Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.2.5.1 Lecture 72 on 27 September 2026

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

Opening Invocation

ओं जननीं शारदां देवीं रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुं, पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहुः.

Oṃ jananīṃ śāradāṃ devīṃ rāmakṛṣṇaṃ jagadguruṃ, pādapadme tayoḥ śritvā praṇamāmi muhurmuhuḥ.

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 Doctrine of the Honey

In our yesterday's class, we were discussing some important points of this section five in chapter two called Madhukāṇḍa, Madhu Vidyā – the doctrine of the honey, the knowledge of the honey. The most important point, essence of this, is sarvaṃ khalvidaṃ brahma, because the whole universe is the manifestation of Brahman – it cannot be anything else.

The Nature of Manifestation

Just as a human baby can be only a human being. The offspring of a bird can be only a bird, of an animal can only be of that particular animal. So Brahman's manifestation cannot be other than Brahman. And since it is infinite and it is the only truth, everything else is also true only.

The Purpose of Mithyā

But the denier that we are asked to practise in earlier chapters called mithyā is in order to remove that selfish idea: "I am a separate individual, nothing to do with others. I may take pity upon them, help them, but that is not the ultimate truth." This is the essence. But we have to understand it properly.

Everything Is Dependent Upon Everything Else

So what is the most important thing? Everything is dependent upon everything else. In our yesterday's class, we saw this Brahman manifests as Īśvara, Jīva, Jagat – God the Creator, the created universe, and in the created universe, every individual as we know.

Life and Non-Life

The whole creation is subdivided into that having life and consciousness, and that having no life and no consciousness – inertness. But this is only seeming, apparent, not real at all.

Swami Vivekananda's Summary

And that is why Swami Vivekananda in his Jñāna Yoga, he has summarised the whole lot – how little we realise – when he said: "Whatever I spoke, I spoke only of the Upaniṣads." And here is this experience.

Swami Vivekananda's Realisation at Kākṛī Ghāṭ

Putting it in a nutshell, as it were, this Madhu Vidyā, the doctrine of the honey, after his experience of the macrocosm within the microcosm, while absorbed in meditation under the peepal tree at Kākṛī Ghāṭ.

The Notebook

In 1890, Swami Vivekananda jotted down in Bengali fragments of his realisation in his notebook. This is what he wrote:

The Word and the Microcosm

"In the beginning was the word. The microcosm and the macrocosm are built exactly on the same plan. Just as the individual soul is encased in the living body, so is the universal soul in the living body called Prakṛti, the objective universe."

Śiva and Śakti

Śiva – Śiva – that is Kālī. In Sanskrit, that which ends – a word that ends in short vowel 'a', not dīrgha 'ā' – that gets prolonged. If it is female: Sītā, Rādhā. Whereas if it is Kṛṣṇa, it will be only short vowel: Śiva. That is, Mother Kālī is embracing Śiva.

Idea and Word

And he writes: "He is not a fancy. This covering of the one soul by the other, that is nature, is analogous to the relation between an idea and the word expressing it."

Kālidāsa's Prayer

You must have heard many times chanting this one: vāg-arthāv iva saṃpṛktau, vāg-artha-pratipattaye, jagataḥ pitarau vande, pārvatī-parameśvarau. This is the prayer Kālidāsa prayed to the parents of this creation – Śiva and Śakti.

The Prayer

"Just as the idea and its corresponding word – they cannot be separated. So please grant me that capacity to express the story of Rāma in the best possible manner." And this is a very powerful prayer mantra, especially for me.

Before Every Talk

Invariably, before any talk, I pray to Lord Śiva and our Mother, Holy Mother, because they are one and the same. And it is only by a mental abstraction that one can distinguish them. In the mind, we can say this is the idea, but the object is outside. But you cannot really separate them.

Thought and Word

Whenever you think of a tree, the word "tree," the thought "tree," springs up. Whenever you think of the word "tree" in your mind, immediately an object in the external world also is thought of by any one of us. Thoughts are impossible without words.

The Bible

Therefore, it is said in the Bible: "In the beginning was the word," etc. – profound unveiling of the deep meaning. Many Christians read this statement, but they do not understand. But now the secret is out.

