Taittiriya Upanishad Lecture 120 Summary on 02 September 2026

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

Opening Prayer (Śānti Pāṭha)

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

Oṁ jananīṁ śaraḍhāṁ deveṁ rāmakriṣṇam jagad-gurum

pādapadmetayosritvā pranamāmi-muhurumuhu

ॐ सह नाववतु ।

सह नौ भुनक्तु ।

सह वीर्यं करवावहै ।

तेजस्वि नावधीतमस्तु मा विद्विषावहै ।

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥ हरि ॐ

OM SAHANAVAVATO SAHANAV BHUNAKTO SAHAVIRYAM KARAVAVAHAI TEJASVINAVADHITAMASTUMA VIDVISHAVAHAI OM SHANTI SHANTI SHANTIHI HARIHI OM

OM May Brahman protect us both. May Brahman bestow upon us both the fruit of knowledge.

May we both obtain the energy to acquire knowledge.

May what we both study reveal the truth. May we cherish no ill feeling toward each other.

OM PEACE PEACE PEACE BE UNTO ALL

Introduction: The Brahmānandavallī – A Summary

In our last class, we had summarised the second chapter of the Taittirīya Upaniṣad, called Brahmānandavallī – and that is the most important chapter. It gives one of the greatest definitions of Brahman: Satyam jñānam anantam brahma.

The Secondary Definition of Brahman

Not only that – in this Bhṛguvallī also, when Varuṇa was approached by his disciple – earlier he was the son, now he became a disciple – and asked, "Please teach me Brahman" – then Varuṇa takes up, which we will discuss a little bit later, that he gives the secondary definition of Brahman.

What is the primary definition? Satyam jñānam anantam brahma – that is called svarūpa-lakṣaṇa (the essential definition). But what Varuṇa taught: yato vā imāni bhūtāni jāyante, yena jātāni jīvanti, yat prayanty abhisaṃviśanti – this is the taṭastha-lakṣaṇa (the incidental definition).

The Incidental Definition

Taṭastha-lakṣaṇa means temporary experience. We are all experiencing this world temporarily. How? Because everything is changing – even our own body and mind are changing, not to speak of this entire creation. That is why it is limited by time, space, and causation. But then we have to start where we are. That is why the secondary definition – accidental definition, experienced definition – is called taṭastha-lakṣaṇa.

The Most Important Chapter

So the second chapter in this Taittirīya Upaniṣad is the most important chapter. It is called Brahmavallī – this section exclusively dealing with Brahman – or Ānandavallī. Realisation of Brahman leads to eternal, infinite bliss, and combined together – Brahma and Ānanda – Brahmānandavallī.

The Value of Repetition

Just to recall – what did we discuss? Any number of repetitions in the scriptures is the best method. Japa is nothing but trying to remember God. While doing japa, our mind wanders to so many places, and that is why every now and then we have to bring it back. That is how slowly we start keeping our mind more on God and with fewer distractions. So here also, any number of times we can go on talking about it – it is not a fault; on the contrary, it is one of the best things.

The Goal of Life

So what does this second chapter say? The realisation of God is the only goal of life. That is why he says that one should attain – Brahmavid āpnoti param – "The knower of Brahman attains the highest." And that is said here. A realised soul experiences infinite, eternal, unbroken bliss. And how does he do that? He becomes free from the bonds of every bond of Māyā or limitation. Māyā means ignorance; ignorance means limitation – time, space, and object limitation.

The Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad on Realisation

There is a beautiful śloka in the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad: vidyāte hṛdaya-granthiḥ, chidyante sarva-saṃśayāḥ, kṣīyante cāsya karmāṇi, tasmin dṛṣṭe parāvare – "When a person knows 'I am Brahman', when he has the vision of that infinite Brahman" – that means he is not keeping infinite in front of him and saying "You are infinite." One cannot say that. When we talk about infinite, "I" do not exist, "you" do not exist – excepting everything is one. And when a person attains to that knowledge, all his karmas are destroyed, all his doubts are destroyed, all the knots of the heart are cut asunder. And he becomes free and he roams about.

