon these two, Śaṅkarācārya writes an elaborate Bhāṣyam. And I will give you the gist of that Bhāṣyam in our next class.
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== Closing Prayer ==
''ॐ'' जननीं शारदां देवीं रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुम् ।

पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहुः ॥

''Om Jananīṁ 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 25 on 18 April 2026

2026-07-03T22:33:07Z

Gopi: Added sanskrit mantras and minor edits

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

== Opening Invocation ==
ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात्पूर्णमुदच्यते ।

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ॥

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

'''OM PŪRṆAMADAḤ PŪRṆAMIDAM PŪRṆĀT PŪRṆAMUDACYATE'''

'''PŪRṆASYA PŪRṆAMĀDĀYA PŪRṆAMEVA VAŚIṢYATE'''

'''OM ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI'''

'''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.
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== Introduction: What is Love? ==
In our last class, we have started a most marvellous topic. And it is so appropriate. Why is it appropriate? Because nowadays, whether it is movies or it is songs or it is a dress or it is conversation, everybody is talking about love, love, love. Do people really understand what is the meaning of love? What is the psychology of love? What is the origin of love? What really a person loves, and why he cannot love?

Everyone is absolutely selfish. The word "selfish" has to be defined as one who is totally preoccupied with the self — one's own self — either from the lower point of view or from the highest point of view.

And this love is equivalent to joy, happiness, ānanda. Everyone only prays for ānanda: ''Asato mā, Tamaso mā, Mṛtyormā.'' So, "Let me live without any break. Let me have infinite knowledge. Let me be having infinite joy." So this is the topic.
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== The Mantra: Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 1.4.8 ==
And this occurs in the first chapter of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, fourth section, eighth mantra. And it doesn't really take away from the value, even if we recite it a few number of times.

तदेतत्प्रेयः पुत्रात्, प्रेयो वित्तात्, प्रेयोऽन्यस्मात्सर्वस्मात् अन्तरतरम्, यदयमात्मा । स योऽन्यमान्मनः प्रिये ब्रुवाणं ब्रूयात्, प्रियं रोत्स्यतीति, ईश्वरौ ह, तथैव स्यात्; आत्मानमेव प्रियमुपासीत; स य आत्मानमेव प्रियमुपास्ते न हास्य प्रियं प्रमायुकं भवति । । ८ । ।

tadetatpreyaḥ putrāt preyo vittātpreyo'nyasmātsarvasmādantarataraṁ yadayamātmā| sa yo'nyamātmanaḥ priyaṁ bruvāṇaṁ brūyāt priya rotsyatītīśvaro ha tathaiva syādātmānameva priyamupāsīta sa ya ātmānameva priyamupāste na hāsya priyaṁ pramāyukaṁ bhavati ||

Even the very positing of the Sanskrit words is most marvellous.

Plainly translated: this self is dearer than a son, dearer than wealth, dearer than everything else, because it is the innermost. So two points are beautifully outlined here. The self is dearer than a son, dearer than wealth, dearer than everything else. Why is it so? Because it is the innermost. It is the most wanted. It is the most desired. It is the most striven for.

Even a man wants to die sometimes — forever — only because when a person is deprived and loses all hope: "Perhaps I will never be happy in my entire life or lives. Then I cannot tolerate it."
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== The Nature of Ātman and Ānanda ==
So we have already discussed a few points, but first I will go through the entire eighth section, eighth mantra of the fourth section, and then we will discuss further points. So there is nothing dearer than one's own self — that is the first point — and it is dearer than everything. And what is that Ātmā, one's own self? And everything other than one's own self is not dear at all. We will discuss about that point.

Such a person who loves one's own self, who realised that "I am the self, I am Brahman, and I am Ānanda Svarūpa" — such a person, looking at another person: who is this another person? There are only two types of persons in this world. One, those who love the self, Ātman, and those who love everything other than the Ātmā.

So, is there really — the question that comes, a very important question — is there really anybody in this world who doesn't love one's own self? Even if somebody says — say, a patriot, or a lover of the society, any society, irrespective of country, religion, language, etc. — and there are a few Mahātmās, great souls, who do that, like Mahātmā Gāndhi. So for them, there is nothing excluded. But the question is: is there anyone who can love anything in this world other than the Ātman?

Now when we use that word Ātman, the intended meaning that we want to discuss may not be clear. To make it clear, we have to use the appropriate words. Ānanda means — Ātmā means Ānanda. Ātmā and Ānanda are not separate things. So even the most worldly person, who doesn't believe in God, believes — because that is the very nature of a person — "I want to be happy, whether it comes from within or from outside."

So from that point of view, if Ātman is equated with Ānanda: Ātman is Brahman, Brahman is Sat, Cit, Ānanda. I already reminded you — these three words, Sat, Cit, and Ānanda, cannot be separated. Those three are not three separate words. If I feel happy, then that means I am alive, Sat. And if I am feeling happy, I have to be aware, I have to be conscious. "I am not an unhappy person, I am a happy person."
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== The Distinction Between Worldly and Spiritual Love ==
Do people know about this? Then what is the difference between — one — everyone wants happiness. What is the difference, then, between a person who loves Ātman and one who doesn't? To put it in plain language, there are people who believe — and they don't use the word Ātman, it is a very special word and that is a better word, actually — but people use the word God. "I love God."

There are many people who might say, "I love God, we love God," but they don't really. They love God in order to get something from Him, and that is not true love. But all Ānanda comes only from God.

What is it? Ātmā is our own true nature. What is our true nature? Ānanda. ''Ānanda Svarūpaḥ. Śivoham Śivoham. Ānandoham Ānandoham. Sacidānandoham Sacidānandoham.'' So we love only Ānanda because that is my nature.

And here is a very, very important point: nobody loves anything else excepting oneself. If my nature is Ānanda, I love Ānanda naturally. I never love the opposite, or anything other than Ānanda. And anything other than Ānanda is called Duḥkha, Kaṣṭa, or Nirānanda. Nobody loves it.
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== Why Nobody Loves Suffering ==
Why is it so? This is a universal law. Nobody loves Duḥkha. Nobody struggles, when one is happy, to get rid of happiness. But even the slightest difficulty — your leg is becoming painful in one particular position — immediately, unconsciously, you change it. Something is itching. Unconsciously, we stretch our hands to scratch and remove that feeling of itch, because itch means unhappiness, suffering, sorrow.

That is why Bhagavān Buddha's words have to be understood carefully. He said, "Life is nothing but sorrow." What does he mean? He means anything that is outside Ātman — that is what we call life. Life in the world, meaning body, mind, our circumstances, our family, our jobs, etc. And everybody is striving for more and more happiness.

So in this background, we have to understand: nobody loves anything other than Ānanda. What is our problem? Or what is the problem of a worldly person? A worldly person in Sanskrit is called ''Anātma Priya''. Does any person really love anything in this world? Not really. It seems he loves, but he doesn't.

But what is the psychology? The person thinks, "I want to be happy, and only this object can give me happiness." It could be husband, wife, children, parents, friends, anything else — possessions, bank balance, house, car, yacht — everything. So the person loves only Ānanda.
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== The Two Things Everyone Loves ==
This is what we discussed. Everybody loves only two things. What are the things? First of all, everybody loves Ānanda and everybody desires only Ānanda. Why do you want to eat a sweet? Because you will get happiness. Why do you want to eat the best mango? Because you want to be happy.

What is the problem? If a person doesn't get what he loves, he will not love. If the same object — and every object is changing — so it might give happiness one time; it is conditional. We will discuss about it later on.

But a person loves, first of all, Ānanda; second, the object through which a person mistakenly thinks that he is getting happiness. And slowly we realise — because of our experiences, through our experiences — that really Ānanda is within ourselves. If we can train our mind to be happy, not to depend — and to understand that happiness doesn't lie in any object, happiness is not the nature of any object.
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== The Nature of Happiness: The Test of Intrinsic Quality ==
How do we know? Because the definition of one's own nature is that which never is lost from oneself — like sweetness is not lost from sugar, and sourness is never lost from tamarind. So, like that, whatever is one's nature, that can never be lost. And whatever is lost is a mistaken identity, not real identity.

So, if an object has got happiness — and eternally that object should give happiness — what is the first problem? The object itself has a birth, has a growth, and has a death.

Simple analysis: suppose somebody loves a sweet mango. What type of mango? It should not be a small flower — pollen has turned into mango — nobody loves it. And the mango should go on growing, should go on acquiring sweetness, and it should be ripe properly. Then only will it give the sweetness. And some mangoes have an extraordinarily attractive flavour. So we are all creatures of smells — smelly persons. We love smells. In fact, the taste is nothing but 99% smell, and the rest is what we call sweet, sour, etc.

So any object doesn't have happiness because it has a birth, it becomes old — the mango becomes old, rotten. Nobody loves it. Only when it is in a particular condition, that is the first condition, will it be desirable, enjoyable.

Can anybody derive happiness from that fact? No. Because the enjoyer must fulfil certain conditions. He should be physically healthy, he should be healthy mentally, and there should be no circumstances which threaten that person. If somebody is sitting with a gun: "You eat this first-class mango, otherwise I blow your head into smithereens" — do you think the person will eat? But do you think he is enjoying? No, he knows.

Therefore, the external conditions must be right; the mango should be in the best condition; and his stomach must be in the best condition, at the best time. Even the healthiest person cannot enjoy anything at all times. So if you wake up a person who is deeply, terribly tired and deeply asleep — "I brought your favourite food, enjoy!" — he is likely to injure you for disturbing a greater happiness.

So so many conditions have to be fulfilled, and it should suit a person. Because even if these conditions are fulfilled, if that object doesn't love this man — this person, me or you — then we regret: "Why did I eat?" Because happiness should be such that before eating, after eating, it should leave a pleasant memory, a ''saṃskāra'' in the mind. But that is not going to happen in every case.
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== The Two Categories of People ==
So the Upaniṣad divides people into two categories. And what is the point I brought out? Everybody loves Ānanda. There is no such thing as a believer in God or non-believer in God. But what is the distinction? A believer in God equates God with happiness. He says, "Since you are happiness, I will love you very naturally."

But suppose, hypothetically, you pray to God, He comes to you, and then He asks you graciously, "Ask a boon of me." And then you say, "I want to be very happy." But God says, "I can't give you happiness because I don't have it, but ask anything — money, jewels, house, best job, power, position, anything else, long life — I'll give you everything."

If we have studied the Kaṭha Upaniṣad, this was the conclusion that Naciketa had come to. Even Yamadharma Rāja says, "I will give you long life. You can enjoy rare objects which are not available on this earth. These heavenly damsels will serve you. Heavenly food will be served to you. Heavenly objects of enjoyment will be constantly at your service." But Yamadharma Rāja knows the psychology of love and Ānanda very well. So he was only testing Naciketa.

But Naciketa says, "All these are useless, because if my mind is disturbed — and the mind can be disturbed in umpteen number of ways — but here, definitely I will be disturbed. How so? Because I have an unfulfilled desire. I want to have self-knowledge. You are evading my question. You are not giving the answer. So without getting the answer, my desire will not be fulfilled. And this desire will be troubling me. And when one desire, a stronger desire, is troubling me, even the fulfilment of all other smaller desires is not going to help me."
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== Erich Fromm and the Art of Loving ==
So once again we will talk very briefly about what we discussed, because this is one of the most wonderful topics. There was a great social psychologist. His name was Erich Fromm. And he wrote a marvellous book — a really great book — ''The Art of Loving.'' And in the last chapter, he summarises the whole book. But the essence of it — even he did not understand what is the nature of Ānanda, because he is talking purely from a psychological point of view. And he says, "It is an art." That is a great teaching we have to take.

It is an art to love anybody, and much less to speak about God — it is the greatest art. And nobody is going to be an artist unless that person fulfils certain hard conditions and for a long time. Then only such a person has a remote chance of becoming a great artist.

But Vedānta tells us: why do we love Ātman? Because Ātman is of the nature of happiness itself. And happiness requires that I should be alive, I should be existing, and I should be aware of it. Sat, Cit and Ānanda. This is the beautiful psychology.
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== Even God Must Be Ānanda ==
So even people will not love God if God were to say, "You can have me, or you can have Ānanda, because I am not Ānanda." If God were to tell this to the devotee — how many devotees would say, "I don't care whether you are happiness or not, I will love you"?

But there are also saints. Caitanya Prabhu was one of them. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was one of them, who used to say, "I don't care whether you make me happy or unhappy. I don't care. But I love you." And why do these people love God? That is a question we have to put and get the answer.

Because: "Whether you give me happiness or not, I don't care. But by loving you" — loving means deriving, squeezing the greatest happiness. If any person is foolish enough to say, "I love such and such, but I don't get happiness," he doesn't know what he is talking about. We love only Ānanda. And we don't love what is not giving Ānanda.

But this giving Ānanda — it is a mistake to think it is coming from outside. I am creating Ānanda by creating a particular mental, psychological environment where I say, "I derive the greatest joy." That is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa says.
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== Nobody Loves Anybody: The Example of the Rich Man ==
Nobody loves anybody. He gives a beautiful example. And we have to study the teachings of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa in the light of the scriptures. What is the benefit? When the scriptures are understood better, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is also understood better.

Suppose there is a rich man. Two sorts of people visit him. One sort of people want to get something from the rich man. They praise him, they extol him, and they say, "You are the moon, you are the sun, you are the greatest." But the rich man is intelligent enough to know that these people are selfish — "They want to get something. They are only praising me to get something. They don't really love me." He will say, "Now you get up and go away."

But there are people — if you ask, "Why are you coming here? What do you want?" — who says, "I don't want anything from you. I just love to see you. I love to be with you. I don't want anything from you." And then the rich man will be very happy: "Here is a true lover."
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== The Sufi Story of Identity in Love ==
It is identity — which again, if you remember, Swami Vivekānanda's Sufi story. A lover once knocked at the door of the beloved. From within came the question, "Who are you?" He said, "It is me." Second time he knocked. Same question, same answer. Third time he knocked. The same question came. This time, he understood. He says, "It is thee, my beloved. It is not me. It is thee." That means: "I love thee. I am there only to love you." That is true love. And then he found there are no doors — there is no door at all. This is the door that is keeping us away from God, from everybody else.

And when Jesus Christ proclaims, "Love thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and love thy neighbour with all thy soul, with all thy heart" — how come? Because that is the Jñāni's love. The Jñāni doesn't see any difference. If God created, He is the creation. And His creation is only God with name and form, as we discussed. And therefore, loving any object is loving God. But we must be continuously aware of that. "I don't love an object as an object. I love an object as a manifestation of Brahman." That is what it is.
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== The Jñāni's Warning: What Is Not the Self Will Perish ==
Let us complete the next part of the mantra.

स योऽन्यमान्मनः प्रिये ब्रुवाणं ब्रूयात्, प्रियं रोत्स्यतीति, ईश्वरौ ह, तथैव स्यात्; आत्मानमेव प्रियमुपासीत;

If one — another person — holding the self dear, what to say to another person who says, "I love everything else other than the self as dear"? Then the knower of God, the knower of the self, if he were to say, "You will lose what you hold dear" — and this knower of Brahman is certainly competent to do so — "it will indeed come true."

Very simple. That is: everything other than God is ephemeral, it changes. A knower of Brahman need not come and say, "So your family members will die. Your body will die. You will also die. Your property also." Actually, it is not necessary to say all this. When a person says, "You will die," that means the whole world will be dead with the death of one's own body.

So, anybody who says "I don't love God, I love the world" — whatever he loves will come to an end. And love means happiness, so whatever happiness he is getting will come to an end. And for that, one need not die. Death means limitation.

So, if there is a beautiful mango at this moment, after three days it may become old, rotten. So that ripe mango is, actually, a dead mango — therefore it loses its capacity to make me happy. Or, my stomach has gone bad. Any number of best mangoes or sweets, or money, or any number of people loving such a person, will not — cannot — make that person happy. What does that show? I'''t shows that when I remove my desires, then I remain as myself. And that is the state of highest happiness.'''
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== The Evidence of Deep Sleep ==
And how do we know? Because in deep sleep, we don't get all these things. There is no object, there is no mind — which means there is no waking state, there is no dream state. That means time, space, and causation are completely removed. Then the person feels unlimited, and then he abides in his own self. That is why, uninterruptedly, we forget time, we forget space, we forget causation. That is called forgetfulness of the world. And that gives the greatest peace.

Man will die for the sake of this sleep. Somebody had said — a wise crack had said — that life is meant only for this kind of deep sleep. That is why it is called Ānandamaya Kośa — and for Ānanda only.

So this part of the mantra says: "O my fellow, love God." Instead of saying "love God," in Purāṇic language it says "love the Ātman," because Ātman — you are the Ātman. So you are not loving anybody. You are loving your own self. But other than your own self, everything is perishable. Perishable means it is limited.

So even if an object is in front of us, at one time we loved it because the limitations were less. Now we hate the same object. We may even turn away our attention, our eyes. We may even hate — and this applies even to God also. So you claim, "I love God." But if God fails to provide safety, security, and happiness, the person will gladly, hastily remove God from his very house, from his very mind: "This God is a useless God." So we are all utilitarians.

So whether a Jñāni tells the worldly person that "what you hold here will die" — there is no need to say. That is happening every millisecond of our life, because our body is changing, our mind is changing, and along with that the external world — everything in this world is changing. Changefulness is the very nature of the world. That is why a great philosopher had said that no man steps into the same river twice.
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== ''Ātmānam Eva Priyam Upāsīta'': Meditate on the Self Alone as Dear ==
Then what should we do?

स य आत्मानमेव प्रियमुपास्ते न हास्य प्रियं प्रमायुकं भवति । । ८ । ।

''Ātmānam eva priyam upāsīta'' — one should meditate upon the self alone as dear. And what is that self? It is infinite. It is one. It is one without a second. And there is no fear, because there is no second. And what is its nature? Sat, Cit, Ānanda — immortality, infinite knowledge, unbroken happiness. That is the nature of the Ātman.

But we may not understand it. So we must have faith in the words of the scripture. But we will not have faith in the words of the scripture just like that — for that we have to choose a person after examination. "This person is an unselfish person. He loves you even if you have nothing to offer. And he is ready to sacrifice his life for your sake." And we have to understand through these signs that he is a knower of Brahman, because his love is not worldly love. His love is: "I love you because you are you." No — "I love you because I am you. There is nobody else other than the Ātman. I am the Ātman. Therefore there is no you, or she, or it, or anything else."

That is why — better understand this — "O Bhṛgu" — or here, disciple: ''Ātmānam eva priyam upāsīta.'' Ātman is the dearest, and it is also dearest because it is the nearest. Nearest means not some object which is near — it is nearer than the body, nearer than the mind. If these are destroyed, the pure consciousness will always be there, and "I am that pure consciousness — ''Śivoham Śivoham.''" Therefore you realise yourself, and then you will get infinite existence, infinite knowledge, infinite joy.
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== ''Yaḥ Ātmānam Eva Priyam Upāste'': What the Jñāni Holds Dear Will Never Perish ==
स य आत्मानमेव प्रियमुपास्ते न हास्य प्रियं प्रमायुकं भवति । । ८ । ।

''Ya Ātmānam Eva Priyam Upāste, Na hi asya priyam pramāyukam bhavati'' — "He who meditates upon the self alone as dear: what he holds dear will not perish." A beautiful expression again. Why does what this person holds dear never perish? Because it is the imperishable Ātman, the deathless Ātman.

So ''yaḥ Ātmānam Eva Priyam'' — Ātman alone is ''Ānanda Sacidānanda Svarūpa'', and it is immortal. And that awareness "I am the Ātman" is called Cit. And he who realises it through Sādhana — ''Na hi asya priyam'' — what he holds dear, this Ātman, ''pramāyukam bhavati'' — it will never ever perish.