What Is a Word?

What is a word? A word is a thought in the mind, and every thought corresponds to an object. And "the word was with God" – that means the whole cosmos, the whole creation, sṛṣṭi, was with God in the form of knowledge. Sometimes it manifests, sometimes it does not.

The Cycles of Brahmā

That is why in Hindu concept we come to this idea: sahasra-yuga-paryantam ahar yad brahmaṇo viduḥ, rātriṃ yuga-sahasrāntāṃ te 'ho-rātra-vido janāḥ, etc.

The Two Aspects of Microcosm and Macrocosm

So this dual aspect of both microcosm and macrocosm – they cannot be separated, because a microcosm is nothing but a teeny‑weeny manifestation of macrocosm.

The Mirror and the Dewdrop

Just like the brilliant sunlight is manifested in a smallest mirror, or as a poet puts it – English poet puts it – "the whole space is reflected in a dewdrop on the petal of any flower." Early morning if you go, if you see a small drop of water, the whole sky is reflected in it.

The Combination

So what we perceive or feel is this combination of the eternally formed and the eternally formless. That was what Swami Vivekananda had expressed: the macrocosm and the microcosm are built exactly on the same plan.

Knowledge of One Object

If we know, if we have knowledge of any single object, we have complete knowledge about the macrocosm. Is it true? Do we not get some doubts? "I know a little bit about a mango tree or some apple tree. Do I know the whole cosmos?" No – because you do not know everything about the apple tree.

Becoming One with It

The moment you come to know – and how do you come to know? You become one with it. And what happens? Then you say: what is the root cause of this apple tree? It is the apple seed. Where from this seed has come? From its origin – the earth. Earth has come from waters – and trace it to finally Ātman. That is called real knowledge about any single object in this world.

Brahman and Śakti

So that is what Swamiji is phrasing so beautifully: "is a combination of the eternally formed" – that is called what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa calls Śakti – "and the eternally formless" – what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa again calls the Brahman.

One and the Same

There Brahman and Śakti are one and the same. When my mind does not perceive any manifestation – that is to say, activity – I call it Brahman. When I perceive the same Brahman with activity, with life, I call it Śakti. Marvellous idea.

Touching Everything

There was another senior Swami and during his talks he said this: behind this enunciation of this Madhu Vidyā, it is a magnificent statement of the Upaniṣad where it tells us that everything is organically related to everything else. And then he said: "When you touch anything, you are touching everything."

Touching the Whole Body

Supposing somebody touches your hand. Not what this Swami said – is my commentary upon that. Everything is nothing but the macrocosm. As an illustration, I am fond of giving this kind of examples. Suppose somebody touches your hand. Whom is that person touching? You completely. Wherever he touches, whenever he touches, he is touching the entire you.

The Mosquito

So suppose a mosquito is biting some part of your body. You do not say – or the other parts of the body do not say – "It has nothing to do with us. The hand is being sucked by the mosquito. That is its affair. I will not poke my nose into it." No – because what affects affects the whole body. That is the meaning.

Touching the Sun

So it is a magnificent statement: when I or you or we touch anything, we are touching everything. If I touch a table, I am touching the sun at once. How come? Because the table is a product of wood. Wood is the product of a plant. The plant is a product of the sunlight. It gets its energy from the sun.

Vitally Connected

That is why nobody can understand the mystery behind the thing. Everything is vitally connected, not merely artificially related. So that when I see anything, I am seeing Brahman, everything. When I speak to anyone, I am speaking to everybody. When I touch anything, I touch all things. And when I know one thing, I know everything.

The First Mantra of Madhu Vidyā

This point is really a magnificent thing in every Upaniṣad, especially in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad. So yesterday I chanted the first mantra, and I will go back to it, and I said there are wonderful points to be understood.

The Other Mantras

Once we understand this first mantra in this Madhu Brāhmaṇa, Madhukāṇḍa, Madhu Vidyā, then there are around fourteen other mantras. The essence is absolutely the same.

