Taittiriya Upanishad Lecture 29 on 04 December 2024

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

OM JANANIM SHARADAM DEVIM RAMAKRISHNAM JAGAD GURUM PADAPADMETAYO SRIDHVA PRANAMAMIMUHURUMUHUHUH OM SHANNOMITRASHYAM VARUNAH SHANNO BHAVATVARIYAMAH SHANNAYINDRO BRIHASPATHE SHANNO VISHNURU RUKRAMAHA NAMO BRAHMANE NAMASTE VAYO TVAMEVA PRATYAKSHAM BRAHMASE TVAMEVA PRATYAKSHAM BRAHMA VADISHYAMI RITAM VADISHYAMI SATYAM VADISHYAMI TANMAM AVATO TAD VAKTARAM AVATO AVATO MAM AVATO VAKTARAM OM SHANTI SHANTI SHANTI HARI OM OM May Mitra be blissful to us. May Varuna be blissful to us. May Ariyamma be blissful to us. May Indra and Brihaspati be blissful to us. May Vishnu of long strides be blissful to us. Salutations to Brahman. Salutations to you, O Vayu. You indeed are the visible Brahman. You alone I shall call the direct Brahman. I shall call you righteousness. I shall call you truth. May Brahman protect me. May Brahman protect the teacher. May Brahman protect me. May Brahman protect the teacher. Om. Peace. Peace. Peace be unto all. Upanishad. Herein we have been seeing from the 6th and even earlier Samhita Upasana etc. Even now Upasanas are going on. In fact the whole Sikshavalli chapter is full of Upasanas and only in the 11th chapter we get what we call a blueprint. How to live life that is like a convocation speech when the student supposedly trained is returning home. So here Taittiriya discusses a meditation technique in the 7th Vakha centered on the understanding the universe composed of fivefold. So they have taken at least five sections. One is called Adi Bhautika into three sections and Adi Daivika into two sections and each section is further sub-divided into five. What is the purpose? The purpose is to say that this whole creation is nothing but Brahman and that should be the contemplation. Slowly the teacher is taking the student step by step and why is this external universe which includes the subject as well as the object. Why are they mentioned here particularly in this 7th section? Why? Because what's our experience from the time we are awake and even when we are in dream state until we go to deep sleep. Of course in deep sleep there is no external world, there is no mind. So these are two states we are taking when we are in the waking that is the reality. We are reacting, acting and reacting because one of the definitions of reality is not really real definition of reality but from our point of view what we take for granted as reality is that we act and react. If we think something is false we will neither act nor react but the world is real and therefore the heat is real, cold is real, friend is real, enemy is real, parents are real, birth is real, death is real, everything happens in between is real whether it be in the waking state or dream state. Whatever we are experiencing that is taken for granted as reality. We know it because nobody knowingly acts or reacts to a false something. For example if somebody shows false gold, false currency notes and you give me one rupee I will give you a bundle of these false notes but he'll often say my one rupee is more valuable than all your false notes. If we know someone is telling us a lie then we would not believe a single word of that person and if we know this is poison then we will never drink it whether it is poison or not that is a different issue but our feeling this is real poison that is what counts. This is our definition of reality and that is how we are acting, reacting, responding and that is the reason why we see this world it is the reality but there are certain facts about this reality. What is it? The Rishi, the teacher wants us to know. So my son, my children, my students, so after some experience you develop a false understanding that this world is at first very real later on you study from the scriptures it is Brahman but that comes into conflict with our day-to-day experience but then what do we call it that which intellectually we understand as false that we later on we develop vairagya but then the teacher first he says it is real then he says it is false and in the end he says it is absolutely real. Is it not confusing? No, it is not confusing because we never meditate we never contemplate so what is it that if you think a tree for example in front of us as satya vastu real object and that is how we are reacting at this moment but everything is changing and whatever is changing is unreal. Why? Because if we are observing something changing there must inevitably be some unchanging subject even to register what is called changing so naturally division comes subject and object and this is taken to the highest step in the next chapter next section actually that is umkara or pranava upasana. I will give an introduction there also but what is meant here is that now you think agni is real vayu is real and all the pancha bhutas are real all the trees are real all the bodies are real from what sense because they are all manifestations of brahma so the condition here is not our ordinary changing experience in spite of the changing experience what we are experiencing even though we are not able to understand it it is nothing but manifestation of brahman sarvam kalvidam brahma this is a