So we have already analysed a little bit, and then we go to the beginning. It is dearer than a son, dearer than wealth, dearer than everything else. So why is the Ātmā dearest? How is the Ātmā dearer than everything?
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== The Mistake of Depending on Sense Objects ==
So we have also discussed — I will only briefly remind you — that every creature, every living creature, of course human being better than anybody else, loves only two things. First, he wants to be happy — she wants, he wants — everybody. Secondly, by mistake, we all think this Ānanda is coming through the objects of the five sense organs — beautiful sound, beautiful form, beautiful smell, beautiful taste, and beautiful weather, etc.

But Vedānta tells that we all mistakenly think these five objects of the five sense organs are giving or containing happiness, and therefore they are giving me happiness. As we discussed earlier, this is a mistaken notion. Why? Because every object has a birth, what is called sustenance or duration, and it will die. Therefore, to depend upon something which can be for a second — and it includes our own body as an instrument, our own mind — nothing can be depended upon.

But there is something which has no birth, no death, and that is called the Ātmā. So, only two things: we only love happiness, and temporarily we love that object which we think is giving me happiness. Of these two, which is the best? Happiness alone is primary, and every other sense object is secondary. And why do I like happiness? Because that is my very nature. Because when am I happy? I am happy only when I am myself.
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== The Pañcakośas as a Journey Toward the Ātman ==
That is why: when I identify myself with the Annamaya Kośa, I am a happy person. When I identify myself with Virāṭ, I am even more happy. Then I discover there is the Annamaya Kośa — even Virāṭ is far from Ātmā. But there is something nearer to that Ātmā.

Just as when we approach a blazing fire, even from a distance we start feeling the heat, and the heat goes on increasing — in a similar way, as we approach the Ātman, our happiness also will increase. So when we discard the Annamaya Kośa and identify with Prāṇamaya Kośa, I am a bit nearer to the Ātman, and so on.

When I move to the Manomaya Kośa — the mind, thoughts — in fact, our thoughts make everything. A poor man can be happy if he has happy thoughts. A rich man is unhappy in spite of everything he has, because of the poor thought or poverty-stricken thought: "I am not happy." That is the worst type of thought anybody can have.

And when the person moves to the Vijñānamaya, he is even nearer to the Ātman. When he moves to the Ānandamaya, he is still nearer — only a thin layer is the obstruction. That is why, after entering the Ānandamaya Kośa, he comes to realise: "I am not a kośa. I am Ānanda."

At the level of the Ānandamaya Kośa, a person clearly realises this is a kośa — and as soon as one realises what is kośa — that which limits — no man wants a limitation. So immediately he will cut it off. Then, from Ānandamaya Kośa, if we remove the Kośa, what remains? Ānanda. That is why: ''Ānando hyātmā. Brahma Pucchaṃ Pratiṣṭhā.''
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== The Conditionality of Worldly Love ==
So I love the means of happiness only because it gives me happiness. I love any object so long as it gives me happiness, and the moment it stops giving happiness, I give up loving it — I may even cherish hatred. Look at your everyday life. Whether a husband loses his love for the wife, or a wife loses her love for the husband, or for the children, or for anything in this world — friends are given up, religion is given up, even ultimately God also is given up if I don't get that happiness.

And then, what is the psychology? Once I gain happiness through any object, that object itself loses its importance. Like — as I gave the example — when a person sucks all the sweetness from a sugarcane, he throws it out as obstruction, as rubbish. He just throws it as far a distance as possible.

So our desire for happiness is unlimited and unconditional love, whereas my love for any object — which I mistakenly think gives me happiness — is absolutely conditional. That condition is: "So long as it gives." Whether it gives more or whether it gives less — the less giving, we love less; the more giving, we love more. That is the condition.

But from the Śāstra, from the Guru, we learn that Ātmā alone is happiness, and everything else other than Ātmā is called Anātmā. Anātmā is unhappiness, because the happiness of the Ātmā is its very nature. So it is ''Ekaṃ Sat, Ekam Eva Advitīyam.'' That is why Ātman is eternal, Ātman is secondless — therefore it gives eternal happiness.

So children, possessions, house, everything — the whole world — belong to the realm of Anātmā. And whatever is Anātmā is going to change, and every change is called perishing or death. So why is Anātmā unhappiness? Because it is limited and conditional. Simple example: you buy a car — so long as it serves your purpose, you love it; the moment it doesn't, you give it up. So the same thing applies to God also. Nobody will love even God selflessly.
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== The Love of the Saint: Unconditional and Undifferentiated ==
But if we find a saint who loves God unconditionally, we have to understand a very important point here: his very love for God gives him the greatest happiness, whether God is of the nature of love or not. It doesn't matter. And the same thing applies to worldly love also: if we think this person gives me happiness — whether that person really gives happiness or not, materially — my thinking, "I derive great happiness," my thought that "this person gives me happiness" — that is the only thing that gives happiness. That means I am generating happiness from within myself.

Now a question comes here. The Upaniṣad says a Jñāni loves everybody. A lover, a saint, loves everybody without any differentiation. The four conditions: he loves everybody unconditionally, and he is ready to sacrifice everything, he doesn't make the slightest distinction, and he is ready to undergo any suffering for helping the other person. And the greatest — a saint is always happy whether there are any objects or no objects. In his eyes, the person will not value one object more than the other object, because he starts seeing God everywhere.

So a Jñāni's love is, from one point of view, selfish love. What does it mean? "I love you," a Jñāni says, "because I am you." That is called: "I love you for my sake, because I know I am you, you are me." And a Jñāni is therefore the opposite. Therefore a Jñāni can say boldly: "Whatever you love is going to be destroyed." Why? Because the you who is the lover is also limited, and the object which you claim to love is also limited.

Remember: a subject cannot exist without an object, neither can an object exist without a subject. That division — they both are dependent upon each other. So both will die. But a Jñāni doesn't say "I am the subject," neither does he say "I am the object" — he rises beyond the borders of both subject and object.

Therefore, we must know: everything is the Ātmā. "All that exists in this universe is myself alone." A Jñāni has neither friend nor enemy. In fact, there is no second object that exists for a Jñāni. And a Jñāni — that is a Jīvanmukta — seems to love even an enemy. But how does he love? Not as an object, an Anātmā, but as Ātmā — oneself. That is why Jesus says, "Forgive the enemies, because there are no enemies" — that is what he did not say explicitly. So this is the difference between a Jñāni and a non-Jñāni.
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== How Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa and Holy Mother Loved ==
And how and why did Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa and Holy Mother love their devotees? These people admire us — so they naturally, like a worldly person, return their love. No — because everybody is looked upon as Ātman only. Often they do not express this, but Holy Mother says, "All are my children," when some topic is raised.

Because at that time, the freedom movement was going on, and the argument was that cloth produced in western countries should not be used — only Svadeśī Khāddara, Khādī. Then Holy Mother said, "No, they are also my children," because she will never wish anybody to suffer. They are her children — therefore if anybody suffers, she suffers. Even if a cat suffers, she suffers. "What about a snake?" — yes, that is also true.

But we see in Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa what seems a contradiction — we have to understand it properly. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa said, "I could not sleep for three days after Keśav passed away." Is it a worldly love? No. Why? Because Keśav was an instrument of the Divine Mother. It is because of Keśav, through Keśav, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa came to be known, became popular, and so many people could come to him. And even the followers of the Brahmo Samāj, members, also deserted Keśav Candra Sen — albeit he does not know why it is so — but Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa never loves anybody, cannot love anybody, as separate from himself. This is called Brahman's love, the love of the Ātman.

So we have to understand: every saint, direct disciples, great devotees — there is no distinction between whom they love, etc.
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== Conclusion: The Eternal Happiness of the Jñāni ==
So, in the end, the Upaniṣad says that whoever worships this Ātman — the Jñāni — gains eternal happiness, happiness free from all limitations, and that is also called Mokṣa. So if a person of lesser preparedness slowly practises Sādhana and progresses in Sādhana, and in the end becomes identified with Brahman, and if he is still functioning through this body-mind, he will be called a Jīvanmukta. For him: ''Ānandaṃ Ānandaṃ Paramānandaṃ.''

This is the essence of this eighth mantra in the fourth section. And in our next class, the most marvellous topic of Brahma Vidyā is taken up. There are two more in this fourth section — Mantra 9 and Mantra 10 — and upon these two, Śaṅkarācārya writes an elaborate Bhāṣyam. And I will give you the gist of that Bhāṣyam in our next class.
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== Closing Prayer ==
''ॐ'' जननीं शारदां देवीं रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुम् ।

पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहुः ॥

''Om Jananīṁ 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 26 on 19 April 2026

2026-07-03T21:53:28Z

Gopi: Added sanskrit mantras and minor edits

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

== Opening Invocation ==

ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात्पूर्णमुदच्यते ।

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ॥

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

'''OM PŪRṆAMADAḤ PŪRṆAMIDAM PŪRṆĀT PŪRṆAMUDACYATE'''

'''PŪRṆASYA PŪRṆAMĀDĀYA PŪRṆAMEVA VAŚIṢYATE'''

'''OM ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI'''

'''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 Psychology of Love and the Ātman ==
In our last class, we discussed and completed the psychology of love. What is true love?

'''तदेतत्प्रेयः पुत्रात्, प्रेयो वित्तात्, प्रेयोऽन्यस्मात्सर्वस्मात् अन्तरतरम्, यदयमात्मा ।'''

स योऽन्यमान्मनः प्रिये ब्रुवाणं ब्रूयात्, प्रियं रोत्स्यतीति, ईश्वरौ ह, तथैव स्यात्; आत्मानमेव प्रियमुपासीत; स य आत्मानमेव प्रियमुपास्ते न हास्य प्रियं प्रमायुकं भवति । । ८ । ।

'''''Tad etat preyaḥ putrāt, preyo vittāt, preyo'nyasmāt sarvasmāt, tad antarataraṃ yad ayam Ātmā'' ||'''

The Self is dearer than a son, dearer than wealth, dearer than everything else, because it is the innermost. We also have to add: the self is dearer than the body, than the mind.

How come? Because if the body stops giving happiness and starts giving unhappiness, then we earnestly pray to God: "Let this body be dropped away." Similarly, when the mind is highly disturbed, creating only the feeling of suffering, we want to overcome it — either by drinking, or by diverting our attention. If nothing works, then by going to the deep sleep state. So long as we are in that deep sleep state, nothing in this universe can really trouble us. We are not even aware.

And this statement — that in deep sleep there is no body consciousness, there is no awareness of the mind — clearly indicates that what we call happiness, unhappiness, and both of them together; good and evil; birth and death — everything belongs to the mind in the form of thoughts, and has nothing to do with Ātman. And without any object, we experience the highest bliss. That bliss is beyond both happiness and unhappiness.
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== The Difference Between Bliss and Happiness ==
Many times we commit the terrible mistake of identifying this bliss with continuous happiness. These concepts are completely different — opposite to each other. Happiness always comes with unhappiness. It is sandwiched happiness. Joy, pleasure, is sandwiched between not having happiness before, and not having happiness or pleasure later on. Therefore, it is called Anātmā.

And as we discussed, Anātmā can never be dear to everybody. We want unbroken happiness, which is called peace, Śānti. And that is what we experience in deep sleep.
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== The Meaning of ''Ahaṃ Brahmasmi'' ==
Then the mantra goes on telling that if a person understands "I am the very embodiment of bliss, because I am the Ātman" — because the Ātman is — sometimes these English words like "the Ātman" do not make much meaning unless we come to the definition, add the definition. Simply saying "I am Ātman" is meaningless. "I am Brahman" is meaningless. What should we say then? "I am Sacidānanda Ātmā. I am Satyam Jñānam Anantam Brahma." Then it makes meaning.

"I am Sat — I have no death. I am Cit — I have no ignorance. And I am Ānanda Svarūpa." What type of Ānanda? ''Anantam'' — infinite happiness, infinite bliss. Therefore, these words only we have to keep in mind.
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== The Realised Soul and the Perishing of Anātmā ==
So if there is a person — what we call, in popular language, a realised soul, like Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, Swami Vivekānanda, etc. — then if these people give the teaching to other people whose happiness lies in Anātmā, obtaining Anātmā, experiencing Anātmā, enjoying or suffering from Anātmā — "that whatever you love is going to perish" — then is a Brahma Jñānī going to tell these words to other people? No.

What it means is: "My children, everything in this world is temporary." That word "temporary" means it was not before, it will not be later on — only momentarily it is there. That conveys the same idea: that if a great realised soul has to tell his students, "What you hold as dear will perish" — whether he says it or whether he doesn't say it, Anātmā is going to perish.

In fact, it is not going to perish at some future time. If you analyse deeply, after some time — because we have got these superficial understandings — there is birth, there is sustenance. For example, here is a person. He is born 99 years back. So he was born and he is continuing to live, and at the 100th year or so, he is going to die. Imagine like that.

It is a wrong concept that for 99 years or 100 years, this person is continuously in the same state. Every millisecond, our bodies are changing. Minds are changing. Change is another name for death. We have to be using this terminology with clear understanding: "I am dying. My body is dying. My mind is dying. Therefore, I — who associate with the body-mind — am also dying." If I go on being aware of these facts, then definitely there would be progress in spiritual life.
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== Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa on Weeping for God ==
That is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, in so many words, conveys: that people shed potfuls of tears at the death or separation or enmity of what they hold dear — wife, husband, children, friends, etc. But who is going to weep for God?

This is the translation by Swāmī of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's words — that the scripture and a realised soul are one and the same. If the scripture were to tell us that what you hold dear will perish — or, even better language: is perishing every second — that would be the correct translation. Then it is not that the person is telling. If he doesn't tell, there is no perishing; if he tells, then only perishing starts — no. He is only stating a statement of fact: "This is what is happening. Be aware of it." That is what it meant.

So you will be weeping. Why? Because the truth is, Anātmā actually doesn't exist. But because you think it exists, nonexistence will be nonexistence only — whether you think it is existent or nonexistent.
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== ''Ātmānam Eva Priyam Upāsīta'': Meditate Upon the Self Alone as Dear ==
Therefore, what is the conclusion?

आत्मानमेव प्रियमुपासीत;

''Ātmānam eva priyam iti upāsīta'' — one should meditate upon the self alone as dear.

"As dear" means what? Like Jaḍa Bharata, who became the deer by loving the dear — he loved that perishable object, and in the next birth he himself was imbued with that saṃskāra. And he realised: "What for did I come and where did I end? I was thinking of God until the moment I perceived this young one lying down after its mother's death." So immediately he took it up. That tremendous power of concentration on God now turned upon this so-called helpless object.

That is why we all love babies so much — because they are whole for some time. That means, if they feel like weeping, they weep; if they feel like laughing, they laugh. There is no hypocrisy there. They become one with their feelings, whereas we learn how to hide our feelings. Rarely do we become one with our feelings.

When I mean — "I am so happy to see you get a promotion, win a lottery ticket, get married to a great person, or land a wonderful job" — genuinely, only a few family members, not every family member, may feel happy about it. Jealousies will come. But a Brahma Jñānī will be happy with the happiness of everybody. And a Brahma Jñānī will feel tremendous sympathy, as if he himself is suffering.
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== Holy Mother's Compassion ==
Holy Mother's incident — I hope you will recollect. Once a poor old woman came to Holy Mother and started weeping inconsolably. Holy Mother did not know the reason. She asked, and the old woman said, "My young son — only son, upon whom I was hoping against hope that when I become old he will take up a job and look after me, and he would have looked after me — suddenly he died." And Holy Mother burst into equal sobbing. Both of them started sobbing.

What happened? Holy Mother felt: "This is my son who has really died." So every Brahma Jñānī, as we discussed earlier, identifies everybody as one's own, as my own self. There is no pretence about it, there is no artificiality in it. So we have to understand. But how does he love? Not as Anātmā, but as Ātmā. And Ātmā is only one. Therefore, there is no difference.

"Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thine own self" — this is what Bhagavān Jesus Christ is trying to tell.
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== The Result of Meditating on the Ātman ==
Therefore, what is the result?

आत्मानमेव प्रियमुपासीत; स य आत्मानमेव प्रियमुपास्ते न हास्य प्रियं प्रमायुकं भवति |

''Ātmānam eva priyam upāsīta'' — one should meditate upon the self alone as dear. And what does he get by that Upāsanā?

''ya Ātmānam eva priyam upāste, na hi asya priyaṃ pramāyukam bhavati'' — he who meditates upon the self alone as dear, what he holds as dear will not perish.

Because what he is holding as dear is the Ātman. And he holds it as: "You are the Ātman. I am contemplating upon you." No — "I am you. So there is no I and you. What is, is only one." So that is the result. What else do we want? And Ātman is of the nature of unending, unbroken, eternal, infinite bliss.
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== We All Love Only the Ātman ==
So we all love only Ātman. Even the worldly person doesn't love any object — let us remember it. First we love happiness. And if any object is giving me happiness, I love that object as a secondary love. Primary love always belongs to happiness. And secondary love belongs to that instrument, that object, through which I can derive that happiness.

And that is why one's own happiness, one's own nature, is the nearest and dearest. Ātman is the nearest to all of us, because all of us are Ātman. That is not a proper language — there is no "all." But we have to use it, because at this moment we are living in a world where I think I am one among this infinite number of objects. Therefore, there is no "all." Everything is only one Ātman.

Like a thousand reflections in a mirror — if one person stands before a thousand mirrors, there will be as many reflections as the number of mirrors. But depending upon the quality of the mirror — some may be convex, some may be concave, whatever it is — and some may be very clean, some may be covered with a small amount of dust, and some may be covered with full dust — so the reflections will vary only depending upon the quality of the mirrors. And our minds are like mirrors. That is what Patañjali in his Yogaśāstra says:

''citta vṛtti nirodha'' — make the mind pure. Pure means there should be no other thought other than that. Then what happens? Thereafter we dwell upon it without any break.

How so? Because what we are looking for from birth to death is not an object but happiness. And here is infinite bliss. Therefore, the Yogī doesn't want to have any interruption: "I am of the nature of happiness. That is what I am — the Ātman." And Ātman also is the dearest because it is the nearest to every one of us. Here, "nearest" means not something which is near in terms of time, distance, space, or objective distance. That is: "I am the Ātman and Ātman I am" — in that sense only. And therefore, ''Aham Sacidānanda Svarūpaḥ.'' That is what we have to understand. Everything other than the Ātman perishes.
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== Structure of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad ==
This is the essence of Mantra 8, in the fourth section of the first chapter of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad. Now the next two mantras — the 9th and 10th — are the very essence of this Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad.

We said at the beginning, in the introduction, that the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad is divided into six chapters. And every two chapters — 1st and 2nd, 3rd and 4th, 5th and 6th — are given particular names.

The first two chapters go by the name of Upadeśa Kāṇḍa, or Madhu Kāṇḍa. Why is it called Madhu? Madhu means honey. Honey means what? Everything is Brahman. "I am, I love Ātman. And what is everything? Everything is also nothing but Ātman. Since I love the Ātman, therefore everything is Ātman. Therefore I love everything as my one single infinite self." That is why everybody becomes dear. For a Brahma Jñānī, there are neither friends nor enemies, neither nearer nor distant people. There is only one reality: ''Brahma Eva Asti'' — there is nothing but Brahman. That is what is said in the 6th chapter of the Chāndogya Upaniṣad also: ''Sadeva Saumya idam agre āsīt'' — Sat, pure existence, pure knowledge, pure bliss, Sacidānanda. Which the 2nd chapter of the Taittirīya Upaniṣad, Brahmanandavalī, defines, changing one word: ''Satyam, Jñānam, Anantam.''

