Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.1.5 Lecture 35 on 23 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.
Introduction: The Great Discussion in the Ashrama
Let us not forget a great discussion was going on in a great ashrama under the guidance of a great teacher. All the sishyas, disciples, were discussing the only subject that is worthy of discussion: How to progress in spiritual life? How to realise God? Only in Upanishadic terms, they call it Brahman and knowledge of Brahman, Brahma Jnanam.
Who Is a Real Householder?
So we discussed already earlier that who is a real householder? Whoever identifies with anatma which manifests in the form of this body and mind complex is a householder. In other words, whoever thinks that “I am not the Atman, I am not divine, I am not potentially divine”, he is a householder. So it is incumbent upon every householder, even from the social point of view (not to speak of the spiritual point of view), that they should perform pancha maha yajnas because we are dependent upon five important factors.
We are dependent upon great teachers, rishis and our ancestors, and the presiding deities who are sustaining us from birth to death. We are indebted to every human being directly or indirectly. We are also indebted to the whole world of what scientists call non-living: the mountains, the rivers, the forests, the ice caps, everything, because everything is related to everything.
Everything is dependent upon everything. We have seen, if you recollect in our Wednesday class (Taittiriya Upanishad), that in this world everything can be divided into two: the supporter and the supported, the experiencer and the experienced. So there is nobody exclusively an experiencer or a supporter, and exclusively a supported or the experienced.
The whole universe is a beautiful drama, cinema. So every aspirant – here householder means a sadhaka – aspiring to conquer death, ignorance and suffering (that is what is the essence of spiritual life) must perform and get rid of the debts he owes to these five factors, beautifully called pancha maha yajnas. Therefore the proper discharge is called karma yoga. As Bhagavan Krishna categorically states in the Bhagavad Gita, without discharging one’s duties in the form of worshipping God (that is called karma yoga), one cannot progress not only in spiritual life but even in secular life also. So to perform that is the duty of every aspiring sadhaka.
The Fivefold Sacrifice
And then everything in this world is divided into five categories. So the sacrifice is fivefold; fivefold is the animal; fivefold is the person; and fivefold is all this whatever exists – and he who knows it. One who really understands and realises, then he is the greatest performer of pankta. Pankta is, in other words: “I am my neighbour, I am my God, I am the whole creation, I am everything – nothing is excluded.” That is the essence of the fourth section of the first chapter of this Brihadaranyaka Upanishad.
Fifth Brahmana of the First Chapter
Now comes the fifth Brahmana, equally important, and it is a very beautiful but at the same time very essential points are presented here by the Upanishad. This fifth section – a section in this Brihadaranyaka Upanishad is called Brahmanam. So if you remember, there are six chapters; every chapter is called Kanda, and every section within every Kanda is called Brahmanam. So this is the first chapter, first Kanda (Prathama Kanda), and this is the fifth Brahmanam, and it has got 23 mantras. But a beautiful idea is presented here.
We saw not only in Brihadaranyaka but even more explicitly in the Taittiriya Upanishad how Bhagavan (I am using the word deliberately; Upanishads do not use the word Bhagavan – either they say Brahman or, to be more precise, Saguna Brahma, Ishwara – but it doesn’t matter) created this universe or, even to be more precise, God himself is manifesting in the form of these five great elements, the subtle as well as the gross. So he became the creation; he became the gods, humans, non-humans.
Adi Daivika, Adi Bhautika, Adhyatmika
This is called beautifully in Sanskrit language: Adi Daivika, Adi Bhautika, Adhyatmika. The whole creation is nothing but interdependence of these three. Adhyatmika means “I” – each individual, I, you, everyone of us. Adhi Bhautika means this world which we are experiencing and which also, of course, is experiencing all of us. Adhi Daivika means every creation, every organisation, every social institution requires a plan. Certain rules and regulations must be enforced for the well-being of that organisation. So that is called Adhi Daivika. Some rules are there – do this, do not do this; they are also called Vidhi and Nishedha.
