Upanishad Vahini – by Sathya Sai Baba

Preface

Dear Reader

Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba has come among men and is providing spiritual sustenance and
guidance, in order to re-establish Truth, Justice, Peace and Love as the main-spring of
individual, social and national life. He is using for this great task ancient and modern
instruments, Sanathana Dharma and science. His writings, discourses and conversations
which correct, communicate and convince are full of statements and commentaries on the
discoveries of physical and metaphysical sciences.

This book which gives, in English, His articles (first published in Telugu in the Sanathana
Sarathi) on the Ten Upanishads (invaluable text-books on spiritual discipline and on the
glorious fruit of spiritual adventure) will reveal to you the vast limitless Mercy which impels
Him to save us from trivialities and prompts Him to guide us along, until we reach the Goal of
Life.

Making us tread the path discovered by the Sages of the past, inducing us to revere their Light
and their Message, illumining in us the Flame of Knowledge which dispels delusion - that is
what Bhagavan, with His Supreme Love, does for us in this book.

Let us read it with care, recapitulate it with earnestness in the silence of our hearts and
practise it with humility and faith, in every turn of thought, in every tilt of tongue and in every
digit of deed.

N. Kasturi

I. UPANISHADVAAHINI

Man is essentially Divine. However, he believes himself to be an individual, limited and

temporary, because he is entangled in the characteristics of the Five Elements, namely, Sound,
Touch, Form, Taste and Smell. This error brings about joy and grief, good and bad, birth and
death. To escape from this association with the Elements, to rid oneself of the pulls of their
characteristics, is the sign of Liberation, called in Sanskrit as Kaivalya, Moksha or Mukthi.
Names may change; but the achievement is the same.

While entangled in the Five Elements, man is attracted, distracted or disappointed by them; all
this causes distress. Wealth, possessions - vehicles, buildings - all these re transmutations of
the elements. Man craves for them; when he loses them or fails to get them, he spurns them.

Let us take the Five Elements, one by one. The living being has the first one, the Earth, as its
base. Water, the second, is the basis for the earth. Water is produced from Fire, the third
element, Fire itself emanating from Wind, the fourth. Wind or Vayu arises from Ether, or
Akasa. Akasa emerges from the Primal Nature and the Primal Nature is but the manifestation
of one aspect of the majesty of God, or the Supreme Sovereign Atma, the Param-atma.

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Seeking to reach that Param-atma, the source and core of the Universe, the Individual or Jivi,
who has entangled himself in the elements, has to overcome, by discrimination and steady
practice of detachment, the bonds one by one; such a person is a Sadhaka; he who wins in this
struggle is the Jivan-muktha, 'Liberated even while alive.'

For the exercise of such discrimination and for the visualisation of one's innate reality, one
has to study the Upanishads. They are collectively called Vedanta. They form the Jnana kanda
of the Vedas, the section that deals with the Higher Wisdom. Liberation from the
consequences of Ignorance can be secured only by Knowledge or Jnana. The Upanishads
themselves declare, "Jnaanaad eva thu kaivalyam": "By Knowledge alone can freedom be
won."

The Vedas are reputed to be "three sectioned", "Kaanda-thrayaathmakam" - the three sections
being Jnana, Upasana and Karma. These three are found in the Upanishads too; they provided
the basis for the Adwaitha, Visishtadvaitha and the Dwaitha systems of Philosophy also.

The term Upanishad denotes the study and practice of the innate truth: the term,
Brahmavidya, denotes the supremacy of spiritual contemplation; the term, Yogasastra denotes
the mental churning that brings success. What is the fundamental activity which is required of
man? What is the basic thing to be known? It is only one's basic reality. The Upanishads
describe the various stages and the various modes of this search for realising this.

The name is full of significance. 'Upa' means the process of studying with 'Nishta' or
steadfastness; 'shad' means the attainment of the Ultimate Reality. The name Upa-ni-shad
arose for these reasons. The Upanishads teach not only the principles of Atmavidya; they
indicate also the practical means of realisation. They point out not only the duties and
obligations one has to bear, but also the actions to be done and those to be avoided.

The Gita is but the essence of the Upanishads. Arjuna acquired through the lessons of the Gita
the fruit of listening to the Upanishads. In the Upanishads, the statement, "Thath-thwam-asi",
"That thou art", is found. In the Gita, Krishna says to Arjuna, "I am Arjuna among the
Pandavas", that is to say, "I and You are the same". This is the same as saying "Thou art
That", that Jiva and Iswara are the same.

So, whether it is the Gita or the Upanishads, the teaching is Non-duality, not Duality, or
qualified Monism. The human eye cannot delve into the minute or the magnitudinous. It
cannot read the mystery of the virus or the atom or the stellar universe. Therefore, scientists
supplement the eye with the telescope and the microscope. Similarly, sages are able to
experience Divinity through the eye of knowledge, gained by following the Dharma of moral
conduct and spiritual discipline. When the human eye stands in need of an extraneous
instrument to observe even the insignificant worm and virus, how can one refuse to go
through the process of manthra if he desires to see the omnipresent transcendent Principle? It
is very hard to acquire the eye of wisdom. Concentration is essential for this. And, for
concentration to develop and stabilise itself, three things are very important: purity of
consciousness, moral awareness and spiritual discrimination. These qualifications are difficult
of attainment by ordinary folk.

Man is endowed with the special instrument of discrimination, of judgement, of analysis and
synthesis, which among all animals, he alone possesses. He has to develop this and utilise it to
the best purpose. Through this instrument, he can realise the Immanent Divinity.

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Instead, man pesters himself and others with the question: Where does God reside? If He is
real, why is He not seen? Hearing such queries, one feels like pitying the poor questioners.
For, they are announcing their own foolishness. They are like the dullards who aspire for
university degrees without taking pains even to learn the alphabet. They aspire to realise God
without putting themselves to the trouble of practising the Sadhana required. People who have
no moral strength and purity talk of God and His existence and decry efforts to see Him. Such
people have no right to be heard.

Spiritual Sadhana is based on the holy Sastras. They cannot be mastered in a trice. They
cannot be followed through talk. Their message is summed up in the Upanishads; hence, they
are revered as authoritative. They are not the products of human intelligence; they are the
whisperings of God to man. They are parts of the eternal Vedas. The Vedas shine gloriously
through all their parts.

The Upanishads are authentic and authoritative, as they share the glory of the Vedas. They are
1180 in number, but, through the centuries, many of them disappeared from human memory
and only 108 have now survived. Of these, 13 have attained great popularity, as a result of the
depth and value of their contents.

The sage Vyasa classified the Upanishads and allotted them among the four Vedas; The
Rigveda has 21 branches and each branch has one Upanishad allotted to it. The Yajurveda has
109 branches and 109 Upanishads. The Atharvanaveda has 50 branches and 50 Upanishads
were its share. The Samaveda has a thousand branches and the balance, namely, 1000
Upanishads were its share. Thus, the 1180 Upanishads were assigned by Vyasa to the Four
Vedas.

Sankaracharya raised the status of ten among the Upanishads by selecting them for writing his
commentaries and so they became especially important. Humanity stands to gain or fall by
these ten. All who are seeking human welfare and progress are now apprehending whether
even these ten will be forgotten, for, neglecting them will usher in moral and spiritual disaster.
There is no reason, however, for such fears. The Vedas can never be harmed. Pundits and
those with faith should resolve to present before humanity these ten Upanishads at least. They
are Isa, Kena, Katha, Prasna, Mundaka, Mandukya, Thaithiriya, Aithareya, Chandogya and
Brihadaranyaka.