* The word ''Satyam'' corresponds to Sat.
* The word ''Jñānam'' corresponds to Cit.
* And the word ''Anantam'' corresponds to Ānanda — unbroken, unlimited, which means infinite.

And here he has used the word ''Anantam'' in the Brahmanandavalī.
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== The Progressive Ānanda of the Kośas ==
So there would be a desire. After going through the ritualistic portions, etc., and slowly as the mind becomes purer,

first a person develops and progresses: "I want happiness in this world."

Second, he progresses further: "I want higher happiness, obtainable in the higher lokas." We can also equate that the Ānanda which one gets in the Prāṇamaya Kośa is much subtler, more pervading, and more happiness.

Because remember: the Ānandamaya Kośa, only when it becomes a little bit covered up, is called Vijñānamaya. A little more covered up — or grossened, becoming gross, meaning covered up more and more — it becomes Manomaya. And it becomes more covered up, which is called Prāṇamaya.

So I can put it this way: one obtains some amount of happiness in Annamaya Kośa, one obtains more happiness in Prāṇamaya Kośa, higher than that in Manomaya Kośa, higher than that in Vijñānamaya Kośa, and higher than that in Ānandamaya Kośa.

And finally — all these are, remember, finite. Finite because: "I enjoy this object called Annamaya. Similarly Prāṇamaya, similarly Manomaya, Vijñānamaya, and similarly Ānandamaya." When I am still making all these Pañcakośas — considering them, classifying them — as Anātmā, what does Anātmā mean? Different from me, because of ignorance. But all these are manifestations of that one single Ātmā.

''Ānandaṃ'' — it is Ānandaṃ, and Ānandamaya Kośa is both Ātman and Anātman. That is how we have to say it. However great the Ānanda we derive from the Ānandamaya Kośa, it is still finite only. So just try to imagine, if you can — you try to compare the great happiness, finite happiness, with the infinite. There is no comparison at all. So therefore this one has to realise. That is why it is called Upadeśa Kāṇḍa.
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== The Three Kāṇḍas ==
So the first two chapters — 1st and 2nd — are called Upadeśa Kāṇḍa.

And the 3rd and 4th are called Muni Kāṇḍa, Yājñavalkya Kāṇḍa, because Yājñavalkya plays the central role of the Paramāguru who teaches to various people — especially to two people: one, his own wife Maitreyī, and second, the greatest of all these kings, Janaka Mahārāja.

And then the last two chapters are called Khila Kāṇḍa — an assortment of Upāsanās, and helpful Upāsanās, where how we can obtain or sacralise — make everything sacred — by doing certain types of rituals combined with certain types of contemplations.

So why am I giving this long introduction? Because these mantras — the 9th and 10th in this fourth section of the first chapter of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka — are the very essence. And here only we get that famous, most popular Mahāvākya: ''Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi.'' And this is confirmed.

As I said, please keep in mind always: the first and second chapters form the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad as if the very essence of all the scriptures — ''Brahma Satyam, Jagat Mithyā.'' And that ''Brahma Satyam'' is expressed here as ''Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi.'' It comes in the tenth mantra, the next mantra.
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== Mantra 9: The Seekers' Question ==
But the ninth mantra is a question raised by certain seekers of Ātma Vidyā or Brahma Jñānam. The answer is given in the tenth. And it continues until the second chapter, third section, sixth mantra, where it says: "What is the way?" So here, the Mahāvākya — "You are Brahman" — all right, I believe in it. But how do I know that I am Brahman? I have to get rid of Ajñāna. How do I get rid of my ignorance?

And that is where, in the second chapter, third section, sixth mantra, comes the most famous Sādhana: ''neti neti'' — "not this, not this." Every Anātmā has to be negated. That is, in popular words: "I am not the waker. I am not the dreamer. I am not the sleeper." In the Taittirīya Upaniṣad: "I am not the Annamaya to Ānandamaya Pañcakośas." And when I deny, what remains — that is called ''Satyam.''
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== Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's Analogy of ''Neti Neti'' ==
Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa symbolises this through a beautiful analogy. It was midnight. A servant had to urgently find his master. So he enters into a room — a big room full of objects. But he knows the master is sleeping: "I have to find him out." Perhaps the servant has never entered this room. So there is no light also.

So the person goes on touching: "Not this." "This is not my master." So he touches a pillar, maybe a table, maybe something else. Ultimately, he touches the bed. "This is the bed." So in the bedroom, the bed is the place where the master has to be found. So he touches the master. "So, after denying everything, negating everything, what remains? This is the master."

This is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa wants to convey through that explanation of that word ''neti neti.'' So the servant went on saying: "Not this, not this." And after negating everything, what remains? That is called the master. Here in this analogy, the servant is the seeker and the master is none other than Brahman. This is what we have to understand.
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== A Brief Translation of Mantras 9 and 10 ==
So very briefly, let me read out, before I give an introduction to both the 9th and 10th mantras.

तदाहुः, यत ‘ब्रह्मविद्यया सर्वं भविष्यन्तः ’मनुष्या मन्यन्ते । किमु तद्ब्रह्मावेद्यस्मात्तत्सर्वमभवदिति ।। ९ ।।

''Tad āhuḥ'' — they say. Who says? There were some seekers — earnest seekers of Brahma Vidyā. They came to know from Guru Upadeśa, from their own logical reasoning, from their own worldly experience: "Everything is Anātmā. Anātmā means Anitya. Anitya means unreliable. Unreliable means everything is full of suffering, sooner or later. So therefore we want to go to, or know, that by knowing which, we will be ''Satyam Jñānam Anantam Brahma.'' I can claim: I am Brahman. ''Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi.''" That is where this question in the 9th mantra is going to lead.

So these people were discussing, and then they were telling: ''yad brahma vidyayā sarvaṃ bhaviṣyantīti manuṣyā manyante'' — "Men think: through the knowledge of Brahman, we shall become all." So these people said: "We all heard about Brahma Vidyā, especially from the scriptures, and our teachers also say the same thing. What is that? There are ''manuṣyāḥ'' — people. What people? Not ordinary people, but people who have realised Brahman — their declaration, like Vāmadeva: ''so aham sarvaṃ abhavam'' — 'I have become everything.'"

So: ''brahma vidyayā sarvaṃ bhaviṣyantīti'' — by obtaining the knowledge of Brahman, we become everything. Because besides Brahman, there is nothing else. ''Satyam Jñānam Anantam Brahma.'' So people are convinced. They are teaching the same thing. Here, "men think" — not ordinary men, but seekers, earnest sincere seekers like Naciketa — think that if we can get the knowledge of Brahman, through the knowledge of Brahman, we shall become all. That means what? "We will have no death. We will have no ignorance. And our bliss will be unbroken."

''Kim u tat brahma avet?'' — "Now that Brahma, what did it know? I am all. So by what knowledge? What did that Brahman know? That it became everything." Well then, what did that Brahman know, through which it became all?

''Asmāt tat sarvam abhavat iti'' — "Because of which it became all." That means: ''Ekam, Sat, Satyam Jñānam Anantam.'' So it became — rather it understood: "I am ''Satyam'', deathless. I am ''Jñānam'', ignorance-less. I am ''Anantam'' — infinite, unbroken bliss." How did Brahman come to know about it? Because if Brahman came to know about it, then if we follow what Brahman did to become all, then we also will come to know about it.

As I said, beautiful explanations will come later on. So, with this, the answer is given in the 10th mantra.
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== Summary of the 10th Mantra: ''Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi'' ==
And then, what is the summary of this 10th mantra? So here also, there are beautiful Sanskrit mantras, which we will very briefly, and only selected, we will study now, just to get a glimpse.

You know, it is like a famous speaker is going to speak. Every famous speaker or writer is famous because they are great. And how did they become great? Because the greater a person, the clearer he will be — either while speaking or writing. There would be no ambiguity. Study Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, study Swami Vivekānanda, and study some of the scholars — you will understand what difference there is. Rāmakṛṣṇa can explain the most profound truths with the simplest analogies.

So the essence of these answers given here: what is it? First, so, you have to become Brahma. What does it mean? ''Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi'' — I am Brahman. What does it mean? Not that you are not Brahman now, or in the past — and you are going to become Brahman in the future by some peculiar process, or action, Karma, or Upāsanā. No. Simply: you are, you were, you will be Brahman. But due to Ajñāna, Avidyā, you are thinking: "I am not Brahman."

That "I am not Brahman" is expressed as: "I am a man. I am a woman. I am a dog" — because even dogs are highly conscious that they are dogs, they are completely identified. A mosquito is completely identified: "I am a mosquito." How do you know? You interact with it, and it will let you know.
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== The Preface of the Upaniṣad's Teaching ==
So, what is the conclusion? We are summarising both the 9th and 10th mantras as an introduction. I was talking about famous speakers or writers. What do they do? Every writer has a preface where, in crystal clear terms: "This is the subject I am going to discuss. These are the important points, and I am going to elaborate them and present before you what is called the explanations, and at the end again I will give you the conclusions." So by reading that preface, we can understand. The same thing is followed by speakers: "I am going to speak to you about these things."

This is how, here, we have to summarise. That is why I am giving the summary. And this summary is according to Advaita Vedāntic interpretation — please keep that in mind. Because the same Upaniṣads are also commented upon by Madhvācārya, Rāmānujācārya, and especially Rāmānujācārya's famous commentary on the Brahma Sūtras called ''Śrī Bhāṣyam'' — a beautiful name. But they don't accept Nirguṇa, Nirviśeṣa, Nirākāra Brahman. But Advaita alone accepts: Brahman alone is the only truth, and you cannot describe it.
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== The Four-Part Summary of the Teaching ==
So therefore, what is the essence of it? What does it mean?

तद्धैतत्पश्यन्नृषिर्वामदेवः प्रतिपेदे, अहंमनुरभवं सूर्यश्चेति । तदिदमप्येतर्हि य एवं वेद, अहं ब्रह्मास्मीति, स इदं सर्वं भवति, तस्य ह न देवाश्चनाभूत्या ईशते। आत्मा ह्येषां स भवति; अथ योऽन्यां देवतामुपास्ते, अन्योऽसावन्योऽहमस्मीति, न स वेद, यथा पशुरेवं स देवानाम् । यथा ह वै बहवः पशवो मनुष्यं भुञ्ज्युः, एवमेकैकः पुरुषो देवान् भुनक्ति, एकस्मिन्नेव पशावादीयमानेऽप्रियं भवति, किमु बहुषु ? तस्मादेषां तन्न प्रियं यदेतन्मनुष्या विद्युः ।। १० ।।

'''First:''' Brahman alone, for some mysterious reason, is caught in the net of Avidyā or ignorance, and it enters into this Anātmā, this ''jagat'', creation. Creation is called Anātmā. This world is called Anātmā. Anything that doesn't remind us of God — that is called Anātmā. Anything that makes a difference — "I am different from you" — that is called Anātmā. So that Brahman forgot its Brahmanhood, and through ignorance, it is thinking: "I am Jīvātmā." And after long evolution, it understands: "I want to go home. What is my home? To know who I am." So it does so through many lives, both through good and bad experiences. Every experience, remember, is a lesson taught, and a deep Saṃskāra is produced. That is why God created everything — good and evil — not for fun, but for its own evolution.

'''Second:''' So what is this Brahma Jñāna? First Brahman knows, then forgets. First Brahman knows "I am Brahman," then it forgets and says "I am non-Brahman, Anātmā. I am the individual. I am a ''prāṇī'', I am a living creature," etc. But after many lives of experience, slowly it turns its attention inward, and then practises Karma Yoga and Upāsanā Yoga. And through them both, it removes the Avidyā. By the removal of Avidyā, automatically Vidyā manifests. Like, when light is brought, the snake we are experiencing instantaneously — the arrival of the light and the disappearance of the snake both take place simultaneously. Then we see: "It is a harmless piece of rope." And in the same way, it was a rope, it is a rope, it will be a rope — but I can mistake it for a snake and suffer from the consequences of it.

'''Third:''' So Brahman — that is, each one of us — we think we are not Brahman. We think, when we believe also in God, that Brahman is sitting somewhere in Vaikuṇṭha, in Kailāsa, in Devī Loka, in Paradise, etc. But no — it is only our thoughts. Clearly speaking, "I am Brahman. Where are you? In Brahman's loka, not Brahma Loka, but Brahman's loka." So what is the essence of this 9th and 10th verse? ''Brahma Eva'' — Brahman alone, because of ignorance, thinks "I am not Brahman" — that is called Saṃsāra, that is called transmigration. ''Brahma Eva'' — and the same Brahman, now called Jīvātmā, through the acquisition of right knowledge, by the destruction of wrong knowledge, ''mucyate'' — that means it is freed from Avidyā. Avidyā is called bondage.

'''Fourth:''' Then, what is this definition of self-knowledge? ''Anātma Adhyāropa Nivṛtti — Brahma Eva Ātma Jñānam.'' What is this self-knowledge? It is the complete destruction of superimposition on the Ātman — that it is not the Ātman. The knowledge "it is not the rope, it is a snake" — that is called Adhyāropa. What does the light do? Apavāda — it removes that notion. As soon as light comes, the snake — or what we are thinking is a snake — that wrong notion disappears, and with that wrong notion, the fear and the distress also disappear.
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== A Warning Against Dualistic Ignorance ==

Then, fifth — a warning against dualistic ignorance: ''Atha yo'nyāṃ devatām upāste, na sa veda, yathā paśur evam sa devānām'' — that is to say, he who thinks "God is different from me, Gods are different from me, somebody is different from me" — ''na sa veda'' — he is an ignorant person. That knowing itself is called ignorance. And what is the result? ''Yathā paśur evam sa devānām'' — he becomes like an animal, to be used for the purpose of the master.

So every Devā — Gods and Goddesses — if we go on worshipping with the knowledge "I am different, they are different, I am a servant and they are my masters, I am helpless and they have the power to help, I am an ignorant person and they know everything, my powers are less and they can do anything they like" — as long as this notion persists, then we are like ''paśus.'' Just like a cow is dependent upon the master, a dog is dependent upon the master, a horse is dependent upon the master — so we become dependent upon Gods.

But this word "Gods" should be interpreted broadly. If I am depending for my sustenance upon my job, I am a slave to my job, because I am not doing it happily, joyfully, with my own mind — I am doing it because I am helpless. "I want to earn money." So I become a ''Paśu'', a servant, an animal, a dependent, to the master — the office manager, the CEO, whatever it is. Anything upon which we depend.

So when we are enjoying a sweet: "Unless I have this sweet, I can't be happy. Only this sweet can give me happiness." That means I have become like an animal to that sweet — who is the mistress, a sweet — and I am a slave, a servant. So, so long as we think there is a difference between me and the Gods, or the God that I worship, until that time we depend. But the moment I come to know "I am Brahman, I am the Ātman," then that dependence will automatically disappear. Dependence means fear. Like light destroys the fear of the snake, so true knowledge destroys this slavery.
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== The Final Realisation: ''Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi'' ==
And finally, this person realises: "I am Manu, I am the Sun, I am the Moon." These are small examples, but what it means is: everything in this universe — that is me, the entire creation — that is me. Just as we realise, upon waking up, that I created my own world in the dream state and I played with myself — everything in the dream is my own self, nobody else is there — but this knowledge comes only when we wake up.

Same knowledge — "I am not the body, I am not the mind, I am not the waking state, dream state, or dreamless state" — comes only when I wake up from this state of ignorance.

So all these statements that we are going to read in the mantras show the spiritual movement intended by the text: from ''Deha Abhimāna'' — that is to say, identity with the body, "I am the body," what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa used to call ''Ahaṃkāra'' and ''Mamakāra'', ''āmi, āmār'' — must be replaced by ''tumi, tomār, naham, naham, tuhu, tuhu.'' So from ''Deha Abhimāna'' to ''Ātma Abhimāna'' — that is, "I am the Ātman." From ''Jīvātma Bhāva'' to ''Brahma Bhāva'' — "I am Brahman." From ''Bheda Dṛṣṭi'' — seeing everything as separate from me — to ''Sarvātma Dṛṣṭi'' — "I am everything, ''Aham sarvam abhavam.''" So from dependence to freedom.
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== The Seeker Need Not Become Brahman — He Already Is ==
Just let us remember, when we are studying: the seeker, in fact, need not travel to Brahman, produce Brahman, or become Brahman newly. No. He merely discovers, through the removal of ignorance, that he has never been anything other than Brahman. So this is the very heart of this teaching.

And this we will have to elaborate a little bit more as part of this introduction to the very heart of this 9th and 10th mantra. And if we can understand this, then we have understood the very essence of every Upaniṣad — not only the Bṛhadāraṇyaka, but every Upaniṣad — whether the Upaniṣad speaks the word ''Tat tvam asi'', or ''Prajñānam Brahma'' — consciousness is Brahman — or "I am Ātmā Brahman" — that this "I am so and so" is none other than Brahman — or ''Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi'' — I am Brahman.

These are called Mahāvākyas. And this is a famous Mahāvākya. And so, until we reach that knowledge which will never again be covered up — ''Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi'' — thereafter, he becomes completely free. That means he will be outside the bondage. He will be swimming in the ocean of bliss, in the words of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa.
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== Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa at Jairāmbāṭi: An Illustration of Bhāva Samādhi ==
Once Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, after his marriage, went to Jairāmbāṭī. He used to experience frequent bouts of what is called Bhāva Samādhi. We have to distinguish between Bhāva Samādhi and real Samādhi — Nirvikalpa Samādhi is different. Most of this is Bhāva Samādhi.

What is Bhāva Samādhi? For example, if Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is singing, or hearing a bhajan — "My Divine Śyāmā, Māki, āmār kālo re, kālo rūpe Digambarī — so is my mother, black or blue, she is the infinite Divine Mother" — the moment he hears it, he is absorbed in that idea, he becomes one with that Śyāmā Mā. So this is called Bhāva Samādhi. So in that Bhāva Samādhi, sometimes he used to see also people who were about to come and meet him, and it used to turn out to be like that.

So, from ''Bheda Dṛṣṭi'' to ''Abheda Dṛṣṭi'', ''Sarvātma Dṛṣṭi'' — from dependence to complete freedom.

So Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa went to Jairāmbāṭī, and he had this Bhāva Samādhi. And that Bhāva Samādhi created a tremendous amount of hunger. And this happened after he had just finished his night dinner. So everybody went to bed — and then, because in villages there is no entertainment, no TV to keep a person awake, so they eat early and they also get up early and they will have a lot of work to do; no instruments are there.

So suddenly Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa came out of the Bhāva Samādhi and he started: "I am very hungry, give me something, I am really starving." Everybody got up hastily, and of course it is Mother-in law's house, where the son-in-law is valued so much. Then they were surprised, because they also know Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's stomach is very delicate. So he said, "Just now you have eaten stomach-full!" Immediately Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa said, "When did you eat? I am just coming from Dakṣiṇeśvar." Then they understood — Mother Kālī, the Bhāva of Kālī, had possessed him.

So they had no option but, hastily, they prepared what we call ''halwā'' — a sweet — that is the nearest thing they could prepare. And immediately it was a big quantity — probably quite a huge quantity of food — and they placed it before him, thinking that he will only take a small bit of it. But to their great disappointment, he ate the whole lot. And they were terribly worried, because they knew about the condition of his stomach — he will have stomach problems.

