Aitareya Upanishad Lecture 19 on 07 October 2023

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

We are in the third chapter of the Aitareya Upanishad. It has only four mantras. And in this chapter only we get the Mahavakya. So just to remind ourselves what we discussed in our earlier classes. There were some Brahmins. There were Adhikaris. Brahmana means one who is desirous of obtaining Mukti or realizing Brahman. Those who are longing with intense yearning to realize Brahman is called a Brahmana. And the discussion started in this third chapter. The very first mantra expresses it. OM KO AYAM ATMAITI PAYAM UPASMAHE KATA RAHASA ATMA ENAVA PASHYATI ENAVA SHRUNOTI ENAVA GANDHAN AJIGRATI ENAVA VACHAM VYAKAROTI ENAVA SVADHUCHA ASVADHUCHA VIJANATI So apparently these Brahmanas, Sadhakas, through study, under the guidance of a great teacher, they heard it, they pondered over it, meditated over it, and they have come to this firm realization that whatever we do, there are two things, two eyes. One, the participating eye. Another, the witnessing eye. What is the problem? It is the participating eye. If we identify ourselves with this changing, participating eye, that is called Samsara, Pandhana, because it is many, it is limited, it is changing, it is dependent, which is called, in other words, Mithya. Mithya means that which is dependent, that which is always changing, and that which is limited completely, that is called Mithya. But what we want is that which is completely independent, that which is not dependent upon anything, but not merely that, that which gives me eternity, infinity, and indescribable, unbroken happiness called Ananda, Sat Chit Ananda. So, Katarahasa Atma. So until now, we are doing this Upasana of Bhagawan. Is that Bhagawan separate from us? Is He going to be eternally separate from us? That means whatever is separate from us, it is called object. So an object, God cannot be, Brahman cannot be an object. So, there are two eyes, one Atman, the witnessing Atman, another is the participating Atman. Katarahasa Atma, because we are aware of both. Now the confusion is, which is this Atma? Enava Pashyati, that Atman, that eye, which says, I see, I am a seer. Enava Shranoti, I hear, I am a hearer. Enava Gandhan Aajighrati, by which one smells all the smells. So, I am the smeller. Enava Vaacham Yakaroti, by which I express all my feelings, thoughts, emotions in the form of speech. Vaacham Yakaroti, so I am the speaker. Enava Swadhu Cha Aswadhu Cha Vijayanath, by which I know what is pleasant, what is unpleasant, what is tasty, what is not tasty. It means whatever I do, by the body, by the mind, by the pancha, jnana endriyas, and the mind, antah karana. So, that is one eye, and that which is without participating, separate, and then witnessing, which is this eye. This is the essence of it. And I also have mentioned this, this is just to remind ourselves. Shankaracharya, in his introduction says, Kechit Brahmanaha. Brahmanaha means Adhikaris, Satvaguna Pradhanaha. Those who have developed Satvaguna, so that they want only spirituality and nothing else. So, whom should we really contemplate upon? So, that we are in such a Parabrahman. So, what about this changing eye, the intellect, the buddhi, or the body? That is not real Atma. Why is not real Atma? Four reasons are given by Shankaracharya. First of all, Karana Roopatva. All these are instruments. So, an instrument is always meant to serve the purpose of somebody else. That is the first reason. Second reason, Vikara Roopatva. That is, everything is changing, every second. Time, subject to time. Time means change. So, that is why birth, growth, old age, disease, and suffering, and death. These are called Shadvikara. This is called Vikara. Vikara means ever-changing. That is the second reason. Jada Roopatva. Jada means inert. That means, if the consciousness, awareness, in the form of Chidabasa is absent, then they will never be able to work. If I am not aware, my body cannot do anything, mind also cannot do anything. This is called Jada. And Jada doesn't know, even doesn't know that it is Jada. So, even a fool doesn't know he is a fool, he is a Jada. Even to know I am a fool requires tremendous amount of objectivity and courage to accept that I am a fool. And who says I am a fool can never be a fool. So, Jada Roopatva is the third reason. And Sanghata Roopatva. This is a Mimamsaka introduced here. A very marvellous philosophical idea. What is it? Sanghata means a combination. For example, there is a clock. A clock is a combination. A house is a combination. A car is a combination. A cycle is a combination. Everything in this world is a combination. And so, the principle is whatever is a combination, it is always meant, it is Jada, inert and it is meant actually for the use of somebody else. For example, whether it is a house, a car or an aeroplane or whatever it is, it is meant for a living being, a conscious being, purposefully he makes it. This is called Sanghata. So, four