So God has become this creation; God has become each individual soul, Jeeva, which is called Adhyatmika. He became the creation which is called Adhi Bhautika. And the one who connects, enables the individual to interact with this creation external to each one of us – that is called Adhi Daivika. Like a triangle: a triangle cannot be called a triangle even if one angle is missing. So the entire creation, according to Vedantic perspective, is for the ease of understanding divided into this triangle: the creation and the experiencer of the creation and he who regulates.
Involution and Evolution
And then everything is ready but one thing is lacking. We are all created fine, but after creation we have to function. What is the function? Swami Vivekananda had explained beautifully: When God or Brahman started descending, manifesting himself into grosser and still grosser until he became the grossest, that process is called involution. And once the rock bottom is reached, now evolution has to start. So inorganic became organic. First it was one-celled, then multi-celled, then we can see how the plant kingdom, insect kingdom, bird kingdom, animal kingdom, finally human kingdom. And we are not separate from the non-living. We are all a mixture of living and non-living. Consciousness plus prana and plus this what you call pancha bhutas – everything is mixed up, and somebody has to maintain this, enforce that the organisation called creation runs properly.
So he had created certain enforcers; they are called presiding deities. But if we have to survive, we require food. And that is what is going to be beautifully, symbolically, spiritually explained in this 5th section, 5th Brahmana. So this 5th Brahmana has 23 mantras. And we saw how God created this universe as manifesting himself in the form of the pancha bhutas. He became the gods, humans, non-humans, living, non-living. But he must create food for the creation to continue. That is the theme of this 5th section.
Saptanna Brahmanam
That is why this 5th section of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad is popularly known as Saptanna Brahmanam. Sapta means seven; Anna means food; Brahmanam means section – this section where Bhagavan himself became the Saptanna.
In the preceding sections, we saw the jiva depicted as a bhogya vastu, an object of experience, meant to serve the world in the form of the pancha mahayajnas. So now he has to evolve. What is the purpose of creation? Evolution. What should be done? Evolution. What is evolution? Evolution first to understand that I am potentially divine. But until evolution manifests as an intelligent human being, it is not possible to understand that we are potentially divine. We may read any number of books, but bookish knowledge is not going to really enlighten us.
The Four Castes (Varnas) and Stages of Life (Ashramas)
So slowly we are evolving. And we discussed how we evolved: first in the form of four castes. That is to say that the first stage is Tamoguna is dominant; the second stage is Rajoguna is dominant; the third stage is Sattvaguna is dominant. All the three gunas are involved in every caste, but which guna is prominent, bosses over, dominates, and which gunas are assistants or subsidiary – that makes the varnas.
And then from varna, we come to the ashrama. Ashrama means our different stages of progress in life. So the first factor that we have seen is: one has to with faith sit under the feet of a teacher and learn at least three facts – Who am I? What is life? What is the goal of life? So that is what Swami Vivekananda said: Each soul is potentially divine. Who are you? Who am I? I am divine. But I am not aware of it. But now I am learning for the first time from the mouth of the teacher who is nothing but a mouth of the scriptures.
The Meaning of “Annam” (Food)
And then: what is life meant for? Why am I given this body, this mind, and this food? That is what is called body plus mind plus food – that is called living. And here I have to clear the point: Food means in Sanskrit it is called annam. But food doesn’t mean only what we eat physically to keep the physical body alive. Food means whatever is experienced is food. And whole life is nothing but billions and billions of experiences. And every experience is a teacher. But all experiences are to help us to evolve, to help evolution, to aid our progress towards God – or even better word, towards knowing and knowing only who we are, who we really are.
Like the prince who was lost in babyhood and later on found – later on it took some time: “You are not a beggar; you are a real prince, the would-be king of this very kingdom.” So life is meant: it is an opportunity, it is a destination, it is a travel towards unfolding our own true nature. And that is the purpose of life.