But next morning, absolutely nothing. Everything was totally digested. How come? Because Bhāva can cause terrible loss of energy, therefore terrible hunger, therefore terrible power of digestion. Until the last, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa enjoyed relatively very good health. He could eat and he could digest also. Only later on, because of his Bhāvas and his touching the devotees, he lost some of his health benefits.
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== Conclusion ==
So the ultimate thing we will have to understand is ''Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi'' — how this is going to progress, we will talk about in our next class.
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== Closing Prayer ==
''ॐ'' जननीं शारदां देवीं रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुम् ।

पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहुः ॥

''Om Jananīṁ 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 26 on 19 April 2026

2026-06-29T00:27:16Z

Gopi:

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

== Opening Invocation ==
ॐ जननीम् शरदाम् देविम् रामक्रिष्णम् जगत् गुर्म्

पादपद्मे तयोः स्रित्वाः प्रणमामि मुहुरुमु

Oṁ jananīṁ śaraḍhāṁ deveṁ rāmakriṣṇam jagad-gurum

pādapadmetayosritvā pranamāmi-muhurumuhu

ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात्पूर्णमुदच्यते ।

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ॥

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

'''OM PŪRṆAMADAḤ PŪRṆAMIDAM PŪRṆĀT PŪRṆAMUDACYATE'''

'''PŪRṆASYA PŪRṆAMĀDĀYA PŪRṆAMEVA VAŚIṢYATE'''

'''OM ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI'''

'''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 Psychology of Love and the Ātman ==
In our last class, we discussed and completed the psychology of love. What is true love?

''Tad etat preyaḥ putrāt, preyo vittāt, preyo'nyasmāt sarvasmāt, tad antarataraṃ yad ayam Ātmā'' — the self is dearer than a son, dearer than wealth, dearer than everything else, because it is the innermost. We also have to add: the self is dearer than the body, than the mind.

How come? Because if the body stops giving happiness and starts giving unhappiness, then we earnestly pray to God: "Let this body be dropped away." Similarly, when the mind is highly disturbed, creating only the feeling of suffering, we want to overcome it — either by drinking, or by diverting our attention. If nothing works, then by going to the deep sleep state. So long as we are in that deep sleep state, nothing in this universe can really trouble us. We are not even aware.

And this statement — that in deep sleep there is no body consciousness, there is no awareness of the mind — clearly indicates that what we call happiness, unhappiness, and both of them together; good and evil; birth and death — everything belongs to the mind in the form of thoughts, and has nothing to do with Ātman. And without any object, we experience the highest bliss. That bliss is beyond both happiness and unhappiness.
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== The Difference Between Bliss and Happiness ==
Many times we commit the terrible mistake of identifying this bliss with continuous happiness. These concepts are completely different — opposite to each other. Happiness always comes with unhappiness. It is sandwiched happiness. Joy, pleasure, is sandwiched between not having happiness before, and not having happiness or pleasure later on. Therefore, it is called Anātmā.

And as we discussed, Anātmā can never be dear to everybody. We want unbroken happiness, which is called peace, Śānti. And that is what we experience in deep sleep.
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== The Meaning of ''Ahaṃ Brahmasmi'' ==
Then the mantra goes on telling that if a person understands "I am the very embodiment of bliss, because I am the Ātman" — because the Ātman is — sometimes these English words like "the Ātman" do not make much meaning unless we come to the definition, add the definition. Simply saying "I am Ātman" is meaningless. "I am Brahman" is meaningless. What should we say then? "I am Sacidānanda Ātmā. I am Satyam Jñānam Anantam Brahma." Then it makes meaning.

"I am Sat — I have no death. I am Cit — I have no ignorance. And I am Ānanda Svarūpa." What type of Ānanda? ''Anantam'' — infinite happiness, infinite bliss. Therefore, these words only we have to keep in mind.
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== The Realised Soul and the Perishing of Anātmā ==
So if there is a person — what we call, in popular language, a realised soul, like Rāmakṛṣṇa, Swami Vivekānanda, etc. — then if these people give the teaching to other people whose happiness lies in Anātmā, obtaining Anātmā, experiencing Anātmā, enjoying or suffering from Anātmā — "that whatever you love is going to perish" — then is a Brahma Jñānī going to tell these words to other people? No.

What it means is: "My children, everything in this world is temporary." That word "temporary" means it was not before, it will not be later on — only momentarily it is there. That conveys the same idea: that if a great realised soul has to tell his students, "What you hold as dear will perish" — whether he says it or whether he doesn't say it, Anātmā is going to perish.

In fact, it is not going to perish at some future time. If you analyse deeply, after some time — because we have got these superficial understandings — there is birth, there is sustenance. For example, here is a person. He is born 99 years back. So he was born and he is continuing to live, and at the 100th year or so, he is going to die. Imagine like that.

It is a wrong concept that for 99 years or 100 years, this person is continuously in the same state. Every millisecond, our bodies are changing. Minds are changing. Change is another name for death. We have to be using this terminology with clear understanding: "I am dying. My body is dying. My mind is dying. Therefore, I — who associate with the body-mind — am also dying." If I go on being aware of these facts, then definitely there would be progress in spiritual life.
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== Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa on Weeping for God ==
That is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, in so many words, conveys: that people shed potfuls of tears at the death or separation or enmity of what they hold dear — wife, husband, children, friends, etc. But who is going to weep for God?

This is the translation by Swāmī of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's words — that the scripture and a realised soul are one and the same. If the scripture were to tell us that what you hold dear will perish — or, even better language: is perishing every second — that would be the correct translation. Then it is not that the person is telling. If he doesn't tell, there is no perishing; if he tells, then only perishing starts — no. He is only stating a statement of fact: "This is what is happening. Be aware of it." That is what it meant.

So you will be weeping. Why? Because the truth is, Anātmā actually doesn't exist. But because you think it exists, nonexistence will be nonexistence only — whether you think it is existent or nonexistent.
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== ''Ātmānam Eva Priyam Upāsīta'': Meditate Upon the Self Alone as Dear ==
Therefore, what is the conclusion? ''Ātmānam eva priyam iti upāsīta'' — one should meditate upon the self alone as dear.

"As dear" means what? Like Jaḍa Bharata, who became the dear by loving the dear — he loved that perishable object, and in the next birth he himself was imbued with that saṃskāra. And he realised: "What for did I come and where did I end? I was thinking of God until the moment I perceived this young one lying down after its mother's death." So immediately he took it up. That tremendous power of concentration on God now turned upon this so-called helpless object.

That is why we all love babies so much — because they are whole for some time. That means, if they feel like weeping, they weep; if they feel like laughing, they laugh. There is no hypocrisy there. They become one with their feelings, whereas we learn how to hide our feelings. Rarely do we become one with our feelings.

When I mean — "I am so happy to see you get a promotion, win a lottery ticket, get married to a great person, or land a wonderful job" — genuinely, only a few family members, not every family member, may feel happy about it. Jealousies will come. But a Brahma Jñānī will be happy with the happiness of everybody. And a Brahma Jñānī will feel tremendous sympathy, as if he himself is suffering.
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== Holy Mother's Compassion ==
Holy Mother's incident — I hope you will recollect. Once a poor old woman came to Holy Mother and started weeping inconsolably. Holy Mother did not know the reason. She asked, and the old woman said, "My young son — only son, upon whom I was hoping against hope that when I become old he will take up a job and look after me, and he would have looked after me — suddenly he died." And Holy Mother burst into equal sobbing. Both of them started sobbing.

What happened? Holy Mother felt: "This is my son who has really died." So every Brahma Jñānī, as we discussed earlier, identifies everybody as one's own, as my own self. There is no pretence about it, there is no artificiality in it. So we have to understand. But how does he love? Not as Anātmā, but as Ātmā. And Ātmā is only one. Therefore, there is no difference.

"Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thine own self" — this is what Bhagavān Jesus Christ is trying to tell.
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== The Result of Meditating on the Ātman ==
Therefore, what is the result? ''Ātmānam eva priyam upāsīta'' — one should meditate upon the self alone as dear. And what does he get by that Upāsanā? ''Ātmānam eva priyam upāsīta — ya Ātmānam eva priyam upāste, na hi asya priyaṃ pramāyukam bhavati'' — he who meditates upon the self alone as dear, what he holds as dear will not perish.

Because what he is holding as dear is the Ātman. And he holds it as: "You are the Ātman. I am contemplating upon you." No — "I am you. So there is no I and you. What is, is only one." So that is the result. What else do we want? And Ātman is of the nature of unending, unbroken, eternal, infinite bliss.
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== We All Love Only the Ātman ==
So we all love only Ātman. Even the worldly person doesn't love any object — let us remember it. First we love happiness. And if any object is giving me happiness, I love that object as a secondary love. Primary love always belongs to happiness. And secondary love belongs to that instrument, that object, through which I can derive that happiness.

And that is why one's own happiness, one's own nature, is the nearest and dearest. Ātman is the nearest to all of us, because all of us are Ātman. That is not a proper language — there is no "all." But we have to use it, because at this moment we are living in a world where I think I am one among this infinite number of objects. Therefore, there is no "all." Everything is only one Ātman.

Like a thousand reflections in a mirror — if one person stands before a thousand mirrors, there will be as many reflections as the number of mirrors. But depending upon the quality of the mirror — some may be convex, some may be concave, whatever it is — and some may be very clean, some may be covered with a small amount of dust, and some may be covered with full dust — so the reflections will vary only depending upon the quality of the mirrors. And our minds are like mirrors. That is what Patañjali in his Yogaśāstra says: ''citta vṛtti nirodha'' — make the mind pure. Pure means there should be no other thought other than that. Then what happens? Thereafter we dwell upon it without any break.

How so? Because what we are looking for from birth to death is not an object but happiness. And here is infinite bliss. Therefore, the Yogī doesn't want to have any interruption: "I am of the nature of happiness. That is what I am — the Ātman." And Ātman also is the dearest because it is the nearest to every one of us. Here, "nearest" means not something which is near in terms of time, distance, space, or objective distance. That is: "I am the Ātman and Ātman I am" — in that sense only. And therefore, ''Aham Sacidānanda Svarūpaḥ.'' That is what we have to understand. Everything other than the Ātman perishes.
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== Structure of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad ==
This is the essence of Mantra 8, in the fourth section of the first chapter of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad. Now the next two mantras — the 9th and 10th — are the very essence of this Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad.

We said at the beginning, in the introduction, that the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad is divided into six chapters. And every two chapters — 1st and 2nd, 3rd and 4th, 5th and 6th — are given particular names.

The first two chapters go by the name of Upadeśa Kāṇḍa, or Madhu Kāṇḍa. Why is it called Madhu? Madhu means honey. Honey means what? Everything is Brahman. "I am, I love Ātman. And what is everything? Everything is also nothing but Ātman. Since I love the Ātman, therefore everything is Ātman. Therefore I love everything as my one single infinite self." That is why everybody becomes dear. For a Brahma Jñānī, there are neither friends nor enemies, neither nearer nor distant people. There is only one reality: ''Brahma Eva Asti'' — there is nothing but Brahman. That is what is said in the 6th chapter of the Chāndogya Upaniṣad also: ''Sadeva Saumya idam agre āsīt'' — Sat, pure existence, pure knowledge, pure bliss, Sacidānanda.

Which the 2nd chapter of the Taittirīya Upaniṣad, Brahmanandavalī, defines, changing one word: ''Satyam, Jñānam, Anantam.'' The word ''Satyam'' corresponds to Sat. The word ''Jñānam'' corresponds to Cit. And the word ''Anantam'' corresponds to Ānanda — unbroken, unlimited, which means infinite. And here he has used the word ''Anantam'' in the Brahmanandavalī.
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== The Progressive Ānanda of the Kośas ==
So there would be a desire. After going through the ritualistic portions, etc., and slowly as the mind becomes purer, first a person develops and progresses: "I want happiness in this world." Second, he progresses further: "I want higher happiness, obtainable in the higher lokas." We can also equate that the Ānanda which one gets in the Prāṇamaya Kośa is much subtler, more pervading, and more happiness.

Because remember: the Ānandamaya Kośa, only when it becomes a little bit covered up, is called Vijñānamaya. A little more covered up — or grossened, becoming gross, meaning covered up more and more — it becomes Manomaya. And it becomes more covered up, which is called Prāṇamaya.

So I can put it this way: one obtains some amount of happiness in Annamaya Kośa, one obtains more happiness in Prāṇamaya Kośa, higher than that in Manomaya Kośa, higher than that in Vijñānamaya Kośa, and higher than that in Ānandamaya Kośa. And finally — all these are, remember, finite. Finite because: "I enjoy this object called Annamaya. Similarly Prāṇamaya, similarly Manomaya, Vijñānamaya, and similarly Ānandamaya." When I am still making all these Pañcakośas — considering them, classifying them — as Anātmā, what does Anātmā mean? Different from me, because of ignorance. But all these are manifestations of that one single Ātmā.

''Ānandaṃ'' — it is Ānandaṃ, and Ānandamaya Kośa is both Ātman and Anātman. That is how we have to say it. However great the Ānanda we derive from the Ānandamaya Kośa, it is still finite only. So just try to imagine, if you can — you try to compare the great happiness, finite happiness, with the infinite. There is no comparison at all. So therefore this one has to realise. That is why it is called Upadeśa Kāṇḍa.
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== The Three Kāṇḍas ==
So the first two chapters — 1st and 2nd — are called Upadeśa Kāṇḍa. And the 3rd and 4th are called Muni Kāṇḍa, Yājñavalkya Kāṇḍa, because Yājñavalkya plays the central role of the Paramāguru who teaches to various people — especially to two people: one, his own wife Maitreyī, and second, the greatest of all these kings, Janaka Mahārāja. And then the last two chapters are called Khila Kāṇḍa — an assortment of Upāsanās, and helpful Upāsanās, where how we can obtain or sacralise — make everything sacred — by doing certain types of rituals combined with certain types of contemplations.

So why am I giving this long introduction? Because these mantras — the 9th and 10th in this fourth section of the first chapter of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka — are the very essence. And here only we get that famous, most popular Mahāvākya: ''Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi.'' And this is confirmed.

As I said, please keep in mind always: the first and second chapters form the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad as if the very essence of all the scriptures — ''Brahma Satyam, Jagat Mithyā.'' And that ''Brahma Satyam'' is expressed here as ''Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi.'' It comes in the tenth mantra, the next mantra.
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== Mantra 9: The Seekers' Question ==
But the ninth mantra is a question raised by certain seekers of Ātma Vidyā or Brahma Jñānam. The answer is given in the tenth. And it continues until the second chapter, third section, sixth mantra, where it says: "What is the way?" So here, the Mahāvākya — "You are Brahman" — all right, I believe in it. But how do I know that I am Brahman? I have to get rid of Ajñāna. How do I get rid of my ignorance?

And that is where, in the second chapter, third section, sixth mantra, comes the most famous Sādhana: ''neti neti'' — "not this, not this." Every Anātmā has to be negated. That is, in popular words: "I am not the waker. I am not the dreamer. I am not the sleeper." In the Taittirīya Upaniṣad: "I am not the Annamaya to Ānandamaya Pañcakośas." And when I deny, what remains — that is called ''Satyam.''
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== Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's Analogy of ''Neti Neti'' ==
Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa symbolises this through a beautiful analogy. It was midnight. A servant had to urgently find his master. So he enters into a room — a big room full of objects. But he knows the master is sleeping: "I have to find him out." Perhaps the servant has never entered this room. So there is no light also.

So the person goes on touching: "Not this." "This is not my master." So he touches a pillar, maybe a table, maybe something else. Ultimately, he touches the bed. "This is the bed." So in the bedroom, the bed is the place where the master has to be found. So he touches the master. "So, after denying everything, negating everything, what remains? This is the master."

This is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa wants to convey through that explanation of that word ''neti neti.'' So the servant went on saying: "Not this, not this." And after negating everything, what remains? That is called the master. Here in this analogy, the servant is the seeker and the master is none other than Brahman. This is what we have to understand.
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== A Brief Translation of Mantras 9 and 10 ==
So very briefly, let me read out, before I give an introduction to both the 9th and 10th mantras.

''Tad āhuḥ'' — they say. Who says? There were some seekers — earnest seekers of Brahma Vidyā. They came to know from Guru Upadeśa, from their own logical reasoning, from their own worldly experience: "Everything is Anātmā. Anātmā means Anitya. Anitya means unreliable. Unreliable means everything is full of suffering, sooner or later. So therefore we want to go to, or know, that by knowing which, we will be ''Satyam Jñānam Anantam Brahma.'' I can claim: I am Brahman. ''Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi.''" That is where this question in the 9th mantra is going to lead.

So these people were discussing, and then they were telling: ''yad brahma vidyayā sarvaṃ bhaviṣyantīti manuṣyā manyante'' — "Men think: through the knowledge of Brahman, we shall become all." So these people said: "We all heard about Brahma Vidyā, especially from the scriptures, and our teachers also say the same thing. What is that? There are ''manuṣyāḥ'' — people. What people? Not ordinary people, but people who have realised Brahman — their declaration, like Vāmadeva: ''so aham sarvaṃ abhavam'' — 'I have become everything.'"

So: ''brahma vidyayā sarvaṃ bhaviṣyantīti'' — by obtaining the knowledge of Brahman, we become everything. Because besides Brahman, there is nothing else. ''Satyam Jñānam Anantam Brahma.'' So people are convinced. They are teaching the same thing. Here, "men think" — not ordinary men, but seekers, earnest sincere seekers like Naciketa — think that if we can get the knowledge of Brahman, through the knowledge of Brahman, we shall become all. That means what? "We will have no death. We will have no ignorance. And our bliss will be unbroken."

''Kim u tat brahma avet?'' — "Now that Brahma, what did it know? I am all. So by what knowledge? What did that Brahman know? That it became everything." Well then, what did that Brahman know, through which it became all?

''Asmāt tat sarvam abhavat iti'' — "Because of which it became all." That means: ''Ekam, Sat, Satyam Jñānam Anantam.'' So it became — rather it understood: "I am ''Satyam'', deathless. I am ''Jñānam'', ignorance-less. I am ''Anantam'' — infinite, unbroken bliss." How did Brahman come to know about it? Because if Brahman came to know about it, then if we follow what Brahman did to become all, then we also will come to know about it.

As I said, beautiful explanations will come later on. So, with this, the answer is given in the 10th mantra.
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== Summary of the 10th Mantra: ''Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi'' ==
And then, what is the summary of this 10th mantra? So here also, there are beautiful Sanskrit mantras, which we will very briefly, and only selected, we will study now, just to get a glimpse.

You know, it is like a famous speaker is going to speak. Every famous speaker or writer is famous because they are great. And how did they become great? Because the greater a person, the clearer he will be — either while speaking or writing. There would be no ambiguity. Study Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, study Swami Vivekānanda, and study some of the scholars — you will understand what difference there is. Rāmakṛṣṇa can explain the most profound truths with the simplest analogies.

So the essence of these answers given here: what is it? First, so, you have to become Brahma. What does it mean? ''Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi'' — I am Brahman. What does it mean? Not that you are not Brahman now, or in the past — and you are going to become Brahman in the future by some peculiar process, or action, Karma, or Upāsanā. No. Simply: you are, you were, you will be Brahman. But due to Ajñāna, Avidyā, you are thinking: "I am not Brahman."

That "I am not Brahman" is expressed as: "I am a man. I am a woman. I am a dog" — because even dogs are highly conscious that they are dogs, they are completely identified. A mosquito is completely identified: "I am a mosquito." How do you know? You interact with it, and it will let you know.
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== The Preface of the Upaniṣad's Teaching ==
So, what is the conclusion? We are summarising both the 9th and 10th mantras as an introduction. I was talking about famous speakers or writers. What do they do? Every writer has a preface where, in crystal clear terms: "This is the subject I am going to discuss. These are the important points, and I am going to elaborate them and present before you what is called the explanations, and at the end again I will give you the conclusions." So by reading that preface, we can understand. The same thing is followed by speakers: "I am going to speak to you about these things."