The remaining 98 are: Brahma, Kaivalya, Svethasva, Jabali, Hamsa, Garbha, Aruni,
Paramahamsa, Amrithanada, Narayani, Amrithabindu, Atharvasikha, Atharvasira, Kasithara,
Mathrayani, Nrisimhatapani, Brahmajabala, Maithreya, Kalagnirudra, Sulabha, Manthrika,
Kshithi, Niraalamba, Sarvahara, Vajrasuchika, Subharahasya, Thejobindu, Nadabindu,
Dhyanabindu, Brahmavidya, Atmabodhaka, Yoga, Thathwa, Naradaparivrajaka, Brahmana,
Sita, Yogachudamani, Nirvana, Mandala, Dakshinamurthi, Skandaa, Sarabha, Adwaitha,
Thaaraka, Mahanarayana, Sowbhagyalakshmi, Saraswathirahasya, Mukthika, Bhavaricha,
Ramathapana, Ramarahasya, Mudgali, Vasudeva, Pingala, Sandilya, Mahabhikshuka,
Yogasiksha, Sanyasa, Thuriyathitha, Parmaparivrajaka, Narasimha, Akshamalika,
Annapoorna, Ekakshara, Akshika, Adhathya, Surya, Kundisakhya, Aatma, Savithri,
Parabrahma, Pasupatha, Thripurathapana, Avadhootha, Thripura, Devi, Bhavana, Katha,
Yogakundali, Rudrahrdaya, Rudraksha, Bhasma, Darsana, Ganapathi, Thahasata, Mahavakya,
Panchabrahma, Gopalathapani, Pranagnihothra, Garuda, Krishna, Datthatreya, Varaaha,
Yajnavalkya, Sathyaayana, Avyektha, Hayagriva, and Kalisantharna.

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The Upanishads have also inspired other works on Geography, Astronomy, Astrology,
Economics and Political Theory, as well as the 18 Puranas comprising Skanda, Siva, Garuda
and others. The Vedas and the Upanishads are the very foundation for Sanathana Dharma.

There is one interesting feature to be noted. This religion has no one Founder as the others
have. That invisible unknown founder is God, the source of all wisdom. He is the Prophet of
this Sanathana Dharma. He is the Founder; His Grace and His Inspiration manifested through
the pure Sages and they became the spokesmen of this Dharma. When the moral purity of
men degenerates, God takes form as grace and inspiration in sages and teachers. He has also
given through the Upanishads the Sathya-Jnana, the Wisdom concerning the Reality.

II. ISAVASYOPANISHAD

The Lord, intent on the regeneration of the world, communicated Vedas through
Hiranyagarbha and Hiranyagarbha, in turn, passed Them on to his ten Manasa-puthras,
including Athri and Marichi. From them, the Vedas spread among humanity, handed down
from one generation to another. As time passed, ages accumulated and continents moved,
some Vedas got lost, or were neglected as too difficult for comprehension, and only Four have
survived into modern times. These Four were taught by Vedavyasa, the greatest among the
exponents of the Vedas, to his disciples, in the Dwaparayuga.

When Vyasa was thus expounding the Vedas, engaged in spreading the sacred scripture, one
disciple of his, Yajnavalkya by name, incurred his wrath and as a punishment, he had to
regurgitate the Yajurveda that he had already learned, into the custody of his guru and leave
the place, to take refuge in Suryadeva, the treasure-house of the Vedas. Just then, the Rishis
who revere the Vedas, flew into the place in the shape of Thiththiri birds and ate up the
regurgitated Yajurveda. That particular section of the Veda is called "Thaithiriyam".

Meanwhile Suryadeva was pleased with the devotion and steadfastness of the unfortunate
Yajnavalkya. He assumed the form of a Vaji or Horse and blessed the sage with renewed
knowledge of the Yajurveda. The sections thus taught by the Vaji came to be called
'Vajasaneyi'. The Yajurveda as promoted by Vedavyasa is called Krishnayajurveda and that
handed down by Yajnavalkya as the Suklayajurveda. In these, the first few chapters are
Manthras connected with the Karmakanda and the last few sections deal with Jnanakanda.

The Isavasya Upanishad is concerned with this Jnanakanda. Since the opening manthra of this
Upanishad starts with the words, 'Isavasyam', the Upanishad is called by that name.

Isavaasyamidam sarvam yathkinchajagathyaam jagath

Thena thyakthena bhunjeethaah, maa gridhah kasyaswid-dhanam
"All things of this world, the transitory, the evanescent, are enveloped by the Lord who is the
real Reality of each. Therefore they have to be used with reverent renunciation, without
covetousness or greed for they belong to the Lord and not to any one person". That is what
this sloka means.

That is to say, the Universe is the Immanence of the Lord, His Form, His Body. It is wrong to
take the Universe and its Lord as different. It is a delusion, a product of the imagination of

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man. Just as your image under the water is not different from you, the Universe (which is His
Image produced on your Ignorance) is the same as He.

So long as man has this delusion, he cannot visualise the Reality immanent in him; on the
other hand, he will slide into wrong thoughts, words and deeds. A piece of sandalwood if kept
in water will produce a bad smell; but, if it is taken out and rubbed into paste, the former
perfume will return. When the authority of the Vedas and Sastras is repeated and when
discrimination is sharpened on the practice of Dharmakarmas, the evil smell of wrong and
wickedness will vanish and the pure innate perfume of the Atma will emerge. Then the
duality of doer and enjoyer will disappear; then, you reach the stage called Sarvakarmasanyas,
the withdrawal from all activity. In this Upanishad, this type of Sanyas is described as the
pathway to Liberation or Moksha.

The sanyasa which involves the destruction of the three urges (for a mate, for progeny and for
wealth) is very difficult to attain without purity of the chiththa or mind.

In this Upanishad, the means for getting this is declared in the second Manthra. That is to say:
carry out the Agnihothra etc. prescribed in the Sastras, believe that for liberation one has to be
actively engaged in such work and get convinced that no sin can cling so long as one is so
engaged. Work without the desire for the fruit thereof slowly cleanses impurities like the
crucible of the goldsmith. The pure mind is Jnana; it is the consummation of detachment.

If you are able to divest yourselves of desire when you are doing work, no impurity can touch
you. You know the "Chilliginji" seeds when dropped into muddy water have the power of
separating the dirt and depositing it at the bottom; the seeds too sink to the bottom, and slip
out of sight! In the same way, those who are adepts in doing Karma without attachment will
have their minds perfectly cleansed and the results of their acts will also lose effectiveness
and sink to the bottom.

Out of the 18 manthras in this Upanishad only the first two deal directly with the problem of
Liberation and its solution. The other sixteen elaborate this solution and serve as
commentaries thereon.

The Atma never undergoes any modification; yet it is faster than any mind! That is the
mystery and the miracle; it appears to experience all states, but it has no growth, decline or
change. Though it is everywhere it is not perceivable by the senses; it is because of its
underlying existence and ever-present immanence that all growth, all activities, all changes
take place. Cause and effect act and react on account of the Basic stratum of the Atmic reality.
The very word, 'Isa' carries this meaning. The Atma is near and far, inside and outside, still
and moving. He who knows this truth is worthy of the name Jnani.

