Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.1.4 Lecture 34 on 17 May 2026

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

Opening Invocation

ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात् पूर्णमुदच्यते

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः

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

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

OM Peace, Peace, Peace be unto all.

---

There was a great discussion in a sacred Gurukula, the students. Real seekers of Brahman have started a discussion. What is Brahman? What did our Acharya teach us and how can we implement and progress and realise that I am Brahman.

=== The Householder and the Fourteen Lokas ===

So in our last class, with regard to that, in the 17th mantra (last mantra in the fourth section), we were discussing about what are the duties of a householder. That is to say, who is a householder? Anybody who thinks "I am the body and mind," he is a householder. Such a person's desires will be confined only to the satisfaction of the body, of the mind, and at best he wants to have higher happiness by going to higher lokas called ''svargalokas''. Varieties and degrees of happiness are described there. Of such, the six higher lokas according to Hindu division. Hindus have divided every state of experience anybody can go through into 14 lokas, starting with this earthly world ''bhūloka''. There are upper six lokas. Six lokas plus our earth (where we are) that form half of the world, and below us there are six lokas, or seven lokas are there. Total 14 lokas are there.

Now the point is: we are very fortunate to live in this earthly world, because this is called ''karma bhūmi''. Other worlds, higher or lower, are considered as only to exhaust our ''karma phala'' – either ''puṇyam'' or ''pāpam''. We will be going to those lokas either to experience higher happiness and thereby exhaust our ''puṇyam'', or go down to the lower lokas and exhaust our ''pāpams''. But one has to come back to this earthly world to do ''sādhanā''.

=== Two Kinds of Desires: Worldly vs. Spiritual ===

So here is a person who is involved, who has also evolved into a human being – not an uncouth, uncultured human being, but has awakened to some higher faculties and he realizes human life is precious. Such a person can cherish two desires:

# I want to be happy in this world or higher lokas. But after experiencing for some time again and again through a lot of labor, such a person realizes: what I want is not temporary (which is ephemeral, lasting for only a very short time). I want permanent happiness.

# That is the second category of people, of which the Gita beautifully describes: out of millions of people, perhaps one person awakens to the fact that spiritual life, godly life, is the only life worth living.

=== The Fivefold Necessity (Pāṅktam) for Rituals ===

So there is such a householder and he thinks "I am the body and mind." He has faith in the scriptures, and the scriptures describe higher lokas. So he says: "I want to be happy in this world as well as in the higher worlds." For such a person, the scriptures prescribe certain actions to be done according to one's caste (though it is not a good word actually) and according to one's stage in life – ''varṇa dharma'' and ''āśrama dharma''.

So we presume this person is a good person, and he goes to the teacher, spends several years, learns all about life, comes back, and he has unfulfilled desires pertaining to the body and mind. Such a person desires: "I want to perform this ritual." For that, the Vedas tell us that you require five things. What are the five things?

# He himself should be in young age, capable age, capable of undertaking this ''yajña'' ritual.

# He must have his wife. (You may be wondering why such a person should require a wife. Because a person imbued with worldly desires will be thinking: if I get a woman, a wife, then not a free life. But a duly married wife, then the rightful actions can be discharged, duties can be discharged.)

# Son

# Human wealth – money, animals, servants, and many other objects for the performance of ''yajña'', ''yāga'', etc.

# Divine wealth – control of mind, a deep faith in God, etc.

So he requires five items. This is called '''pāṅktam''' (a group of five). Through that he has to discharge his ''varṇa dharma āśrama dharma'', which have to be discharged through the proper performance of ''pañca mahāyajñas'' (five great sacrifices or removals of debts), which we have discussed in the past and yesterday also.

Thus: first is himself, called ''yajamāna''; second is wife, called ''patnī''; third is the son; fourth is human wealth; fifth is divine wealth. All these five are indispensable if a person wants to properly discharge all the ''pañcamahāyajñas''.