reasons. Karana, instrumentality. Vikara, changefulness. Jada, inertness. Sanghata, combination. Because of all these reasons, it cannot be Chaitanyam. That is why even Brahma Kargavati is not there. So, but is there something else? Yes, here comes another very beautiful, subtle intellectual point. If I say that something is Jada, then necessarily I have to say there is something which is not Jada. If I say it is cold, I necessarily I must know what is opposite of cold. Then only I say this is cold, this is black and this is happiness and this is male etc. It automatically indicates that which is the opposite of it. This is called Dwandwa. And without this Dwandwa idea, it is impossible to get any sort of knowledge. That is why in deep sleep, there is no Dwandwa. That is why we don't know. Even if a dog is pausing over us with a lifted leg, we will never know about it. So, these are the things. Now we come to something else. The body is going to act as an instrument. What does it do? It becomes an instrument. An instrument is always meant for a conscious being. So, both the body and mind are instruments. But without the body, the mind cannot function. Without the body, the mind will not be able to get anything. Just as if you are within a house, there are no doors or windows. It is completely sealed up. You will not know what is happening outside. Like that, if the mind comes to know and to interact and then to form feelings, etc., it does require the help of the physical body, which consists of five senses of knowledge, inputs, and five organs of action. I call them output. If there is input, there must be output. First, there must be output. That is, I must be able to see through the eye, hear through the ear, smell through the nose, taste through the tongue, and touch through the skin. And then I have to decide what to do with this. Is it acceptable, not positive, negative? Is it desirable, undesirable? All these thoughts can come only when first the knowledge comes in. And that knowledge, what we call, whenever we say, for example, I see a tree, I see a man, that means I see a tree is a thought. I see a man is a thought. So every experience comes in the form of the thoughts. And so, in the next mantra, all these thoughts have been roughly divided into 16 categories. And then the Aitareya Rishi, or also called otherwise Mahidasa, calls them. What does he call them? These are Namadhyani. Pragnanasya Namadhyani. Pragnana means Brahma. Pure consciousness, Shuddha Chaitanyam. And that Shuddha Chaitanyam, it reflects in our minds. It is called Chidabhasa, reflection of the consciousness. And this Chidabhasa, mind plus the body, this is called Jivatma. Body plus mind plus Chidabhasa, this is called Jivatma. And so the Jivatma experiences with the help of the inert instruments called the mind and body. But it lends, as it were, the awareness and that is called Chidabhasa. And the experience results in what is called Gnanam. Gnanam means knowledge. Knowledge in what form? In the form of thoughts called Vrittis. And to distinguish one experience from the other experiences, everything has to be given a name. That is why the Rishi calls them, all these are Pragnanasya Namadhyani. So every Vritti, it is possible only because of the Chidabhasa. But just like supposing you meet ten people and you are not introduced, you don't know their names. So you want to interact with them. How do you do it? You don't know who is what. So you have to say you, you, you, you. But somebody fortunately introduces them. This is Rama, this is Krishna, etc. And then you say, I want Rama. Hey Rama, listen to me. Hey Krishna, listen to me. Hey Devadatta, listen to me. So what is the function of a name? To separate every object from the particular object we want to interact with. That is the function of the Nama. So all Vrittis, all thoughts, all mentations also have got different. One is happiness, another is unhappiness. So if you want to tell, I am unhappy person. Oh, I am a very happy person. Of course, that is what we do. Hypocritical that we are. Whenever we see somebody, I have passed first class. Oh, congratulations, I am very happy. But really I am not happy because my dull, idiotic eldest son has not even passed the examination. So I am not happy that if my fellow had at least passed, I have some reason to congratulate. So this is how we have learned how to be hypocritical. It is necessary in the society. You can't go on telling, I am jealous of you, I hate you, etc. Then society cannot go on. We have to pretend we love each other. Husband says, I love you. And wife says, I love you. Children say, I love, we love you. And parents also say, we love you. All the while thinking especially about the daughters. How soon are you going to grow up? Because you are called a duhita, milker of the family. Anyway, what are we talking about? Every experience that we have, that is called a thought. And every thought has to be separated from every other thought. So we actually give the