Upanishads

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, as the name itself suggests, is brihat i.e. vast as the infinite Reality Itself; the Shankara-Bhashya on this Upanishad is also vast and profound. This Upanishad is a part of Shukla Yajurveda's Shatapatha Brahmana (which is also known as Vajasaneyi Brahmana because its knowledge was received by Sage Yajnavalkya through the grace of Sun in an 'equine form'). Out of the two Shakhas (recensions) of the Shatapatha Brahmana, namely Kanva and Madhyandina, Sri Shankaracharya has written his commentary on Kanva branch; and he starts his commentary from third chapter because first two chapters deal with Karma-kanda (ritualistic) portion and Upanishad proper starts from third chapter, continuing till the concluding eighth chapter. This Upanishad is the elaboration of the theme of another Shukla Yajurveda Upanishad namely Ishavasyopanishad.

We present here the notes derived from audio talks by Swami Vidyananda Giri, Swami Ranganathanandaji Maharaj, and Swami Ramananada Saraswati on Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. (The original text for the Upanishad can be downloaded from sanskritdocuments.org)

Chapter I Chapter II Chapter III Chapter IV

This Brahmana is called 'Ajaatashatru Brahmana' as the dialogue between Gaargya and Ajaatshatru comes in this Brahmana. Gaargya (also known as DriptaBalaki), a learned Brahmin pandit but ignorant of real Self, boasted to Kashi King Ajaatshatru: 'I will teach you Self-Knowledge.'; Ajaatshatru, the true knower of Self, replied, 'I donate to you thousand cows just for saying this sentence'! Sri Shankaracharya gives reason for this extreme kindness of Ajaatshatru: at that time in India, King Janaka was famous for his Self-Knowledge, donations, scriptural debates etc and hence people used to go to him; though Ajaatshatru had similar qualities, not being famous, few people went to him! Thus being pleased at Gaargya coming to him and saying such a sentence, Ajaatshatru immediately donated him thousand cows!!
Gaargya then said, 'I meditate upon that Brahman which is in the solar orb.' To this King Ajaatshatru replied, 'Please don't talk about that Brahman, I meditate upon That Brahman as the all-transcending, resplendent and ruler of all.'

The conversation continues as:
Gaargya: 'I meditate upon that Brahman which is in the lunar orb.'
Ajaatshatru: 'Please don't talk about that Brahman, I meditate upon That Brahman as great, white-robed, and radiant soma [i.e. moon or a Vedic creeper whose juice was used in Vedic sacrifices].'

@Three types of Vedic याग yaag: ईष्टि-याग ishti-yaag (milk, curd, clarified butter used), सोम-याग soma-yaag (juice of soma creeper used), पशु-याग pashu-yaag (animal sacrifice).
@ प्रकृति-याग prakriti-yaag is that yaag in which all aspects of it are well-defined e.g. दर्श-पूर्णमास-याग darsh-poornamaasa-yaag is the prakriti-yaag of ishti-yaag type; विकृति-याग vikruti-yaag is that yaag in which all aspects of it are not well-defined. Vedic scriptures mandate that any yaag of a particular type which is vikruti-yaag must be performed as prakriti-yaag of that type, i.e. it should take up the missing aspects from the prakriti-yaag of that type. For soma-yaag type, ज्योतिष्टोम-याग jyotishtoma-yaag is the prakriti-yaag while for pashu-yaag type, it is अग्निसोम्य-याग agnisomya-yaag.

Gaargya: 'I meditate upon that Brahman which is in the lightening.'
Ajaatshatru: 'Please don't talk about that Brahman, I meditate upon That Brahman as powerful.'
Gaargya: 'I meditate upon that Brahman which is in the space.'
Ajaatshatru: 'Please don't talk about that Brahman, I meditate upon That Brahman as full and unmoving.'
Gaargya: 'I meditate upon that Brahman which is in the air.'
Ajaatshatru: 'Please don't talk about that Brahman, I meditate upon That Brahman as the Lord, as the irresistible, and as the unvanquished army.'
Gaargya: 'I meditate upon that Brahman which is in the fire.'
Ajaatshatru: 'Please don't talk about that Brahman, I meditate upon That Brahman as the forbearing.'

@ Fire has forbearing quality since it absorbs and converts anything thrown into itself as itself! Thus one who meditates on Brahman manifested as fire becomes forbearing i.e. converts anything experienced as himself/herself.
@A spiritual aspirant must forbear heat and cold (related to body), hunger and thirst (related to prana), and happiness and misery (related to mind). जो सह ले वो साधु - one who forbears is holy person.