The ignorant can never grasp the fact of Atmic immanence. Those who are conscious can see
things and can feel their presence near them. Those who have lost awareness will search for
the lost jewels though they actually wear them at the moment. Though one may know all
things, he conceives the Atma as existing in some un-approachable, unreachable place on
account of loss of consciousness. But the Jnani, who is aware, sees the Atma in all beings and
all beings as Atma: He sees all beings as the same, and perceives no distinction or difference.
So he saves himself from duality.

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The Isavasya makes this great Truth clear to all. The Jnani who has tasted that vision will not
be agitated by the blows of fortune or the enticements of the senses. He sees all beings as
himself, having his own innate identity; he is free from bondage, from Dharma and Adharma,
and the needs and urges of the body. He is "Swayamprakaasa". So, the Jiva-rupa is not his
genuine form, no, not even the gross and the subtle bodies called the Sthula and the Sukshma
sariras.

That is why in the first manthra of the Isavasya, the Jnana-nishta characterised by the absence
of craving of any sort is expounded. This is the primary Vedartha; but, those who have
cravings will find it difficult to get stabilised in that Nishta or state of mind. For such, the
second manthra prescribes a secondary means, the Karmanishta. The rest of the manthras
elaborate and support these two nishtas - based on Jnana and Karma. Karma-nishta has Desire
and Delusion as the cardinal urges; Jnana-nishta has Vairagya, the conviction that the world is
not Atma, that is to say, not true, and therefore, it is profitless to have any dealings with it.
Such an attitude to Vairagya is the gateway to Jnana-nishta. From the third to the eighth
manthra, the real nature of the Atma is depicted, through the condemnation of the Avidya,
which prevents the understanding of the Atma.

Thus the Isavasya teaches the lesson of renunciation through the first manthra and the lesson
of 'liberating activity' (through Karma devoid of Raga and Dwesha) in the second manthra. In
the fourth and fifth manthra, it speaks of Atmathathwa and later of the fruits of the knowledge
of that Atmathathwa. In the ninth manthra, the path of progressive liberation or Karmamukthi
(useful for those who are too weak to follow the path of total renunciation but who are adepts
in acts that are conducive to moral development and inner purification) is laid down; this is
the path which co-ordinates all Karma on the principle of Upasana. Those who are engaged in
acts contrary to Vidya are full of Ajnana, it says; those who confine themselves to the study
and practice of divine forms are even worse, for their desire is for powers and skills. Vidya
leads to Deva-loka, Karma leads to Pithr-loka, it is said. So, the Jnana that results in
Atmasakshathkara or Self-realisation is something quite distinct from these, no attempt to co-
ordinate the two can succeed.

Of course, one should not engage in anything opposed to the Sastras; and all actions are
classed as Avidya, in the ultimate analysis. At best, Karma can help only to cleanse the mind
and the Upasana of Gods can lead to single-mindedness. The Upasana has to rise to the level
of the worship of the Cosmic Divinity, the Hiranyagarbha; it has to ripen and develop into
Jivanmukthi, before the end of this life.

The Devatha-Jnana and the Karma-nishta have both to be complementary and co-ordinated;
then, one can escape the round of birth and death and become Divine.

III. KATHOPANISHAD

The story of Nachikethas, who was initiated in a spiritual discipline by Yama Himself, is
found in this Upanishad. The same story is also mentioned in the Thaithiriya Brahmana and in
the Mahabharatha too, in the 106th Chapter of the Anusaasanaparva. This Upanishad has
become famous on account of its clarity and depth of imagination. Many of the thoughts
expressed in it can be found in the Bhagavadgitha. Since it belongs to the Katha Saakha of the
Krishna Yajurveda School, it is called Kathopanishad.

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A very strict ritualist, Vaajasravas, also known as Gouthama, performed a Yaga. As part of
the sacrifice he gave away cows that were no longer able to eat grass or drink water, much
less yield milk! They were too old for any useful purpose. Seeing this, his virtuous and
intelligent son, Nachikethas by name, realised that his father was in for a great deal of sorrow,
consequent on the sinful gifts. The boy wanted to save his father from his fate as far as it lay
in his power; he asked his father, to whom he intended to offer him as a gift! He importuned
that he too should be given away to some one. At this the father got so incensed that he
shouted in disgust, "I am giving you to the God of Death". Whereupon, Nachikethas resolved
that his father's words must not be falsified though they were uttered in the Jiva-loka, infected
with birth and death. So he persuaded his father to offer him, in strict ritualistic style, as a gift
to Yama. Nachikethas promptly proceeded to the abode of the God of Death. He had to wait
three nights before he could see Yama. The Lord of Death felt sorry for the delay in receiving
a Brahmin guest and promised Nachikethas (by way of atonement) three boons, one for each
night he spent outside his doors.

Nachikethas wanted first, that when he returned to his native place and home at His behest,
his father must welcome him gladly, free from all anger over his former impertinence, and full
of mental equanimity. His second desire was to know the secret of the absence in heaven of
hunger or thirst or the fear of death. Yama gladly gave him these boons. In addition Yama
initiated him into a special ritual, and its mystery. Nachikethas listened reverentially and
grasped the details of that ritual quickly and clearly. Yama was so delighted with his new
disciple that He gave the Yaga a new name Nachiketha Agni! This was an extra boon for the
young visitor. Nachikethas said; "Master! Man is mortal; but, some say that death is not the
end, that there is an entity called Atma which survives the body and the senses; others argue
that there is no such entity. Now that I have the chance, I wish to know about the Atma from
you."

Yama desired to test the credentials of his questioner's steadfastness and eagerness to know
the Highest Wisdom. If he was undeserving, Yama did not want to communicate the
knowledge to him. So, He offered to give him instead, various other boons, related to worldly
prosperity and happiness. He told him that the Atma is something very subtle and elusive, that
it is beyond the reach of ordinary understanding and He placed before him other attractive
boons that could be enjoyed 'quicker' and 'better'. Nachikethas replied: "Revered Master!
Your description of the difficulty of understanding it makes me feel that I should not let go
this chance for, I can get no teacher more qualified than You to explain it to me. I ask this as
my third boon and no other. The alternative boons You hold before me cannot assure me the
everlasting benefit that Atmajnana alone can bestow."

Seeing this Sraddha and this steadiness Yama was pleased and He concluded that Nachikethas
was fit to receive the highest wisdom. He said, "Well, My dear Boy! There are two distinct
types of experiences and urges, called Sreyas and Preyas, both affect the individual. The first
releases; the second leashes. One leads to salvation and the other to incarceration! If you
pursue the Preya path, you leave the realisation of the highest goal of man, far behind. The
Sreya path can be discerned only by the refined intellect, by Viveka; the Preya path is trodden
by the ignorant and the perverted. Vidya reveals the Sreyas and Avidya makes you slide into
the Preyas. Naturally, those who seek the Sreya road are very rare."

Yama continued: "The Atma is agitationless, unruffled; it is Consciousness, infinite and full.
He who has known the Atma will not be moved by the dual ideas of 'is' and 'is-not', 'Do-er'

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'Not-doer' etc. The Atma is not even an object to be known! It is neither knower, known nor
knowledge. Discovering this is the supremest Vision; informing one of this is the supremest
instruction. The Instructor is Brahmam, and the Instructed is also Brahmam. Realisation of
this ever-present Truth saves one from all attachment and agitation and so, It liberates one
from birth and death. This great Mystery cannot be grasped by logic; it has to be won by Faith
in the Smrithis and experienced."