The Realised Soul

A realised soul – a jīva previously, now a realised person – is not a soul. He is the Paramātman. He is Brahman. He experiences infinite joy. He becomes free from the bonds of Māyā. But an ignorant person experiences suffering and fear. The whole transmigratory existence is nothing but suffering and fear.

Brahman as Cause of Fear and Fearlessness

And this we have seen again in the second chapter of the Taittirīya Upaniṣad: Brahman becomes both the cause of fear as well as the cause of fearlessness. Birth is suffering, growth is suffering, death is suffering – all this is put to an end only when a great soul through tapasyā realises "I am none other than Brahman."

The Pañcakośa Vivaraṇa

This is the essence of Brahmānandavallī, and for that, it elaborates the Pañcakośa Vivaraṇa. When we first hear this teaching "Thou art that," it is difficult for people to cognise that "I am Brahman." Why? Because I have a body and I have a mind. Through the instrumentality of this body‑mind, I am experiencing this entire almost infinite universe. And therefore, how to believe it? That is because, as the second chapter clearly enunciates, the whole avidyā is nothing but identifying ourselves with five layers.

The Five Layers

Just imagine that you are covered with five types of cloths, completely from head to foot. Whether you look at yourself in a mirror, or others look at you, they can only see the outermost layer. Thus we are covered with limited dress. The external dress is extremely grossly limited – it is called annamaya kośa. The cause of the annamaya kośa – cause is always subtler than the effect – is called prāṇamaya kośa. In its turn, it is an effect coming out of the mind, and the mind is even more subtle. Mind is the manifestation of intelligence. Intelligence is the modification of consciousness in the mind. Then even that intellect is a modification of ānanda – ānandamaya kośa. We are covered with these five layers.

Identifying with Different Kośas

So whether we look at ourselves as reflections in the mirror, or the world looks at us, or we look at the world, we see only that kośa with which we are identified. If we are identified with annamaya kośa, we see everything as anna – solid matter. Anna means solid matter. But by chance, if we can rise above this and identify ourselves with prāṇamaya, we see everything is vibrating with tremendous energy – śakti – and that is prāṇamaya kośa. When we go beyond that, we see that the whole universe is an idea in our mind. One of our greatest philosophers had said it looks as if the whole world is an idea – citta-vṛtti.

Yoga as Going Beyond Thoughts

That is why when Patañjali Ṛṣi says what is yoga – citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ – that is, you go beyond the thoughts. What makes the thoughts alive, what sustains the thoughts – that is called nirodha. That means to say, you go to the cause which is making these thoughts manifest, and that is called yoga. So a person identifies with the mind.

The Whole World Reflects Our Self-Conception

This is the greatest truth. Swami Yatiśvarānanda Mahārāja used to say: as one's concept of one's own self, the whole world is also thought exactly in the same way. A funny way of putting it is: if I am evil, I think the whole world is evil. If I am a thief, I see the whole world as a thief. If I see that I am a good, dharmic person, I see everything as dharmic – even an ādharmic person is also seen as a dharmic person only.

The Example of Yudhiṣṭhira and Duryodhana

Just to recollect – once Yudhiṣṭhira and Duryodhana went on a world tour. After returning, there was a public reception for both of them, and they were requested to express their experiences of this tour. Then Duryodhana got up, finished his speech: "I have nothing to say – everything is extremely evil." And then he sat down. Then Yudhiṣṭhira turned. He got up and said: "I have no words to express how good the world is, how dharmic the world is. Everybody, as it were, is falling head over heels to help me in any way that is possible. I am eternally grateful. I see everything as God." And he also sat down. "I cannot tell you anything more than this." This illustrates that if I think I am anātman, everything is anātman. If I think I am the Ātman – that is the case of a knower of Brahman – then he says sarvaṃ khalvidaṃ brahma.