don't forget training for slowly converting our day-to-day experiences into god this is called god realization god realization means what god is real brahman is real so in spite of changing experiences there is a mystery to be solved but for now contemplate everything in this world that we experience as brahman that is the essence of this seventh anuvaka so they divided adhyatma into two and adhibhautika into three and these five sections each one consisting of five things that is why this is called pangti or pangta brahma upasana so we will come this is only the essence we have completed it actually so what it means is brahman has first manifested himself as three here adhidaivika is included indirectly but not mentioned directly how is it included in the form of the pancha bhutas akasha prithvi antariksham indirectly it is there so the entire universe is nothing but brahman has manifested in the form of tanmatras and also panchikruta pancha bhutas the whole external world objective world is nothing but a combination of these what you call sthula bhutas and sukshma bhutas and when it comes to our own body which is called adhyatma which consists of body and mind as well are also products of our body for example is the production of the resultant of pancha sthula panchikruta pancha sthula bhutas but when we come to the our mind that is called sukshma sharira but sukshma sharira is can only be the effect of sukshma bhutas which are called tanmatras the word tanmatra is a very beautiful word that matra that alone that means not mixed with other bhutas akasha is akasha vayu is vayu that is sukshma akasha is sukshma akasha sukshma vayu is sukshma vayu and sukshma agni sukshma agni sukshma jala is sukshma jala sukshma prithvi is sukshma that is why tat matra is called tanmatra but when we have to create or brahman has to create this gross universe which includes our bodies also because when i am looking at your body your body is an object of me that is called adhi bhautika when you are looking at me my body becomes your object you are the subject and everywhere the whole universe is the object i am the subject the whole universe is the object this is with regard to the gross world but as soon as we come we identify with the mind with the sukshma sharira sukshma prapancha and that mind with all the real sense organs it is all created or a manifestation pancha tanmatras sukshma apanchai kruta sukshma bhutas five elements only so unmixed elements that's why they are called tanmatras so this is how is five five five and that's why this chapter is called pancha brahma upasana pancha the word pancha is derived from the word panthi panthi means a meter vedic meter consisting of five letters etc and in yagna also it is also connected with yagna yagna we require again five elements the yajamana the person who organizes his wife patni his son putra then two types of wealth one is called manusha vittam another is called daivi vittam where these five elements are not there the yagna will not be complete that's why if you remember in ramayana without sita when rama wanted to perform a great yagna he has to get the figure of the image of sita constructed in gold and keep it by his side as if to complete that one anyway so pantha means consisting of five things and therefore a little bit to artificiality so the external world is also enumerated as consisting of five elements and then the internal world also is consisting of five elements having enumerated then the rishi wants to tell consider each of these five elements as brahman this is a training and this is what sri ram krishna says that see god everywhere you do karma yoga what is that shiva jnani i am not doing to somebody i am only helping god whether it be animal or human being whatever karma we are doing it is all nothing but worship of god in fact the truth is it is worship of god by god only but since we have got this false ego making me as a separate object we are taught you as an individual do not exist because your body as well as your mind is only manifestation of pramana that is why after puja when we do arathrikam we mentally have to offer five bhutas to god offer means what so our the whole world is made up of pancha bhutas both gross as well as subtle but if i do puja worship sincerely bhagavan gives that knowledge what is that knowledge the whole universe in which i am also included is the outcome mixture of the pancha bhutas and as a representation of it five elements are offered so light is offered water is offered then cloth is offered then a flower is offered and finally lord is fanned with a chamara what are all these five representations of the five elements including both gross and subtle but what is the meaning meaning is the whole universe is nothing but five bhutas and you are you have become those five bhutas so i do not actually exist i was thinking i am separate i am the worshipper you are the worshipped even that also has to be transcended so by doing this arathrikam that is to say first worship and if the worship is sincere and successful then the buddhi the vijnanam will come that i am really i am also in what i call my aham is also a manifestation of these pancha bhutas that means i belong to