"The Atma is capable of being known only after vast perseverance. One has to divert the mind
from its natural habitat - the objective world - and keep it in unwavering equanimity. Only a
hero can succeed in this solitary internal adventure and overcome the monsters of egoism and
illusion! That victory alone can remove grief."

The teaching of the Vedantha is that the Highest Truth is capable of being realised by all. All
the texts proclaim so with one voice; they also say that the Pranava or the syllable Om is the
symbol of the Para and the Apara Brahmam; they declare that the Upasana of the Pranava
brings within your reach even the Hiranyagarbha stage and helps you to attain two stages of
Brahmam, too. The Hiranyagarbha is enveloped by the thinnest veil of Maya and through Om,
it can be rent asunder, and both Para and Apara Brahmam realised.

The Kathopanishad also elaborates on the Atma in various ways. It says that the Atma is not
measurable, that it can never be contained by limitations, though it appears so. The image of
the Sun in a lake quivers and shakes due to the quivering and shaking of the water; the Sun is
but a distant witness. It is unaffected by the media which produce the images. The Atma
likewise is the witness of all this change in space and time.

The Jiva, the Individualised Ignorance, is the participant of the fruits of action, of right and
wrong, of good and evil; the Jivi forges bondage through Egoism and loosens the bonds
through Buddhi, the counter-force of ignorance. Realise that all is won the moment the
indriyas (external and internal) are put out of action. Discard them as false and misleading;
merge them all in the Manas. Throw the Manas back into the Buddhi and the Buddhi or
individualised Intelligence into the Cosmic Intelligence of Hiranyagarbha. And, having
reached that stage of Sadhana, merge the Cosmic intelligence in the Atma-thathwa of which it
is but a manifestation. Then you attain the stage of Nirvikalpasamadhi, the perfect unruffled
equanimity of Absolute One-ness which is your true Nature. That is the secret propounded by
this Upanishad; that and the fact that all creation is a proliferation of Nama and Rupa.

Misled by the mirage, you are unable to see the desert waste; frightened by the snake
(superimposed by you on the rope) you are unable to discern the basic reality. The
beginningless delusion that haunts the Jivi has to be broken through. The 14th Manthra of this
Upanishad wakes up the Jivi from the sleep of ages and leads him on towards the goal.

The Atma is beyond Sabda, Sparsa, Rupa, Rasa and Gandha; it knows no end. The senses are
object-bound, outward-bound. The Atma is the prime instrument for all activity and
knowledge, the inner motive-force behind everything. This delusion of manifold-ness, variety,
multiplicity, many-ness, has to die. It is born of Ajnana. The "many" is a mirage caused by
"circumstances"; the feeling that you are separate from the One is the root of all this seeming
Birth and Death, which the individual appears to go through. Yama then declared the Nature
of Brahman to Nachikethas, to remove his doubts on that point.

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Like a light hidden by smoke, the Thumb-sized Purusha (the Angushtamaathra) is eternally
shining. As the torrent of rain falling on a peak is shattered downwards in a thousand streams,
the Jivi, who feels many-ness and difference, falls down through many-ness and goes to
waste. This Upanishad announces that there is nothing higher than the Atma or even equal to
it. The roots of a tree are invisible; they are hidden underground; but their effect is evident in
the flowers that are visible, is it not? This is true of this Samsaravriksha, the Tree of Life.
From that experience, you have to infer that the root, Brahmam, is there as sustenance and as
support, said Yama.

The Tree of Samsara is like the magician's mango tree; it is just an illusion. He who has
purified his Buddhi can see in it, as in a fine mirror, the Atma, in this very life. Brahmam is
the Jneyam, the thing known to the seeker of knowledge; it is the Upaasyam, the thing
attained by the seeker of attainment. The Jnani is liberated by his visualisation of Brahmam,
but the Upasaka reaches Brahmaloka after death. There, he merges in Hiranyagarbha and at
the end of the kalpa, he is liberated along with the Hiranyagarbha Itself.

Nachikethas understood without a flaw this Brahmavidya that Yama taught him; he was
released by Death and attained Brahmam. So far as this Brahmavidya is concerned even he
who attempts to know what it is, becomes thereby a better personality, free from the taint of
sin.

This Upanishad has taught in many ways the fundamental subjects: Pranavaswarupa, Sreyas
and Brahmavidya. My resolve is to tell you now the essence of these teachings. Of course,
one Mantra is enough to save those who have sharpened intelligence and who are full of the
yearning to escape. For the dull-witted, sense-prompted individual immersed in secular
pleasure-seeking, advice however plentiful is a waste.

The Atma is like the ocean; to instruct a person about it, you need not ask him to drink the
entire ocean. A single drop placed on the tongue will give him the needed knowledge. So too,
if you desire to know the Upanishad, you need not follow every Manthra. Learn and
experience the implication of one Manthra; you can realise the Goal without fail. Learn and
practice. Learn to practice: That is the secret of the Teaching.

IV. MUNDAKOPANISHAD

This Upanishad begins with an Invocation, praying that the eye may see auspicious things, the
ear may hear auspicious sounds, and that life may be spent in the contemplation of the Lord.
The teaching of this Upanishad is referred to as Brahmavidya, either because it describes first
the message of Hiranyagarbha, the casual Brahma, or because the message relates the glory of
Brahmam. This Upanishad speaks of Brahmavidya as the mystery which only those with
shaven heads and those who go through a rite of having Fire on the shaven head can
understand. So, it is called Mundaka, or shaven Head. Apart from this, this Upanishad is
honoured as the crest of all, since it expounds the very essence of Brahma Jnana. It is assigned
to the Fourth Veda, the Atharvana.

This knowledge has been handed down from teacher to pupil by word of mouth, enriched and
confirmed by experience; it is also called Paravidya, the knowledge of the Other when it deals
with the attributeless Principle; when it deals with the attribute-full, the Saguna, the

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materialised principle, it is called A-paravidya, the knowledge of the Immanent, not the
Transcendent aspect. These are the two that are found in this Upanishad. They were taught by
Saunaka to Angirasa; that is what the text announces. The Vedas and the Vedangas deal with
A-paravidya. The Upanishads deal specially with Para-vidya. But, the interesting thing is: the
A-para-vidya leads on to the Para, the knowledge of Brahmam, which is the goal.

The spider evolves out of itself the magnificent manifestation of the web; so too, this jagath
(moving, changing world) is manifested from the causative Brahmam. The jagath or samsar is
the product of creator-creation complex. It is true and factual and useful, so long as one is
unaware of the Reality. The utmost that one can gain by activity, that is to say, holy or sacred
activity is Heaven or Swarga, which has a longer lease of life, but, which has an end in spite
of it. So, the seeker loses all yearning for Heaven; he approaches an elderly teacher full of
compassion, who instructs him in the discipline for realising the Brahmam.