The Essence

So that is the essence. And what does a person get by this knowledge? He says Brahmavid āpnoti param – not only he attains the highest, he enjoys brahmaṇā saha. At the same time, he experiences eternal, infinite, unbroken bliss. After all, nobody is satisfied with broken bliss. Therefore, we are all after infinite bliss – Ānanda – but then we are searching in the wrong place. But after many lives, then by the grace of God, by the grace of the Guru, we develop śraddhā, bhakti towards the scripture. We believe, even though we do not understand, but we have developed firm faith that the whole universe is nothing but Brahman.

Transcending Limited Identity

And then the Guru teaches: first you transcend your limited identity with this body – that is called anna-brahma. Identify with the entire body – everybody's body, anybody's body, even the body of a mountain, body of a river, body of a rock, body of a dead body, body of dried wood – because there is nothing called dead. Everything is vibrating with consciousness. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa explains: "I see a small wriggling insect, and I see consciousness wriggling through that insect" – what a vision! And he goes into samādhi again.

The Five Kośas in the Second Chapter

So at the end of the second chapter, all the five kośas are briefly described, and how one should transcend them – that is beautifully explained in this last chapter. Then what does he gain as one transcends each kośa? That is beautifully explained in the eighth anuvāka, called Ānanda-mīmāṃsā. So the higher the instrument – the body and the mind – that is called loka (higher world). I call it higher state of consciousness, and correspondingly our experience of bliss also is higher.

The Realised Soul Without Desires

But at the same time, this Brahmānandavallī also tells us: here is a person and he is a realised soul, and he does not have any desires – akāmatasya. He is a śrotriya – a realised soul. Whatever is written in the scriptures, through the teaching of the Guru and through God's grace, he realised – and then he obtains, from the minutest joy to the all‑pervading infinite joy. That means infinity includes everything.

If One Does Not Realise Brahman

If one does not realise Brahman – that "I am Brahman" – what happens then? The Brahmānandavallī describes that one has to fear. The sun is shining because of fear, the wind is blowing because of fear, even the fire is burning, giving light because of the fear of Brahman, and death itself running in order to satisfy Brahman. Because Brahman allotted these duties to these presiding deities, so they are running out of fear of Brahman. But one who realises Brahman – then there is no fear at all.

The Essence of Brahmānandavallī

And that we have beautifully discussed in the very first Brāhmaṇa of this Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad – that Ātman is the most cherished, dearest, because it is one's own Self. Nobody loves anything excepting Brahman. But by mistake, we are mistaking every object that we come across as Brahman. That is the essence of the Brahmānandavallī.

Introduction to Bhṛguvallī

Today we enter into the Bhṛguvallī. This is only a summary. It is called Bhṛguvallī because it is the spiritual effort of Bhṛgu. It is in the form of a dialogue between Bhṛgu and Varuṇa. Varuṇa was a Brahmajñānī – a knower of Brahman. He was a householder. It is a beautiful idea – even householders, even while leading householder's life, can become knowers of Brahman. Do we have any contemporary examples? Yes – Nāg Mahāśaya was such a Brahmajñānī. And M also, I think, had become such a Brahmajñānī. In the end, he had become a Brahmajñānī, not affected by ups and downs, deaths of his own children, etc. But nobody of course can compare anyone with Nāg Mahāśaya. That is why Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa specifically had forbidden Nāg Mahāśaya to take up sanyāsa so that he could be a shining example of how to be a householder and at the same time be a knower of Brahman.

Yājñavalkya and Maitreyī

Yājñavalkya is another example. Yājñavalkya and Maitreyī can be compared to Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa and Holy Mother. So this is a dialogue between a knower of Brahman and his own son, who had become a seeker of Brahman. So the son approached the father and said: "Teach me Brahman." That is how the story happens. We will just start with a little later.

The Structure of Bhṛguvallī

So this Bhṛguvallī – the third chapter in the Taittirīya Upaniṣad – has ten sections, whereas the Brahmānandavallī had only nine sections, whereas Śikṣāvallī had twelve sections. Of course, the first and twelfth sections of Śikṣāvallī are a prayer – starting with śaṃ no mitrāḥ and ending with śaṃ no mitrāḥ. But from Brahmānandavallī onwards, it starts with sahanāvavatu because now God has removed all the obstacles, and now this intense faith in the Guru is necessary. God's grace alone can bring that complete faith in the Guru. Faith in the Guru means faith in the scriptures.