How to Progress: Karma Yoga
How to progress in life? Through karma, more precisely karma yoga. Whether it is path of devotion, path of yoga, path of knowledge, everything involves only karma. Everything is karma yoga only. Bhakti yoga is nothing but karma yoga in the form of devotion to God. Raja yoga is nothing but karma yoga involving the control and then concentration and refocusing of this mind towards unravelling our own true nature. Jnana yoga is to develop all the requisite qualities; then only we can succeed. So every yoga of the four yogas involves all the other four yogas. Every faculty of human being – whether it is emotion or activity or willpower or intellect – they are all inseparable. We have to find out which is dominant and take the help of the other three. And that is how we have to proceed. So that is the methodology of how we can progress.
The Three Important Answers
So these are the three important answers: Who am I? I am divine. But at this moment I am only called potentially divine or would-be realiser of God or Brahman – would-be Brahmajnani. Second, the goal of life: whatever I do, whether I eat, whether I breathe, whatever I do, has only one purpose – how to slowly progress.
So the whole universe is nothing but annam. How do we understand it? We have to understand it this way: Suppose I eat food. What for? I get strength. What then? I have to use this strength, energy, to express myself. And every expression of myself falls into three categories: I do not want to be unhealthy or subject to death – at least prolong as long as possible. Gradually I must expand my knowledge. And that knowledge is not knowledge of many but knowledge of my own self. Every experience, if you analyse, makes me a better person if I am an intelligent person. Then I want to be happy. Every creature wants to live. Every creature wants to know. Why does the creature want to know, want to live? No creature wants to live or much less know that I am subject to suffering. This was the teaching we have been studying in the Taittiriya Upanishad.
The Question of Why God Created
So that is the answer. God has created us so that we can realise. But don’t ask inconvenient questions: “God was God. He knew I am God. Where was the need for Him to involute, come down, forget Himself and again struggle to remember Himself?” This is, first of all, the answer: there is no answer. Secondly, we are asking that question because we are already in the situation of ignorance. God doesn’t ask the question: “Why have I forgotten myself?” God will never ask. Brahman is pure knowledge. And there is no time when He can forget Himself. Our doubts about God, our doubts about Brahman all stem from only one factor: that is our mind. And mind is severely limited. Limitation is another name for ignorance.
So we are here. And we know we are subject, as body, as mind – we are subject to death (death means change), we are subject to ignorance, we are subject to suffering. So evolution really means that: how can I reach such a state where I know I have no death, I have no ignorance, I have no suffering? Call it Nirvana. Call it Paradise. Call it Kingdom of Heaven. Call it Mukti, Moksha – by whatever blessed name you want to call it. So this is the purpose.
Three Types of Food for Three Types of Beings
Now to continue in life we require food. And as I mentioned, food – normal meaning of the word “food” – is that which sustains our body. But the deeper meaning of the word Annam is: whatever helps us to evolve towards our true nature – that is called Annam. So now this whole universe can be divided into gods, human beings and non-human beings. So for these three types of Jivas (living creatures), three types of food are necessary. And that is being said. The ultimate mystical, esoteric meaning of these Saptannas or seven types of food is that: how we can progress through our experiences. Every experience is an Annam. Just as Annam gives us strength and then understanding. Without strength, body will not be healthy; without strength, mind will not be healthy.
A Note on Ego and Bondage
By the way, if somebody is arrogant, egotistic, proud, actually that person is to be more pitied, because he is more in the downward spiral rather than progressing towards God. Because the more one identifies, the stronger is the identification with the body and mind; the worse is the bondage, the stronger is the bondage. Therefore the struggle is also hard. But an ordinary person who is not that egotistic – his struggle becomes less. That is how we have to understand.