The Mantra

Iyaṃ pṛthivī sarveṣāṃ bhūtānāṃ madhu, asyai pṛthivyai sarvāṇi bhūtāni madhu, yaś cāyam asyāṃ pṛthivyāṃ tejo maya amṛtamayaḥ puruṣaḥ, yaś cāyam adhyātmam śarīraḥ tejo mayaḥ amṛtamayaḥ puruṣaḥ, ayam eva saḥ yaḥ ayam ātmā, idam amṛtam, idaṃ brahma, idaṃ sarvam.

The Translation

This is the first mantra. The English translation by Swami Nikhilananda: "This earth is honey." Honey means not an enjoyable thing – honey means an effect. Honey means nourishment. Honey means joy, because without other things, no single object can survive. Everything has to support everything else.

The Hall and the Earth

One Swami had given a beautiful illustration. So a big hall is to be constructed. What supports this hall? The earth. And from this earth, either wooden pillars or stone pillars are made. And those stone pillars or wooden pillars or any metal, whatever it is – strong material – the pillar supports the entire roof.

The Relationship

So you see, the whole house is related to the earth. How is it related? The earth is specially manifest in the form of the hall or house, and the house is nothing but the product – every single part of it is the product of the earth. So that is the mutual relationship. They are one and the same.

The Four Categories

Now we have to understand in this mantra that everything is Brahman, but the Brahman is manifesting in the form of the five elements. As I mentioned, if you remember in yesterday's class, all the pañcabhūtas – both we have to understand – gross as well as subtle. Subtle are undivided; the gross – they became a combination, a mixture. That is what we need to understand.

The Subtle Elements

So this earth is sustaining, it is the cause, and the whole earth is everything in this earth. That means in this cosmos, the whole cosmos, the whole creation is nothing but a product of the Pṛthivī. And this Pṛthivī or the earth principle again is divided into two categories: the gross and the subtle.

The Four Categories

So there are four categories:

1. The subtle elements without consciousness.
2. The subtle elements with consciousness.
3. The gross elements without consciousness.
4. The gross elements with consciousness.

The Mind

For example, the mind – which is subdivided into manaḥ, the mind; citta, the memory; buddhi, the decisive factor; and ahaṃkāra. Which brings them together and says "I am the mind, I am the memory, and I am the intellect." That "I" – without that "I," everything does not exist. Because that "I" is what supplies a bit, or reflects, the pure consciousness.

The Four in the Subtle and Gross

So all these four elements are there. So in the subtle world: five lifeless, consciousness‑less elements, and five elements with reflected consciousness. There are two. Similarly, in the gross body also – the body, any object, the body of a tree, the body of a mosquito, the body of any living creature. It is pure jaḍa, inert, but that is sustained by the cidābhāsa, reflected consciousness. So the gross are two – with consciousness, without consciousness. The subtle are two – with consciousness, without consciousness. Four.

The Reflected Consciousness

So the gross body is sustained by the caitanyam, and the subtle body is also sustained by the same caitanyam – reflected caitanyam, reflected consciousness. So this reflected consciousness in both the subtle and gross, and the inert things, both gross and subtle – so they both are endowed with this consciousness.

Who Sustains Both?

What does the Upaniṣad want to say? So who is sustaining both the gross and subtle? In both the forms, one single original cause, which is called Brahman. Brahman is sustaining a reflected consciousness which sustains these subtle elements, and also subtle elements without consciousness. The same consciousness is sustaining the gross body, etc., and also the consciousness part of the gross.

The Mind and the Body

So what does the Upaniṣad want to say? That the mind cannot live without the body; the body cannot be sustained without the mind. Both of them combined is called the individual, and every individual is sustained by the reflected consciousness. And this reflected consciousness is nothing but the reflection of the original consciousness. This is with regard to the microcosm.

Applied to the Whole Creation

And the same principle you apply to every single living creature. The same principle that we have just now enumerated applies – and who sustains the entire creation, both subtle and gross? Brahman.

The Message

So what is the message of this Madhukāṇḍa? Everything is Brahman – sarvaṃ khalvidaṃ brahma.