The Sections of Bhṛguvallī

So what are these ten sections? Let us start. First of all, we start with a prayer here. It is a prayer – just now I chanted is a prayer: "Let there be complete unity between the teacher and the student, and may God grant the power of teaching to the teacher, and may God grant the student the capacity to receive." That is called "protect us both." So until the disciple realises God, let the teacher be available, teaching be available, and let no other obstacle deprive me of the knowledge of Brahman.

The Result of Bhakti

So that is a prayer. And then let the result of this bhakti towards the teacher result in true understanding of what Brahman is. True understanding of Brahman is that Brahman is not another something – but "I am that Brahman." For that, tremendous energy is needed. Body must be in a fit condition. Mind must be in a fit condition. Understanding must be at its very peak. Memory should be at its very peak, because at no time should we forget that "I am Brahman." Forgetfulness is called ajñāna or ignorance. "May we be endowed with that special glow of the knowledge of Brahman, and may there never be any type of misunderstanding between the Guru and the disciple."

The Story of Yājñavalkya and the Taittirīya

Very strange phenomena, this statement. Why do I say so? Because this Taittirīya Upaniṣad was the knowledge that Yājñavalkya had vomited, so to say, or given back by his Guru who was annoyed with him and commanded: "Give me back the knowledge." So symbolically it is said that Yājñavalkya had vomited his knowledge of this Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda in the form of some movements, and all the disciples had assumed the forms of birds – Tittiri birds, partridges – and then swallowed that, and then they became knowledgeable. But the symbolism is that Yājñavalkya understood. Guru told him: "I am not keeping well, so you take over my classes and you teach it" – because Guru had such tremendous faith in the disciple Yājñavalkya. Yājñavalkya immediately had the understanding, he had the memory, he had the capability how to teach. And we have seen all these three chapters are nothing but such a crystal‑clear enunciation of the highest knowledge of Brahman that can rarely be found anywhere else.

Yājñavalkya's Authority

So Yājñavalkya was not only a knower of Brahman, he was also a person who knew how to not only understand but also had the capacity – by the grace of God, as Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa says – he was authorised to teach. And when God authorises, He gives the necessary voice, necessary words, necessary power – everything – and worthy disciples can learn from Him.

The Prayer of Bhṛguvallī

So this Bhṛguvallī also is part of this Taittirīya Upaniṣad, and it starts, as I said, with a prayer. If every sincere prayer – as somebody asked "Does God listen to our prayers?" – Rāmakṛṣṇa said: "God answers every sincere prayer, no doubt about it." And here the prayer is not for any worldly objects, but for true knowledge, real knowledge of Brahman – who we are, who I am, who you are, etc.

Bhṛgu Approaches Varuṇa

So Bhṛgu now became a student; his father now became a teacher. Bhṛgu approached him and asked him: "So I have been attending your classes and I understand the knowledge of Brahman – the highest – teach me. I have the theoretical knowledge of Brahman, but you teach me practically – how can I realise it?" That is called first śravaṇa. Śravaṇa is not simply taking up a book and reading, or somebody is lecturing like me and you are listening. Śravaṇa is with intense faith: "What I am listening from my teacher is 150% true." And once this faith comes – śraddhāvān labhate jñānam – as Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa says: "Śraddhāvān – one who is endowed with śraddhā – what does he gain? Jñānam labhate – he obtains true knowledge, real knowledge." What is real knowledge? Everything is Brahman – I am also Brahman. So Aham Brahmasmi – that is the knowledge. When the teacher teaches, he says Tat tvam asi – "You are Brahman" – and a qualified disciple slowly learns.

The Three Things Varuṇa Taught

So when this Bhṛgu approached his father, "Teach me Brahman" – three things happened.

First thing is he said: "You have got a body, you have got a mind. Therefore, you have to make this body‑mind very fitting instruments – not only the body must be fit to experience Brahman, to know Brahman, but even to enjoy anything worldly – fitness, health of body and mind are absolutely necessary." This is the first thing he taught.