=== From External Ritual to Inner Upāsanā ===

We presume such a person does it throughout life, throughout many lives, and he slowly awakens, he becomes evolved. Then ''amṛtatvamicchan''. So:

<blockquote>

उत्तिष्ठत जाग्रत – arise, awake, approach learned ones, sit humbly at their feet and serve them, please them, ask them: "What type of life should I lead?"<br>

''tadviddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā |<br>

upadekṣyanti te jñānaṃ jñāninastattvadarśinaḥ ||

</blockquote>

So this evolved person says: "I have done physically all those things. Now from external ritual, I want to progress into higher action, that is called ''upāsanā''." Such a person now turns his mind, and the Upanishad (or the Veda) tells us – but the Upanishad also tells us that as wrong as a person doesn't get married, doesn't get a son or sons, performs all the ''yajñāś yāgāś'', he cannot evolve.

That is why I mentioned yesterday: the appropriate duties apportioned to one's own caste and to one's own stage of life – they are called ''āśrama dharmas''. Due discharge of these dharmas (proper performance) is called '''karma yoga'''. Karma yoga, in other words, is nothing but getting rid of our debts to these five beings: our ''ṛṣis'', gods (presiding deities), our ancestors, every other human being, and everything in this world – nothing is left out.

=== Citta Śuddhi and Its Fruits ===

When we are grateful for our life, for our health, for our happiness, for our fulfillment, for everything, we have to give back what we receive. And this is a continuous process, constant process every second. For example, breathing in borrows oxygen from the ''vaiśvadevatā'', and we have to give back what is helpful to other creatures (like trees, etc.) through the proper giving away of carbon dioxide, etc.

So when a person properly discharges the duties, his mind becomes pure. This is called '''citta śuddhi'''. Karma is the result; the result of karma yoga is ''citta śuddhi''. What does ''citta śuddhi'' do?

# It purifies the mind.

# It generates ''puṇyam'' – the ability to experience happiness irrespective of any circumstance.

# Mind becomes concentrated.

# Mind gradually expands, identifying itself not only with one's own family, but with one's village, one's state, one's country, the world in which one is living, later on with every human being, with every non-human being – because the great fact (to which even today we have not awakened) is that everything depends upon everything in this world. Nothing is redundant.

God has not created anything that is redundant. Everything helps us in some way or the other. That is called the sacred attitude (holistic attitude in scientific terms). Looking upon the whole universe in which we are living (including our body and mind, sense organs, everything) as manifestation of God has been taught to us again and again: ''sahasraśīrṣāpuruṣaḥ, sahasrākṣaḥ, sahasrapād'', etc. in ''Viṣṇu Sūktam'', ''Nārāyaṇa Sūktam'', ''Puruṣa Sūktam'' – everywhere. The continuous refrain is: everything is the body of God. Every single part is a body of God. Nothing is actually redundant. That is the most wonderful truth we have to understand.

=== Turning Inward: From Ritual to Upāsanā ===

So when a person reaches a certain stage of development, he says: "I have had enough of this. Now I want to turn this external ritual into an inner ritual," and that is called '''upāsanā'''. That is much more important. But unless a person really does these external rituals, simply sitting and saying "I don't need to do all those things" will not help us. We cannot evolve, for everything – nursery school, elementary school – everything is a necessity. Middle school, high school, then college, university – these are all graduated steps, and we cannot neglect even one step.

So these are called external rituals, and they produce ''citta śuddhi''. ''Citta śuddhi'' sharpens our understanding, and finally we understand the goal of life, as Sri Ramakrishna says, is God-realization.

Now, what does this person feel? "I am married, I have children – so many births. I have gone to higher lokas, came down, but I still don't feel the sense of fulfillment. I still feel dissatisfaction – tremendous dissatisfaction. I am not a happy person." (But don't say every unhappy person is an evolved person. No, this person was very happy performing – having a wife, having children, performing duties – tremendous amount of higher happiness he gets. But at the end he realizes these are all achieved through hard labor and they are all ephemeral. Every happiness has to be re-earned, because nothing will be permanent.)