names, cleverness, intelligence, all-knowing, dullness, stupidity, and what we call instantaneous recognition, etc., etc. So to separate one thought from the other, one type of experience from the other type of experience, we have to give names to these different experiences. All the experiences are in the form of thoughts, mentations, or vrittis. So in the next mantra, 16 such names are named, enumerated. But we should not think there are only 16. For example, after going through all those things, we have to say that this is kama, this is krodha, this is lobha, this is moha, this is mada, this is matsarya, etc. So happiness, unhappiness, creativity, non-creativity, dullness. So many feelings are there. So many different names should be there. But we have to add, the Upanishads need not go on prolonging all these things. But they have roughly classified into 16 names. We can include all these within a subclass, etc. That is very important. Now what is the point of all these naming? Because what does a name do? A name specifies a particular object or person. Every name separates everything else from one particular object, one particular person. It is to separate one object from everything else, we require a specific name. That is the normal convention. But in this Upanishad, we get abnormal convention. What is that? Every thought points out to only one object. We need not call it object. We can call it being. What is that being? Shuddha chaitanyam. Simple example I will give before I go further. For example, I see a tree. How do I know it is a tree? How do I know I am seeing? Because there is awareness. I am aware I see a tree. I am aware I see a man. I am aware I see a table. So every name points out, because of awareness, I am able to see, to hear, to smell, to touch, to taste, and experience happiness, unhappiness, anger, lust, jealousy, desire, and everything that we get. But what is the point? The point is we should not be identified with the participating I. Because of whose presence, I am really able to experience everything. Because of whose absence, I can never experience anything. I will be like a dead person. It is to point out that one being, because of whom we are able to experience everything else. This is the point. And what is that? Prajnanam. How do we know? Because the Upanishad, the Rishi himself says, Prajnanasya namadheyani. Here namadheya means names. Names of the Prajnanam. But we can interpret it in a slightly different way. Instead of saying namadheyani, names, we can say these are the manifestations. Prajnanam, that is pure consciousness, manifests as seeing, as hearing. And this idea has been explored in many other Upanishads that the real seer, the real hearer, the real smeller is different. But the body and mind are only instruments. So the real hearer is Paramatma only, nobody else. That means the normal ahankara that we have, it doesn't exist at all. We are unnecessarily claiming that I am the seer, I am the seer, I am the hearer, I am the taster. No. Paramatma, Shuddha Chaitanyam alone is the real hearer, real seer, real karta, real bhokta. And if we can understand it, we will get mukti. And that is the real purpose. So this is what pratibodha vidita. In Kena Upanishad, when we are discussing it, we have seen that pratibodha. Here bodha means meditation. Here what is called prajnanasya namadhyani. In Kena Upanishad, it is called bodha. Bodha means awareness. What is aware? I am aware of a tree, aware of a human being, aware of a table, etc. Different names are used. Here it is used namadhyani. There it is used bodha. But pratibodha, every thought reminds us that it is Paramatma. And that is the essence of Purusha Suktam also. sahasrashirsha purushaha sahasrakshaha sahasrapat All heads are His. All eyes are His. All ears are His. All hands are His. All feet are His. In fact, nothing else exists excepting that Paramatma. So this is just to remind ourselves. Why am I reminding? Because the whole purpose of spiritual practice is to get rid of ism or tism. What is this ism or tism? Egotism. Egoism. So ego means aham. And aham means Paramatma. But ahamkara, I am a man, I am, is Paramatma. I am plus man, that is called ahamkara. That kara has to be gotten rid of. Aham can never be gotten rid of. So when I become aham, then there is no second. Because to say, I am a man, that means I am denying. I am not a woman. I am not a tree. I am not a table. I am not a dog. I am not a donkey, etc. But to say aham, that means, this is called sarvatma bhava. Pramatma bhava. I am everything. Even that I am everything is that expression. Everything is also because of the mind. But really, I am. Oham, brahma. Aham, brahma, asmi. That is also an expression. So, last class I introduced the second mantra also. What we call hridayam is mind. What we call mind is hridayam. Don't go on separating those two. And what is the nature of this manas? Manas means thoughts. Mentations. Called vrittis. Chitta vrittis. And these chitta vrittis are of 16 