god i am god or god is manifesting in what i call me my body my mind ahamkara etc and this is the contemplation and for some other people so the same idea is presented whenever you eat brahmapanam has to be done is it true that only we have to do at the time of only the eating food no whatever we do we are breathing brahmapanam we are fluttering the eyelids brahmapanam so asnan gachchan swapan shasan unmishan nimishan whatever we are doing thinking that i am doing everything has to be converted no i am not doing it it is the lord who is doing it this brahmapanam has to be converted but why specially advocated during food because what makes us forget the whole world make us forget the whole world is food when we are eating food and it starts with birth the moment we are born we are born crying what is the crying food food food and then our death also is a cry i can't eat i can't eat i want to eat okay okay okay you get another body and through that body you can start eating so birth to death for churakil churasi lakh janam is only eating and eating and eating we will come to that in this very taittiriya upanishad so what is meant is that the rishi is telling i will specify to you as a special act of contemplation and you go through this and you have to consider all these elements as a manifestation of brahman that is the essence of this seven tanvaka called pantha brahma upasana now what are these things first of all is entire universe is classified into three main external groups three external groups of the five elements prithvi antariksham devohu dishaha avantara dishaha so you just stand anywhere and you see the prithvi is earth then antariksham the akasha devohu boho bhuvaha svaha heavenly world all the worlds then what do you say this is the east west south north then what do you say so where the east meets the west or the east meets the south south meets the west west meets the north north meets the east these are called avantara dishaha so the directions in between these two four main directions four avantara dishaha and we for the sake of memory they used to teach us anayvayi agnaya nairuti vayavya ishanya these are called the avantara dishaha so these are the five then agni vayu aditya chandramana kshatrani don't ask why he is not giving five it is only for the sake of contemplation and anyway the rishi is telling and he is not here so don't question me so another five another set of five that is fire vayuhu that is the air so earlier he said prithvi antariksham etc here agni vayuhu only two of the elements then aditya the sun then chandramaha the moon and nakshatrani fire air sun moon and stars what does it mean it means this now you take the second set of five and then in this agni without agni we can't live without vayu we cannot live without the sun we cannot live without the moon the food will not grow and without the stars they have tremendous influence upon us upon the entire earth so all these have their own specific functions and therefore these are second set of five of the what is called the adi bhautika then third set apaha oshadayaha vanaspatayaha akashaha and atma so apaha waters or oshadayaha means all the what is called medicinal plants vanaspatayaha means all the trees akasha means space and atma means the entire universe called virat so this is the third set so meditate upon each how so i will again just give a hint prithvi is brahman antariksham is brahman so the heavenly world is brahman all the directions are brahman and all the intermediate directions are also brahman similarly fire is brahman air is brahman sun is brahman moon is brahman and stars are also brahman and similarly waters are brahman helps are brahman trees are brahman space is brahman and virat is brahman what is the essence the essence is what is brahman god what is god without whom it is impossible to live exclude any one of these life becomes impossible you have to meditate upon it and they are nothing but in the taittiriya only we get it later on in the second chapter that is called anandavalli brahmavalli or brahmanandavalli we get it how brahman desired then atmanakashah akashadvayoh vayoh agnehi agneha apah adhyah prithvi prithivyam ushadeha ushadevyo annam annat prasamaya purushaha how this entire creation has come for the contemplation so for our sake here understanding what is it that without which we know no nothing can survive nothing can exist even that is called brahman so take one by one and then do contemplation and then what is we become wonder wherever you look you see only brahman you see the earth you see brahman you see the akasha in between intermediary space that is brahman and you see the higher world that is brahman and you see all the four east west south north that is brahman you see anayvayi that is also brahman you see fire that is brahman air brahman sun brahman moon brahman stars brahman and then waters brahman herbs brahman trees brahman space brahman and virat brahman this is called holistic attitude similarly take the adhyatma what is it it is also divided into three categories of five each so six three plus three what are the three with regard to the our own body and mind what is it we are able to survive because of the prana and