Such a person awakens and says: "I feel unfulfilled." That is called '''vairāgya''' (dispassion) – not because of ''śmaśānavairāgya'', ''prasūtivairāgya'', jobless ''vairāgya'', ''mārkaṭavairāgya''. No, it is because the person really evolved says: "There is a higher goal." Very clearly he can understand.

=== Example of Swami Vivekananda (Narendra) and Sri Ramakrishna ===

There is a beautiful incident. Once Swami Narendranath approached Sri Ramakrishna: "I am very unhappy, so please bless me that I may progress in spiritual life." Sri Ramakrishna, he was testing Narendra: "Why do you have to complete your college education?" Then he (Narendra) said: "I wish I forget whatever I have learned so far. I thought that was the goal earlier. Now I understand, by your grace, these very things are great obstructions for my future life. I wish I could forget everything and restart my life." Sri Ramakrishna was of course highly pleased, and Narendra was telling his real experience actually, not simply temporary ''vairāgya''.

=== Pāṅkta Upāsanā (Fivefold Contemplation) and Ahaṃgraha Upāsanā ===

So what shall this person do? He must discharge the same ''pañcamahāyajña'' in the form of '''upāsanā'''. I also interpret it in this way. Since we have been studying ''Taittirīya Upaniṣad'', we are familiar with the ''pañcaka kośas''. So we can say '''pāṅktam''' – a group of five. We have to transcend with the help of these five kośas. Every kośa, remember, has to be sacralized, looked upon with sacredness as manifestation of God. Body is God, mind is God, external world is God. Somebody who is friendly is God; somebody who is inimical is even more God. Everything in this world is there to push me nearer to God. That is how I understand.

So this person – how he ascended or he is going? We have seen in the ''Bhṛguvallī'' also practically what Bhṛgu had done. So this person wants to do this ''upāsanā''. This is called '''ahaṃgraha upāsanā''', '''pāṅkta upāsanā'''. ''Pāṅkta upāsanā'' means: my own personality containing all the five elements, five types of wealth – the performer (myself), his wife, his son, human wealth, and divine wealth. This is called ''pāṅktam'' (five types of wealth).

So: my mind is the myself (''yajamāna''), etc. My speech is my wife, and my ''prāṇa'' is my son, etc. We will see the eye as well as the ear – that completes the five elements. So he turns these external very things into internal contemplative instruments. And what does he want? Fulfillment. How are you going to get fulfillment? When I perform this ''upāsanā'', I will become one with Brahman. That is very briefly what we will discuss.

This is called '''pāṅkta upāsanā''', and this ''pāṅkta upāsanā'' is another name: it is called '''ahaṃgraha upāsanā'''. What is ''ahaṃgraha''? ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi, aham ātmāsmi, aham īśvaraḥ asmi'' – this feeling. Like Sri Ramakrishna: by doing ''upāsanā'' of Hanuman, he felt "I am Hanuman" – completely identified. Upon completion of meditation on Radha, he felt: "I am not a male, I am a female like Radha. I am Radha, and my only thought is Krishna." That is called ''ahaṃgraha upāsanā''.

=== The Four Āśramas as Stages of Mental Development ===

So Devapunshat is telling that especially they say in ''Vanaprasthāśrama'' means the stage of ''vituddhrayal''. Incidentally, whether it is ''Brahmacaryāśrama'', ''Gṛhasthāśrama'', ''Vanaprasthāśrama'', or ''Sanyāsāśrama'', they are all stages in mental development – nothing to do with age, even though age can help us. We must clearly keep this point in mind:

* When I know what is life, what is the goal of life, and how to reach my goal, I have completed my ''Brahmacaryāśrama''.

* When I start practicing ''karma yoga'', ''bhakti yoga'', ''rājayoga'', ''jñāna yoga'' – whether it is Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam, Buddhism, whatever ''-ism'', I experiment taking that path which is suitable, which gives me greater joy either through ''bhakti'' or ''jñāna'', whatever, and I start progressing – that is called ''Gṛhasthāśrama''.