Symbolical Meaning of Seven Types of Food
So the Upanishad now cleverly is giving a symbolical meaning of the seven types of food. So as we see that briefly (which is the essence of this fifth section of the first chapter of the Brihadaranyaka), we will understand it. Otherwise it can create lot of confusion: “What is this food they are talking about?” So I am eating food, and that is good for the body – that is what we call proteins, carbohydrates, minerals, etc. But when I am looking through my eyes, that is called form. And that form is the food for the eye. And that knowledge is the food for the mind. A thought is generated there: “I see this is a friend; I see this is a tiger, a dangerous animal; I see that this is my pet, my beloved child.” So this knowledge comes through our five sense organs. And God has given us ten sense organs: five of input, five of output. A combination of these is what we call panchakoshas. And that is what the body plus mind is – five of action, five of knowledge, plus mind. This is the personality of each one of us.
So we require food. So anything that is seen, that is heard, that is smelt, that is tasted, that is touched – that is all nothing but food. And to aid this knowledge, our legs have to take us, our hands to grasp, etc. So the whole body is designed exclusively to experience this annam or what we call experience. And through this experience, we have to analyse what these experiences really are, and then exercise discrimination, and then discard what is not useful, strengthen what is useful. That is how progress is maintained, life after life, until we expand, identifying ourselves with everything in this universe. And one day will come when I do not see anything other than myself. That is the acme, the highest ascent of the soul into its own nature. That is called brahma jnanam – call it nirvikalpa samadhi. And thereafter, if still the body-mind function, then that person says nothing but Brahman everywhere.
Seven Categories of Objects of Experience
So for this convenience of spiritual practice and progress, the Upanishad now divides this entire creation (bhogya universe) into seven distinct categories, objects of experience. As I said, annam means food, but here food means whatever is experienced – anubhuyate iti annam. So the pitha (pitha means creator of the universe) generates these seven foods through medha, upasana or meditation, and tapas, karma or action.
We have seen earlier, especially in the Taittiriya Upanishad, that Brahman created this universe through tapasya. He thought deeply, and through tapasya (tapasya is what? Awakening the intelligence, honing it to the finest point and using it) – “How best can I make creation?” And this is what we do also in our dreams. Beautiful example: we have to understand the phenomenon of dream much more than what we understand our waking state. In fact, our whole waking state and I dare say even the deep sleep state is dependent upon our mind.
The Mind Creates the World
Simple example to illustrate what I just now stated: Suppose my mind is full of agitating, worrying, fearful thoughts, then my dreams will be disturbed dreams – my understanding of the physical universe, just like a person who fears snakes sees snakes everywhere, even a rope appears to be a snake because of fear. I gave you this illustration; you must recollect it. Suppose there is a person who is terribly frightened of snakes. Anything resembling a snake – whether it is a garland lying down in semi-darkness or a streak of water or a piece of rope coiled up – instantaneously he remembers a snake, and then he gets scared; he suffers from fear. But reverse the example: suppose a snake catcher whose living is totally dependent upon snakes – he beholds a snake and his heart swells in joy: “I can add to my collection of snakes.” So it depends upon what prior experience we had. So everything depends upon our mind. What is our mind? Nothing but a conglomeration of thoughts.
So this is what is called vritti prapancha. Everything is a vritti. What is God? That is also a vritti. How much rivers of blood have flowed because good people understood or misunderstood about God, about religion, about dogmas. If you study the fight between Catholics and Protestants, how many people have been tortured so inhumanely – perhaps even Nazis did not do it. But you know we are such so-called innocent people; we don’t even open our eyes to not only what happened but even what is happening even today.
So what are we talking about? That our world is nothing but a world of thoughts. If a dung beetle is living, he is living in the world of dung beetles. If an ordinary worldly person, he is living in the world of worldliness. Ramakrishna, Holy Mother, Swami Vivekananda, myriads of saints and sages, men and women – they were all living in the world of saintliness, in the world of God, in the world of angels. Same creation, but looked at through the stained windows of our prison of time, space and causation. That makes our world.