All beings are Brahmam and no other. They all do emanate from Brahmam. As sparks
emanate from fire, as hair grows on the skin but is different from it, so too beings originate
from Brahmam. Brahmam causes the sun, moon, stars and planets to revolve in space;
Brahmam grants the consequence of all the acts of beings. The Jivi and the Iswara, the
Individual and the Universal are two birds sitting on the same tree i.e., the human body. The
Jivi acts, and suffers the consequences of those acts. The Iswara sits quiet, as a witness of the
other bird. When the Jivi looks at the Iswara and realises that it is but an image, it escapes
from grief and pain. When the mind is drawn by yearning to know the Iswara, all other low
desires diminish and disappear. Then, knowledge of Atma is attained. The last manthra of this
Upanishad declares that its aim is to make man attain that Jnana. Munda means head; this
Upanishad is the Head of all Upanishads, we can say. So even the Brahma suthra devotes two
chapters to elaborate the inner meaning of the manthras of this Upanishad.

It has three sections, with two chapters in each. In the first section, the A-paravidya, and in the
second, the Paravidya and the means of mastering them are dealt with. In the third, the nature
of the Reality and of the release from bondage, is defined. The Karma that helps attain the
Brahmam is denoted in the manthras. That is why this Upanishad is respected as very sacred.

The spider, as already indicated, spins out the web from itself without any extraneous agency;
it also takes in the web it has spun. So too, Creation was effected without an agent and the
Universe emanated. This Nature or Prakrithi is but a transformation of the basic Brahmam,
like pot from mud, cloth from cotton, jewels from Gold. So Brahmam is called the Upadana
cause of Prakrithi. It is also the Nimiththakarana, or the Nimiththa cause. For, this Universe
can only be the result of a High Intelligence, an Intelligence that is all-comprehensive, a
Sarvajna. Heaven is the highest attainable stage through Karma. Of such Karmas or rites, the
worship of Fire called Agnihotra is the chiefest. The performance of such rites contributes to
the cleansing of the mind. Such cleansing is a necessary preliminary to Paravidya. The flames
that rise high from the sacrificial altar of fire appear to the performer as if they are hailing him
on to realise the Reality or Brahmam. He who does the rite with full awareness of the
significance of the manthra is able to reach the Solar Splendour, through the offerings made;
they take him to the region of Indra, the Lord of the Gods.

The Vedas recommend two types of obligatory Karmas: Ishta and Poortha. The rite of
Agnihotra, adherence to Truth, Thapas or Asceticism, Veda-adhyayanam or study of the
Vedas, the service offered to guests in one's home - these are Ishta; construction of temples,
caravan-serais, rest-houses, tanks, planting of avenue trees - such acts are Poortha. These give

10
consequences that are beneficial but, all such cause-effect chains are transient, they are
fundamentally defective.

The entire Creation is bound up with name and form and so unreal. It can be described in
words and so, limited and circumscribed by the intellect and the mind. The Paramapurusha,
the Supreme Person alone is eternal, real, and pure. He is the prompter of activity and the
dispenser of consequence. But, He is beyond the eye, beyond the intellect. Like the spokes of
a wheel that radiate from the hub, that lead from all directions to the centre, all creation
radiates from Him.

To reach the central hub and know that all spokes radiate from it, the mind is the instrument.
Brahmam the target is to be reached by the arrow-mind. Have your mind fixed on the target
and using the Upanishadic teaching as the bow, shoot straight and hard, to hit the Brahmam
and master. That is to say, the Pranava or the OM is the arrow; Brahmam is the target.

The Brahmam illumines the Jivi by getting reflected in the inner consciousness or Anthah-
karana. One has only to turn that consciousness away from the objective world, contact with
which contaminates the mind. Now, train the inner consciousness to meditate on the OM, with
single-pointed attention. Meditate on the Atma as unaffected by the Jivi, though in him and
with him and activating him. Meditate on Him in the heart, from which radiate countless
nadis, subtle nerves, in all directions. If this process is followed, one can attain Jnana or
Wisdom.

The Universe is an instrument to reveal the majesty of God. The inner firmament in the heart
of man is also equally a revelation of His Glory. He is the Breath of one's breath. Since He
has no specific form, He cannot be indicated by words. Nor can His mystery be penetrated by
the other senses. He is beyond the reach of asceticism, beyond the bounds of Vedic rituals. He
can be known only by an intellect that has been cleansed of all trace of attachment and hatred,
of egoism and the sense of possession.

Jnana alone can grant self-realisation. Dhyana can confer concentration of the faculties;
through that concentration, Jnana can be won, even while in the body. The Brahmam activates
the body through the five vital airs or Pranas. It condescends to reveal itself in that same body
as soon as the inner consciousness attains the requisite purity. For the Atma is immanent in
the senses, inner and outer, as heat in fuel and as butter in milk. Now, the consciousness is
like damp fuel, soaked in the foulness of sensory desires and disappointments. When the pool
in the heart becomes clear of the slimy overgrowth, the Atma shines in its pristine splendour.
He who acquires the knowledge of this Atman is to be revered. For, he is liberated. He has
become Brahmam, that which he strove to know and be.

V. MANDUKYOPANISHAD

This Upanishad is the kernel of Vedantha; it is the most profound among all the Upanishads;
it is also the chiefest, having the distinction of being recommended as, by itself, enough to
lead man to salvation. It is very brief, consisting of just a dozen manthras! They are divided
into four sections, Agama, Vaithathya, Adwaitha and Alathasanthi. In the Agamaprakarana,
the secret doctrine of Pranava which is the key to self-realisation is expounded. In the second
Prakatana, the doctrine of Dualism, the great obstacle to liberation is discussed and rebutted.

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In the third, the A-dwaitha or non-dual Unity is propounded. The last Prakarana describes
certain mutually contradictory non-Vedic doctrines and rejects them.

No sound is beyond the ken of Om; all sounds are permutations and products of Om.
Brahmam too is Om, identified by It and with It. The Brahmam, which is beyond Vision, is
manifest for the vision as Atma.

The distinctions of Viswa, Taijasa and Prajna are but appearances imposed on the Atma; that
is to say the Atma continues the same, unaffected by the waking, the dreaming and the deep-
sleep stages of man's existence. This Atma and the Atma which one refers to as 'I' are both the
same. The 'I' or the Atma swims like a fish in the river, paying no regard to this bank or that,
though the waters are limited and guided by them. In deep sleep, all the vasanas or impulses
are suspended and though they still persist, they are not manifest or active. In dream, man
follows the impulses and wins satisfaction in the process. All the manifold pulls and
attractions of the sensory world, which impel man towards the objects around him, are born
during the waking and the dream stages. The mind is full of agitations and these are the fertile
fields where the vasanas grow, multiply and strike root. As a matter of fact, it is the agitating
mind that causes Creation, that is behind all Srishti.

There is however a Fourth stage, distinct from these three: it is named Thuriya! This stage
cannot be described by words or even imagined by the mind, for it is beyond both Buddhi and
Manas. The experience is inadequately described as Santham, Sivam, Adwaitham; that is all.
It is Peace. It is Grace. It is One-ness. The mental agitations are stilled and so there is no more
mind. It is the conquest of the mind, its negation, the A-manaska stage. What a victory it is!
For, in deep sleep the Mind is latent; in dream, the Mind is restless with agitations; in the
waking stage, it is active and motivating. In all the three stages, Truth remains unknown. The
objective world is but a delusion of the agitated mind, the super-imposition on the rope of a
non-existent snake. The world is not born, nor does it die; it is born when you are ignorant; it
dies when you become wise.