this prana is divided into five that is five functions of the one prana they are called prana yana apana udana samana then each one of us have got chakshu shrotram mano vak tvak that is chakshu eyes shrotram ears mind vak speech tvak the organ of touch and then we have got this external body as the majja first of all charma means skin without skin we will be dead then below below the the charma cover covers what mamsa the meat that is the flesh and then muscles are there then bones are there majja means within the bones to sustain the bones there is some material that is called majja so contemplate again like the external world prana as brahman and eyes as brahman and the charma as brahman that means i do not exist the world doesn't exist accepting as brahman so this is the essence and then the rishi asked that is sanath kumara sorry this rishi he has asked the student so the whole universe including myself yourself everybody so looking at it he says everything can be divided into classification of five five five five etc. idam sarvam panthe naiva panthagum sprunothi thi so what does he say that the fivefold one becomes united with the fivefold material what does it mean so the inner our inner personality is consisting of fivefoldness and the outer world also is consisting of fivefold words so the internal world is the outcome of what we call tanmatras external world is the outcome of panchikruta pancha bhutas but where from they have come from the tanmatras sokshma bhutas subtle five elements where from the subtle elements can brahmatman so there is a law we have to remember and what is that law that law is we have always to remember the effect can never be different from the cause the cause only with nama and rupa is appearing as the effect so for example if there is a clay pot clay pot there is no other material excepting clay and therefore if we understand what is the cause what is the cause means what remove the cause from the effect the effect cannot exist that is called karana so you remove the milk part from the yogurt curds it will not remain remove the gold from the golden ornaments nothing will remain this is how we have to understand so therefore you contemplate everything as ultimately brahman that means merge the effect in the cause and once you do that what happens you understand there is no in and out inside is outside outside is inside and both outside and inside is none other than brahman and then a beautiful word is there rishi avocet so the rishi etad adividaya having prescribed this contemplation rishi whoever may be that rishi avocet he said what did he say rishi what does it mean that means this knowledge is coming from a tradition that is called guru sampradaya guru tradition guru tradition gst and that is what we are also using so it is very important we follow the tradition don't follow a newfangled guru newfangled teaching then you will become fangled so the upanishad emphasizes importance of tradition very important and then what is the purpose sarvam khalo idam brahma you are not seeing anything else excepting karana when you are looking at a clay pot you are looking at the clay when you are looking at a golden ornament you are looking at gold only because remove the gold and the ornament doesn't remain then what is the ornament gold with a particular form name and function and that is important so this understanding represents the ultimate fruit of this upasana called pantha brahma upasana then what happens success in this upasana leads one to the karana of both these what is called virat and also internal world which is called hiranyagarbha that means he realizes i am like say ram krishna he realized i am radha i am hanuman and rada says i am krishna i do not exist so hanuman says i do not exist only rama exists so i am rada means i am krishna and if you ask krishna yes i am not krishna i am brahman similarly i am not hanuman i am rama and i am not rama say ram krishna realized it so what is the fala success in this pantha brahma upasana makes one feel i am hiranyagarbha i am the prajapati i am the virat etc so this upasana yields twofold approaches are there what is it it is also both a training and it is also meditation on reality this is not only trains but every spiritual progress is identifying ourselves when we say i am progressing in spiritual life i am identifying myself with god more and more and but what are we now we are suffering why are we suffering because we think we are different god is different that is why brahadaranyika says always the fear or suffering comes from duality what is the remedy unity and so this pantha brahma upasana helps the spiritual practitioners overcome their small limited miserable identifications with the body and mind by recognizing the underlying unity of these fivefold patterns that means there is no me and world i am the world and the world is me and both me and the world is nothing but the hiranyagarbha and the hiranyagarbha is nothing but ishwara and the ishwara is none other than parabrahman this is the process this is the essence so then the next we are entering into the section 8 this is called pranava upasana and actually we should not take long to understand this because if most