Then second thing he taught was: "I must show you the path." What is the path? "Find out the cause of everything." In order to make Bhṛgu understand, he says: yato vā imāni bhūtāni jāyante – "from whom, from which cause this entire universe has come out" – and then "who is sustaining this manifestation of Brahman in the form of the creation – yena jātāni jīvanti" – and at the end "yat prayanty abhisaṃviśanti" – ultimately every effect has to become merged in the cause. So from cause, cause manifests as the effect and remains for some time as the effect, and again becomes the cause – merges back into the cause. So this is that final cause which has no other cause for itself – that means it is only a cause, not an effect at all – and that cause is Brahman. So "You find out – you slowly get out of your state as the effect and identify yourself with the cause." And this is the second thing that Varuṇa had taught.

Third: "You only heard my words. I know you have complete faith in me, but you will have to slowly grow and include – at this moment you are only thinking 'I am not anybody or any mind – I am this body and this mind alone.' And this is the greatest ignorance – the true cause of suffering. Therefore, I have to outgrow this identity with the smallest of the individuality."

The Word "Individual"

Swami Vivekananda used to make fun – the very word "individual" in English language we understand as "one person," but really if you look at the word – that which cannot be divided – individual dividing is not possible. That means I am the whole, I am the infinite. And he used to drag that word "individual": "You are not an individual – you have to become an individual."

The Song – Make Me a Man

Somebody has written a beautiful song in Bengali: Mā āmāy mānuṣ kuru – a man is praying to the Divine Mother: "O Mother, make me a man." But we have to understand – not that I am called a man, but I am not really a man. My true self – I am a Puruṣa – puruṣa eva – sahasraśīrṣā puruṣaḥ, sahasrākṣaḥ, sahasrapāt – I must identify myself with Brahman, who is called Puruṣa. So what is Puruṣa? He who pervades everything – that is called Puruṣa. And at the same time, purī-śete iti puruṣaḥ – he who is there in the very depths of one's own heart, is Brahma-puri – that's what the Chāndogya Upaniṣad calls it.

How to Transcend Limited Individuality

So how to transcend this limited individuality and go on expanding? For that you have to meditate, contemplate, think deeply – and that is the third point – and that is elaborated. The beautiful word used by Varuṇa: Tapasā brahma vijijñāsasva, tapo brahmeti – "Brahman can be defined as Tapas." Tapas means what? Deep upāsana, deep contemplation. Upāsana means what? When through a peculiar process called contemplation, the contemplator becomes one without the least bit of distinction with that which is contemplated upon. That is defined by Śaṅkarācārya as upāsana.

Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's Contemplations

When Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was meditating on Hanumān, then he became Hanumān. At that time, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa never thought "I am Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, but now I temporarily assumed the form of Hanumān." He was Hanumān. He was Rādhā, he was Kālī, he was Kṛṣṇa. Later on, we have many such examples of how he bestowed his grace – as Gopāla, as Kṛṣṇa, as Rāma to Rāmacandra Datta. He appeared as Rāma, Rāmacandra to Gopāler Mā as Kṛṣṇa – before she had the vision, first she saw Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. Then Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa identified with Bāla Gopāla – child Gopāla – and she was very comfortable, not with the crown of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, but with the child form – Gopāla's form – and she merged into him and she did not know anything else. After merging, she started playing līlā. The līlā – the play between Gopāla and Gopāla's mother – is indescribable. Later on, it is not only Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa whom she identified as "my Gopāla" – that is why she was called Gopāler Mā, the mother of Gopāla – here Gopāla means Rāmakṛṣṇa. Then she became the mother of the direct disciples, because this Gopāla started merging into the bodies of some of the close disciples of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, and they also she identified as her Gopāla. And one day when there was a chariot festival at Pāṇihati, then Gopāler Mā saw everything as the manifestation of Gopāla.

The Process of Contemplation

So one has to grow first through contemplation: "I am Gopāla" – then "many are Gopālas" – then "everything is Gopāla." And that is the process Varuṇa was trying to teach only through contemplation.