Gaargya: 'I meditate upon that Brahman which is in the water.'
Ajaatshatru: 'Please don't talk about that Brahman, I meditate upon That Brahman as the agreeable/favourable.'
Gaargya: 'I meditate upon that Brahman which reflected in mirror.'
Ajaatshatru: 'Please don't talk about that Brahman, I meditate upon That Brahman as the shining one.'
Gaargya: 'I meditate upon that Brahman as the sound issuing forth from a man walking.'
Ajaatshatru: 'Please don't talk about that Brahman, I meditate upon That Brahman as life/prana [a man walks and similarly prana moves].'
Gaargya: 'I meditate upon that Brahman which is in the quarters.'
Ajaatshatru: 'Please don't talk about that Brahman, I meditate upon That Brahman as One always attended by non-separating companion.'
Gaargya: 'I meditate upon that Brahman which is identified with shadow.'
Ajaatshatru: 'Please don't talk about that Brahman, I meditate upon That Brahman as death.'
Gaargya: 'I meditate upon that Brahman who is the self.'
Ajaatshatru: 'Please don't talk about that Brahman, I meditate upon That Brahman as self-possessed [body-mind-senses under control].'
While saying each time that 'I know/meditate on the Brahman you are describing', King Ajaatshatru also describes the results obtained by performing such meditation. Also above conversation implies that the Supreme Self/Brahman can be meditated upon using any of Its attributes/limiting adjuncts.

After this, Gaargya remained silent, keeping his head down. Looking at him Ajaatshatru said, 'Do you know Brahman only this much or is there anything more? By knowing this much only, one can not know Brahman comprehensively.' Then Gaargya accepted the discipleship of Ajaatshatru and requested to be enlightened about Brahman comprehensively. Ajaatshatru replied, 'It is improper that a Brahmin should become disciple of a Kshatriya with the intention of knowing Brahman.' Brahmin is supposed to know Brahman and should be teacher of all; hence the request of Gaargya is contrary to usual social norm. However, King Ajaatshatru took Gaargya's hand in his hand and with the intention of teaching about Brahman, asked Gaargya to come with him. They came to a sleeping man and tried to wake him up by calling out various names such as, 'Great, White-robed, Radiant, Soma etc.'; the man did not get up, so Ajaatshatru pushed him with hand till he woke up.
In sleeping individual, all senses are not functioning but prana is functioning; Gaargya had earlier referred to prana as Brahman/Self. Since the sleeping man did not wake up even after being called by names, it proves that prana is not the main Brahman/Self. Then Ajaatshatru asked Gargya, 'When this conscious being was sleeping, where had it gone and when woken up, wherefrom it came back?' Gaargya did not know the answer to this. So Ajaatshatru said, 'At the time of sleep this being withdraws all its senses in the space of heart; then it is called svapiti. Though the body and senses are not functioning, this being roams around in dream state as if functioning in waking state. From dream state it goes to deep-sleep state where the subject-object duality experiences of waking and dream state are completely absent. From deep-sleep, the being comes back to waking state through 72,000 nerves (called Hita-Naadis) extending outwards from heart and covering entire body; in waking state it remains occupying entire body.'
If the being 'goes into' space of heart and 'comes back' from it, then the being must be different from the 'space of heart' i.e. Self/Atman. To refute this misconceptions, the Upanishad continues, 'As a spider moves along the thread produced by it, and as from a fire tiny sparks fly in all directions, so from this Self springs forth all organs, all worlds, all gods, and all beings. This is the 'Truth of truth' (prana i.e. mind-senses-body-world are truth and Self/Atman/Brahman is Truth of all these)'.

@ The analogy of spider is given to illustrate the point that there is nothing but the One Infinite Self out of which the multiplicity of the world appears; and the analogy of 'sparks from fire' is given to illustrate the point that 'without any change' in the Self, the world appears out of It.
@ Individuals are 'sparks of divine' just as 'many sparks come of from fire' - from this analogy it can be argued that the Self/Brahman is whole and individual souls are parts of it. This is not the purported meaning of the analogy; the analogy is given only to illustrate the point that 'just as sparks and fire are in essence same substance' similarly 'individual soul is nothing but Self/Brahman in essence'.
@ In Vedanta, two contradictory statements are to be understood simultaneously because the nature of phenomenon is an 'illusory superimposition' on Brahman. The souls and world 'appear' in One Infinite Self/Brahman and yet it never changes the Self in any way. So in effect the souls and world can be said to never 'appear' in Self/Brahman! And yet for one who is experiencing the world separate from himself/herself, it has to be conceded the Brahman is the substratum for world.