So here we have to understand what “food” means. What are we talking about? Every experience that we have, we have to separate from it, and then we have to think about it, analyse it, see what can be discarded and what can be accepted. That is how we wake up. This is called the process of discrimination.
Sadhya Anna and Sadhana Anna
But before we proceed, keep this in mind: food means not merely proteins and carbohydrates – any experience is food. And through normal what we call food, we keep the body healthy. When the body is healthy, mind is healthy. When the mind is healthy, it can think rationally. We have to train our mind to think discriminately – Viveka and Vairagya – and we must have that willpower to give up attachment to what is not conducive for our own progress or welfare.
So with this background, let us briefly summarise this 5th section consisting of 23 mantras. So this Brihadaranyaka Upanishad in this 5th section summarises 7 types of food – and only 7 types of food. So: one for humans, one for all humans and pashus, and one for… so two for devatas, and three for every jiva’s spiritual progress (internal progress). What are these things? So we have to understand. Again, a small split has to be done: all these 7 types of foods or experiences must be divided into 2 categories. So what is one type of food that I want to attain this state of consciousness? That is called sadhya prapancha, called sadhya anna. And what is sadhana anna? What should I do in order to obtain what I decided to obtain? How to fulfil my desire?
As an example: what is this sadhya anna or our goals? What is our goal? To manifest or to know progressively, approach nearer and nearer to self-knowledge – to know who I am. For that purpose, first of all we have to understand why should I attempt? Because if I don’t know what I want, I will not even attempt to obtain it. So at first, a human being thinks that if I can get 5 objects which can satisfy me through the 5 sense organs of tasting, smelling, looking, hearing, touching – but then he understands these are only symbols. These symbols must have a meaning. What is that? I am looking for myself in the mirrors of these objects. Every object is a food. So am I looking? I am looking. Do I reflect well? No. So discard it. Try to find out something.
Simple example: if I go to a worldly person, then the attempt to know myself will be much hampered. But if I go to Shri Ramakrishna, say, for example, then my chances of knowing myself will be better. So my desire should be: I want to cultivate holy company; I want now and then to go into solitude; I would analyse this world and discriminate what is permanent and what is not; and finally, how am I to conduct my life in this world? This is called sadhya prapancha.
And what is the sadhana? I must first cultivate slowly. So I must think. So the scripture is telling even at the lowest level, even for a child. Child means: suppose a child has entered a school, elementary school or nursery school, and the teaching starts – “You do this, don’t do that; you must do this, you must never do that” – so that the training starts from there, whether it is elementary school or high school.
For example, high school: we are taught history. What is the point of teaching history? What is the point of learning history? It is not to know certain facts – “such and such people were living at such and such place, certain events like war etc. have taken place, and how some persons tried to destroy the other persons causing terrible pain, suffering, inflicting unimaginable pain like it happened in 1940s in Germany by Hitler and his party” – no, that’s not the point. What can we learn from this history? How to avoid such mistakes. Whole life is nothing but to look at the history of our own selves and find out where have I gone wrong. Let me take care not to repeat the same thing. Where have I done right? Because by the results I will know where I have done wrong and where I have not done wrong. And then that is called the process of discrimination. That is called learning the lessons. That is the purpose of learning history.
And then history includes everything; nothing else is left out. For example, science – nobody would think science is history. No: study the history of science – what people have learned, how they learned (printing press, how they learned to make gunpowder, then guns, then destructive weapons; now they are using AI to inflict punishment). Nobody is thinking that how can we help our own people. Billions of people in the most powerful countries are suffering untold difficulties, and there is something we can do about it. But these rulers are not thinking about anybody else except themselves. So we are repeating the same story within our lives. Don’t think the prime minister or president of some country is an evil person. We are all mini vice-presidents, mini presidents, mini prime ministers – in our own life we are doing it.