types. What are they? Agnanam. Vijnanam. Pragnanam. Medha. Drishti. Dhriti. Matehi. Manisha. Jyoti. Smriti. Sankalpah. Ratuh. Asuh. Kamah. Vashah. Etc. And then in the end. Pai. Paiyariyo. Orishe. Enumerating all these. All these are called different names. Different manifestations of Pragnana. Pragnana here means Brahman. And that is also beautifully enumerated in the third mantra. Which we will talk about it. If there is time. Today itself. These are called. And all these are different manifestations. But in order to separate one particular vritti from other vritti. Happiness vritti from unhappiness vritti. Anger vritti from desire vritti. Etc. Different names are given. How many? 16. But as I mentioned. It need not be 16. In fact. Etc. We have to add. And the example I have given. Kamah. Krodha. Lobha. Moha. Madama. They have not been mentioned here. You can add any number of them. Because vrittis are innumerable. So expressions are also innumerable. So the names also must be innumerable. Now we will briefly go through. What are these 16? First is Sanyanam. What is Sanyanam? A general basic awareness. What is it? Every living creature is aware I exist. Every living creature is completely aware. Both in the waking state and dream state. And very vaguely in the deep sleep state. I am. I am. Aham Asmi. Aham Asmi. That is called Sanyanam. Then Agnanam. Don't split it as Agnanam. Agnanam. Means what? Superior knowledge. Superior awareness. There are some people. Their knowledge. For example. Einstein. Beethoven. Kalidasa. Bhavabhuti. Varnabhatta. Swami Vivekananda. Etc. Swami Rama Teertha. Ramana Maharshi. Their knowledge is extraordinary. I will give you a sample. Taking the life of Ramana Maharshi. You know when our mothers, women cook. Especially brinjal curry. What do they do? The stem is attached to the brinjal. They cut off that portion. And throw it away. This is sheer ignorance. So one day Ramana Maharshi entered into the kitchen. And he observes with a thousand eyes. Because he had practiced it while he was doing sadhana. Immediately noticed a huge basket full of these things that were thrown out. We call them stems attached to the brinjals. He said Rama Rama. Here you are throwing them away. You know we can make a very beautiful curry out of it. The lady said we never heard about it. Today I will teach you. So he asked them, washed them, cut them into small pieces. Started boiling. It takes a little bit more time. Because they are a little bit tough. And he added the appropriate spices. And then by that time the devotees had also prepared brinjal curry. And then they both were served. And then the demand that day was for Ramana Maharshi's special item in the restaurant. That it is so tasty. They threw out the brinjal curry. And only enjoyed the stem. Cooked with stem. So one meaning of agnanam is piseshagnanam. That means apathagnanam. They have got tremendous amount of knowledge. Only Parameshwara has complete knowledge. But there are yogis, there are people, much more knowledge. Here Ramakrishna for example, he has got tremendous knowledge. So without wasting a single matchstick, he will use every matchstick to produce a light. Whereas people like us go on wasting it. This is called agnanam. So this is what Shankaracharya says. A superior consciousness to know many things. Agnanam. Asamantat agnanam. And there are some people who have got also trikala agnanam. In Andhra there was one person. And he was called Brahmam. And then he was supposed to have written a book about the future events etc. The point is not whether it is right or wrong. There are people who could know even about the past, about the future etc. Third is vijnanam. What is vijnanam? Piseshagnanam. Somebody can cook well. Somebody can sing well. Somebody can play well. Somebody can play what is called instrumental musical instruments. And so somebody can play what is called tabla etc. Rithanga etc. And so some people have got tremendous knowledge. Some people are specialists. Maybe special brain surgeons, heart surgeons etc. Piseshagnanam. Then fourth one is pragnanam. Pratibha agnanam. And here the interpretation that is given is when one is suddenly confronted and one has to reply many of us we become mute. But many people they have got that what is called samayaspurthi. They know how to recollect something and then express it. So this is called pragnanam. Don't let us not identify this pragnanam with brahman. These are manifestations of pragnanam not brahman. So tatkalika pratibha. Then medha. Some people have special intelligence to understand for example the meanings of scriptures. Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita etc. That is why we pray. Medhadevi, Joshamanaana, Agar, Vishvachi, Bhadrasu, Manasyevana, Tvaya, Joshka, Shirbhautadevi, Tvaya, Brahma, Agatasri, Rutatvaya is called medhasopana. I hope you remember it. Then trishti. Sixth is trishti. Perception. When some people say they don't say anything. When some people see, they can see it much better because they are focusing, they are concentrating, they are analysing. So they have better knowledge, better understanding, right knowledge. This is called trishti. And trishti also, there are many other things are there. Kudrushti, Sudrushti. That is why in the vicharasagram we have got tatvadrushti and adrushti. All these names are there. Then we get seventh trishti. Trishti means the capacity to preserve any thought for a specified length of time is called trishti. Then mati. Mati means mananaselanam. What does it mean? The capacity to reflect. That is why mananaselavan is called muni. So we use the word munihi, rishihi. Muni means he has got the capacity to dwell until the idea becomes very clear. Until all the doubts are completely removed. And in fact this is the second step in spiritual progress according to jnana marga. First is shramana, second is manana and third is nidhidhyasana. Becoming what one knows to be the right thing. This is called matihi. Then ninth is called manisha. Manisha means here free will. Even though I may be in society. For example, you attend a party. Everybody is drinking. And you also want to drink. But not the wine. Not intoxicating. But I want just a soft drink. Or I want only water. So that is also called drinking. This is this idea. If I drink this understanding. Then I will be the loser. I don't want to drink. That capacity of free will. Performing things. Living a life. Free life. That is called manisha. That is why a human being doesn't deserve the name manushya. That is what Shri Ram Krishna's interpretation. Manushya. A person who doesn't know how to live independently. Always totally dependent. That person is unfit to be called a human being. This is called manisha. Swatantra Jeevana. Then jyotihi. Jyotihi means is mentioned a little bit. Dukham. That is one type of depression. One type of unhappiness. To feel. Because things did not happen according to our will. Or things happened to other people. Which we did not wish to happen to the other people. Bringing jealousy etc. And dukham. That is called jyotihi. This is the tenth expression. Eleventh is pruthihi. Memory. We all are endowed with memory. Otherwise what happens? Once you go forward and a tiger is about to tear you to pieces. Somehow you climb a tree. And then you remember. Whenever next time I see a tiger or a lion or a wild dog or Alsatian or whatever it is. I must escape myself. Suppose you forget. Then unhappiness will be there. And suppose a boring person comes. And you feel like dying. Committing suicide. Rather than hearing anything more from that person. So your memory should be clear. Then you see that person from a long distance. You remember that person. And then run the other way. That is called smruthihi. But the highest form of smruthi is antah kaale chamameva smaran muktva kalevaram yah prayati tyajan deham sayati paramam gatim And Arjuna. Krishna clearly defines. Oh Arjuna. Did you hear what I said? And then he said. Yes, yes. Nasto mohaha smruthihi labdha I remembered smruthi. What smruthi are we talking about? Atma smruthi. I know. I was thinking I was Arjuna. I am indebted to Drona and Bhishma. No. Atman. And Bhishma is also Atman. Drona is also Atman. But about Duryodhana. He is also Atman only. That is called smruthihi. Sankalpaha is very important word. Whenever we do some vrata. Some puja. Or New Year's resolution. This is called. That I want to become a better person. So I must do some sankalpa. Sankalpa is a promise to the Divine Lord. That I will not stop trying. Until I achieve this particular objective. Or develop a particular quality. Or become a better person. Etc. Sankalpa. Sankalpa also means imagination. Everything of course starts only with imagination. So even upasana is nothing but imagination. Only when we realize God. That is a fact. That is not a kalpana. That is an imagination. Every dream is an imagination. So this planning, imagining. But most important. I want to lead this kind of life. And when that becomes a sacred act. That becomes a kratu. Kratu means determination. Interestingly. This word kratu is also used synonymously. With sankalpa. But here kratu means. Sankalpa means mental action. Kratu means a physical action. Really speaking. So here sankalpa, kratu. Kratu means I will put it into practice. I will practice it until I achieve what I want to achieve. Then asuho. But we are not talking about pancha pranas. We are talking about mental vrittis. Vrittis. Here asu means liveliness. So when somebody is talking on a subject. He is full of enthusiasm. Why? Because he is interested. He loves. And he enjoys it. And he thinks others are also enjoying. You have seen some speakers. Some people are full of enthusiasm. And you also feel enthusiastic. And some people are so dull. You feel like committing suicide. So this is called asuho. A kind of vritti. Where you really enjoy whatever you do. Whether it be cooking. Whether it be sleeping. Whether it is reading. Whether it is meditation. There must