* In the end, when my mind matures, I don't want anything else in this world. I want to disidentify myself from this body and mind. The world is nothing but our own body and mind – everyday we experience it through what is called ''suṣupti avasthā'', and how much peace of mind (that is called ''ānandam'') we get. This is what is beautifully being outlined here. So detachment from body and mind is called ''Vanaprasthāśrama''.

* When we succeed, identify ourselves with the divinity within – that is called ''Sanyāsāśrama''.

This is how we have to understand really.

=== The Inner Equivalents in Ahaṃgraha Upāsanā ===

So let us briefly discuss what the Upanishad is telling – how this ''ahaṃgraha upāsanā'' had to be done.

<blockquote>

मन एव अस्य आत्मा वाक् जाया प्राणः प्रजा।

</blockquote>

Please keep in mind that these fivefold objects necessary to complete any ritual, we have to keep in mind: the person who has decided, determined "I want to perform this ritual" – he requires his wife, requires his son, requires human wealth (the instruments, the firewood and the cows, the milk, the curds, etc.), and ''ṛtvig'' (the priests) who perform all those things – that is called ''manuṣya mitham'' – and certain divine qualities (divine wealth). Only with this will the ritual be really successful.

So now the ''ṛṣi'' wants to convey: having reached this higher stage of life, the person now turns all externalities into internal activity, which is called ''upāsanā''. So he requires these five also, and why he requires these five is also going to be explained.

Thus:

* '''Mind''' (''manas'') is the himself (''ātmā'').

* '''Speech''' (''vāk'') is his wife.

* '''Vital force''' (''prāṇa'') is like his progeny or son.

Then there are only three – ''manas'', ''vāk'', ''prāṇa''. What about the other two?

* '''Eyes''' (''cakṣu'') are called the human wealth. Why? ''cakṣuṣā tattvindati'' – it is the "I" which discerns everything, which can experience, which is the giver of the greatest knowledge from the outside world. Then from the inside world, inner "I" – which is called discrimination, the intelligence that can discriminate our experiences and come to the right conclusion. And ''viveka'' (discrimination) – in Sri Ramakrishna's words – is: everything is temporary; God alone is permanent. And so everything has to be gradually given up. "Given up" means not throwing out, but to develop "I have no relationship with this external world, I have no relationship, no attachment to this body, no attachment to the mind." This is called withdrawal. This is called ''Vanaprasthāśrama'', really speaking.

So this knowledge through the "I" gives us the knowledge. How does it give? Let us proceed to the next one.

* '''Ears''' (''śrotram'') – ''śrotraṃ na hi tat śṛṇoti'' – is called '''daivivittam'''. (Second: the "I" is the ''manuṣyavittam'' (human wealth), and the ''śrotram'' is called divine wealth.)

Why are the ears? Because when a person hears about God, about the highest life, that is called ''śruti''. That is why Vedas are called ''śrutis''. Through hearing only – whether we read the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, the works of Swamiji, the words of Ramana Maharshi, or Upanishads or Bhagavad Gita – we get that knowledge, and that's why the ears are most important. When the same ears are used in worldly life, we remember Madhu and Kaiṭabha. So we desire: everybody loves me to hear, everybody appreciates me, loves me. Nothing can be further from truth. Nobody loves us. We have seen that in this very first chapter – that excepting one's own ''ātman'', nobody loves anything else. If anything is loved, it is not loved for the sake of that object. A wife is not loved for the sake of the wife; son is not loved for the sake of the son; wealth is not loved for the sake of wealth; body is not loved for the sake of the body; the different sense organs are not loved for their sake – but for the sake of the ''ātman'', because ''ātman'' is of the nature of ''ānanda''. We love ''ānanda''. We come from ''ānanda''; we live because of ''ānanda'' or we live in the hope of getting ''ānanda''. Even if I am happy right now – that I am in such a higher type of happiness, degree of happiness, higher qualitative happiness and for a long time, as long as it is possible – only when we reach God can this condition be really fulfilled.