This is how, here, we have to summarise. That is why I am giving the summary. And this summary is according to Advaita Vedāntic interpretation — please keep that in mind. Because the same Upaniṣads are also commented upon by Madhvācārya, Rāmānujācārya, and especially Rāmānujācārya's famous commentary on the Brahma Sūtras called ''Śrī Bhāṣyam'' — a beautiful name. But they don't accept Nirguṇa, Nirviśeṣa, Nirākāra Brahman. But Advaita alone accepts: Brahman alone is the only truth, and you cannot describe it.
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== The Four-Part Summary of the Teaching ==
So therefore, what is the essence of it? What does it mean?

'''First:''' Brahman alone, for some mysterious reason, is caught in the net of Avidyā or ignorance, and it enters into this Anātmā, this ''jagat'', creation. Creation is called Anātmā. This world is called Anātmā. Anything that doesn't remind us of God — that is called Anātmā. Anything that makes a difference — "I am different from you" — that is called Anātmā. So that Brahman forgot its Brahmanhood, and through ignorance, it is thinking: "I am Jīvātmā." And after long evolution, it understands: "I want to go home. What is my home? To know who I am." So it does so through many lives, both through good and bad experiences. Every experience, remember, is a lesson taught, and a deep Saṃskāra is produced. That is why God created everything — good and evil — not for fun, but for its own evolution.

'''Second:''' So what is this Brahma Jñāna? First Brahman knows, then forgets. First Brahman knows "I am Brahman," then it forgets and says "I am non-Brahman, Anātmā. I am the individual. I am a ''prāṇī'', I am a living creature," etc. But after many lives of experience, slowly it turns its attention inward, and then practises Karma Yoga and Upāsanā Yoga. And through them both, it removes the Avidyā. By the removal of Avidyā, automatically Vidyā manifests. Like, when light is brought, the snake we are experiencing instantaneously — the arrival of the light and the disappearance of the snake both take place simultaneously. Then we see: "It is a harmless piece of rope." And in the same way, it was a rope, it is a rope, it will be a rope — but I can mistake it for a snake and suffer from the consequences of it.

'''Third:''' So Brahman — that is, each one of us — we think we are not Brahman. We think, when we believe also in God, that Brahman is sitting somewhere in Vaikuṇṭha, in Kailāsa, in Devī Loka, in Paradise, etc. But no — it is only our thoughts. Clearly speaking, "I am Brahman. Where are you? In Brahman's loka, not Brahma Loka, but Brahman's loka." So what is the essence of this 9th and 10th verse? ''Brahma Eva'' — Brahman alone, because of ignorance, thinks "I am not Brahman" — that is called Saṃsāra, that is called transmigration. ''Brahma Eva'' — and the same Brahman, now called Jīvātmā, through the acquisition of right knowledge, by the destruction of wrong knowledge, ''mucyate'' — that means it is freed from Avidyā. Avidyā is called bondage.

'''Fourth:''' Then, what is this definition of self-knowledge? ''Anātma Adhyāropa Nivṛtti — Brahma Eva Ātma Jñānam.'' What is this self-knowledge? It is the complete destruction of superimposition on the Ātman — that it is not the Ātman. The knowledge "it is not the rope, it is a snake" — that is called Adhyāropa. What does the light do? Apavāda — it removes that notion. As soon as light comes, the snake — or what we are thinking is a snake — that wrong notion disappears, and with that wrong notion, the fear and the distress also disappear.
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== A Warning Against Dualistic Ignorance ==
Then, fifth — a warning against dualistic ignorance: ''Atha yo'nyāṃ devatām upāste, na sa veda, yathā paśur evam sa devānām'' — that is to say, he who thinks "God is different from me, Gods are different from me, somebody is different from me" — ''na sa veda'' — he is an ignorant person. That knowing itself is called ignorance. And what is the result? ''Yathā paśur evam sa devānām'' — he becomes like an animal, to be used for the purpose of the master.

So every Devā — Gods and Goddesses — if we go on worshipping with the knowledge "I am different, they are different, I am a servant and they are my masters, I am helpless and they have the power to help, I am an ignorant person and they know everything, my powers are less and they can do anything they like" — as long as this notion persists, then we are like ''paśus.'' Just like a cow is dependent upon the master, a dog is dependent upon the master, a horse is dependent upon the master — so we become dependent upon Gods.

But this word "Gods" should be interpreted broadly. If I am depending for my sustenance upon my job, I am a slave to my job, because I am not doing it happily, joyfully, with my own mind — I am doing it because I am helpless. "I want to earn money." So I become a ''Paśu'', a servant, an animal, a dependent, to the master — the office manager, the CEO, whatever it is. Anything upon which we depend.

So when we are enjoying a sweet: "Unless I have this sweet, I can't be happy. Only this sweet can give me happiness." That means I have become like an animal to that sweet — who is the mistress, a sweet — and I am a slave, a servant. So, so long as we think there is a difference between me and the Gods, or the God that I worship, until that time we depend. But the moment I come to know "I am Brahman, I am the Ātman," then that dependence will automatically disappear. Dependence means fear. Like light destroys the fear of the snake, so true knowledge destroys this slavery.
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== The Final Realisation: ''Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi'' ==
And finally, this person realises: "I am Manu, I am the Sun, I am the Moon." These are small examples, but what it means is: everything in this universe — that is me, the entire creation — that is me. Just as we realise, upon waking up, that I created my own world in the dream state and I played with myself — everything in the dream is my own self, nobody else is there — but this knowledge comes only when we wake up.

Same knowledge — "I am not the body, I am not the mind, I am not the waking state, dream state, or dreamless state" — comes only when I wake up from this state of ignorance.

So all these statements that we are going to read in the mantras show the spiritual movement intended by the text: from ''Deha Vimāna'' — that is to say, identity with the body, "I am the body," what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa used to call ''Ahaṃkāra'' and ''Mamakāra'', ''āmi, āmār'' — must be replaced by ''tumi, tomār, naham, naham, tuhu, tuhu.'' So from ''Deha Vimāna'' to ''Ātma Vimāna'' — that is, "I am the Ātman." From ''Jīvātma Bhāva'' to ''Brahma Bhāva'' — "I am Brahman." From ''Bheda Dṛṣṭi'' — seeing everything as separate from me — to ''Sarvātma Dṛṣṭi'' — "I am everything, ''Aham sarvam abhavam.''" So from dependence to freedom.
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== The Seeker Need Not Become Brahman — He Already Is ==
Just let us remember, when we are studying: the seeker, in fact, need not travel to Brahman, produce Brahman, or become Brahman newly. No. He merely discovers, through the removal of ignorance, that he has never been anything other than Brahman. So this is the very heart of this teaching.

And this we will have to elaborate a little bit more as part of this introduction to the very heart of this 9th and 10th mantra. And if we can understand this, then we have understood the very essence of every Upaniṣad — not only the Bṛhadāraṇyaka, but every Upaniṣad — whether the Upaniṣad speaks the word ''Tat tvam asi'', or ''Prajñānam Brahma'' — consciousness is Brahman — or "I am Ātmā Brahman" — that this "I am so and so" is none other than Brahman — or ''Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi'' — I am Brahman.

These are called Mahāvākyas. And this is a famous Mahāvākya. And so, until we reach that knowledge which will never again be covered up — ''Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi'' — thereafter, he becomes completely free. That means he will be outside the bondage. He will be swimming in the ocean of bliss, in the words of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa.
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== Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa at Jairāmbāṭi: An Illustration of Bhāva Samādhi ==
Once Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, after his marriage, went to Jairāmbāṭī. He used to experience frequent bouts of what is called Bhāva Samādhi. We have to distinguish between Bhāva Samādhi and real Samādhi — Nirvikalpa Samādhi is different. Most of this is Bhāva Samādhi.

What is Bhāva Samādhi? For example, if Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is singing, or hearing a bhajan — "My Divine Śyāmā, Māki, āmār kālo re, kālo rūpe Digambarī — so is my mother, black or blue, she is the infinite Divine Mother" — the moment he hears it, he is absorbed in that idea, he becomes one with that Śyāmā Mā. So this is called Bhāva Samādhi. So in that Bhāva Samādhi, sometimes he used to see also people who were about to come and meet him, and it used to turn out to be like that.

So, from ''Bheda Dṛṣṭi'' to ''Abheda Dṛṣṭi'', ''Sarvātma Dṛṣṭi'' — from dependence to complete freedom.

So Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa went to Jairāmbāṭī, and he had this Bhāva Samādhi. And that Bhāva Samādhi created a tremendous amount of hunger. And this happened after he had just finished his night dinner. So everybody went to bed — and then, because in villages there is no entertainment, no TV to keep a person awake, so they eat early and they also get up early and they will have a lot of work to do; no instruments are there.

So suddenly Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa came out of the Bhāva Samādhi and he started: "I am very hungry, give me something, I am really starving." Everybody got up hastily, and of course it is Mother Illā's house, where the son-in-law is valued so much. Then they were surprised, because they also know Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's stomach is very delicate. So he said, "Just now you have eaten stomach-full!" Immediately Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa said, "When did you eat? I am just coming from Dakṣiṇeśvar." Then they understood — Mother Kālī, the Bhāva of Kālī, had possessed him.

So they had no option but, hastily, they prepared what we call ''halwā'' — a sweet — that is the nearest thing they could prepare. And immediately it was a big quantity — probably quite a huge quantity of food — and they placed it before him, thinking that he will only take a small bit of it. But to their great disappointment, he ate the whole lot. And they were terribly worried, because they knew about the condition of his stomach — he will have stomach problems.

But next morning, absolutely nothing. Everything was totally digested. How come? Because Bhāva can cause terrible loss of energy, therefore terrible hunger, therefore terrible power of digestion. Until the last, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa enjoyed relatively very good health. He could eat and he could digest also. Only later on, because of his Bhāvas and his touching the devotees, he lost some of his health benefits.
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== Conclusion ==
So the ultimate thing we will have to understand is ''Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi'' — how this is going to progress, we will talk about in our next class.
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== Closing Prayer ==
''ॐ'' जननीं शारदां देवीं रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुम् ।

पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहुः ॥

''Om Jananīṁ 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.1.2 Lecture 14 on 08 March 2026

2026-06-29T00:23:48Z

Gopi: Added mantras and rearranged the para

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

= Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad – Class Notes =

== Opening Invocation ==
ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात्पूर्णमुदच्यते ।

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ॥

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

'''OM PŪRṆAMADAḤ PŪRṆAMIDAM PŪRṆĀT PŪRṆAMUDACYATE'''

'''PŪRṆASYA PŪRṆAMĀDĀYA PŪRṆAMEVA VAŚIṢYATE'''

'''OM ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI'''

'''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 Ghaṭabhāṣya of Śaṅkarācārya ==
In our last class, in the context of Sṛṣṭi and especially how Agni was born, there was a very interesting commentary by the great Śaṅkarācārya. It is called the Ghaṭabhāṣya.

What is the importance of this Ghaṭabhāṣya? ''Ghaṭa'' means a pot — commentary on the pot. What does it mean? It means there were some schools of philosophy, especially the Naiyāyikas (Logicians) and also some of the Pūrva Mīmāṃsakas, whose way of thinking led them to the conviction that there is neither cause nor effect before creation — that nothing was there.

What made these people make such an astonishing statement? Because the Upaniṣad itself says that in the beginning, that is, before creation, there was nothing — absolutely śūnyam, complete nothingness.
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== The Problem: How Can Something Come from Nothing? ==
Our minds can never understand how something can come out of nothing. What is that "something"? It is this whole universe that we are experiencing in front of our eyes, of which we are also a part. Let us not forget that I am also part of the universe — my body is part of the physical universe, my mind is part of the mental universe or what we call the sūkṣma śarīra (subtle body), and when I am in the deep sleep state, there is also an instrument called the kāraṇa śarīra (causal body).

So, the sthūla śarīra, sūkṣma śarīra, and kāraṇa śarīra — all these three śarīras are limitations. The entire universe contains these things, especially manifest in living beings. This is called creation. So the Upaniṣad is making a statement that in the beginning there was absolutely nothing, but that meaning will not be acceptable — neither by the Veda, which means the Upaniṣad, neither by the Ṛṣis, nor by any person capable of even the slightest thinking.
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== Two Views of Creation: Pariṇāmavāda and Vivartavāda ==
How do we understand this? That is where the great Śaṅkarācārya comes to our aid.

The belief of every bhakta, every devotee, is that God exists and that He created me out of Himself — because He cannot create out of anything else, for the very simple reason that there is nothing outside Him. In previous classes also I mentioned many times that there are two types of understanding about creation.

'''The first view''' is like a potter making a pot. The potter is separate, the pot is separate, and the instrument with which the pot is made is also separate. They have no mutual relationship excepting their use — and the combination of these three results in the production of the pot. But that is the view of dualistic schools of philosophy, not of Advaita.

'''The second view''' — which Advaita Vedānta presents — is called ''Vivartavāda'': something appears as something else, but nothing has actually changed. The most classical example is that a harmless rope appears to be a fearful serpent. Advaita Vedānta always takes this second view — that Brahman "created" means He Himself has become manifest. For this simple reason: He is infinite, and we cannot imagine anything besides infinity. Therefore, unlike the potter, if Brahman were the potter, where would the clay be? Where would the potter's wheel be? They do not exist. Therefore He must be all three. That is the understanding.
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== The Nature of Effect: Clay, Gold, and the Pot ==
From this understanding, two conclusions follow.

The first conclusion is this — it is just like clay manifesting as a pot. What is a pot? It is not a second object separate from clay. It is nothing but clay. If you remove the clay from a pot, nothing exists. Clay in one particular form is called clay. The same clay in another particular form is called a pot.

Similarly, the same gold in one form is formless gold. But when it is given a particular shape to fit a particular purpose — it could be a necklace, a bangle, a nose ring, an ear ring, or a finger ring — it is given a special form and a special name for that very special purpose. But these are all just name, form, and utility. If you melt away the gold from any of these ornaments, only gold remains — without form, without name, without specific purpose.
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== Misinterpretations and Swami Vivekananda's Teaching ==
There are people who think they are clever and who claim there is nothing, and that the whole universe has come out of nothing. These are mystical words used even in the Bible. The Bible also contains the statement that God created this universe out of nothing — by which we must understand that He Himself has become this entire universe.

This is the very root of Swami Vivekananda's saying: ''"Śiva jñāne jīva sevā"'' — whenever you see any suffering individual, he is none other than Śiva. Because in this particular manifestation, he may not have clothes, food, or possessions, or he may be suffering physical or mental problems — but remove these names, "problem," "physical," "mental," and he is nothing but pure Śiva. Then the same thing applies to the person who is serving also. The person who is serving is Śiva, the person who is being served is Śiva, and the instruments with which this person serves are also nothing but Śiva.

That is the philosophy behind these statements, and that is exactly what this second Brāhmaṇa of the first chapter of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad wants to say.
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== Why Śaṅkarācārya Wrote the Ghaṭabhāṣya ==
A brilliant commentary is given by Śaṅkarācārya. Because he uses the word ''ghaṭa'' (pot) so many times, some commentators have specifically called this the Ghaṭabhāṣya.

Using the pot as an example, Śaṅkarācārya wants to refute some false views presented either by the Naiyāyikas or by the Pūrvamīmāṃsakas. By the way, Nyāya, Vaiśeṣika, Pūrvamīmāṃsā, and Uttaramīmāṃsā are the names of certain schools of philosophy — and the fifth one is called Vedānta. Out of Hinduism, as we know, Buddhism has also come. Buddha was a pure Hindu, educated in the Upaniṣads, and he taught only the Upaniṣads — emphasising especially the nature of Māyā. When he says ''Śūnyavāda'', the theory that everything is śūnya or nihilism, what he means is that only pure Brahman exists.
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== Buddhism and the Kṣaṇika Vijñānavāda School ==
So Śaṅkarācārya's commentary primarily examines Buddhism to discuss whether a cause exists or not. Buddhism has four schools of thought, among which there is one called ''Kṣaṇika Vijñānavāda''. ''Vijñāna'' means knowledge, ''vāda'' means theory, ''kṣaṇika'' means momentary or temporary. This is also called the Yogācāra school of Buddhism.

What do these Kṣaṇika Vijñānavādins really want to say? According to them, there is no external world at all — no external world separate from the mind. Suppose I see a tree. According to this school, there is no tree there; there is only a thought of a tree.

Of course, this can easily be countered — if there were no tree outside, externally, then why did this particular thought corresponding to that tree arise? Why not the thought of a tiger, or anything else?

But this particular school believes that thoughts alone are there — and further, are even these thoughts real or permanent? They say no, they are all ''kṣaṇika'', momentary. So the many objects outside our body are nothing but so many thoughts in our minds.
== The Topic of the Upaniṣad: Sṛṣṭi and Its Real Purpose ==
This section is called the Agni Pramāṇa. In this second section, ''pramāṇa'' meaning section, the topic of Sṛṣṭi (creation) is given. The essence, the very purpose of this emphasis, is not to say that Sṛṣṭi is absolutely real. We have to remember what "real" means — that which never changes and will always remain for eternity is called real. That which changes is only temporary reality. A baby changes every millisecond — and if you count billions of milliseconds, he becomes a youth, a middle-aged person, an old person. Before birth he was invisible; after death he also becomes invisible. In between he remains visible. Invisibility does not mean death. ''Laya'' does not mean death.

So we have read:

नैवेह किञ्चनाग्र आसीत्, मृत्युनैवेदमावृतमासीत् अशनायया, अशनाय। हि मृत्युः तन्मनोऽकुरुत, आत्मन्वी स्यामिति । सोऽर्चन्नचरत्, तस्यार्चत आपोऽजायन्त; अर्चते वै मे कमभूदिति, तदेवार्कस्यार्कत्वम्; कं ह वा अस्मै भवति य एवमेतदर्कस्यार्कत्वं वेद ।। १ ।।

In the beginning there was nothing whatever in the universe. This universe was enveloped by Death (Hiraṇyagarbha) alone or Hunger; for hunger is death. He produced the mind (desiring), ‘May I be possessed of a mind’. He moved about worshipping himself. As he was thus worshipping himself, water was produced. (As he thought), ‘Verily, while I was worshipping, water sprang up ’this is why fire is called Arka. Surely there is water (or happiness) for him who thus knows why fire is called Arka.

Hiraṇyagarbha's creation is unlike ours — his very thought becomes solidified as an object.
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== The Central Question of the Ghaṭabhāṣya ==
The Upaniṣad's statement that ''in the beginning there was nothing'' can create terrible confusion and misunderstanding. It might appear as though the Upaniṣad is saying there was truly nothing, and out of nothing the whole creation has come.

Now, creation means an effect, and every effect must have a creator — that is, a cause. We see this effect; the world exists. How can there be an effect that exists if there were no cause at all? So there must be some cause.

For clarifying this point, Śaṅkarācārya writes this elaborate bhāṣyam. And this Ghaṭabhāṣya's essence rests on two arguments:

# Before creation, is there a cause or not?
# Before creation, is there an effect or not?

Why so much bother? Because at the time of Śaṅkarācārya, there were certain schools of philosophy whose propagators held peculiar views. Some schools say there is no effect. Some people go even further and say there was no cause either.
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== Cognition and Recognition: Abhijñā and Pratyabhijñā ==
We must understand something here. When I see a tree, simultaneously two things happen.

Suppose you see a tree, and suppose this is the first time you are seeing such an object. You don't know it is a tree. Then somebody comes and tells you, "Oh, this is called a tree." Now that instruction sits in your mind.

The first time you come across a tree and have an experience, that is called ''abhijñā'' — cognition. The next time you see the same tree or another tree, you recognise it — you say, "I know what this is; it is a tree." That is called ''pratyabhijñā'' — recognition. Recognition always means: I knew this before.