The Three Types of Experience

So through Pañcakośas is one way of explanation. Through three types of experiences – the gross, the subtle, and the causal – and the experiencers are three. Apparently not really the same consciousness – when it is associated with the waking, he is called Virāṭ. The same when we apply to the subtle body, he is called Hiraṇyagarbha. When he is associated with the causal body, which we experience in deep sleep, he is called Īśvara.

The Six Manifestations

So both individual aspect – Viśva, Taijasa, and Prājña – Virāṭ, Hiraṇyagarbha, and Īśvara. All these six are sustained, or manifestations, of one causeless Brahman.

The Extra-Cosmic Elements

That is what by enumerating so many elements – then the extra‑cosmic elements like the sun, the moon, the lightning, and the thunderbolt, the cloud‑bearing, the water‑bearing clouds, etc. And then what keeps the entire society united? Satyam and Dharmam.

Everything Is Ātman

Everything is Ātman: yaḥ ayam ātmā, idam amṛtam, idaṃ brahma, idaṃ sarvam. Amṛtam is immortal. Idaṃ brahma – everything is Brahman. Idaṃ sarvam – nothing is left out.

The Declaration

So this earth is honey for all beings; all beings are honey for this earth. The radiant immortal being in this earth and the radiant immortal being in the individual body – they are both none other than this cosmic Self, universal Self, called Brahman. And this Brahman is the immortal; this is Brahman; this is all. Everything is nothing but Brahman – sarvaṃ khalvidaṃ brahma. That is the message.

The Need for Repetition

Now we will go into it a little bit deep. Why am I going? And you will find I am also repeating myself so many times, because repetition is the surest way of driving, hammering these subtlest ideas into our minds. Upaniṣads do it; the scriptures do it.

The Raw Truth

Otherwise, if you want a raw truth which can be understood only by a realised soul: Brahman alone is the truth – brahma satyam – and whatever else you see as non‑Brahman, mithyā. And you being a manifestation of Brahman, you are none other than Brahman. In half a sentence, Śaṅkarācārya summarises.

Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's Teaching Summarised

Same thing we can do with the teachings of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa in the Gospel: "You are a potential soul. You are none other than Brahman. The goal of life is to manifest this potential divinity, and it can be manifested through infinite means – but mainly either through action, through willpower, through devotion, or through knowledge." That is the essence of the teachings of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa.

The Non-Dual Truth Established

So this Madhu Brāhmaṇa section of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad establishes the non‑dual truth, Advaita Satyam, that all apparent diversity in the universe is nothing but Brahman, the One Self appearing as this manifold names and forms. And it does so by demonstrating the deep interdependence, mutual support, and essential identity among all the elements of existence – gross and subtle, individual and cosmic – using the central metaphor of Madhu (honey) to signify this reciprocal nourishment and unity.

The Problem of Diversity

So the problem of diversity and the need for correlation. This is expressed beautifully by Swami Vivekananda: unity in diversity, or the same thing can be rephrased – diversity in unity. What exists is one, but because of the names and forms, we experience it as many.

The Natural Objection

So this section begins by addressing a natural objection. As soon as we hear this truth from this Madhu Vidyā, Madhukāṇḍa, our mind says: "See – supposing a human mother gives birth to a human baby, not a monkey's baby. This baby may behave like a monkey – and invariably does so even after growing up; that is a different issue – but the body resembles a human body."

The Variety

So what is our problem? If the entire universe is nothing but a manifestation, an effect, of a single ultimate cause called Brahman or Ātman, how do we account for the immense variety of forms, functions, and natures we observe in every single thing? Take for example human beings. Are all human beings the same? No – some are beautiful, some are exceedingly beautiful, some are tall, some are short, some are intelligent, some are not, some are good, some are very evil. You can see – all the examples spring to our mind.

The Question

So if Brahman is the only one unilateral cause, then what is the explanation for all these varieties? If everything is the manifestation from one Brahman, should not all effects be uniform – like children of human parents being only human, or fruits of a mango tree being only mangoes? How then can the universe contain such dissimilar entities – earth, water, fire, living beings, senses, mind – and still be said to originate from a single source, subsist in one single source, and dissolve back into that one single Self?