of you have attended the mandukya uparishad the very first mantra so says whatever is the past whatever is the future whatever is the present that means the entire creation in the past present and future is nothing but only omkara therefore om is everything and that is the exact replica in this section 8 that's why it is called pranava upasana omkara upasana so the seventh chapter describing the visible earth etc as we just now discussed pantha brahma upasana the symbol of brahman is meant actually for very inferior students this is the opinion of some of the commentators but earlier chapter the sixth chapter which uses subtle symbols of the mind and the like is for mediocre students but this eighth present chapter suggesting om as the symbol of brahman is meant for advanced students or superior students this is the essence i'm going to talk about in this meditation the mind of the worshipper is free from all gross upadis of brahman such as the earth and the mind and then simply the rishi repeats the word om and then he says you also do the same thing i realized it i heard it from my guru and i did contemplation of the om i meditated upon brahman om is brahman brahma is om so om means brahman so om can be used as the symbol of both the saguna brahma and nirguna brahma and the word omkara is not mere insentient sound but no it is alive all our bija mantras come out of the omkara that's why i say ramakrishna what does he say he says gayatri sandhya merges in gayatri and gayatri merges in what omkara so omkara is brahman it is not unconscious something it is not a mere world so what is happening here in this meditation the mind of the worshipper must become must have become free as a result of past upasanas from all the gross upadis of brahman such as the earth etc so therefore what does this text wants to say because all undertakings whatever is done if we can utter the word om that is in the devotee's language you whatever you do start with durga durga whatever you do whether it is worship or eating durga durga or narayana narayana whatever jesus christ jesus christ buddha buddha etc so anything that we do what we should do we should utter om and in it it becomes fruitful so in the beginning it looks as if mechanically they're uttering the word om but then just imagine supposing a mother is um has a child and the child has gone to school and then the child comes fully hungry so the mother as soon as the child starts for the school it is she is thinking what is she thinking of my child and what is she thinking my child will come back another two three hours time and child will be very very hungry and i must provide food and what type of food i must provide so that remembrance my child brings in a whole host of all these associated ideas where is the child going to sleep where where is the child going to play and if there is a journey then what does the my child require until we return back to our own home from holiday everything is meticulously planned so that association should come interestingly sri ramakrishna tells his disciples before you start meditation remember this this means remember me ramakrishna then your meditation will be much more successful why because the moment you remember me ramakrishna what ramakrishna did what ramakrishna taught what ramakrishna achieved everything will flash and that will inspire the person and the mind will be absorbed so it is wonderful if you are meditating on any god for example on krishna remember krishna leelas as enumerated in the bhagavatam as well as in vishnu purana or harivamsa etc if it is a divine mother you remember devi purana you remember holy mother you remember the chandi what are all the things the divine mother has done shiva similarly shiva purana linga purana skanda purana etc etc etc so if you are meditating on christ the beautiful book the imitation of christ so imitation that is important simply meaninglessly mechanically chanting christ christ will not do anything that would be equivalent to like a parrot uttering the words ramakrishna but when really a cat catches sound alone will come so you remember me the ramakrishna says and this association is the most important part of our japa and meditation so whatever we do remember brahmani adhaya karmani remember i am not doing god in the form of pranavayu god in the form of chakshu rindriya god in the form of my legs my hands as karmendriya he is doing everything and that is the essence of the arathrikam that we do so this is the essence you contemplate now but for that you have to you must have trained your mind through earlier meditations as a new as we started enumerating right from the second section after shiksha is given what is called samhita upasana with this background we go what is the essence everything that is external everything that is internal is nothing but brahman let us try to remember this that is the essence of this so it is like this agnihotram anujanati om iti brahmanah pravakshanah brahmopapnavaniti brahma eva upapnoti so this is the eight chapters this mantras om is brahman om is all this the syllable om is used to indicate ascent when the priests are told recite om om they say om recite before saying recite they say om because