=== The Role of Ears and Eyes in Spiritual Progress ===

Therefore, all this knowledge comes to us from studying the scriptures, from coming in association with ''satpuruṣas'' (great people), etc., by hearing the scriptures, etc. That is why the ears are called divine wealth. With the help of the divine wealth, our eyes must examine: "Is the scripture speaking the truth?" So when we see that which has birth is continuously changing, ending in that final change called death – everything is ephemeral except pure consciousness. That observation with the eye of discrimination, if the discrimination is proper, then slowly (may take many lives) dispassion comes – passion turns into dispassion. Dispassion means passion turned towards God. It is not ''śmaśānavairāgya''. That affection, that attachment which does not attach itself to a higher thing – that is called frustration, not higher attachment.

''Vairāgya'' should never be understood in a negative manner. ''Vairāgya'' means: "This is a lower happiness, but I am in search of higher happiness. When I get higher happiness, lower happiness becomes natural, automatic." Sri Ramakrishna gives a beautiful example, taking of course from the ''śruti'' (Sri Ramakrishna's mouth never speaks anything except scriptures – even though he said "I have not read much, I have heard much, and my mind retains in memory everything that I had heard").

So this person turns inward. Inward means Godward. That is called ''vairāgyam''. That which after discrimination does not make us turn towards God – there is a great defect in that discrimination. It is frustration. I would call it frustration. And a frustrated person is not a happy person, and nobody wants to cultivate the company of a frustrated person.

On the other hand, Sri Ramakrishna says we have to cultivate holy company. Who is a holy man? I defined earlier – you will have to exercise your mind to remember – but one characteristic: by whose presence, in whose presence, we become terribly happy without any objects to give us happiness. The mere ''sannidhya'' (presence) is enough to make our mind go up, and the more it goes up, the more happiness we feel. The higher a person progresses, the greater would be his happiness, the longer would be his happiness. This is how we have to judge.

=== The Mind as the Root Cause ===

So the whole world – "Am I the body-mind?" That is a thought in our mind. That is why this ''yajamāna'' is called mind. That is why it is said:

<blockquote>

मन एव मनुष्याणां कारणं बन्धमोक्षयोः – mind alone is the root cause of both happiness as well as liberation, as well as happiness and unhappiness, good and evil, everything. Mind is everything.

</blockquote>

What our mind thinks – they are called thoughts. If they are holy thoughts, pure thoughts, spiritual thoughts, then that is called real progress. If a person's mind is filled with these thoughts, then what he speaks is nothing but his thoughts. The whole Gospel is nothing but the thoughts of Sri Ramakrishna. The Gospel of Holy Mother is nothing but the understanding in the form of spoken words – is the Gospel of Holy Mother. The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda. The Bhagavad Gita is nothing but the thoughts of Bhagavan Krishna Himself. That is why it is called Bhagavad Gita – directly from the mouth of Bhagavan, these things have emanated.

So the mind: "I am the mind." Where does ''ahaṃkāra'' (I) reside? In the mind. Therefore it is considered ''ātman'' means myself, my real self. Then, if my mind is pure, then I am a spiritual person. If it is impure, that is called "I am a worldly person" – I am identified with ''anātman''.

=== Speech, Prāṇa, and Action ===

A person whose mind is filled with holy thoughts will speak only holy thoughts, and his deeds will be only holy deeds. That is why, to perform holy deeds, a person requires energy, and that energy is called ''prāṇa''. ''Prāṇa'' represents that power to translate our thoughts, our speech into real actions.

Just imagine you go to Sri Ramakrishna and he never talks. Then it is very difficult to understand what Sri Ramakrishna really wants to convey. Fortunate few are those people whom he touched and awakened their ''kuṇḍalinī'' – that is a different issue. But usually, if a person is keeping quiet, we will not know what this person is, because speech betrays a person's personality.