The Upaniṣadic Statement

Eto vā imāni bhūtāni jāyante, yena jātāni jīvanti, yat prayanty abhisaṃviśanti, tad vijijñāsasva, tad brahmeti. We have seen how beautiful that statement is.

The Answer

So what is the answer? The answer offered is that diversity does not imply independent origins or real separation. Diversity does not mean things are originated from different beings other than Brahman, which explains their diversity, their differences. No – they all come only from one singular cause called Brahman.

The Hairs and Thumbs

How does it happen? Take for example – you take on your head – there may be hundreds of thousands of hairs, and it is said no two hairs look alike. No two human thumbs look alike. No two irises of the eyes look alike – anybody's irises. That is how people are identified. If this is the thumb impression in the past, or eye impression now, it is all because there is so much of separation. One can never be identified with the other.

One Single Being

And yet, who is sustaining? One single being is sustaining.

The Limbs of the Body

And for that, a simple example: just as the various limbs of a body – our hands, eyes, feet, ears – they perform entirely different functions. The eye can see, and the ear can hear; the nostril can smell; the skin can feel touch; the tongue can taste so many varieties of tastes. Among tastes, sub‑varieties of sub‑tastes are there.

The Varieties of Green

You take one colour – green colour. How many hundreds of varieties of greenishness are there! When the tender leaves are coming, that is brownish, ironish green. When it matures a little bit, light green. Then you see some plants, some types of ferns, deep green. So many varieties are there. That is how paintings are made so beautiful.

The Body as an Organism

So our own body – we call it "my body." How many bodies? "I have only one body." But this body has got so many limbs. So five sense organs of knowledge, five organs of action. All these things perform, every one functions in its own field. The eye cannot hear, etc. The ear cannot touch, taste, etc. But they all operate in perfect cooperation. They are all mixed up by the mind, made as one single organism: "I see this is a wonderful tree, wonderful human being, wonderful mountain," etc. So but they are all parts of a single organism.

The Integrated Whole

So this universe also functions as an integrated whole. And what is that by which we can understand this integrated whole? Sat, Cit, and Ānanda. If we reduce every single manifestation, then what remains? Existence, bliss, and knowledge.

The Limbs of Virāṭ

So just as each part of our body has its specific roles, but all are mutually supportive and inseparable. Similarly, the five great elements – Ākāśa (ether), air, fire, water, earth – the central principles, the cosmic bodies, and all individual beings are like limbs of the Virāṭ, Hiraṇyagarbha, or the Īśvara, each contributing to the integrity of the whole.

Three in One

So we can say in sum: the Virāṭ, Hiraṇyagarbha, and the Īśvara – they are not three separate deities, but they are three in one, one in three. Yesterday we had the opportunity to mention the triangle of Īśvara, Jīva, Jagat. Same principle applies here also.

The House

Another example: just as the foundation, pillars, roof of a house support one another to form a complete structure – so do all entities in creation support and sustain one another. But all of them are rooted in – they come, they manifest from Brahman; they remain for some time; and they return to the same Ātman or Brahman.

Diversity Does Not Negate Unity

But all the apparent differences in nature and function do not negate the integrity, the unity of the underlying reality called Brahman.

The Doctrine of Madhu – Mutual Nourishment

So this doctrine of Madhu Vidyā, honey as mutual nourishment. This section of Madhu Vidyā – honey meditation – illustrates perfectly well this interdependence.

The Honey Example

Another example is given. That is why it is called Madhu. Madhu means honey. Honey is the result of hundreds of thousands of bees going in different directions, taking a teeny‑weeny bit of nectar from different flowers. And when they come and then transform all that nectar, combine and transform into honey, what happens? No part of the honey can say: "I am from such‑and‑such a flower, and you are from such‑and‑such a flower. My neighbour is from such‑and‑such a flower." No – they all become one.

Sublating Differences

But exactly in the same way, when we sublate all the differences – nāma, rūpa, and guṇa – what remains is pure Brahman.

Reciprocal Relationship

So in the same way, all beings are nourished by earth, water, fire, and other elements, and also simultaneously nourishing these elements in return. This reciprocal relationship shows that no element or being exists in isolation. Each contains in one form the others – all are interwoven.