The AUM of the Omkara, representing the Viswa, Taijasa and Prajna aspects of the waking,
dreaming and deep sleep stages of existence, have each a particular role in Sadhana. Upasana
which A emphasises more, makes one realise all desires; if U is concentrated upon, then Jnana
increases and if M is specially dwelt upon in the Upasana, the final merging of the Soul in the
Supreme is effected. The Upasaka of Pranava will also earn the knowledge of the Truth of the
world and Creation. The Upasaka, therefore, of the Pranava draws unto himself the reverence
of all.

The A, U and M proceed from one to the other in the Pranava and finally merge in an A-
manthra, a letterless resonance which thins out into silence. That is the symbol of the
Santham, the Sivam and the Adwaitham, the merging of the individualised soul in the
Universal, after the shedding of the limiting particulars of name and form. This is not all. The
Karikas 24-29 of this Upanishad praise Pranava as the cause of Creation. It is extolled as
quenching all grief. Why? He who ruminates on he Om, ever aware of its significance can
steadily move on to an Awareness of the Real behind all this unreal Appearance, of the
Paramatmathathwa Itself.

In the first section, the A-dwaithic uniqueness of the Atma is established in a general way; in
the second, as has been said, the positing of two entities, God and the World, is shown as
mistaken, impermanent. In the section called specifically Adwaitha, the doctrine is established

12
by arguments and affirmations. At first, the world was latent and un-manifest; Brahma is
Himself an effect; and so, reflection on the effect will not lead man to the source of all things.
The Brahma revealed in this Upanishad is not the Effect; It is the Primal Cause. It is not born,
nor limited; it is not broken into all this many.

The Atma is like Akasa or Ether, all-pervasive. It may seem enclosed in certain limits, like a
pot or a room and may be spoken of as so individualised. But in that limitation, there is no
truth. The body too is like the pot, which limits the sky enclosed in it, for all appearances.
There is no basic distinction between the sky in the pot and the Sky outside; take away the
limiting factor, and they are One. When the body is destroyed, the Jivi merges with the
Universal or the Paramatman. It is in the limitation that appears to qualify the Atma,
otherwise it is the Paramatma itself. The Jivi can never be considered a limb or an avayava, an
adaptation or Vikara of the Paramatman.

The birth and death of the Jivi as wanderings in space and from one Loka to another, are all
unreal. It is appearance, not reality. Go deeply into the matter you will find that Dwaitha is
not opposed to A-Dwaitha. The opposition is between various Dwaithic religions and schools
of thought. For the A-Dwaithin, all is Parabrahmam and so he knows no opposition. For the
Dwaithin, there is always the atmosphere of attachment and pride and hate for where there are
two there is always fear and attachment and all the consequent passions. A-dwaitha is the
Highest Truth; Dwaitha is a certain mental attitude. So, dualism can move you only so long as
the mind is active. In sleep or in Samadhi, there is no cognition of "Two". When Avidya
prevails, difference is rampant; when Vidya is established, Unity is experienced. So, there is
no opposition or quarrel between Dwaitha and A-Dwaitha. The rope is the Cause of all the
Illusion and Delusion; Brahmam is the Cause of all this Illusion and Delusion connoted by the
word, World, or Jagath.

It is not correct to say that the Paramatma is born as Jagath, for, how can one's essential
quality, the Svabhava be changed? Manifold-ness is not the characteristic of
Paramatmathathwa. The Sruthis declare this in many contexts. Why, they even condemn those
who see It as many. The Witness of all the phases of the mind, of even its annihilation, can
never be known by the Mind. That witness alone is eternal, unaffected by Time and Space.
That is the Atma-chaithanyam, the Sathyam. The rest is all un-real.

Turn the mind away from the sensory world through the practice of discrimination and non-
attachment; then, you attain the A-manobhava, the no-mind experience. Well, you have to
remember another thing: trying to control the mind without a clear understanding of the
nature of the sensory world is a vain valueless effort, the attachment will not end, the agitation
will not cease so easily.

They will sprout at the first chance. What has to be done is to develop the inertness of the
mind during the deep sleep stage into a stage of permanent ineffectiveness. When the
conviction that all sensory experiences are unreal is well and truly stabilised, the mind will no
longer function as a distracting agency; it will lie powerless, as a defunct limb. However
hungry a man may be, he will not certainly crave for excreta, will he?

To know that the Atma, which is the goal of realistion, is devoid of sleep, birth, name, form
and so on, that It is eternally Self-effulgent, Nithyaswayamprakasa, to know this is to
transcend all Vikaras or agitations of the Mind. Attempting to curb the mind without the aid
of discrimination or to make known to man the unreality of Vishaya objects is like the attempt

13
to empty the ocean by means of a blade of grass, foolish and fruitless. Be firmly fixed in the
conviction that the world is a myth and then you can aspire for Prasanthi and Abhaya, Peace
and Fearlessness.

As the motivating force behind every birth or product, there should be a purpose, either Sath
or A-sath or Sathasath, isn't it? What exactly is the transformation that happens? The cause or
Karana undergoes a change or vikara and gets transformed into the karya. Well, Sath has no
Vikara and so no birth is possible from Sath. A-sathya is void and nothing can emanate from
it. Sath and Asath are inconceivable together. Therefore, logically, nothing can be born or
produced; karana cannot become karya.

When you remember fire, you do not feel the heat; it is only when you hold it in your hand
that you experience the heat. So too, all objects are different from Jnana about them.
Knowledge is one thing, actual experience is another. Moreover, the search for the First Cause
is an endless adventure. For, even in the complete absence of the snake, one sees it in the
rope. It is all a figment of the imagination. In dreams, with nothing concrete, all the joy and
sorrow of manifoldness are undergone. For the machinations and inferences of the mind, no
basis or explanation is needed. Irresponsible inferences about the unreal world will pester the
mind so long as the illumination of Truth is absent. Clasping delusion is the fate of those who
are steeped in Avidya or Ajnana.

This Upanishad has declared in unambiguous terms that the Sath can never be the Cause for
the karya viz. Asath. The external world is created by our own chiththa, like smoke emanating
from a burning scent-stick. Everything is appearance, an Adhyasa, an Abhasa, something
mistaken to be there, but really non-existent. The atmosphere of Ajnana is the fertile field for
their birth and multiplication. Samsaara, which has the dual characteristic of evolution, of
origin and ruin, is the fruit of this mistake.

Since Paramatma is Sarvaathmaswarupa, there is no possibility of Cause-Effect or Wish-

Fulfillment or Purpose-Product appearing in it. For him who has had the Vision of Atma, all
is Atma. The maya-infected seed will sprout into a maya-infected tree; both are false and
fleeting. So too, the birth and death of the Jivi are both false; they are mere words, signifying
nothing. The things seen in dreams are not distinct from the dreamer, are they? They may
appear as different and as outside the dreamer, but, really, they are part of the dreamer, arising
out of his own consciousness. He who is the witness has no beginning or end. He is not bound
by duties or obligations, right or wrong. To know this, and to get firm in that knowledge is to
attain liberation from the shackles. It is the quivering of the Chiththa that causes things to
originate. Chith-thaspandana is the cause of Uthpaththi.