First you become Anna Brahma. Second you become Prāṇa Brahma. Third you become Mano Brahma. Fourth you become Vijñāna Brahma. Fifth you become Ānanda Brahma – Ānandamaya Brahma.

And then you remember these are all limitations. Every transcendence of the grossest kośa is including that kośa – that effect – merging that effect into its cause. Annamaya kośa is merged into prāṇamaya. Similarly, prāṇamaya kośa into manomaya kośa, manomaya kośa into vijñānamaya kośa, vijñānamaya kośa into ānandamaya kośa. From ānandamaya kośa, the word kośa – limitation – time, space and causation are removed through contemplation. Then ānandaṃ brahmeti vyajānāt, ānandād eva khalv imāni bhūtāni jāyante.

The Process of Varuṇa's Teaching

So this is how the process of Varuṇa's teaching starts. So Varuṇa, the teacher, taught him through some hints. As I mentioned, first your body and mind – then they have to be purified. Then you find out there are five coverings. The whole physical universe is nothing but annamaya kośa, and that has to be merged into its cause. That is the process, and that process of merging the effect into cause is achieved through tapasyā. Tapas means austerity. Austerity means through unbroken contemplation – deep contemplation. Contemplation is one which breaks Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's body and transforms it into Hanumān's body or Rādhā's body, Kṛṣṇa's body, Śakti's body.

Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's First Experience

This beautiful description is given in Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, the Great Master by Swami Śaradānandaji Mahārāja. The very first experience of Mother Kālī as pure consciousness – how as he progressed, for the first time he saw not the Divine Mother but the Divine Mother as pure consciousness, like huge tsunami waves surrounded me, overwhelmed me. I struggled not to become unconscious, but they made me completely unconscious. What does it mean? It means they made me unconscious of my individuality and made me completely one with that pure consciousness. But as soon as his mind came out of that state, then he started calling Mother Kālī – "O Mother Kālī!" – like that. His iṣṭadevatā, the chosen deity of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, that is Brahman manifested in the form of his chosen deity as Mother Kālī.

The Path of Progress

So we all have to start with the body, progress slowly until we go beyond even limited Ānanda and become identified with infinite bliss. That is the only way. The important word here is tapas. In the very first teaching, of course Varuṇa did not use that word, but Bhṛgu understood it. So he went and then he understood that "I was completely confined, identified with this physical body of mine. Now I understand what my father meant. This body has come from my parents and their parents – my parents came from their parents. So if we go on doing that, then we see that everybody's parents also came from their parents – whether it is an insect, whether it is living, non‑living, everything has come from its cause." And thus we can say that Anna Brahma – that is called Pṛthvī Devatā.

The Order of the Five Elements

So that is the first or grossest manifestation of Brahman in the order of the five elements: ākāśa, vāyu, agni, āpaḥ, pṛthvī. What is the cause of pṛthvī? Waters. What is the cause of waters? Agni – fire. What is the cause of fire? Vāyu – the air. What is the cause of the air? Ākāśa – space. And what is the cause of ākāśa? The final cause – Ātman or Brahma. This is the process.

Bhṛgu Transcends the Kośas

So we see that from the second to the sixth sections of this Bhṛguvallī, how Bhṛgu transcended one kośa – that means he was successful in merging that particular kośa in which he was dwelling into its cause. For example, annamaya into prāṇamaya, etc. So Bhṛgu transcended all the five kośas including the ānandamaya kośa. This is the topic covered from the second to sixth sections – that is, Pañcakośādhikramaṇa. And then finally he understood: "I am not Anna Brahma – Ānandaṃ Brahma – I am Ānanda itself."

The Secondary Definition

Now comes a beautiful point that I told you in the beginning: Varuṇa had given the second hint – the taṭastha-lakṣaṇa – the secondary definition of Brahman: "from whom the whole universe has come" – or even that might create misunderstanding – "who has manifested as this universe, who remains as this universe for a period of time, and who goes beyond this manifestation into His true nature – that is Brahman."