Touching Brahman

That is why – remember earlier what the senior Swami told – when I touch any single thing, I am touching nothing but Brahman. Just as when I touch even a single part of your body, I am touching you.

The Meaning of Madhu

So we have to understand the term Madhu here does not refer only to sweet sustenance, but symbolises correlation, mutual cooperation, and interdependence among every level of existence: gross and subtle, individual and cosmic. These are the four divisions which I mentioned earlier: gross and subtle, individual and cosmic.

Presiding Deities

Similarly, when the text speaks of earth, water, etc., it often denotes not just the physical elements but their presiding deities or conscious principles.

Earth Predominates

So all these things in this creation or cosmos are said to be of earth, because the earth is the element which predominates in all the gross and subtle matters. The gross elements of the earth become manifest as the gross parts of the cosmos – in other words, gross bodies. And the subtle elements which are there in the earth – in all the five elements, they are called Tanmātras. So they all form the subtle parts of both the individual and the cosmic. That is one part.

The Conscious and the Unconscious

Then the conscious and the unconscious. So each one of us – our body is unconscious, our mind is unconscious. But as I said, the reflected consciousness called Cidābhāsa sustains. Both the mind makes it shine with consciousness, saying "I am so‑and‑so." And the same body also borrows from the same reflected consciousness of the mind. The mind borrows it from the cidābhāsa, and the body borrows it from the mind. So you see this – the conscious part and the unconscious part.

Subject and Object

In fact, everything that is with nāma‑rūpa is called unconscious, but it is sustained by the conscious – also called subject. Everything that is experienced is called non‑conscious, jaḍa, inert. So this – in two words – subtle: the subject and the object, experiencer and experienced, the knower and the known. This conscious and unconscious principles are explained.

Not Ultimately Separate

This gross body is enjoyed by the subtle subject. Thus subject and object are not ultimately separate. Why? Because if there were no object, there would be no subject. If there would be no subject, there would be no object.

Deep Sleep

This is beautifully understood if we recollect the state of deep sleep, where both the subject and object – which are the pillars of both waking and dream states – completely disappear. The whole universe disappears, except in the causal body. And that is why we have to wake up.

The Moral Order

So the whole universe is sustained by the conscious, and what it sustains is called unconscious. And both of them are sustained by a moral order. That is why this universe is not a chaos, but it is a cosmos. And who sustains them? Ṛtam and Satyam – Truth and Dharma. Ṛta is the name of the transformed itself into later on as Dharma. And Truth is the knowledge that we know of.

Everything as Enjoyment

And even the human being considered in their gross forms are all treated as objects of enjoyment. Who? By whom? By the Ātman within.

The Foundational Mantra

So this is the foundational mantra – this first mantra: "This earth is the honey of all beings." Iyaṃ pṛthivī sarveṣāṃ bhūtānāṃ madhu. This is the key mantra of this section declares.

The Key Mantra

Why do we say it is the key mantra? Because if we can really understand this first mantra, then I can tell you confidentially that all the other mantras that follow – including the water and the Agni, the Vāyu, the Ākāśa, etc. – it is nothing but this same principle. Apply this understanding to the whole lot, then you will see that it is most beautiful.

The Mantra Again

Iyaṃ pṛthivī sarveṣāṃ bhūtānāṃ madhu, asyai pṛthivyai sarvāṇi bhūtāni madhu, yaś cāyam asyāṃ pṛthivyāṃ tejo mayo 'mṛtamayaḥ puruṣaḥ, yaś cāyam adhyātmam śarīraḥ tejo mayaḥ amṛtamayaḥ puruṣaḥ, ayam eva sa yaḥ ayam ātmā, idam amṛtam, idaṃ brahma, idaṃ sarvam.

Earth Sustains All

So this earth is the honey of all beings. Honey means support. Without the earth, we cannot even stand there. Without the earth, there would be no food. Without the earth, there would be no heat, no water. Who keeps the water? It is the earth which stores the water in the form of the huge reservoir called ocean. And it is this ocean water which sustains uncountable number of creatures – trillions and trillions of uncountable water‑borne animals. Only the ocean sustains them.