VI. BRIHADAARANYAKOPANISHAD

The Brihadaaranyakopanishad is affiliated to the Sukla Yajur Veda; it has six sections, of
which all except the third and fourth, describe Upanasa or Worship associated with Karma or
ritualistic Action. The third and the fourth sections deal with the teachings of Yajnavalkya on
spiritual Truth imparted to Janaka. The grandeur of the intellectual eminence of that sage is
impressively evident in this Upanishad. For aspirants eager to reach the goal of Liberation,
this part of the Brihadaaranyaka offers the best guide. The sections are therefore referred to as
Yajnavalkya Kanda. It is the last of the famous Ten Upanishads. On account of its size, it is

14
named Brihath or Big; since it is best studied in the silence of the forest or Aranya, it is an
Aranyaka; it instructs in Brahmajnana and so is classed as an Upanishad.

Scholars have designated the first two sections of this Text as Madhura-kanda, the next two as
Muni-kanda and the last two as Khila-kanda. Khila means appendix and hence the name is
appropriate. The first section deals with the basic principles, as they are; the second proves
their truth by reference to experience. The third shows how to practise the same and get
mastery over it. The first section teaches Jnana, essential for spiritual progress; it is related to
the paths of Karma and Upasana. It is not mere dry intellectual discipline.

For those eager to earn Jnana, there are four instruments or media for acquiring that wisdom.
They are: Pada, Bija, Sankhya and Rekha. Pada means the Vedas, and the Smrithis that
attempt to explain them. Bija connotes the entire gamut of manthras learnt direct from the
Guru. Sankhya is of two kinds, Vaidika and Loukika. Vaidika-sankhya means the calculations
and quantitative analysis of the various manthras; Loukika-sankhya refers to the numbers and
their inter-relations so far as they are related to the external world and the interrelations of
human activities. Rekha too has two such categories, the Vaidika-Rekha being a part of the
Upasana activity mentioned in the Vedas and Loukika-Rekha being a part of the Mathematics
of the Universe.

The Madhura-kanda describes the Brahmathathwa or the Brahma Principle in the light of the
categories accepted as authoritative by the Scriptures. Purusha is the Primeval Person, from
whom or on whom all this Name-Form Manifoldness has emanated. We conceive the horse in
the Aswamedha as Prajapathi Himself. He is directed to impose on the Horse the
characteristics and attributes of Prajapathi, so that he might acquire the fruits of that ritual.
This portion is known also as Aswa-Brahmana. Again, the Fire which is the central figure in
the sacrifice is also to be felt and consecrated as Prajapathi and there are descriptions
attributing the qualities of Prajapathi to Agni. So this is called Agni-brahmana.

This Jagath, taken as true by the deluded, is just a jumble of Names and Forms devoid of the
permanence that Atma alone can have. Hence, it breeds disgust and discontent and causes
renunciation to grow. The mind is soon free from attachment to the objects of sensory
pleasure and it moves along its natural bent to Brahmam itself. All sounds are names; vaak or
voice is the cause for its emergence. Rupa or Form is the result of vision or sight: it emerges
from the eye. Karma similarly has the body as its source; the body is just a context for vaak
and other instruments. Contemplation on such truths helps the process of Atma vichara to start
and progress.

The Prana or Vital Air, the Sarira which is its basis, the Siras (head), which is the seat of the
instruments for acquiring knowledge, the strength that is derived from food - all these are
considered in this Upanishad.

As the sweetness of a thousand flowers is collected into honey, this Jagath is a concatenation
of the elements. Dharma, Sathya, and such abstract principles, men and such concrete living
beings, the Virat-Purusha and such conceptions - all these again are the effects of the same
Brahmathathwa, that is, an immortal changeless Thathwa. The realisation that the Thathwa
inheres in every individual is Brahma-Jnana.

Janaka, the King of Videha, celebrated a Sacrifice giving away vast wealth in gifts. Many
Brahmins attended this Yaga from the Kuru-Panchala territory. The king had a thousand cows

15
decorated with anklets, necklaces and hornlets of gold; he announced that they would be
donated to whoever taught him the Brahman. Many Brahmins, though great scholars in their
own line, hesitated to claim the cows, through fear of failure. But, Yajnavalkya was so
confident that he asked his students to drive the cows to his Ashram! The other Brahmins got
enraged at his audacity and started testing his scholarship and experience.

The first to come forward to challenge Yajnavalkya was the family priest of Janaka. The
answers that the sage gave to his questions clarify the method of attaining the Atma encased
in the pranas, through the conjoint yogas of Karma and Bhakthi. In the Yajna, the Rithwik's
voice is Agni, the Kala is Vayu, the Mind of the Performer is Chandra - such is the manner in
which one has to grasp the meaning of ritual and free one-self from the limitations of
mortality.

The next to accost the sage was Bujyu; his questions were: Is there an Entity called Purusha
who is ruled by the senses and who is entangled in this current named Samsara? Or is there no
Purusha of this type? If there is one such, what are his characteristics?

Yajnavalkya answered him thus: Your Atma is the Entity you inquired about; just as a
wooden contrivance cannot operate on its own, but must be moved by some outside power or
inside force, or just as this arm can move like this only when the will operates on it, so too,
unless a super-spiritual power presides, the body cannot act nor can the vital airs function as
they do. He is the seer of the seeing function of the body; He hears, and not the ear. That
Chethana or Super-consciousness that sees and hears and feels is but a reflection of the Atma
on the mind. That Chethana sees even the Seer; what happens is that the Chethana reflected in
the mind moves out through the senses and grasps the external world of the five elements and
so it appears as if the Chethana is engaged in activity. Really speaking, it has no activity.

That Chethana is the Atma; it is beyond the reach of the senses, it is above and beyond the
subtle and even the causal sariras. It has been understood by experience where the Atma is to
be attained by total renunciation. Attachment to children, riches, wife, etc., - all have to be
given up; these originate in Kama, Desire. Why, all activities whether ordinary or ritual or
worshipful are basically the products of Kama. The desire for the fruit is present in Karma-
sadhana also. There is no denying this. And hence they are opposed to true Sanyas.

Light and darkness cannot be together, at the same place and time. So too, Karma-activity and
Atma-jnana cannot be together. Sanyas is Sarvakriya-parithyaga; begging for food is a Karma
and against Sanyas. The Brahmins of ancient days knew this; they gave up attachment, and,
through the path of Nivritti or withdrawal, realised the Reality. He alone is a Brahmin who
has detached himself from all things which are concerned with non-Atmic ends. All other
credentials are secondary.

In this Upanishad, the Sarvantharyamithwa of the Atma is described. All this earth becomes
habitable through association with water. Or it would fall apart like a lump of rice flour. Gargi
asked Yajnavalkya on what is the earth based. This question and the answer given inform us
that Earth, Water, Akasa, Surya, Chandra, Nakshatra, Deva, Indra, Prajapathi, Brahma-loka -
all these, one from the other, were woven out of the Paramathmathathwa, which is the warp
and woof, the garment of Creation. Such truths are beyond the reach of the imagination of
man. They have to be imbibed from the Sastras by a clarified intellect.

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Yajnavalkya refuted the arguments of Gargi, for her questions could not be solved by mere
intellectual feats; they could be solved only by intuition, earned by the guidance of a Guru.
The earth is pervaded and protected by Vayu, or air. The individualised Universal,
individualised according to the impressions of experience in previous lives, is associated with
the 5 Karmendriyas, 5 Jnanendriyas, the 5 Pranas, Manas and Buddhi - these seventeen
instruments. The concrete body is a vikara or mutation of the earth: it is pervaded by vayu or
'air'. There are forty-nine 'earth-bits', or angas which can be identified in the body and like a
string that holds pearls together, 'air' holds these together as one co-ordinate whole. When the
'air' leaves the body for good, the angas become distinct and derelict. The body then, becomes
a 'corpse'. There is however an Antharyami, the immanent spirit in the body-complex abode,
the mystery that is beyond the reach of that complex, the motivating force of the impulses and
intentions of that complex; that Antharyami has no death; It is Atma.