It was said at the end of previous section, 'Brahman is the 'Truth of truth' (prana i.e. mind-senses-body-world are truth and Self/Atman/Brahman is Truth of all these)'. Now in 2^nd and 3^rd next section it will be explained why 'mind-senses-body-world' i.e. prana are called truth. The gross and subtle world, individual as well as collective, is made up of five great elements: space, air, fire, water and earth; out of these five, space and air are अमूर्त amurta i.e. without form (त्यत् tyat i.e. can't be seen) while fire, water, and earth are मूर्त murta i.e. with form (सत् sat i.e. can be seen). Taking these two divisions (sat and tyat), the five elements are called satya. Hence also the 3^rd section is called 'Murta-Amurta Brahmana'. The 2^nd section is called 'Shishu Brahmana' as the prana here is compared to shishu i.e. calf tied to a post.

@ For Mukti (Liberation from transmigration), one has to clearly understand what is Self, what is non-Self, and how is the relation assumed between Self and non-Self. The mind-senses-body-world i.e. prana is non-Self while the real Self is Pure Consciousness-Bliss Infinite. For guiding the spiritual aspirant regarding this discrimination, these topics are discussed in Upanishads; here too, this and next section of this chapter deal with this.
@ One of the meditation techniques mentioned here is to consider body as the vessel, used for Vedic Sacrifice, which has its base upwards and opening below! The senses in the head portion of the body are to be meditated upon as seven great sages: two ears = Gautam and Bharadwaj Rishis; two eyes = Vishwamitra and Jamadagni Rishis; two nostrils = Vasishtha and Kashyapa Rishis; and tongue = Atri Rishi

Space and Air, being formless, are considered immortal and cause of Fire, Water, and Earth i.e. elements which are mortal and 'with form'; also the effect elements are 'limited in space' while the causal elements are 'non-limited'. In the manifested phenomenon, the three gross mortal elements are represented by Sun while the two immortal elements are represented by the cosmic collective (hiranyagarbha). With respect to individual aspect of phenomenon, the three gross mortal elements are represented by Eye while the two immortal elements are represented by the subtle-body functioning in waking state through right eye (i.e. through senses). The subtle body, made up of thought-waves, is described as of various colours and then the Upanishad gives the famous dictum: नेति, नेति neti, neti ('Not This, Not This') as the best description of supreme Reality i.e. of Brahman. Any positive definition is liable to be grasped by mind and made finite and hence negation of everything indicates to something beyond the realm of mind.

In this section comes the famous dialogue between Sage Yajnavalkya and his wife Maitreyi which deals with the 'truth of truth' (i.e. Self/Brahman); hence this section is called 'Maitreyi Brahmana'. It also highlights the importance of renunciation on the path of Self-Knowledge. Yajnavalkya was a Self-Realised Seer and a householder; he wished to take Sannyasa (renouncing household and taking to monasticism) and hence called one of his wives, Maitreyi, to inform her about his decision and to distribute his wealth among the two wives.

@Main two types of संन्यास Sannyasa:
(1) विद्वत् संन्यास Vidvat Sannyasa (also known as अपरोक्ष Aparoksha or अर्थप्राप्त Arthapraapta i.e. one which is gained directly and naturally after Self-Knowledge as in the rare case of Bhagawan Sri Ramana Maharshi; in this no external rituals, symbols, ochre clothes, rules etc. are mandatory);
(2) विविदिषा संन्यास Vividisha Sannyasa (also known as परोक्ष Paroksha i.e. not direct due to Self-Knowledge or प्रयोजक Prayojaka/ज्ञान कारणभूत Jnana Kaaranabhuta i.e. which will prove as a cause of Self-Knowledge or वैध Vaidha/विधि प्रयुक्त Vidhi Prayukta i.e. one which involves rituals, symbols, rules, ochre clothes etc. or आपात् Aapaat i.e. for one who has to do श्रवण, मनन, निदिध्यासन - practice the abidance in Self-Knowledge; for majority of spiritual aspirants this is the case)

After Yajnavalkya expressed his intentions to Maitreyi, she asked him, 'Sir, if I get all the wealth of this Earth, will I become immortal?' Yajnavalkya replied, 'No, your life will be like those who have plenty of things but you can't get immortality through wealth.' To this Maitreyi immediately replied, 'What will I do with that which won't make me Immortal. Please Sir tell me that which is the means to Immortality.' Pleased with Maitreyi's reply, Yajnavalkya said, 'My dear, you have been my beloved always and now too you speak words dear to me. Come, take your seat, as I explain it, you meditate on the same.'
Now Yajnavalkya starts the famous teaching (Swami Vivekananda explained this in one of his talks as):

