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 are called Brahmanas. And the discussion started in this third chapter. The very first mantra expresses it:

OM ko.ayamAtmeti vayamupAsmahe kataraH sa AtmA . yena

vA pashyati yena vA shRiNoti yena vA ga.ndhAnAjighrati yena

vA vAcha.n vyAkaroti yena vA svAdu chAsvAdu cha vijAnAti .. 1..

Who is He upon whom we meditate thinking: "This is the Self"? Which one is the Self? Is it He by whom one sees form, by whom one hears sound and by whom one tastes the sweet and the unsweet?

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 I; another, the witnessing I. What is the problem? It is the participating eye. If we identify ourselves with this changing, participating I, that is called Samsara, Bandhana, 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 an object. So God cannot be, Brahman cannot be an object. So, there are two 'I's, 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 I, 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 Jnanendriyas, and the mind, antahkarana. So, that is one I, and that which is without participating, separate, and then witnessing, which is this I. 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 I, the intellect, the buddhi, or the body? That is not real Atma. Why is it not the 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 a 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 airplane 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 Brahmakara Vrutti is not there. 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 must know what is the 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 perceive anything. Just as if you are within a house with no doors or windows, completely sealed up, you will not know what is happening outside. Similarly, if the mind is to know, interact, and 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 (outputs). If there is input, there must be output. First, there must be output. That is, I must be able to see through the eyes, hear through the ears, smell through the nose, taste through the tongue, and touch through the skin. And then I have to decide what to do with this information. Is it acceptable? Is it positive or negative? Is it desirable or undesirable? All these thoughts can arise only when knowledge is first received. 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 thoughts. And so, in the next mantra, all these thoughts have been roughly divided into 16 categories. And then the Aitareya Rishi, also called otherwise Mahidasa, refers to them. What does he call them? These are Namadhyani. Pragnanasya Namadhyani. Pragnana means Brahma, pure consciousness, Shuddha Chaitanyam. And that Shuddha Chaitanyam reflects in our minds. It is called Chidabhasa, the reflection of consciousness. And this Chidabhasa, mind plus the body, this is called Jeevatma. Body plus mind plus Chidabhasa, this is called Jeevatma. And so, the Jeevatma 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, 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 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 who. 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 distinguish 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 different qualities. One is happiness, another is unhappiness. So if you want to express, "I am an unhappy person," or "I am a very happy person," of course, that is what we do, hypocritical as 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. If my fellow had at least passed, I would have some reason to congratulate. So this is how we have learned to be hypocritical. It is necessary in society. You can't go around saying, "I am jealous of you," "I hate you," etc. Then society cannot function. We have to pretend we love each other. Husband says, "I love you." And wife says, "I love you." Children say, "We love you." And parents also say, "We love you." All the while, especially thinking about the daughters, "How soon are you going to grow up?" Because you are called a duhita, a 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 distinguished from every other thought. So we actually give names: cleverness, intelligence, all-knowing, dullness, stupidity, and what we call instantaneous recognition, etc. So to distinguish one thought from another, one type of experience from another type of experience, we have to give names to these different experiences. All experiences are in the form of thoughts, mentations, or vrittis. So in the next mantra, 16 such names are 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 acknowledge that the Upanishads need not go on prolonging all these things. They have roughly classified them into 16 names. We can include all these within a subclass, etc. That is very important.

Now, what is the point of all these namings? 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 that we require a specific name. That is the normal convention. But in this Upanishad, we encounter an abnormal convention. What is that? Every thought points out to only one object. We need not call it an object. We can call it a being. What is that being? Shuddha Chaitanyam. Let me give a simple example 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 else that we encounter. 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 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 attain mukti. And that is the real purpose. So this is what "pratibodha vidita" signifies.

In Kena Upanishad, when discussing 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. Paramatma 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. Mada, Matsarya. 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 these 16 are. First is Sanyanam. What is Sanyanam? It is a general basic awareness. Every living creature is aware that it exists. 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 Aagnanam. Don't split it as Aagnanam. Aagnanam. It means superior knowledge, superior awareness. There are some people whose knowledge is extraordinary. For example, Einstein, Beethoven, Kalidasa, Bhavabhuti, Varnabhatta, Swami Vivekananda, Swami Rama Teertha, Ramana Maharshi, etc. Their knowledge is extraordinary. Taking the life of Ramana Maharshi as an example: one day, he entered the kitchen and observed with a keen eye. He noticed a huge basket full of things that were thrown away, such as stems attached to brinjals. He said, "Here you are throwing them away. You know, we can make a very beautiful curry out of it." The lady replied, "We never heard about it." So, he taught them how to make the curry. By the end, the demand for Ramana Maharshi's special item was high in the restaurant. So, one meaning of Agnanam is Visheshagnanam or Apathagnanam, indicating a tremendous amount of knowledge. Only Parameshwara has complete knowledge, but there are yogis and people who possess much knowledge. Ramakrishna, for example, had tremendous knowledge. He would use every matchstick efficiently to produce light. This is called Aagnanam. Aasamantata Gnanam refers to a superior consciousness to know many things. Some individuals even possess trikala agnanam, knowing about future events, as seen in the case of Brahmam from Andhra Pradesh, who was said to have written a book about future events.

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? Viseshagnanam. Somebody can cook well. Somebody can sing well. Somebody can play well. Somebody can play what is called instrumental musical instruments, like tabla, etc. Some people have got tremendous knowledge in specific areas, such as brain surgeons or heart surgeons. Viseshagnanam.