=== The Fivefold Means Summarized ===

So through these five – the ears which give us the knowledge of the scriptures (incidentally that also gives us worldly knowledge: how to create bombs, how to destroy, how to rob a bank or other human beings, how to kill – all these things are outcomes) – a great American general once made a statement: "Wars are born out of the thoughts of people who are warmongers. So peace also should spring only from the minds of people whose nature is peace and who want peace." This is a beautiful teaching we have to understand.

So this ''ahaṃgraha upāsanā'' is to understand that God has given me mind, and this mind is meant for cultivating higher thoughts. And of the higher thoughts, cultivating ''ahaṃkāra'' – that is: "I am a servant of God, I am a friend of God, I am the parent of God, I am a child of God, I am the beloved, I am the lover of God." All these things must come only from lower to higher mind in spiritual progress, and accordingly the thoughts also will come.

<blockquote>

त्वमेव माता च पिता त्वमेव |<br>

त्वमेव बन्धुश्च सखा त्वमेव |<br>

त्वमेव विद्या द्रविणं त्वमेव |<br>

त्वमेव सर्वम् मम देव देव ||

</blockquote>

If this sentence-teaching did not come from the mouth of people, we would never have understood this. That is why the mind must be pure, then speech will follow the mind like a chaste wife follows her husband, and like the obedient loving child follows the footsteps of his father. Especially so, this ''prāṇa'' – that means our expressions of our thoughts in the form of concrete actions – follow our thoughts and our speech.

And for that, the first instrument is the ears – ''śruti'' (you can also say the Vedic scriptures). And this ''śruti'' must be verified. The ''śruti'' says: "Everything is ephemeral." Is it true? How do we know? Exercise your eyes. See everyday how many people are dying, how many are being born, how many behave so cruelly, how many are robbed, how many people are doing good in this world. If anybody thinks there are no good people, that there are no people who are well-wishers of this world and sacrificing their life for others, we will be terribly, terribly mistaken. Just as there are evil people, I think even more good people are available in this world.

=== The Goal: From Unripe Ego to Ripe Ego ===

So this is the ''upāsanā'': "My mind – I am the mind. I have to purify, I have to transform my unripe ego into the ripe ego." And for that, I have to hear the spiritual advice on how to live the life, and I must verify how I should live – how my Guru is living, how Sri Ramakrishna lived, how Ramana Maharshi lived, how the ''ṛṣis'' and ''munis'' lived.

As Sri Ramakrishna says about the ''ṛṣis'': when somebody remarked and passed a bad remark, he said: "Never say such a thing. Early morning, these people used to get up, even though they were householders, go away far from home, spend the whole day in deep thinking, forgetting the world, thinking only of the ''ātman'', and come back in the evening, satisfy their hunger with roots and fruits, and take a few hours of rest – and that is why they became the ''ṛṣi''." By definition, a ''ṛṣi'' is a ''mantradṛṣṭā'', ''ṛṣati jānāti iti ṛṣiḥ'' – one who knows spiritual truth, real truth, he is called a ''ṛṣi''. So we must become ''ṛṣis''.

For that purpose, God has given us the body. Body consists of five sense organs. They can be directed, misdirected, ill-directed, or well-directed. That direction should come after hearing the scriptures, after cultivating holy company – we come to know about it. Then we must verify whether the scripture is telling the truth. Open your eyes – ''jāgrat''. Not only "arise, awake" – why was Sri Ramakrishna so happy even though he possesses so little from the worldly point of view? Why are so many swamis so happy, so satisfied, so pleased with themselves with their simple life? They must be getting some happiness from somewhere devoid of all these external objects which we are convinced without them we cannot be happy. We should understand: we cannot be happy with them. Whatever tends to give us happiness also tends to give us its opposite effect, and maybe in greater degree.