Brahman Is Neither Cause Nor Effect

Even to tell that Brahman is the final cause is also only an expression in words, because just as we cannot think of cold without understanding what is heat, we cannot understand what is evil without knowing what is good. We cannot understand what is life without understanding what is death. This is called duality – dvandva. So if we say Brahman is the final cause, it is also from our lower intellectual view only. Really speaking, when one becomes merged, he does not say "I am merged in Brahman – I was the effect, now I have become one with the cause." No – he does not say that, he cannot say that, he should not say that. It is only for conveying the teaching – that is all. Brahman is neither the cause nor the effect. That is what we have to understand, because when the object disappears, the subject also disappears – they are mutually dependent. Cause and effect, subject and object, experiencer and experience – they are all completely mutually dependent. We have to understand this highest truth – that is very important for us to understand.

The Process in Bhṛguvallī

So second to sixth sections: first is approaching the teacher, getting the instructions. Second to sixth: following austerity – which means deep contemplation – going beyond the ānandamaya kośa. The wonderful thing here: when once Bhṛgu realised "I am not the ānandamaya kośa" – unlike as soon as he attained the previous kośas, he came back and said "Please teach me Brahman" – but then when he understood that "I am Ānanda" – not even ānandamaya – he did not come back, because he knows now "I am Brahman." After that, there is nothing to learn, nothing to experience.

The Need for a Fit Body and Mind

But how did Bhṛgu progress in spiritual life? So we have to presume now, stepping back, that his body as well as his mind both are completely fit. The body was in the peak of health and the mind was also at its very highest power, endowed with śraddhā, bhakti, ekāgratā, and all those divine qualities. Without making the body and mind completely healthy, it is impossible to progress one millimetre towards God. That is why Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, Swami Vivekananda, they said repeatedly: "If the body is weak, one who is weak cannot realise Brahman." Only when a person is completely fit, healthy in every way, he alone can progress in spiritual life. And this is famously written in our Ramakrishna Mission motto: nāyamātmā balahīnena labhyaḥ – "This Ātman is not attainable by the weak."

Food for Body and Mind

So how to make this body‑mind very pure? We are – our body is consisting of food. Our mind also, in another way, is consisting of food. What is the food for the body? Physical rice, bread, vegetables, fruits, etc. What is the food for the mind? Thoughts. Without this physical food being pure – and that is beautifully described in the Bhagavad Gītā throughout from practically the fourteenth, then seventeenth and eighteenth chapters of the Bhagavad Gītā – what is the type of food that is liked by tāmasika people, rājasika people, sāttvika people, etc. – beautiful description is there. When we have faith and if we say even "food is not tasty," we have to develop – most of us do not understand that there is nothing called "tasty." Taste is a peculiar phenomenon developed by our habit. When a person is accustomed to eating morning, evening what is called dry fish, etc., he develops a peculiar taste – even that smell brings a dead man to life. So a South Indian likes South Indian food, North Indian likes North Indian food, Italian likes Italian food. So this association – whether it be with food, with persons, with how society behaves – it all makes a lot of sense.

The Danger of Social Media

Finally, in this class, I want just to mention how harmful, degrading the social media is. Experts are warning us: you use it for a good purpose – like we send WhatsApp application messages which are the teachings of the highest teachers, highest scriptures – but not for "you are looking beautiful, your dress is beautiful, where from you are getting" – and then all the junk food – "oh they seem to be extremely happy" – and how much force is necessary to wring out that smile in their faces, how much money had to be offered to them, God alone knows. But most of the food nowadays is called junk – that is why tāmasī. We have to progress just like we progress from annamaya kośa to prāṇamaya, etc. – from tāmasika food to rājasika food and to sāttvika food. Then only there is a hope that by the grace of God we can realise finally Aham Brahmasmi.

The Attitude Towards Food

There are certain vows – how we have to look upon food. It does not mean that we have to say "I like this food and this is my favourite food." Anna is just a means, an instrument. Take hold of that instrument, use it properly – progress in spiritual life. Everything in this world – our body, our mind, as well as this world – are instruments for our further evolution and to go back from where we have come – the ultimate cause.

Closing Prayer