So this is called learning history. And if we do it intelligently, discriminatively, there is a good chance that we progress in life quickly. So this is called sadhya annani – those experiences that I have to deliberately try for through the foods provided by the creator.
For that purpose, sadhana annani. For example, if I eat healthy food, my body becomes healthy. If I eat healthy mental food (that means read healthy books, listen to healthy things, may I worship gods who are providing for me, may I listen to what is conducive to my own development, may I see everything and derive the lesson, and see that we do not repeat by seeing what we are doing and by seeing what others are doing – we can learn great lessons). So these are called sadhana annani. God has provided sadhana anna and sadhya anna. This is the purpose of these seven kinds of food.
Brief Discussion of the Seven Kinds of Food
How it works out, very briefly we will discuss.
First Annam: Human Food
First annam is called human food – and that is also milk, etc. So the first annam is the regular common food consisting of protein, carbohydrates, minerals, etc., for all living beings including humans – anything that is living. If you analyse food of even one insect, it is nothing but proteins, minerals, carbohydrates, and other elements that are needed. So it applies to every living creature. So the first is that annam.
Therefore there is a strong moral value, he says: any jiva who is selfish and who wants to enjoy this kind of food (physical food) only for oneself, and doesn’t want to share it with anybody, then that person is called a selfish person. He is called in Gita a sthena, a thief. Because God is giving this food, and without showing our gratitude to God in the form of gods like the seasons etc., we become sinners. And the result of sin is suffering. So one should never eat alone without sharing with others. And that is what we have seen also – we are going to see in the Taittiriya: annam na kancana vasatau pratyacakshita – if somebody comes, one should never reject that person without sharing one’s own food. Annam na nindiyat, annam bahu kurvita, annam na paricaksita – food should not be criticised, food should not be wasted, food is a vow to God; food must be multiplied as much as possible with the sole idea of sharing it with somebody else, and if somebody approaches, then we will have to share that food – never reject that person. This idea is beautifully brought out in the Katha Upanishad in the form of three boons granted to Nachiketa by Yama dharma raja himself. So this is one type.
Two Types of Food for the Gods
Then two types of food are given to the Gods. What are the two types? The first food – they are called prahutam. Hutam and prahutam. Hutam means that which is offered – if you have seen homas etc., you take and dip a bilva leaf in clarified butter and put it; that is called hutam. Prahutam means the same type of ritual but it is with devotion: “O Indra, O Varuna, O Shiva, O Vishnu, you are my protector, you are my provider” – this is called saying grace in Christian rituals, sacraments. So these two types, hutam and prahutam, are the two types of food offered to the Gods.
Fourth Annam: Pashu Annam (Milk)
And then fourth annam is called pashu annam – animal food. That is called milk. So every living creature requires milk practically in one shape or the other. So not only human beings but non-human beings, everything – whatever is necessary for the baby for it to live and grow satisfactorily – that is the fourth annam. That is the external annams.
Therefore the Gods should be pleased because they are the providers, and it should be shared with – nobody should be deprived of the food.
The Custom of Offering
And then there is a curious custom. I mentioned it quite a number of times: when an orthodox Brahmin sits to eat food, he takes small parts of it and then, using the word tarpayami (“I offer this”), he offers to the five beings – fishes, pitrus, etc. – but indirectly mentioning the living, non-living, everything. It is symbolically offering, but it should be put into practice actually whenever we can, whenever the occasion comes for us to practise it.
So then one food is common – it is called milk for both sustenance etc.
Three Types of Mental Food
Then there are three types of food which are called mental food – what is called the mind and the walk, speech, and the prana. And it is the external food that is meant to strengthen our mind, our speech and our prana, meaning action. So thoughts, speech and action.
These beautiful ideas we will further explore in our next class.
Closing Prayer
ॐ जननीं शारदां देवीं रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुम् ।पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहुः
Om 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!