Fourth one is pragnanam. Pratibha Gnanam. Here, the interpretation given is when one is suddenly confronted and has to reply, many of us become mute. But many people have what is called samayaspurthi. They know how to recollect something and then express it. This is called pragnanam. Let's 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 like Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, etc. That is why we pray.

Medhā devī juṣamānā na āgād-viśvācī bhadrā sumanasyamāna .

Tvayā juṣṭā nudamānā durūktān bṛhadvadema vidathe suvīraḥ ..1..

This is called Medha Suktam.

Drishti. Perception. Some people, when they see, can perceive things much better because they focus, concentrate, and analyse. This is called Drishti. There are many other aspects of Drishti, such as kudrushti, sudrushti.

Seventh is Drithi. Drithi means the capacity to preserve any thought for a specified length of time.

Mati means mananaselanam, the capacity to reflect. This is why mananaselavan is called muni. Muni means one who has the capacity to dwell until the idea becomes very clear and all doubts are completely removed. This is the second step in spiritual progress according to jnana marga: first is shravana, second is manana, and third is nidhidhyasana, becoming what one knows to be the right thing.

Ninth is called manisha. Manisha means free will. Even though one may be in society, for example, attending a party where everyone is drinking, one has the free will to choose not to drink alcohol. This capacity of free will in performing actions and living a free life is called manisha. According to Sri Ramakrishna, a human being who doesn't know how to live independently, who is always totally dependent, is unfit to be called a human being. This is called manisha or 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 them, bringing jealousy, etc. And dukham, that is called jyotihi. This is the tenth expression.

Eleventh is Smruthi, 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 smruthi. But the highest form of smruthi is

anta-kāle cha mām eva smaran muktvā kalevaram

yaḥ prayāti sa mad-bhāvaṁ yāti nāstyatra sanśhayaḥ. B.G:8.5

And Arjuna, Krishna clearly defines, "Oh Arjuna, did you hear what I said?" And then he said, "Yes, yes. Nasto mohaha smruthi 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 smruthi.

Sankalpaha is a 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, 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 enjoys it, thinking 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, sleeping, reading, or meditation. There must be asu; otherwise, it is nirJeeva, a 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 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 a 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 consciousness. Without consciousness, none of these vrittis will ever become possible. And Patanjali yogi calls it purushaha. Tadha Dhrushta Swaroope Avasthanam. 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. Eightfold 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 Jeeva's mind. What is the nature of the Jeeva? 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 vicharaar shodhana. This is tvam padartha. Jeeva padartha. Jeeva'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 enemies, related or not related. 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?

yato vā imāni bhūtāni jāyante; yena jātāni jīvanti; yat prayanty abhisaṁviśanti; tad vijijñāsasva; tad brahmeti.

(Taittirīya Upaniṣad 3.1.1)

I added this. It was 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, Adhidaiva. 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 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 a manifestation of Brahman. Supreme reality. Paramatma. That is what he wants to say.

I will read out.

eSha brahmaiSha indra eSha prajApatirete sarve devA imAni cha

pa~nchamahAbhUtAni pRithivI vAyurAkAsha Apo

jyotI.nShItyetAnImAni cha kShudramishrANIva .

bIjAnItarANi chetarANi chANDajAni cha jArujAni cha svedajAni chodbhijjAni

chAshvA gAvaH puruShA hastino yatki~nchedaM prANi ja~Ngama.n cha patatri

cha yachcha sthAvara.n sarva.n tatpraj~nAnetraM praj~nAne pratiShThitaM

praj~nAnetro lokaH praj~nA pratiShThA praj~nAnaM brahma .. 3..

He is Brahma, He is Indra, He is Prajapati; He is all these gods; He is the five great elements—earth, air, akasa, water, light; He is all these small creatures and the others which are mixed; He is the origin—those born of an egg, of a womb, of sweat and of a sprout; He is horses, cows, human beings, elephants—whatever breathes here, whether moving on legs or flying in the air or unmoving. All this is guided by Consciousness, is supported by Consciousness. The basis of the universe is Consciousness. Consciousness is Brahman (Prajnanam Brahma).

So first, I will deal with this last word. Prajnanam Brahma - Prajnanam means consciousness. Consciousness is Brahman. Brahman is consciousness. And so what is it? Pragyane Sarva Pratishtitam - Everything is established. Everything is dependent without which nothing can be. That is called Prajnanam. That is called Brahma. Instead of saying Brahma, here Aitareya Rishi uses the word Prajnanam. So, Pragyane Pratishtitam - everything is Prajnanam - it is the Adhara, it is the substratum. No awareness, no I, no you, no world. Just as a small glimpse we get of this truth to understand in the Sushupti, there is nobody who is looking. That is why we have no problems also. But there is no happiness also. There must be conscious happiness; otherwise, no having. Enumerated all this is Prajnanam Brahma - everything is nothing but Brahma. This is what again Purushasuktam - Purushayevavedam Sarvam - Pususha is everything. Sahasrasirsha Purusha Ekatasmin Purushe Pratishtitam - everything is the manifestation of that Purush. 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 is called Vishram 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 Vigyananeta. 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 clear there in the form: I slept well, I was very happy, and I did not know anything. So, Brahmam 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 Jeeva with Paramatma, Jeevatma 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. 'Ayam Atma Brahma.' So that Prajnanam Brahma occurs in the Rig Veda. 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 Brahman; you are aware, you are Brahman. Not only that, you are existing, a stone is existing, it is also Brahman. So whatever existence is there, Sat 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 Aithareya 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, 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 the manifestation of Brahman. Imani cha 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 imani cha 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-born, Jaruja, womb-born, Svetaja, sweat-born, Udbija, seed-born. That is this, 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, Gavaha, 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. Prajnaneraha 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 it in our next class.