It is not for the sake of the husband that the wife loves the husband, but for the sake of the Atman that she loves the husband, because she loves the Self. None loves the wife for the sake of the wife; but it is because one loves the Self that one loves the wife. None loves the children for the children; but because one loves the Self, therefore one loves the children. None loves wealth on account of the wealth; but because one loves the Self, therefore one loves wealth. None loves the Brahmin for the sake of the Brahmin; but because one loves the Self, one loves the Brahmin. So, none loves the Kshatriya for the sake of the Kshatriya, but because one loves the Self. Neither does any one love the world on account of the world, but because one loves the Self. None, similarly, loves the gods on account of the gods, but because one loves the Self. None loves a thing for that thing's sake; but it is for the Self that one loves it. This Self, therefore, is to be heard, reasoned about, and meditated upon. O my Maitreyi, when that Self has been heard, when that Self has been seen, when that Self has been realised, then, all this becomes known. ... ...
Him the Brahmin gives up who sees the Brahmin anywhere else but in the Self. Him the Kshatriya gives up who sees the Kshatriya anywhere else but in the Self. The world gives him up who sees this world anywhere but in that Atman. The gods give him up who loves the gods knowing them to be anywhere else but in the Atman. Everything goes away from him who knows everything as something else except the Atman. These Brahmins, these Kshatriyas, this world, these gods, whatever exists, everything is that Atman. ... ...
As with a drum when we are at a distance we cannot catch the sound, we cannot conquer the sound; but as soon as we come to the drum and put our hand on it, the sound is conquered. When the conch-shell is being blown, we cannot catch or conquer the sound, until we come near and get hold of the shell, and then it is conquered. When the Vina is being played, when we have come to the Vina, we get to the centre whence the sound is proceeding. As when some one is burning damp fuel, smoke and sparks of various kinds come, even so, from this great One has been breathed out knowledge; everything has come out of Him. He breathed out, as it were, all knowledge. As to all water, the one goal is the ocean; as to all touch, the skin is the one centre; as of all smell, the nose is the one centre; as to all taste, the tongue is the one goal; as of all form, the eyes are the one goal; as of all sounds, the ears are the one goal; as of all thought, the mind is the one goal; as of all knowledge, the heart is the one goal; as of all work, the hands are the one goal; as a morsel of salt put into the sea-water melts away, and we cannot take it back, even so, Maitreyi, is this Universal Being eternally infinite; all knowledge is in Him. The whole universe rises from Him, and again goes down into Him. No more is there any knowledge, dyingor death.

After listening to this description of Self/God, Maitreyi go frightened and confused, she said to her husband (Swami Vivekananda's narration continues):

"Sir, here is exactly where you have thrown a delusion over me. You have frightened me by saying there will be no more gods; all individuality will be lost. There will be no one to recognise, no one to love, no one to hate. What will become of us?" "Maitreyi, I do not mean to puzzle you, or rather let it rest here. You may be frightened. Where there are two, one sees another, one hears another, one welcomes another, one thinks of another, one knows another. But when the whole has become that Atman, who is seen by whom, who is to be heard by whom, who is to be welcomed by whom, who is to be known by whom?"

Self is ever-present 'illuminator' of body-mind-world phenomenon and in the absence of body-mind-world, Self remains alone - ever Pure Consciousness; hence it can not be 'known' objectively.

This section is called Madhu Brahmana as it shows the interconnected-ness of subject and object (inter-related cause-effect pairs). Just as many bees sucking honey (i.e. madhu) from flowers collect it into the bee-hive, similarly due to multifarious karmas of innumerable souls, the five great elements (Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Space) comes into being! The gross bodies of souls are again the effects (madhu word used in this section to mean 'effect') of five great elements. The luminous subtle body of the five great elements and that of all beings is similarly interdependent cause-effect of each other. These all again are only name and form appearances of infinite non-dual Self/Brahman.
Similarly the Dharma or righteousness is the effect of all beings and all beings are effects of Dharma. The luminous intelligence in Dharma as well as in all beings is similarly interdependent cause-effect of each other. These all again are only name and form appearances of infinite non-dual Self/Brahman. The supreme infinite Pure Consciousness-Bliss Self/God appears divided into infinite number of souls and entire world of names and forms, and yet remains totally unchanged. This is Maya!

This section is known as वंश ब्राह्मण Vansha Brahmana as it gives a long list of sages who passed on the Knowledge of Brahman (BrahmaVidya) in Guru-disciple relationship. This is given to highlight the supreme importance of BrahmaVidya and also to provide spiritual practices of swadhyaya (studying mantras under Guru and then in future to teach those to disciples) and japa (repetition of mantras) to spiritual aspirants. The long list of disciple-Guru mentioned ends at the top in Virat as disciple and Hiranyagarbha as Guru.

Next : Chapter III