=== Essence of Ahaṃgraha Upāsanā ===

So this is the essence of this ''ahaṃgraha upāsanā'', which ultimately leads – first it leads from withdrawal, which means what is called detachment, non-identification – ''neti neti'' – from the external world, from the body, from the mind, etc. And this available pure mind is now directed towards God. That is called ''upāsanā''. Finally, even that instrument through which we are approaching God itself is discarded or it melts finally in the Divine. Then there is like a river: ''nāmarūpe vihāya samudra bhavati'' – every river that merges in the ocean loses its name, form, taste, colour, everything, and thereafter it is known only as the ocean. So this ''jīva'' completely gives up ''jīva bhāva'' and becomes merged in ''Brahman''. Thereafter, others can call such a person "He is ''Brahman''", but if the body-mind is alive, they are called ''jīvanmuktis''. This is the essence of this ''pāṅkta upāsanā''.

=== The Fruit of This Upāsanā ===

And then a person who realizes this ''ahaṃgraha upāsanā'' – what does he attain?

<blockquote>

सर्वम् आप्नोति तद् इदम् सर्वम् आप्नोति यः एवम् वेद।

</blockquote>

One who performs this ''ahaṃgraha upāsanā'' (''pāṅkta upāsanā'' – ''pāṅkta'' means mind, speech, ''prāṇa'', the eyes, and the ears) – what does he get? What does he not get? He gets everything. He gets ''Brahman''. ''Brahman'' means everything.

<blockquote>

तद् इदम् सर्वम् आप्नोति हि यः एवम् वेद – he who succeeds in performing the ''sāhaṃgraha upāsanā'' – and then only ''aham'' remains; ''graha'' falls off automatically.

</blockquote>

This is the essence of this ''ahaṃgraha upāsanā''. With this ''ahaṃgraha upāsanā'', the 17th mantra is over, and with this the fourth chapter is over.

And what is the essence of this? This is what Swami Vivekananda had come to teach: ''uttiṣṭhata jāgrata prāpya varān nibodhata''.

=== Summary of the First Chapter ===

So, in this first chapter we have seen how this ''sṛṣṭi'' has started – that is the ''līlā'' of Brahman (''brahma līlā''). It is also called ''brahma cakra''. ''Saṃsāra'' is called ''brahma cakra''. But if we forget it is ''brahma cakra'', that is what in Hindi they call it ''cakkara meṃ paḍa gayā'' – "I have fallen into delusion, misunderstanding," etc.

So after Bhagavan first created, started the ''sṛṣṭi'': first subtle ''pañca bhūtas'', then gross ''pañca bhūtas'', then creation of the gods, then creation of the human beings, then he divided everybody into these four ''varṇas''. I am afraid to use that word "caste" because that is inevitably associated with birth, which is an absolute anomaly. It should not be understood. It is only through quality – ''guṇa'' – which ''guṇa'' is dominant: ''sattva'', ''rajas'', or ''tamas''.

And then Bhagavan created ''satyam'' and ''dharmam'', and to put the ''satyam'' and ''dharmam'' into practice, Bhagavan has created this ''varṇāśramadharmas'' in the form of "do this" and "do not do that". So for every stage of ''varṇa'', for every stage of life, there are certain duties appropriate for that stage of life, and the discharge of those appropriate ''dharmas'' takes us, helps us evolve further.

=== Development Through Varṇas ===

In both ''varṇa'': a ''śūdra'' becomes a ''vaiśya'', a ''vaiśya'' becomes a ''kṣatriya'', a ''kṣatriya'' becomes a ''brāhmaṇa'' – I will also tell you in the next class.

So a person develops gradually intelligence. That development of intelligence ends in the rebirth as ''vaiśya'': "I want to earn more and more, I want to know more and more." Who can become a successful businessman? Only an intelligent person. And then, to protect what one earns, one requires strength. For that, I must develop tremendous strength – not only to earn but to enjoy and to protect – ''yoga'' and ''kṣema''. And then after some time, "I must make everything external into the internal" – that is called to become a ''brāhmaṇa''.

So a ''brāhmaṇa'' is a spiritual person. Everything is spiritualized. Spiritualizing whole life is called living a ''brāhmaṇa'' life. These are marvelous thoughts that the Upanishad wants us to grasp, understand, retain, and ponder over and slowly develop.

We will talk about these things in our next class.

Closing Prayer

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

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

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

Jai Rāmakṛṣṇa!