be asu. Otherwise it is nirjiva. And dead body. Then kamaha. So all our problems start with kama. What is it? Kamaha means desire. So this is the fifteenth one. So general desire is called kamaha. But a special desire called man wants to unite with woman. Woman wants to unite with man. This is called kama. Shankaracharya gives this word. That this sexual desire is called vashaha. Because this among the kamas is vasha. This becomes very very powerful. So these are the sixteen. And as I mentioned. You can add any number of your experiences. These are all mano vrittis. That is vrittis. Here only few are mentioned as a sample. But what is the point? The point is very simple. Every vritti must point out as a big sign. Walk this way. Observe. So why am I having this sankalpa? Because it is because of the consciousness. Without consciousness none of these vrittis will ever become possible. And Patanjali yogi calls it purushaha. When we can through chitta vritti nirodaha. A beautiful word. We can comment upon it with the help of this. Meaning that we have been discussing today. When all vrittis point out to one invariable unchanging consciousness. He is called drashta. Even we succeed through the practice of yoga. In the form of ashtanga yoga. Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi. This is exactly what Bhagwan Buddha also calls ashta marga. Eight fold way to get rid of what? Krishna. His attachment to this world. So that is the purpose. All these vrittis, whatever vritti comes. So this vritti is possible because of whose grace, whose presence? Only shuddha chaitanyam. Every vritti points to its master. Without whom the vritti is impossible to arise. And that is the prajnanam brahma. That is why all these prajnanasya namadheyani. This is what this second mantra is telling us. Now until here. So all these vrittis arise in whose mind? In a jiva's mind. What is the nature of the jiva? It is a combination of prajnanam plus as a result of this prajnanam manifesting in the form of all chitta vrittis. But who is that pure consciousness? So should he always be associated with these vrittis? Or these vrittis are only pointers. Go this way. It only shows the way finally to reach whom we want to reach. And that is the only purpose. That is called tat padartha picharaar shodhana. This is tvam padartha. Jiva padartha. Jiva's nature. That is chitta vasa plus all these vrittis. But pure consciousness called prajnanam is the nature of Paramatma. That is what it wants to lead us. So that prajnanam brahma is going to be enumerated in the coming mantras actually speaking. Now that is what is being said. First of all where is that prajnanam brahma? In the form of all vrittis. Every vritti again is a namadheya. Name. And every name only points out to the named. And here in this third mantra indirectly prajnanam is pointed out in the form of everything in this world. This is the essence of the third mantra in this third chapter of this Aitareya Upanishad. What do you mean? I will give a very small summary so that we can understand better. See I am a person. You are a person. And we are friends. Or we are enemies. And we are related or not related. And we love or we hate. But what do we want? Whether we love, whether we hate, whether we quarrel, whether we win, whether we lose. What is it that we are aiming at? I want to have uninterrupted happiness. And where is it to be attained? When we find that where from? I added this. It was not there in the, it is not there in the Aitareya Upanishad actually. So when we look at this world, the whole world consists of what? Living and non-living. Earlier I mentioned it. Lokapalaha. Aitareya Upanishad. What is Lokapala? That is Adhishtatru Devatas. The ruling Devatas. Residing Devatas. And the entire physical world with which we are interacting called Adhibhuta. And we Jeevatma called Adhyatma. So Adhyatma, Adhibhuta, Adhitaiva. All these three things consist of Nissamsara. Entire creation. Now in this third mantra what is it telling? The whole universe is nothing but a manifestation of the that Prajnanam Brahma and Brahma. Prajnanam is Brahma. Brahma is Prajnanam. So Brahma is manifesting in the form of this entire universe. There is nothing. I say myself, the world and the ruler who is all this triangle. The whole thing is nothing but manifestation of Brahman. Supreme reality. Paramatma. That is what he wants to say. I will read out. एश ब्रह्म एश इंद्रः एश प्रजापति एते सर्वेदेवाः इमानिच पंच महा भूतानि तृतिवि पायुः आकाशः आपः जोतीम्श्रि इतियतानि इमानिच पंच महा भूतानि तृतिवि पायुः आकाशः आपः जोतीम्श्रि इतियतानि तृतिवि पायुः आकाशः आपः जोतीम्श्रि इतियतानि तृतिवि पायुः आकाशः आपः जोतीम्श्रि इतियतानि तृतिवि पायुः आकाशः आपः जोतीम्श् प्रज्ञानम् ब्रह्मः So first I will deal with this last word प्रज्ञानम् ब्रह्मः प्रज्ञानम् means consciousness. Consciousness is ब्रह्मः ब्रह्मः is consciousness. And so what is it? प्रज्ञाने सर्वं प्रतिष्टितम् Everything is established. Everything is dependent without which nothing can be. That is