that will purify and then the priests they recite uttering om first they start om siram krishna before starting anything say om and then he will stop like some people durga durga they will say so uttering om the priests sing the saman chants and uttering om shom the priests recite the prayers uttering om the adhvaryu priest there are four different priests are there they are called rhetoric's i will talk about it later on so the adhvaryu priest gives the response uttering om a brahma the presiding the supervising rhetoric gives ascent uttering om a qualified priest gives permission to offer oblations in the agnihotra sacrifice when a vedic teacher wishes to obtain brahman attain brahman he utters om thus desiring brahman he verily obtains brahman so in this last verse this i will repeat it so omiti brahmanaha pravakshanaha brahma upapna vaniti may i attain brahman brahma brahma eva upa what does what happens if he utters om and then expresses a desire i want to attain brahma then brahma eva upa apnoti he will become one with brahma now the commenters have said in for the lower sadhaka where brahma means veda may i understand the veda thoroughly and he will understand because the om purifies everything but having understood the essence of the upanishads if there is a brahmana who is a brahmana so he who wants to become brahman is called brahmana in fact when he be when he attains to brahman so brahma jayanati iti brahmana he will become a really he earns the title you are a real brahmana until that time there are only sadhakas so omkara is the highest name of god both for saguna brahma and nirguna brahma so if anybody utters om all the impurities all the defects all the obstacles that might arise they will be destroyed if somebody does clearly and for that we have to refer to the life of siram krishna when he was doing puja he was taught yes there are so many malevolent elements and they want to they to destroy to obstruct like vishwamitra's yajnas his rakshasas used to come and put out the fire by pouring water by pouring filth by pouring what is called non-sacred elements impure elements that is why vishwamitra was a rishi and he did not want to use his power by cursing or destroying them so that is the duty of the kshatriya he approaches to take rama because he knew rama alone can do it dasharatha cannot do it and dasharatha first promised whatever you want i'll give you but then when he asked for rama and rama will not go without lakshmana oh they are small children what do they know how to fight so he did not understand who rama was the i will myself will come vishwamitra said thank you but he did not say you are incapable of destroying these asuras rakshasas only rama can do it only god can do it because the daivi sampath alone can destroy really asuri sampath not any tom dick and harry and therefore he took them on the way he taught them everything that is needed for them to destroy these rakshasas and that is what he did first a rakshasi comes in the form of a woman how can i kill a woman says a woman is not a woman when she becomes a rakshasi therefore do not have any evil can be destroyed in whatever form it comes and successfully the rakshasas were thwarted destroyed 14 000 rakshasas then maricha was also one of them he drew them away then vishwamitra takes them to mithila and then he weds the what is called sita devi or janaki then his brother lakshmana then brother shatrughna were called all were given the sisters the cousins cousin sisters from that mithilapura and then they all returned and on the way another incarnation to the fight between two incarnations comes out between this parashurama he was also considered as a bhargava rama and srirama and then what is it oh parashurama says you have broken an old what is called full of shiva dhanu but i am going to give you vishnu dhanu this is brand new product and the latest model and it is extremely strong and none of you can be able to destroy it if you can destroy it and rama smilingly and what is called avalila without the least bit of effort that also he broke and then parashurama's garbha has come it's a very peculiar story i am not going into it what is important is om is the highest utterance that is what srirama krishna says that sandhya emerges in gayatri essence of sandhya is gayatri essence of gayatri is omkara and our mantra also essence of our ishtadevata is none other than omkara and from there only different omkara has taken different names different forms therefore different names and those names have got a seed form that is called bija etc. this we have discussed in other context but then what is the essence of this pranava upasana the what is the essence of it the essence of it is you contemplate upon omkara and omkara is the past present and future omkara is bhooh bhuvaha and svaha and mahaha omkara is everything and through omkara a man gets whatever he desires but ultimately omkara will destroy all the agnana and one becomes one with omkara which is another name for brahman thereafter he says aham brahma asmi this is the essence which we will discuss a few small details in our next class may ram krishna holy mother and swami vekaranda bless us all with bhakti jai ram krishna