According to the Kṣaṇika Vijñānavāda school, everything is first of all a thought, and thoughts are ever-changing — momentary. So, for example, I see a tree just for a moment. The first thought arises, then it dies without any memory, and then the second thought appears, and I recognise: "This is a tree."
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== Śaṅkarācārya's Refutation: The Necessity of a Continuous Witness ==
Here Śaṅkarācārya catches this argument and refutes it decisively.

The first time you have seen a tree, according to this school, that thought is completely dead — and not only the thought, but the thinker is also dead, because the body is temporary and the mind is also temporary. Now, how could you recognise — ''re-cognise'' — and say with confidence, "This is a tree"?

Their answer is that there is a ''sādṛśya'' — a similarity — between the first thought of the tree and the second thought of the tree.

Śaṅkarācārya catches them again: similarity between what and what? For there to be recognition of similarity, there must be a witness who is ''not'' changing, who remembers, "I have seen this object; I was told it was a tree," and who, the second time he sees it, tallies the present experience with the memory. Even for similarity to be recognised, there must be remembrance. If you see someone who looks very similar to someone else, you must have knowledge of both persons — you must have seen the first and be now seeing the second, and you must be the same person holding both memories simultaneously.

Let me give an example. Suppose Rāma was going along a road and Kṛṣṇa sees him — "Oh, this person is Rāma" — and then both go away. Then, later, another person called Rāmakṛṣṇa appears and another person called Bālakṛṣṇa also appears. Rāmakṛṣṇa had never had the experience of Bālakṛṣṇa, and Bālakṛṣṇa never experienced Rāmakṛṣṇa. Do they recognise each other? Can either say, "You look similar to so-and-so"? In order to say that, one must have the remembrances of both objects. Then only is similarity possible.

So the series of experience is continuous, the object is continuous, the thought of the object is continuous — and this is how Śaṅkarācārya refutes the Kṣaṇika Vijñānavādins.
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== The Main Point: Cause Must Precede Effect ==
But what is the deeper point of all this? These schools cannot accept clay as a cause. They say there is no cause and no relationship between cause and effect.

So they say: first I see clay, then I see the pot. The thought of clay comes and goes. The thought of the pot comes and goes. There is no possibility for the cause to produce the effect. Śaṅkarācārya refutes this. We know that clay alone becomes the pot — everybody knows. Even this Buddhist knows. Clay existed before the pot, exists in the pot, and will exist after the pot is gone.

Just imagine there is a pot — an effect that has come out of clay. The pot is only a name and form. Really, clay was, clay is. Even if you destroy the pot, the clay remains as clay. What then is destroyed? The name and form of the pot are destroyed, but the original material out of which the pot is fashioned does not die — just as melting a golden ornament destroys only its name and form, not the gold.

And similarly, we can always say: "I was the baby, I was the adolescent, I was the youth, I was the middle-aged person, I was the old man — now I am the very old person." However much the body changes and the mind changes, there is an eternal witness. And that witness is Brahman. That witness — that is the purport of all these arguments.

So the ''kṣaṇika'' (momentary) argument of the Buddhist does not hold water. This counter-argument is called ''sādṛśyāt pratyabhijñā''. Śaṅkarācārya thus establishes: if you see an effect, that effect must have a cause, and that cause is eternal. This whole universe came out of Brahman.
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== The Naiyāyika's Argument: The Dark Room and the Pot ==
Then comes another argument. A person says: "Why are you going on arguing and counter-arguing? Nothing was there before — simply take that statement as it is."

For that also Śaṅkarācārya wants to say: if there were no cause, there can be no effect. ''Nothing comes out of nothing. Something comes out of something.'' That is the main point.

Then there is a very beautiful argument. Imagine you are in a room and there is a pot in the room, but it is completely dark — you cannot see the pot. Then you put on the light. The moment the light comes on, immediately you see the pot.

Now change the example. It is not a pot but a lump of clay that is in the dark room, and you put on the light. What do you see? Not a pot — you see only clay.

This is the argument of another school of philosophy, the Naiyāyikas (Logicians). Then Śaṅkarācārya has to clarify that every effect can exist in two different forms.
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== Manifest and Unmanifest Effects: The Example of Butter in Milk ==
For example, consider milk. Somebody asks: "Do you have butter?" You can honestly say: "Yes, I surely have butter." They ask: "Can you lend me a cup of it?" And you have to say: "Unfortunately, I cannot — but yes, it is there. It is just not yet manifested. I have milk, and milk contains butter." So truthfully, you have to say butter is there — you cannot say there is no butter. But to bring out that butter, you have to first make the milk into yoghurt or curds, and then churn it, and then butter comes out.

This is also an ''āvaraṇa'', a covering. Just like in the dark room you see only a piece of wood, not yet a chair, a table, or a bed — the effects of the wood are unmanifest. Two types of effects exist:

# One that is unmanifestly existing within something — like butter in milk, like a chair or table in the wood. This is called non-transactional or unmanifest butter, table, or pot.
# One that becomes manifest when the ''āvaraṇa'' (covering) is removed.

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== Removing the Āvaraṇa: The Pot Within the Lump of Clay ==
What is that covering? Clay is in the form of a lump. A lump is also a type of form. But if you want a pot, you have to destroy the lump form and shape it into a pot form.

Out of the same lump, you can make any number of objects — a small pot, a big pot, a square jug, a round jug, tall or short, wide or narrow. So many forms are possible. But the very subtle point is this: if you want to see one particular form, you must destroy every other form and shape it so that only the desired form comes out.

So first, you have to destroy the lump form of the clay. Next, you must set aside every other form the clay could take. Only then does one particular desired form manifest. But ''potentially'', that form was always there.

So when you put on the light and see only a lump of clay — if you say "I don't see any pot here," it is not because the pot is not there, but because that clay is in the form of a lump. If you want to see a pot, you will have to destroy that lump form and manifest the pot form — the specific pot form that you require for a particular purpose.
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== Conclusion: Brahman Alone Exists ==
What then is the conclusion of all these arguments?

The conclusion is that Brahman contains everything within itself. The lump form of Brahman, by comparison, is Brahman in its undifferentiated state. And the same Brahman, when it is differentiated into different objects, is what is called Sṛṣṭi — creation.

And the essence of all these discussions is this: '''Brahman alone exists.''' Then what about this world? Well — if you have a mind, then you see Brahman as world. If you do not have a mind, then you see the world as Brahman. This is the essence of the argument.

To sum up:

* There is a cause, and that cause is none other than eternal Brahman. That is the first essence.
* What is called the effect is nothing but the manifestation of the same formless existence in different forms. That is the second essence.
* And different forms, again, are perceived only with the help of the mind — which is itself an effect.

So when there is an experience of an object through another object, that is called Sṛṣṭi. When there is no object that can perceive, that does not exist, then that would be in the form of Brahman alone.
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== Closing Remarks ==
Like this, there are so many big commentaries by Śaṅkarācārya — very highly stimulating, very useful for the intellect — but absolutely non-essential for progress in spiritual life. Simply take the meaning. Do not misunderstand the scripture, because you are reading only the first statement of the Upaniṣad. It is immediately followed by the statement that there was hunger, and that hunger was death. So there was ''something'' — but that something cannot be described.

With this, I stop today's class. We will continue further in our next class.

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

पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहुः ॥

''Om Jananīṁ 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.1.2 Lecture 13 on 07 March 2026

2026-05-30T19:25:34Z

Gopi: edited based on Swamiji's audio

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

== Lecture on the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad: First Chapter, Second Brāhmaṇa (Agni Brāhmaṇa) ==

== Opening Invocation ==
ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात्पूर्णमुदच्यते ।

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ॥

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

'''OM PŪRṆAMADAḤ PŪRṆAMIDAM PŪRṆĀT PŪRṆAMUDACYATE'''

'''PŪRṆASYA PŪRṆAMĀDĀYA PŪRṆAMEVA VAŚIṢYATE'''

'''OM ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI'''

'''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 and Review of Previous Brāhmaṇas =
We are studying the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad in the first three Brāhmaṇas. I hope you remember that "Brāhmaṇa" means a section. The very first chapter, or indeed every chapter, of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad has several sections, and each section is called a Brāhmaṇa. We have taken up the first two Brāhmaṇas. These are very important.

I must emphasise that I am not going through every mantra. Only the very essential points and essential mantras will be taken up, and this will be both shorter and more useful than going through so many mantras. Why so? Because there are so many Upāsanās, and as I have reminded you many times, these Upāsanās are ancient Upāsanās. In those days, how the teachers explained to their students and how their students were directed to contemplate — we do not know.
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== The Transformation of the Vedic Gods ==
The old Vedic Gods have been transformed into three main modern deities. They are called Viṣṇu, Śiva, and Śakti. Whether we talk of Gaṇeśa or Vighneśvara, or Kārttikeya, or Sūrya Devatā, or Agni Devatā — they are all somehow related to these three main deities.
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== The Method and Purpose of Upāsanā ==
The methodology of Upāsanā remains the same, as I had already explained with the help of certain illustrations. Upāsanā means that by contemplating unbrokenly and continuously, one's idea — "I am so and so" — is transformed into "I am Īśvara," "I am Hiraṇyagarbha." It starts with Virāṭ: "I am Virāṭ," "I am the Universal." Then, "I am Hiraṇyagarbha." Then, "I am Īśvara." All these three together are called Saguṇa Brahma.

"I am Saguṇa Brahma" — and only human effort can go that far. After that, something automatically happens. When the person who succeeds in thinking "I am the Saguṇa Brahma" — and Saguṇa Brahma is a Vedāntic term — in the language of the devotees, we can call Saguṇa Brahma by various names: ''Ekaṃ Sat Viprāḥ Bahudhā Vadanti'' — as Rāma, as Kṛṣṇa, as Gaṇeśa, as Pārvatī, as Durgā, as Kālī — by any blessed name, it does not matter.

And that is also the right concept that we have: God is everywhere, God is everything, God knows everything, and God is capable of doing anything He wants. For His devotees — and a devotee is one who empties his heart and makes himself the very servant of God, so to say — God bestows upon him, removes the last barrier, and makes him attain ''Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi''. Whatever be the Upāsanā or contemplation, this is the goal and this is the end. This is called Mukti.
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== Recap of the First Brāhmaṇa: The Aśvamedha Yajña ==
With this introduction, let us go further. In the very first mantra, we saw that kings used to perform a great Yajña called the Aśvamedha Yajña or Yāga, where a horse is let out and when it returns, the king gains mastery over all those people whose territories it has traversed. Then only can he perform this Yajña, and it is very expensive, time-consuming, and requires many people. The result? Such a great king, through this ritual called the Aśvamedha Yajña, attains Brahma Loka.

But there are many other people who would also like to attain that same Brahma Loka. How do they attain it? Instead of doing a physical Yajña or Yāga or sacrifice, if they go on doing the same thing mentally through contemplation — which is called Upāsanā — they can also attain to Brahma Loka. Upāsanā is a mental contemplation. It has nothing to do with the physical. In modern Pūjā it is called Mānasa Pūjā — mental worship. The purpose of worship and Upāsanā is the same; the process is also the same.
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== The Nature of Brahma Loka and the Desire for Unbroken Happiness ==
Through Upāsanā, one can also attain Brahma Loka. Only then does the person become truly awakened. Even the happiness of Brahma Loka is temporary — it comes to an end. But by that time, the person understands: "I do not wish to have broken happiness. I want unbroken happiness." And in order to enjoy unbroken happiness, a person has to be, has to be conscious. That is why God is defined as ''Sat'' — to be; ''Cit'' — to be completely conscious; and ''Ānanda'' — to feel that "I am not deriving happiness from something else; I am of the very nature of happiness."

From the very beginning, no ordinary person can have any idea about Brahman. But we can have some idea about Brahma Loka. How do we get this idea? That is why in the Taittirīya Upaniṣad we get a very elaborate, though sample-like, analysis of Ānanda. From here a person attains to Gandharva Loka, then Deva Loka, then Bṛhaspati Loka, then Prajāpati Loka, then Brahma Loka. I have only described very briefly — there were eleven descriptions in all.
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== The Purpose of Upāsanā: Avalambana and the Elevation of the Mind ==
The purpose of the Aśva Upāsanā, or meditation on the horse, is that the Aśva is only what we call a support — ''avalambana''. Some support must be there. Just as I gave the example of a small stone shaped in a particular way being called a Śālagrāma or Śiva Liṅga — to look upon this ordinary stone not as an ordinary stone but as representing Lord Viṣṇu or Lord Śiva — that is called Upāsanā. To see something very, very great in something very small — that is called Upāsanā. And as a result, the person's mind becomes great.

That is why we say: whatever we think, that is what we become. If we think we are small, we will become small — if not already small. But if we think about God, then we will become God.

Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa contemplated on Hanumān and became Hanumān even physically. He contemplated upon Rādhā and became Rādhā even physically. He contemplated upon Rāma and became one with Rāma. He contemplated upon Kṛṣṇa and became one with Kṛṣṇa. He contemplated upon Gopāla and became one with Gopāla. He contemplated upon Kālī and became one with Kālī. That is why we call him ''Sarva Deva Devī Svarūpa'' — that means he had become Brahman. And Brahman can be called by various names, as Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa teaches — so simple and yet so profound.

He gives the analogy of a lake or a big pond. Some people call the same substance "water"; some call it ''pānī'' or ''jal''; some call it ''aqua'' — but they all mean the same thing. Some call it "Allāh," some call it "Hari," some call it "Divine Mother," but the substance is the same.

So the purpose of Upāsanā is to slowly lift a Sādhaka endowed with Śraddhā — gradually, step by step — to that identity with Brahman. But the highest such step — not the roof, but the step — is called Brahma Loka.
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== Gist of What Has Been Seen So Far ==
This is just the gist of what we have seen. We have also seen that the Upaniṣad starts with a big mantra describing how every part of the horse is comparable to some aspect of the universe. Just as in this universe we see five most important elements — space, air, fire, water, and earth — everything is a combination of these five elements. Time, space, and causation: that is what is called the mind; that is what is called the universe. The rest is a combination of all these things.

That is the purpose of this Upāsanā. Whoever contemplates upon it attains the result stated in the second mantra. The first chapter has several Brāhmaṇas, but the first Brāhmaṇa or section has only two mantras, and it presents a contemplation upon this entire universe.

By contemplating upon the horse as Virāṭ — as the Universal — we become universal. No longer do we say, "I am an individual," but we ''become'' an individual. Svāmī Vivekānanda used to make a joke: "You call yourself an individual — but are you really an individual? What is the meaning of the word 'individual'? That which is indivisible. But you are in several pieces; you are not really an individual. You have to ''become'' an individual — undivided." That is what is called Virāṭ.

And slowly, from the physical universal to the mental universal, to the causal universal — which is called ''Iśvara'' — and the combination of these three is called Saguṇa Brahma. The purpose of every Upāsanā is to take one to the last step, which is called Brahma Loka, which is also called Saguṇa Brahma.
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== The Limits of Self-Effort and the Role of Grace ==
Once a person goes to Brahma Loka, further effort is not possible. Because effort — any effort, every effort — belongs only to the limited. But if we want to identify ourselves with the unlimited, we just cease to have any action. Actually, that is what happens. As we progress, all our efforts become less and less and less.

This is expressed in yogic language very beautifully: a billion, billion, trillion thoughts become a billion thoughts; a billion thoughts become a million thoughts; a million thoughts become a thousand thoughts; a thousand thoughts become a hundred thoughts; a hundred thoughts become twenty, then five, then three, then two, and finally one. That is called Savikalpa Samādhi — one single thought, continuing. That is as far as self-effort goes.

After that, it progresses toward infinity, but that is not desirable either. Another thought would be needed to remove that thought, and a third thought to remove the second thought. But God removes even that last thought. We go beyond the gross, the subtle, and the causal. That is what we have to understand.

All the mountains, all the rivers, every created being — living or non-living — some samples are given, and that is all we need to know. The Aśva is only an excuse to make this contemplation. That is very important for us to understand. That is all.
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== The Second Section: Agni Brāhmaṇa ==
Now we enter into the second section, or second Brāhmaṇam. It is called the Agni Brāhmaṇam.

The Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad — I hope you remember — wants to talk about creation. According to the Taittirīya Upaniṣad, the Ātman manifested as space; space manifested as air; air became grossified as fire; fire became grossified into water; and water became grossified as earth (''Pṛthvī''). The whole universe that we experience is a culmination and combination of all these five elements.

When we come to the Chāndogya Upaniṣad, we have seen that only three elements are taken: Agni, Āpaḥ, and Pṛthvī. Now in this Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, comparing it with the Chāndogya Upaniṣad, the first is fire; fire gave birth to waters; and water gave birth to earth — three elements, and three colours have also been given. We have discussed this elaborately: everything in this world consists of three colours, and even scientists have made the same discovery.

But in this particular place in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, the first creation is waters. That means water is the cause: Brahman becomes waters, waters give birth to fire, and fire gives birth to Pṛthvī. This is how it is described here.
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== Do Not Be Confused by Different Accounts of Creation ==
Now, do not go on getting confused because different Upaniṣads seem to say different things. The real purpose of the Upaniṣad is not to talk about creation. We think there is a creation, and creation is absolutely real so far as we are concerned. The teachers come down to our level.

There was a prince who used to think that a living snake had entered his stomach and was slowly growing. His stomach became bloated, and he was always fearful. Most people tried to cure him but could not. Then one clever man said, "I will easily cure him." He gave the prince a strong laxative at night, and the prince had a great purge. Immediately, that man had an assistant bring out a dead snake from outside and place it in the toilet. As soon as the prince came out, the man displayed it and said, "My medicine has worked. You have discharged that snake. Now you are free." It is all a psychological process. In fact, most of our diseases, according to psychologists, are only because of our psychological fears. People can even have a heart attack if they are terrified of something excessively.
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== The Real Purpose of Describing Creation ==
The point is: the purpose of describing creation is not to say that creation is real. It is to take us step by step. This creation is an effect. Every effect must have a cause. That cause will have its own cause. That third cause will have a fourth cause. But we must come to the highest cause, which is itself causeless — in other words, it is eternal. And that which is eternal can only be infinite, and that which is infinite can only be eternal. Another name for it is Brahman.

Just to distinguish it from confusion with ''Brahma'' (the creator), one extra "n" is added. Actually, in Advaita Vedānta, we do not use the word with "um" — it is simply ''Brahma'', short. Tamil names will have that extended ending — but it is only ''Brahma''.
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== Agni as the Subject of the Second Brāhmaṇa ==
So in this second Brāhmaṇa, there is actually a praise of Agni. Now, to praise someone, that person must be existing. So if you find somebody who is really great, who is very popular and very famous, naturally curiosity arises: Who is his father? When was he born? How long did he live? What did he do? All these questions come. For that purpose, people go on publishing biographies — short ones if they are not admirers, long ones if they are.

Here, Agni is eulogised. Why Agni? Because our very living itself is only because of Agni. Think of it — fire. Even your computer: ''ṭhaṇḍā ho gayā'' — if it is not going to work, it must be fiery. Your rocket — America was able to do so many things recently — it is all fireworks. And Dīpāvalī: we have small fireworks, but they have big fireworks. The difference is that there, fire can kill numberless people.
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== Agni as the Source of All Life ==
The point here is that Agni is eulogised — uplifted as a great person. Why does the Upaniṣad want to do that? Not water, not earth, but fire — because it is our sun that is the very embodiment of our own selves. We are all small, infinitely small, manifestations of the sun only. Because we are what we eat, and what we eat is a piece of the sun.

If you are eating for breakfast a hamburger, or toast, or a piece of bread, or anything — it is a piece of the sun. Food is a piece of the sun. And "the sun" means light and heat, and that heat portion is Agni — fire. Wherever there is fire, you can immediately see it from a great distance. And if you go near, you can feel the heat. Light and heat — this is the very cause of this entire creation.