The Ocean Sustains the Universe

No – the ocean sustains the entire universe outside the universe in the form of what? Īśvara Devatā – one of the manifestations of Agni Devatā, fire principle – sucks this salty water and does not suck the salt. Only distilled pure water, and transforms it into steam, carries it in the form of the wind to the highest places, and there again gives back. For whose purpose? For our purpose.

Earth Sustains All Four Elements

So this earth sustains all the other four elements. Just imagine if there were to be no Ākāśa – space – where would the earth stand? If there were to be no Ākāśa, where would be the air circulating? Without air, how would this fire come?

Friction Produces Heat

You know the principle – I do not need to remind you, but just to make you recollect: it is only rapid movement of the air. You just put one palm against your other palm and rub it very fast, and you will see the heat coming out. Same thing: you take one fire stone, put it against another fire stone, and rub it, and sparks are produced.

The Chain of Elements

So that is how Ākāśa sustains air. Air manifests in the form of fire through rapid movement. Fire, through rapid movement, again condenses itself into water – because, you can say, it is like steam. And that again comes to the idea of water. And the water, when it becomes ice, solidifies – and what we call the black earth, the red earth, the brown earth, etc. – which helps us grow rich crops: whether it is rice or other types of food materials, cotton, silk, anything.

The Mountains

It sustains the entire living creature, and all the mountains come out of this earth only. Forests, rivers, mountains – everything is the result of the combination of these five elements acting and interacting. And the result is this manifold, unimaginably huge cosmos.

Life and Death

And again, Bhagavān divided Himself into with life and without life. But look at the marvel of this. Everything with life becomes one with it – first dies, becomes without life, and it becomes, comes back to life again in some other form.

The Tree and the Seed

Crudely illustrated: a tree dies, giving back seeds. But it is there, living in the seed. The human seed that sustains the future generations. So the seed again produces the same tree from where it has come, with slightly modified name and form. Same thing is going on throughout the universe.

Black Energy and White Energy

Not only that – you will be astonished if you know a little bit of this astronomy. Great astrophysicists are telling there are unknowable things called "black energy," and black energy sustains and manifests as white energy. And this white energy manifests as unbelievably large cosmic objects – like the billions and trillions bigger than our sun. And the stars die, and that is a great phenomenon.

The Point of Singularity

And when the stars die, then that death of a star, its last gasp, is called the point of singularity. Previously, this is what people thought – that produces black hole, meaning full of black energy. Now they understand this black energy is nothing but manifestation of white energy.

The Tunnel

That means what? From one end of the tunnel, everything rushes into it, is turned into energy – matter is turned into energy. And at the other end of the tunnel, it is turned again into matter, and in the form of cosmic bodies – small stars, big stars, planets, meteors, anything that you can imagine.

The Brahma-Cakra

So this Brahma-cakra, this wheel of coming into manifestation, staying for some time, and again going back into its constituent element, and again coming back – is a continuous phenomenon that is going on all the time.

The Unmanifest and the Manifest

That is why the unmanifest supports the manifest, and the manifest supports the unmanifest. What a marvellous subject it is!

The Mantra Encapsulates the Teaching

So this mantra encapsulates the entire teaching. It asserts the unity of the macrocosm – the earth, the gross universe – and the microcosm – individual body and being. And both constituted by the same five elements, which are finally the outcome of one single infinite non‑dual truth called Brahman.

The Conscious Dimension

It then moves to the conscious dimension. The cosmic being Īśvara and the individual Jīva are shown to be identical. This is called Mahāvākya.

The Honeybee Analogy

Using this honeybee analogy of mutual cause and effect, finally, it declares the overarching identity of all phenomenal existence with the absolute Brahman, the immortal, and the all.

Conclusion

So this is the essence. This is the background with which, from our next class, we will just briefly discuss how everything that we can see in the cosmos – all the main important constituents, both the subtle and the gross cosmic manifestation – are enumerated in this Madhukāṇḍa. And once we understand this, then begins what is called Yukti-kāṇḍa, Tarka-kāṇḍa – Janaka trying to answer other great souls, their questions, queries, and their confusions, etc. But the first and second chapters are the very foundation. We will see that 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!