called प्रज्ञानम् That is called ब्रह्मः. Instead of saying ब्रह्मः is here Aitareya Rishi uses the word प्रज्ञानम् So प्रज्ञाने प्रतिष्टितम् प्रज्ञाने त्रह लोकः This world लोकः means two meanings are there every living human creature जीवा as well as what is called every प्राणी and every प्राणी is able to experience anything as mentioned in the second mantra all the वृत्ति's only because of the प्रज्ञा that is the awareness चिदावास प्रज्ञाने त्रह लोकः because of that प्रज्ञाने त्रह therefore repeat repetition प्रज्ञाने त्रह लोकः प्रज्ञा प्रतिष्टितम् everything is प्रज्ञा प्रतिष्ट it is the अधारा it is the substratum no no awareness no I no you no world just as a small glimpse we get of this truth to understand in the सुषुक्ति there is nobody who is looking that is why we have no problems also but there is no happiness also there happiness must be conscious happiness otherwise no having enumerated all this is प्रज्ञानम् प्रम्ह everything is nothing but प्रम्ह this is what again पुरुषसुक्तम् पुरुषयेवेदम् तर्वम् पुरुष is everything सहस्रसीर्ष पुरुषह एकतस्मिन पुरुषे प्रतिष्टितम् everything is the manifestation that पुरुष simple example so if you want to create your dream world without you dream world can never be created you the awareness you who is called the what what is called विश्वम् or the waker is the root cause and the entire dream world is dependent upon you entire dreamless world deep sleep world is also dependent upon you the प्रिणानेत how do you know because upon waking up what do you say i had dreams i was in deep sleep i did not know anything you may not know what experience because there is no experience but the experience of deep sleep is crystal clearly there in the form i slept well i was very happy and i did not know anything so brahma sarvam kalvidam brahma that is what he wants to point out sarvam kalvidam brahma and this is the third mantra this is prajnanam brahma is called the mahavakya so many mahavakyas every vakya or any statement that indicates the complete union of jiva with paramatma jivatma and paramatma that is called mahavakya and though there are hundreds and hundreds mahavakyas the our acharyas have only chosen four what are they this prajnanam i am atma brahma so that prajnanam brahma occurs in the Rig Veda this this upanishad belongs to Rig Veda so that from the Rig Veda prajnanam brahma is there and this is one of the greatest you are aware then you are brahma you are aware you are brahma not only that you are existing you are a stone is existing it is also brahman so whatever ever existence is there sati is there chit and ananda though not manifest but definitely they are there taken our way operated in today's class very briefly we go how aithare rishi wants to express everything as brahman manifestation of brahman here it is like bhagwan krishna the old 10th chapter is vibhuti yoga everything is myself only so here it goes esha brahma so here brahma means not para brahma but the creator brahma esha this prajnanam brahma is brahma the creator indra esha is the indra is the prajapati is the vishnu ete sarve deva whatever devas deities we come to know through the vedas through the upanishads through the puranas through the tantras it is all nothing but manifestation of brahman imanicha pancha bhutani and all these pancha bhutani used the word imani these these means which we are directly experiencing here what are they prithvi earth vayu air akashaha space apaha water jyoti means agni etani and imanicha shudra misraniva all the beings that are with beneath our notice very smallest one we can't even see they're also nothing but brahman sri ramakrishna says one day i saw a worm it is wriggling i saw brahman himself wriggling in the form of that insect so bijani taranisha wherever you see a bija what is a bija that which is going to manifest as a plant as a human being as an animal or as anything that is called a bija whatever bijas and every creature in this world living creatures are divided into four categories what are they andaja egg boran jaruja omb boran swetaja fat boran seed boran that is this is we will talk about the details later on so this is one type of classification our rishis have come from very early all the living beings are classified as if they are coming from these four seeds four mulakaranas then ashwaha horses kavaha cows purushaha all human beings hastinaha all elephants and why go on telling whatever is alive prana is there living creature is there whatever is moving whatever is flying and whatever is alive but not moving here and there like trees etc plants etc everything is the manifestation of the side manifestation of that brahman called prajnanam prajnane pratishtita the whole world is established manifesting and without which the world cannot live prajnane traha lokaha and whatever we are experiencing we are able to experience because of this brahman prajna pratishta ultimately that prajna is the only substratum and that prajnanam is brahma and we will discuss about it in our next class.