So the Upaniṣad, as I mentioned earlier, wants to praise Agni as part of the contemplation on Agni. From that Agni, the entire creation has come. And as I mentioned — do not go on getting confused. The Taittirīya Upaniṣad says something which caused creation; the Chāndogya Upaniṣad says something else. Actually, even the Chāndogya Upaniṣad says first there is only Agni, and it produced waters, and waters produced food or Pṛthvī, and the entire creation is nothing but a combination of those three elements.
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== The Real Goal: Return to the Cause ==
As I mentioned just now, in this peculiar formulation, water is the cause of fire. But actually, everything is the cause of everything else — that is the truth. Anyway, this Sṛṣṭi — whether it is logical or illogical, and in which order it has to be presented — that is not the point at all. The point here is that this Sṛṣṭi is an ''ālambana'', a support. From here, slowly, like the young ones of the Homā bird, we have to climb back to the very cause of everything, which is Brahma. That is the real purpose.

Now, if we study the Upaniṣad without the commentary of Śaṅkarācārya, this is how we have to understand. These are the essential points: Sṛṣṭi is not important in itself. But because we think it is real, the Upaniṣad does not say it is unreal. The definition of the Upaniṣad of the word "unreality" is: seeing a big thing as a small thing — that is called unreal. That which is a small piece, that which is ever-changing, that which is always dependent upon something else — that is called unreality.

But in the end, the same Upaniṣad says: once you understand that everything is the manifestation — not creation, but manifestation — of Brahman, then you see a cow: that is Brahman. You see a dog: that is Brahman. You see a learned Brāhmaṇa: that is also Brahman. You see an eater of the flesh of a dog: he is also Brahman. You see an elephant: that is Brahman. You see a mosquito: that is also Brahman. Everything is Brahman. You see a mountain: that is also Brahman. Both the living and the non-living, the small and the big — no such distinction — everything is nothing but Brahman.

But this universal vision — that everything is Brahman — is possible only after reaching the cause. This is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa explains: this is not the roof. A man goes on climbing until he reaches the roof. And then, once he has the knowledge of the roof, when he comes down, the staircase is made of the same material as the roof, and all the steps are also made of the same material. All the rooms are made of the same material. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is articulating the same Upaniṣadic teachings in his own simple words.
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== Śaṅkarācārya's Ghaṭa Bhāṣyam ==
Here in this second section, Śaṅkarācārya wants to make a point. What is that? The very first mantra of the second section begins with a very peculiar statement — like what we get in the Bible: "God created the world out of nothing." Now, no rational person would ever accept that, because nothing can be created out of nothing. If something is to be created, there must be ''something'' — it must be something. No logical, rational thinking person can ever accept such a statement.

The commentators on the Bible itself explain: "God had no other material; He is everything; therefore He Himself is the creator." But there are some peculiarities of those scholars that I will not go into.

What the Upaniṣads tell us is that for every product — every ''Kārya'', every effect — there must be three causes: the material cause, the intelligent cause, and the instrumental cause. Therefore, since there is nothing else excepting Brahman, the logical conclusion is that He must be the material cause, He must be the intelligent cause, and He must be the instrumental cause.

To make us understand that point, practically every Upaniṣad gives the example of the dream. When any one of us enters the state of dreaming, we see exactly as in the waking state. Who is the intelligent cause? Myself. What is the material? My own mind. And my thoughts are the instrumental cause. My intention — there is always an intention. Because my dream and your dream would not be the same. A child dreams that lots and lots of lozenges are hanging just in front of him, but unfortunately out of reach. A poor man dreams that lots and lots of money-bags are hanging in front of him. Our desires are not different — only according to our growing knowledge do we think that this is more important, and after some time something else is more important, and after some time something else again. That is all.

The same baby does the same thing. So what is the point? The point is that Brahman alone — one without a second — if the statement of the Upaniṣad holds true that this entire universe had come out of Brahman, then in this world we see, as an example, a pot (''ghaṭa''). A pot must have these three causes: what is the material cause? Clay. What is the instrumental cause? The potter's wheel. What is the intelligent cause? The potter, who decides how big, how small, and what shape the pot should be.

So we see that everything must have a cause. Every effect must have a cause. Whatever we experience is an effect. And every cause must be of three types: material, intelligent, and instrumental. But before creation, only Brahman alone is — nothing else exists. Therefore, naturally, where are the three causes? And Advaita Vedānta proclaims loudly: He is the intelligent cause, He is the material cause, and He is the instrumental cause.
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== Why Did God Create at All? The Question of Līlā ==
Though it is not strictly necessary for us, because you are such intelligent listeners, I will tell you: why does God want to create all these things at all? Was He bored? For that, they say: no, nobody knows about it. There is no answer for it. That is why, when there is no answer, it is called ''Līlā''. But why does He want ''Līlā''? Why do I attend a drama? Because I am bored. So you cannot give the same argument to God. That is His will. You should not question what you cannot understand, because nobody can understand it and nobody can answer it. Therefore it is irrelevant why He did it.

But what is relevant is that we are limited — severely limited — and if you elect some bad president, that limitation will become even worse. How to get out of this limitation? That desire is expressed in the form of: "Is there a way out?" Yes, there is a way out. There is a beautiful saying: if there is a desire, there must be an object corresponding to that desire. If I want to become God, there must be a God — otherwise, the theory holds, such a desire would never arise. Do you ever desire to fly like a bird? Yes — and that is why you created the aeroplane. So that is the truth about it.
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== The Ghaṭa Bhāṣyam: Overview ==
Now, what am I going to talk about here? It is a hymn — a praise of Agni Devatā, or Brahman in the form of Agni. If we just read the Upaniṣad without a commentary, we get the translation alone. But Śaṅkarācārya wants to write a big commentary, and therein the word ''ghaṭa'' (pot) is used several times — many, many times. The Sanskrit word for pot is ''ghaṭa'', and therefore this commentary is popularly known as the ''Ghaṭa Bhāṣyam''.
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== The First Mantra of the Second Section ==
Why did this whole topic come up? So the Agni Brāhmaṇa — the second section of the first chapter of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad — the first mantra says:

नैवेह किञ्चनाग्र आसीत्, मृत्युनैवेदमावृतमासीत् अशनायया, अशनाय। हि मृत्युः तन्मनोऽकुरुत, आत्मन्वी स्यामिति । सोऽर्चन्नचरत्, तस्यार्चत आपोऽजायन्त; अर्चते वै मे कमभूदिति, तदेवार्कस्यार्कत्वम्; कं ह वा अस्मै भवति य एवमेतदर्कस्यार्कत्वं वेद ।। १ ।।

''Naiva iha kiñcana āsīt'' — "In the beginning, that is to say before creation, there was nothing whatsoever in this universe. By death, indeed, all this was covered — by hunger. For hunger is really death. 'Let me have a mind,' was his desire. And he created the mind. Then he moved about, worshipping himself."

Why was he worshipping himself? Because there was nobody else excepting himself.

"From him, thus worshipping, water was produced."

In fact, this applies to all of us. From birth to death, whom are we worshipping? Are you worshipping your mother and father? Yes. Why? Because they will give you food. For whom? For you. Why are you worshipping God? Because God will give you so many things — the four ''Puruṣārthas'': Dharma, Artha, Kāma, Mokṣa — everything He will give. It is all self-worship only. That is why one Svāmī advised me: "Be selfish." He was stating one of the greatest truths in spiritual life.

"Then he moved about, worshipping himself. From him, thus worshipping, water was produced. Verily, death thought: while I was worshipping, water was produced. That is why the ''artha'' (fire used in the horse sacrifice) is so called. Surely, happiness comes to him who knows how the fire came to be called ''artha''."

This is the first mantra of the seven mantras which we find in this second section.
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== The Problem of ''Naiva Iha Kiñcana Āsīt'' — Nothing Was There Before Creation ==
I am not going further except where absolutely necessary. Now, this Upaniṣad begins this topic — the ''Sṛṣṭi'' topic — with the statement ''naiva iha kiñcana nāsīt'': a tremendous statement that nothing was there before creation. This statement creates a big problem for all of us.

When we say nothing was there before creation, it looks as if the Upaniṣad is talking of the ''Śūnyavāda'', because there are some philosophers whose philosophy holds exactly the same thing: there was nothing, and then somehow creation started. They cannot explain it because there is no cause-and-effect relationship there. This is one of the Buddhist schools of philosophy called ''Śūnyavāda'' — ''śūnya'' means absolutely nothing.

As I mentioned, the Bible also says God created out of nothing. Everything comes out of nothing, and whatever comes out of nothing goes back into — what? Nothing. Because every effect must go back to its own cause — there is no doubt about it.
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== Śaṅkarācārya's Refutation via the Ghaṭa Example ==
Now, Śaṅkarācārya takes the example of a pot (''ghaṭa''). He analyses various theories of creation that existed at his time — by various schools of philosophy and various Ācāryas — and he dismisses them all as wrong. What does he want to say?

There must be a cause. And not only must there be a cause — that cause alone is the effect also. Let me simplify it for you.

You see a lump of clay. What do you see? You take it out, put your fingers in, spread it all over — do you see a pot? You don't see a pot at all. What do you see? A shapeless, formless lump of clay — that is all. It is formless.

Then what happens? You mix some water, make it into a thick paste, keep it on a wheel, shape it there, bake it, and then it becomes a pot. So now the question is: was the pot there, existing before, in that clay? One school of philosophy says there is clay, but there is no pot. But there are even bolder schools of philosophy — at least they think so. They say not only is there no pot, there is no clay either. Nothing — that is the ''śūnyavāda''. Nothing is there.

Śaṅkarācārya wants to prove that only a madcap — and madcaps are not considered ''Ācāryas'' — can think like that. So this is called the ''Ghaṭa Bhāṣyam''.
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== The Chain of Causes and the Causeless Cause ==
If you see an effect, there is no doubt — you must accept that there is a cause. And in this world, what is our experience? What we call the cause of any effect that we see is not the final cause.

For example: what is the cause of the pot? Clay. But clay itself is an effect of something else — it is a combination of earth (''pṛthvī'') and water. So there are two causes. What is the cause of water? What is the cause of mud, ''pṛthvī''? And then where has that come from? From water — and water is itself an effect. Where has water come from? From fire. And from where has fire come? From air — you know, when you go on churning, you produce fire. And that is another example: can you bring out butter out of nothing? That is one of the peculiar examples Śaṅkarācārya gives. If you can produce butter without milk, then you can produce butter out of anything — even out of water. Then you would not need to buy any milk at all.

So every cause must have its specific cause. What is the cause of yourself? Your parents. What is their cause? Their parents. Go on like that. Finally, you must come to a causeless cause — a final cause, which is eternal. "Eternal" means it does not change. That which does not change does not have any other cause. So it is special.

And then there are some wonderful ideas about what is called cognition and recognition. Everything is a piece of thought — beautiful ideas. They are not strictly necessary for our spiritual progress, but they certainly stimulate our intellect.
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== Conclusion ==
This we will take up in our next class and proceed further.

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

पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहुः ॥

''Om Jananīṁ 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 Introduction Lecture 05 on 07 February 2026

2026-05-21T23:06:45Z

Gopi: I changed the order of the text to match with Swamiji's audio.

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

= Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: Introductory Discourse =

== Opening Invocation ==
ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात्पूर्णमुदच्यते ।

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ॥

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

'''OM PŪRṆAMADAḤ PŪRṆAMIDAM PŪRṆĀT PŪRṆAMUDACYATE'''

'''PŪRṆASYA PŪRṆAMĀDĀYA PŪRṆAMEVA VAŚIṢYATE'''

'''OM ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI'''

'''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 to the Study ==
We have been studying the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. Still we are in the introductory stage.

In our last class, we had discussed a very very important point: what are called the means of obtaining right knowledge.

== Two Types of Knowledge ==
Knowledge is of two types:

=== 1. Worldly Knowledge (''Nitya'' or Changing Knowledge) ===
That which falls within the sensory organs, obtainable and obtained through the five senses plus mind. This is called worldly knowledge. In Vedantic terminology, it is called ''nitya'' or changing knowledge—not absence of knowledge, but limited, changing, dependent knowledge.

=== 2. Super-Sensory Knowledge (''Atīndriya Jñāna'') ===
The second type of knowledge pertains to things which are beyond the capacity of the sense organs, called ''atīndriya jñāna''.

I gave some examples: whether life is there after death, whether there are other worlds, whether there are other beings in other worlds, and whether there is God really existing. And as Hindus and a few others believe, whether the result of one's own past actions bears fruit in this life, called ''karma siddhānta''—whether it is real or not real. These truths cannot be obtained by any other means.

== The Six Means of Knowledge (''Pramāṇas'') ==
For this purpose, the Vedantic scholars—''ṛṣis'', actually—have found out six means, rather two instruments called ''pramāṇa''.

''Pramāṇa'' means the right instrument to obtain right knowledge pertaining to that particular instrument. As an example, telescope is the right instrument to see things which are far away in close proximity, and microscope is that which is to see almost invisible things, magnify them, see them very clearly. Each has its own separate utility and each cannot substitute the other.

=== The Problem of Emphasis ===
Knowledge also—both we require: worldly knowledge as well as super-sensory knowledge, ''atīndriya jñānam''. Our problem is we are placing too much emphasis on the worldly knowledge and judging even God by its standard.

=== The Six ''Pramāṇas'' ===
About these two ''pramāṇas'', or valid means of instruments—valid instruments of right knowledge—we discussed:

# '''Pratyakṣa''' (Direct perception)
# '''Anumāna''' (Inference)
# '''Upamāna''' (Comparison and analogy)
# '''Arthāpatti''' (Postulation or presumption)
# '''Anupalabdhi''' (Non-perception)
# '''Śabda Pramāṇa''' (Verbal testimony)

We also talked about ''āpta pramāṇa''—the knowledge of the people who have directly experienced God and other worlds, etc.—also called ''śāstra pramāṇa'', also called ''Veda pramāṇa''.

=== The Necessity of Both Types of Knowledge ===
These six means provide a complete knowledge of the mundane world. One important point we discussed: both are necessary.

For right knowledge, whether it is worldly or spiritual, always leads to better life, happier life, and healthy life, permanent life. So we have to use both, but in their own sphere.

== Scriptural Knowledge (''Veda Pramāṇa'') ==
Now coming to the ''Veda pramāṇa''—scriptural knowledge, ''Brahma vidyā'', knowledge of Brahman, which is also called ''ātma jñānam'' or "who am I"—my true nature is obtainable only through scriptural ''pramāṇa'', ''śabda pramāṇa'', Veda.

So a Bible is a Veda, and a Koran is a Veda; ''Tripiṭakas'' are the Vedas. But we have to be careful here: even in the Vedas there are so many types of information about worldly knowledge.

For example, how to attain spiritual progress—that doesn't fall under the ''śabda pramāṇa''; it falls under what we call sensory knowledge. You observe certain rules and regulations with regard to the body, with regard to the mind, then our life will be much better, happier, healthier, etc., yielding more happiness. But there is a limitation for this.

=== The Ultimate Purpose ===
So in the ''atīndriya jñānam'', the purpose is to lead us to that goal. Once anyone reaches that goal, then that is the end of evolution. He will become one with God, and that is the fate of everything in this world, living as well as non-living.

Of course, for that purpose, the non-living, the inorganic must become organic, slowly evolve. There is a wonderful truth discovered by Charles Darwin. We should not neglect—scientific knowledge is very valid, but within the sensory knowledge.

== The Meaning of ''Upaniṣad'' ==
So ''Brahma vidyā'' gives us the right knowledge, and that is also called ''Upaniṣad''.

So this ''Upaniṣad'' has two meanings:

=== Primary Meaning ===
The primary meaning of the word ''Upaniṣad'' is knowledge—that which destroys limitations and gives us right knowledge. Right knowledge is that knowledge which has no limitations.

=== Secondary Meaning ===
The second meaning of the ''Upaniṣad'' is the instrument through which these Upaniṣads are conveyed. For example, through the mouth of the guru, the words come out. That is only secondary means. One's own experience is the primary means.

Whatever I am talking in these classes, that is my understanding. I can only convey it through words, but you will have to listen carefully and make them your own. Nobody just by talking can give that knowledge.

Even Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa—he used to touch people, remove the obstruction so that the person can make his knowledge their own knowledge. Very cleverly he used to touch people.

=== ''Upaniṣad'' as Book and Knowledge ===
So one meaning of ''Upaniṣad'' is true knowledge conveyed through some instrument. That instrument is called the book, the ''Upaniṣad''.

So here ''śabda pramāṇa'' means every ''Upaniṣad'' is a book. That means words. What do the book or books contain? Words. Previously, when writing was not developed, it used to be processed, passed on and processed through words, through sounds coming out of the mouth in the form of words.

But words is not ''Upaniṣad''. The knowledge conveyed by the words is ''Upaniṣad''. And so long it is theoretical, it is not ''Upaniṣad''. It must become one's own practical knowledge. This we have to keep in mind.

== The Importance of Knowledge Over Words ==
How do we know? Because if ''Upaniṣad''—the book—can give us, then by this time we would have been free.

So all of us are repeating mantras. Mantras are nothing but certain repetition of certain sacred words. We should have got final knowledge. But we don't get, because those words have to be converted into really understanding, knowledge.

=== Knowledge Controls Our Actions ===
Only when it becomes knowledge, we are controlled by knowledge, right or wrong knowledge. This is a very important point.

If I believe truly this is the truth, then I am always controlled by what I know. If I know this bottle contains poison, even if it contains nectar, it can affect me. But if I think if somebody labels a bottle "this is poison," but I know the label is like that—inside it is pure nectar, ''amṛta'', which leads me to immortality—I cannot choose, because my knowledge never allows me to do anything other than what our knowledge directs us.

This is a wonderful point.

=== ''Vidyā'' and ''Avidyā'' ===
So if I don't have right knowledge, I will be having wrong knowledge. That is called ''avidyā''. ''Avidyā'' is not absence of knowledge, but wrong knowledge, wrong understanding. I will be guided.

For example, all of us are saying by mouth: everything in this world is temporary, changing, dependent, bringing in its aftermath only suffering. But though we are muttering these words, mouthing these words, but really speaking, we don't believe in it. But the day we believe, then we will be better people.

=== Example of Swami Brahmanandaji ===
Swami Brahmanandaji was about to give up the body. A doctor came with the name put in the form of three marks across his forehead. Maharaj looked at him and said, "Doctor, the name which you have put on your forehead alone is the reality, everything else..."

He was suffering from acute diabetes and he was feeling thirsty. He was asked if he would like to drink lemonade, and somebody—they already had prepared and kept it ready. When it was brought to him, he said, "Pour lemonade Brahman into Brahman." He knew everything was Brahman. He had not at that time, long before, but he did not express it in so many words all the time. But at this time, he could not hide. It came out openly.

=== What Destroys Ignorance? ===
So what is it that destroys ignorance, that destroys ''saṃsāra''? Is it the book or the knowledge gained from the book? Primarily, ''Upaniṣad'' means true knowledge. Secondly, the book is an instrument through which we can study the Gītā, Upaniṣads, Brahma Sūtras, Bible, Quran, Guru Granth Sahib, ''Tripiṭaka'', etc.

=== Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's Example ===
This is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa says: If you are reading an almanac and it is predicted this year so much of rain will come, fall, and you squeeze the almanac as much as you like—not one single drop of water will ever come out of it. Why? It contains only knowledge. We have to wait for that knowledge to experience in course of time.

So if mantras, muttering of mantras, doing ''japa'' of mantras could themselves destroy our ignorance, then there is no need to learn the meaning. Merely by recitation, one can obtain that knowledge.

== The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad ==
Now let us apply this to any ''Upaniṣad'', but especially since we are studying the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad.

=== Content and Teaching ===
Although the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad contains so many ''upāsanās''—that is, meditations—it contains most of the time the highest Vedantic teaching. And it is expressed in two forms:

=== ''Neti Neti'' (Not This, Not This) ===
''Neti, neti''—not this, what you know; not this ego with which you identify. That which is negotiating, negating, that is not Brahman. And that instrument, egotism itself is not Brahman.

''Na iti, na iti''—two words. Why? Use two words. First word is to deny the result, the knowledge obtained through the instrument. Second, to deny the instrument itself. Once that instrument is destroyed, negated or merged in Brahman, what remains will be Brahman, which is expressed in the form of ''ahaṃ brahmāsmi'', the ''mahāvākya''.

=== ''Bṛhat'' Means the Biggest ===
So all this, this is, as we discussed, one of the biggest. ''Bṛhat'' means the biggest—not only in size, in quality, in expression and containing the highest truths.

So this Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, if anyone studies, really speaking, he need not study any other ''Upaniṣad''. But the secret is, unless we start studying and absorbing slowly, beginning with perhaps Kaṭha Upaniṣad, then slowly Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad, then Īśāvāsya Upaniṣad, then Kena Upaniṣad—our ideas of understanding these Upaniṣads also will grow slowly. That is very important for all of us to understand.

And then when we enter into this either Chāndogya or Bṛhadāraṇyaka, our understanding will be much greater.

=== The 108 Upaniṣads ===
So all the important ideas contained in all the other Upaniṣads—some say there are 200, some say there are 108—but there is one ''Upaniṣad'' called Mukti Upaniṣad; there in 108 are mentioned. But Śaṅkarācārya has taken the trouble to write only commentaries—beautiful commentaries, unparalleled commentaries, most clarifying commentaries—on only 10 Upaniṣads. And Bṛhadāraṇyaka happens to be one.

=== Comprehensive Nature ===
So this Bṛhadāraṇyaka contains all the important teachings from every other ''Upaniṣad'', but we may not be immediately able to connect to them because of the change of language, metaphor, etc. This Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad is a complete comprehensive text.

So because it is big, if anyone asks where are these ideas, we can confidently answer: they are in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad. You go and search. Of course, most of the people cannot search because it is so big, but it is there.

== Śaṅkarācārya's Commentaries ==
Now, as I mentioned, Śaṅkarācārya had chosen—and he must have, he knew all the Upaniṣads by heart—and his intellect could remember like AI, everything instantaneously will find out the same idea is found in this ''Upaniṣad'', in that ''Upaniṣad'', in the other ''Upaniṣad''.

How do we know? Throughout his ''bhāṣyams'', "this idea is there somewhere in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka; this is there in the Īśāvāsya"—so he will quote the mantras themselves.

In those days, this classification—this is chapter 1, this is section 1, this is mantra number 4 or 5—that classification was not done at that time, but he would remember the mantras. And if you obtain the printed Upaniṣads in Sanskrit or their exact translations with Śaṅkara bhāṣya, you will see all these references in either parenthesis or openly, because that is Śaṅkara's methodology of substantiating what he wants to make us understand: that you refer to this, this is the idea there.

=== Need for Commentaries ===
And there are many ideas which we will never understand without Śaṅkara bhāṣya. The simple reason for that is, first of all, it is an archaic language. Secondly, there are so many words—as you know, language changes, is changing all the time.

Even now, I cannot understand certain words, even as recently as six months. What is it called? "Double down," "doubling down." I didn't understand. I know doubling means 2 into 2 is 4, 4 into 4 is 16. What does this mean, "doubling down"? That means a person emphasizes something very strongly, repeats it many times. That is called "doubling down."

So new, new words are added. Old words naturally go out of vogue. And so many words have gone out. And the mystics, the ''ṛṣis'', they also use certain words. And sometimes there doesn't seem to be any etymological connection between what they uttered and what the ''Upaniṣad'' wants to convey, but for the commentaries of people like Śaṅkarācārya.

=== The Ten Principal Upaniṣads ===
Śaṅkarācārya had written commentaries on 10 Upaniṣads. And Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad is the smallest, having only 12 mantras. Then Īśāvāsya Upaniṣad has 18 mantras. So like that, these are the two small mantras.

Like in Bhagavad Gītā, we have two chapters which have only 20 ślokas, 20 verses: the 12th chapter, Bhakti Yoga, and the 15th chapter, Puruṣottama Yoga. They are the smallest chapters in the whole of the Bhagavad Gītā, which has a totality of 18 chapters.

=== The Largest Commentaries ===
And of all the commentaries on these 10 Upaniṣads, naturally there are two Upaniṣads which are very big. First comes the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad. Second comes the Chāndogya Upaniṣad. And on Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, Śaṅkarācārya's commentary is the biggest.

=== Śaṅkarācārya's Literary Excellence ===
And Śaṅkarācārya's language is a superb language. Śaṅkarācārya's hymns, if you are studying, or his ''prakaraṇa granthas'', or his what is called Advaitic texts—a ''prakaraṇa grantha'' is a special type of book emphasizing particular theories and elaborating on them specially, like ''Dṛg Dṛśya Viveka'', then ''Viveka Cūḍāmaṇi'' (of course, the most one)—so like that, so many ''prakaraṇa granthas'', besides his hymns.

Even ''Prātaḥ Smaraṇa Stotram'', etc., there are also profound Advaitic truths. Then ''Nirvāṇa Ṣaṭkam'', ''Kaupīna Pañcakam'', ''Mānīṣā Pañcakam''—everything in a simplified way, the highest Advaita Vedānta is squeezed into.

=== Nature of Śaṅkara's Commentary ===
So Śaṅkarācārya's commentary on the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad—it is called Śaṅkara bhāṣyam—is one of the biggest, runs into hundreds of pages. And every ''Upaniṣad'' is practically in the form of a ''sūtra'', means very brief statement.

Why do we say brief statement? Because we have to remember these Upaniṣads are the expressions of realized souls. They have to use language. And at the time of their living, thousands of years back, there was the art of writing not developed yet. That is why it is called ''śruti''.

=== Meaning of ''Śruti'' ===
One meaning of Upaniṣads or Vedas is called ''śruti''. ''Śruti'' means the knowledge that passed from the mouth of the teacher in the form of the teaching or words. And these words are heard—hearing. ''Śruti'' means hearing. And this continued for a long lineage. That is why it is called ''śruti sampradāya''.

=== Development of the Purāṇas ===
And based upon this, what these people heard, and when they were teaching, they used to quote some worldly examples to clarify the points, simplify the points, etc. And later on, some of them took the most important points, wanted to present them to ordinary people who are sincere, who are trying to lead a spiritual life, but do not have access to Sanskrit language or even to a great teacher, in the form of Purāṇas, mythological stories.

And so many illustrations of kings, great sages and saints, great men—all these are illustrated in the form of stories, etc. Like as we see Amar Chitra Katha. It contains the essence without too much deviation from the original, but easily understandable by children. And we are all grown-up children, whom Swami Vivekananda used to call "moustached babies."

== The ''Sūtra'' System and Mnemonics ==
So the ''Upaniṣad'' is in the ''sūtra'' form. And the ''ṛṣi'' used to, or his disciple, used to try to understand it from the exposition of his guru. And every ''sūtra'' in a very abridged form, that also became a mnemonic. Mnemonic means a simple way of remembering.

So this is a system of improving. Most of you must know about it. If you are going to a shop to buy certain items, and your memory is not good, this system is very useful.

=== Example of Mnemonic Association ===
So I want to buy a kite for my child. So kite is played by the child. And the child requires milk, chocolates, etc. And there are wonderful chocolates. And these chocolates have to be preserved. So they have to be kept in refrigerator. And so I have seen today that refrigerator, milk is not there. So my wife reminded me of it. And biscuits are not there. And oats are not there. Breakfast cereal is not there.

So associating in a picturesque form, and containing—so all that you need to remember is that a kite, your child, and child plays with the kite. And after playing, he becomes hungry. Then he requires food, favorite food. And that food has to be preserved. And the place where we preserve is refrigerator. And refrigerator is meant for storing so many items. So all these things are to be done. So this is the mnemonic.

=== How the ''Sūtra'' System Worked ===
So as soon as this ''sūtra'', first ''sūtra'' is stated, what it means—a brief explanation, then expansion of that expression, which is called ''vyākhyā'' or commentary. So as soon as a disciple remembers this ''sūtra'', all that he has to memorize is this ''sūtra''.

And the teacher, skillful teachers, they weave a web of beautiful stories, illustrations, analogies, metaphors. And parables etc., like Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, immediately he remembers it.

But in course of time, these people who knew what the teacher had taught has been lost. The ''sūtra'' remained. But these great souls, like Śaṅkarācārya, Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, from their own respective point of view, they try to interpret.

But I think nobody could explain so beautifully word by word concept of this commentary. And Śaṅkara's language is also superb language, very mellifluous language. Like Jayadeva's ''Gīta Govinda'', like ''Kṛṣṇakarṇāmṛtam'', ''Abhilo Maṅgala''—even the very language attracts us so much.

== The Three Philosophical Schools ==
So our learned and experienced teachers, like Swami Vivekananda, they divide these. They also say, ''dvaita'' is the state in which we should be. We are not in the state of ''dvaita''. Not even in the state of ''dvaita''. Why? We are all seeing difference. That's not the point.

=== ''Dvaita'' (Dualism) ===
''Dvaita'' believes God exists—a firm, sincere, absolute faith: God exists. But I am not God. God is not me. He contains everything. But He is separate from everything. We are all separate from each other. And the world is separate from God. God is separate from us. God is separate from the world. God is separate from each ''jīva''. He is separate from everything. There are five differentiations Madhvācārya gives, or ''dvaita'' philosophy gives.

So that is the state. What is it? Definitely, 100% God exists. Okay. Then I have a lot of desires. I have to pray to Him. And He is very compassionate. And He will fulfill if I sincerely pray to Him. His grace descends. And therefore I have to pray.

Even though I am seeing the difference, even though I have a lot of worldly desires, but more and more I try to rely upon God rather than upon cleverness—how to become rich? How to obtain a position? How to flatter? How to butter other people so that I can get their ''ucchiṣṭa'', livings? No. I pray to God.

So it takes great spiritual practice even to become a ''dvaitin''.

=== ''Viśiṣṭādvaita'' (Qualified Non-dualism) ===
Then this next step is: so not only God is different, but He is also one. He is everything. Everything is in Him. Like a body, our physical body contains billions and billions of cells. Every cell is different. One cell dies. Another cell is born. Every cell has its own specialized function. So one cell cannot replace the other cell. But all are related. This is called ''viśiṣṭādvaita''.

God is everything. In that everything, everything is contained in God. He pervades everything. But everything is different from everything. But at the same time, everything is related to everything. And we are all related. So this is called ''viśiṣṭādvaita''. It is called unity in diversity. There is diversity. But there is also unity. This is a higher progress in our right understanding.

=== ''Advaita'' (Non-dualism) ===
Then comes the final understanding: there is no difference. Everything is only Brahman. We can't even call it one. Simply we have to experience.

So God is, has to be transformed into "I am that God." ''Brahma asti'' must be transformed into ''brahma asmi''.

=== Swami Vivekananda's Interpretation ===
This is how Swami Vivekananda interpreted: the lowest step leading to a higher step, and that middle step leading to the highest step.

So there is no need for us to quarrel which is right, which is no. But of course the ''ācāryas'', their followers, they never cease to quarrel. They always think their teacher is correct. That is the highest philosophy. And everybody else is ignorant, if not downright stupid and evil.

== Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's Teaching ==
This is how we have to understand through the eyes of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's teachings and Holy Mother's teachings and Swami Vivekananda, direct disciples, that teacher of our lineage.

That is what Ramana Maharshi has also taught exactly, and that is squeezed into one beautiful aphorism: that is called, "Your sincerity is the only condition you need. Be sincere."

''Śraddhāvān labhate jñānam''—Bhagavad Gītā, 17th chapter. It affirms anybody who is sincere, because sincerity is a manifestation of divinity, and that person in course of time, God makes him understand the right thing. He manifests in the form of right understanding. And devotees also pray to Mother Gāyatrī.

=== Advaita Accommodates All ===
So this is how we have no quarrel within. Advaita has no quarrel with anybody. It accommodates everybody. So whatever accommodates everything without any conflict and yet becomes most beneficial and helpful—that is the take up by Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa and Swamiji, Holy Mother, direct disciples and their lineage, all of us.

== Ādi Śaṅkarācārya's Organization ==
So this commentary by Śaṅkarācārya—and we have to call him Ādi, original Śaṅkarācārya. Why? Because he established four centers.

=== The Four ''Maṭhas'' ===
He had four important disciples. He had many disciples, but four most important disciples. And all these disciples, being a very wise man—not only spiritually but practically—he knew that when two Indians, be they householders or monks, soon they start quarreling, overpowered by ''mahāmāyā'', egotism, and they start, they spoil the whole lot.

And wisely Śaṅkarācārya divided the whole of India into four parts: the East, the North, the West and the South. Established four branches called ''maṭhas'', and each one of his disciples he established as the guiding head of each center. And he told them, "Your sphere of sovereignty will be only this area, so the other person cannot come."

=== The Ten Monastic Orders ===
And if you want to guide some disciples, Śaṅkarācārya had created ten names, and three he had given to Śṛṅgeri Pīṭha, and sometimes two, sometimes three according to what he foresees right to the other three centers.

So these Śaṅkarācāryas had only the right, if they are giving monastic names, accepted monastic disciples, they can only pass on that particular name which their guru has given—Bhāratī, etc.

== Sureśvarācārya's ''Vārtika'' ==
So every ''Upaniṣad'' is in the form of the ''sūtras''. That is why commentaries are required. And if we are sincere, God provides us. God himself comes down in the form of these great ''ācāryas''.

And so these great ''ācāryas'', they expound each one of them according to their understanding. And what these people understand is suitable for a particular type of people.

=== Sureśvarācārya's Contribution ===
Then his own disciple, Sureśvarācārya—he studied this his guru's bhāṣyam, and he felt as a separate person, perhaps if this is interpreted in this way it would make better sense. So he wrote another commentary on Śaṅkara bhāṣya, and it goes by the name ''vārtika''.

This Sureśvarācārya has got a title: is called ''vārtikakāra'', because he has written three ''vārtikas''—that is, commentaries upon his own commentary upon his guru's commentary—on Taittirīya Bhāṣyam, Śaṅkarācārya, and on Dakṣiṇāmūrti Stotra, called ''Mānasollāsa''.

So that is how we get three ''vārtikas'', and a ''vārtika'' is even much bigger than the original Śaṅkarācārya's commentary.

=== Three Aspects of ''Vārtika'' ===
So what is the specialty of this commentary upon the commentary? It is:

# '''Uktam''' (Properly stated) - What has been said by his guru, if the disciples understand this is absolutely right, he keeps it as it is, trying to express it in his own words without any change.
# '''Duruktam''' (Improperly stated) - There are some expressions of his own guru; he, the disciple Sureśvarācārya, might think perhaps if this meaning is added or replacing what his guru has written, it will give a more unified meaning, better meaning, easy to comprehend. ''Duruktam'' means not properly interpreted, but because he is a ''śiṣya'', disciple with tremendous ''śraddhā'', it is not a criticism; it is only improving his guru's commentary.
# '''Anuktam''' (Not stated) - Some places maybe Śaṅkarācārya should have commented but did not comment; then Sureśvarācārya steps in and completes what he thinks should have been included by his guru. This is called ''anuktam''—not commented upon.

So improperly commented upon, and rightly commented upon, and all these three aspects in his own language—Sureśvarācārya (''ācārya'' means a teacher; Sureśvara was his name)—so what he had written goes by the name ''vārtika''. That's why he was called ''vārtikakāra'', author of the ''vārtikas''. So that is the specialty about Sureśvarācārya ''vārtika''.

== Śaṅkarācārya's Introductory Commentary ==
Now Śaṅkarācārya—he has got a very specialty. What is that specialty? That on every ''Upaniṣad'', before his commentary starts on the original text, he writes an introduction. That is called ''sambandha bhāṣya''.

''Sambandha bhāṣya'' paves the way to what is about to come, and certain concepts he wants to explain in a better way. So this is what is called introductory bhāṣyam.

=== Purpose of the Introduction ===
And through this introductory commentary, Śaṅkarācārya wants to elucidate, make clear to people like us that whenever you come across certain words—for example, ''karma'', for example, ''upāsana'', for example, ''jñānam''—what do they mean? What relationship they behave to each other? And what the opponents, what is their opinion about these concepts? Because to understand the commentary, we have to have very good comprehension of these basic concepts.

== Division of the Vedas: ''Karma Kāṇḍa'' and ''Jñāna Kāṇḍa'' ==
So in this bhāṣya, so what Śaṅkarācārya wants to say: what is the relationship between ritual and knowledge, between ''karma kāṇḍa'' and ''jñāna kāṇḍa''?

As you know, as we all know, that according to the classical classification, every Veda is divided into ''karma kāṇḍa'' and ''jñāna kāṇḍa''.

=== Purpose of ''Karma Kāṇḍa'' ===
''Karma kāṇḍa'' is a preparation for making every spiritual, sincere spiritual aspirant to convert him into a really speaking fit, worthy spiritual aspirant. And what would be the obstacles? Unfulfilled desires.

So fulfill some desires. The Veda ''karma kāṇḍa'' part of the Vedas do not say, "Go on doing this forever and ever." No, no, no. Do it, fulfill some of your desires.

That is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa used to say: "Fulfill some small desires." Big desires, when they come, did Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa say that you fulfill them? Definitely he said if your desire is strong, you have no other way but to fulfill them.

=== The Problem of Desire Fulfillment ===
And whenever we fulfill—like Raktabīja, like the demon called Raktabīja—every fulfillment increases the thirst, strengthens the desire, and suffering is inevitable. And after some such experiences we wake up and say, "How can I have this ānanda without suffering?"

Then says, "You now go to the next step," that is called: add mental contemplations called ''upāsanas'', about which I will briefly discuss in our next class, because very important to understand what is a ''upāsana''.

== Conclusion of Introduction ==
So this is how Śaṅkarācārya bhāṣya is there. It is huge.

=== ''Upāsana'' as Bridge Between ''Karma'' and ''Jñāna'' ===
What is a ''upāsana''? It is a link, a bridge between ''karma kāṇḍa'' and ''jñāna kāṇḍa''. On the one hand, it reduces the physical rituals into purely mental rituals. On the other hand, it relates every ritual to a higher aspect of divinity called Gods, and in our terminology: first to Virāṭ, then to Hiraṇyagarbha, then to Īśvara, and finally to Brahman. There is no other way. Step by step we have to go through them.

=== Spiritual Evolution ===
Some people are fortunate because they have practiced already—not that they have fallen from the sky and they find themselves ready to enter into ''jñāna kāṇḍa''. No, no, no. They have practiced so long.

Like some of the musical geniuses, like Mozart, for example—how many ''janmas'' he had practiced, God alone knows. But in this life his talents have come to the fore, and he started manifesting them, and he became unparalleled, great, one of the greatest creators of symphonies, etc.

But Hindus must believe this is the accumulated result of many, many years of prolonged practice—any field: scientific field, aesthetic field, or administrative field. Some are born with higher intelligence, some are with lower, but everybody will evolve: both mentally, intellectually, aesthetically, morally, finally Spiritually. There is no other way. So we will have to understand what is this upasana, how it works, which we deal in our next class.

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

पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहुः ॥

''Om Jananīṁ 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]]