Gargi put her second question, after taking due permission from the gathering, for, it is not
courteous to hurl problems without such notice. Her question was: On what does the Inner
Core - the Atma - rest in the Past, Present and Future, in this Dual World? The intention of
Gargi was to bring about the discomfiture of Yajnavalkya, for he would be forced to admit
"The timeless Entity is beyond words and cannot be described at all". This also shows that
Gargi too was an adept in Brahmajnana and hence you can infer that in the field of
Brahmavidya, there is no place for distinctions based on sex.

"The Brahmavids or masters of Brahmic wisdom declare that the Parabrahma is immanent in
the un-manifested Akasa" said Yajnavalkya, thus escaping from the trying situation into
which Gargi wanted to drive him. Then, he described the nature of that Indestructible Akshara
thus: It has no gross, subtle or such changes; it has no material qualification like colour, smell,
shape etc. There are no 'measures' to comprehend It. Time is but the execution of Its will.
Why elaborate? The Sun and the five elements all carry out its Will. Gargi then asked the
assembled Brahmins to bow before Yajnavalkya and acknowledge his supremacy. That
stopped further questionings.

The Atma is Effulgent, as the Sun is, by its very nature. People say that they 'see' the Atma or
Its effulgence. But, there is no seeing It. Since It has no second, nothing is outside It. It is
neither seen nor can It see. It has no organs of sight or smell; nor has it any part, which when
co-ordinated can perform any function.

From the lowest Joy to the highest Brahmanandam, each step is an increase of the feeling.
Words like Paramanandam indicate only stages of Anandam. As a matter of fact, all types of
Anandam are derived from the primary basic source of Brahmanandam. Yajnavalkya
explained all this to Janaka, for he took great delight in instructing the King on all that he
knew.

Like a tree sprouting from a tiny seed the body grows and the seed in the fruit grows into
another tree, when the body like a ripe fruit falls to the ground. The vaak and other Indriyas
also follow him; the breath too takes to its own path. The Atma alone is not affected, one way
or the other. It remains as ever: unmoved, immovable.

Through sinful deeds sin; through meritorious deeds, merit ... thus paapa and punya
accumulate. They produce the impulses for a new body, as the primary motive force of the
Sarira. The Atma leaves the old body, with its vision directed to the new one it occupies, like
the caterpillar which fixes its forelegs on a spot, when it lifts up the hindlegs. The Atmajnani,

17
however, has no impulse towards bodily activities and so the Atma in this case is not bothered
by a new body at all. The Jnanamarga is the path of the Brahmavid, the knower of Brahman.

The Karma-enthusiasts are led on to Thapas, the Atmajnani has escaped from Kama or desire
and so his mind knows no anguish or agony or yearning, which is the mark of Thapas. He is
the Viswakartha - the very artist who has evolved the Viswa or Creation. He who has attained
the vision of Brahmam-hood has nothing further to attain or realise or guard or seek.

The instruction that Yajnavalkya gives in this Upanishad to Maithreyi, his consort, reveals to
us clearly the Atmajnana which comes after a study of the Sastras with Tarka as a constant
companion; it also describes the principles of Sanyas, which is the instrument for getting that
Jnana. The entire sensory world and the senses too have to be equated with the dream-reality
only; there is no use pursuing them, as ultimate and valuable.

The Atma alone has to be loved; all other things are loved for the sake of the Atman. When
the Atman is understood, everything else is understood. All effects are subsumed by the
Cause. The ocean is the goal of all the waters, so too all tastes find their goal in the tongue; all
forms realise themselves in the eye; all sounds are for the ear; all resolutions have the mind as
their goal. That is to say, the entire Jagath merges in Brahmam.

In his reply to Bhujyu, Yajnavalkya reveals his knowledge of the process of evolution of the
Universe, the Brahmanda-nirmana. In his reply to the two questions of Gargi, he reveals and
instructs the swarupa of Brahmam, which is Aparoksha. In the Sakalyabrahmana, the sage has
astounded every one by his erudition in spiritual mysteries. He earned victory in the hall of
Janaka from the wisest of the land. He sanctified it by his teaching. He met the hard tests of
the crooked Bhujyu and the harder tests of the eager inquirer, Gargi, with equal equanimity
and skill. He was acclaimed as the crown jewel of scholars. Of course, he himself
acknowledged greatness wherever he recognised it; he was generous enough to recognise the
greatness of the teachers who were instructing Janaka till then. Lastly he felt that he had no
more to learn or earn and so, he became a monk. Realising that Maitreyi, his cosort, was also
eager to attain Realisation, he instructed her in Brahma-jnana, for in those days, women were
considered equally fit to practise the Jnana-marga, which leads to Liberation.

Contemplate on this and reach up to the Thuriya stage of consciousness. Then Nama, Rupa,
Vasthu, Bhava, all get merged in the One All-pervasive All-inclusive Atma!

This Upanishad teaches man the essential philosophy, in the briefest terms. It does not refer in
the least to Karma or kindred subjects. It concerns itself purely with the Science of
Atmathathwa.

VII. PRASNOPANISHAD

The Prasnopanishad is an annexure of the Atharvana Veda. It is named so, since it is in the
form of questions (Prasna) and answers. By this means, it discusses more elaborately some
topics dealt with briefly in the Mundakopanishad. It has thus become a commentary on the
Mundakopanishad.

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For example, the Mundaka says that Vidya is of two types: Para and Apara, and that Apara
Vidya is of two kinds: Karma and Upasana. Of these, the second and third Prasnas in this
Upanishad deal with Upasana. Since the discipline of Karma is fully covered in the Karma-
kanda it is not elaborated here. When both Karma and Upasana are practised, regardless of the
fruits thereof, they promote renunciation and non-attachment. This is the conclusion arrived at
by the First Prasna. So, if the Prasnopanishad is studied after the Mundaka, the subject would
become clearer.

Of the two entities, Parabrahma and A-parabrahma, the A-parabrahma is incapable of

conferring the Purusha-arthas, which are of lasting value: realising this, and eager to attain the
Eternal Parabrahma, the aspirants approached the competent Teacher, Pippalada. The word
Anveshamaanaa (seeking) used here to signify the attitude of the discipline shows that those
attached to the A-parabrahma, (the Lower Self unrelated to the Over-soul) fail to identify their
own basic truth as the Atman. That is why they still "seek" it, somewhere outside the truth of
their being! The eternal unique Parabrahma principle can be known only through the
discipline of the Sastras, directed personally by a Guru or Teacher.

The seekers have to approach the Guru, as a "Samithpaani"; that is to say not simply "holding
the ritualistic fuel, the sacrificial fire". It also implies the presentation of worthy desirable
offerings. The seekers meet Pippalada and he tells them, "The rare and precious teaching
related to the fundamental mystery of the Universe and the Self, known as Brahmavidya,
cannot be imparted to the un-initiated. The students have to be first kept under observation
and tested for a year".

When the year was over, Kathyayana asks Pippalada thus: "On account of what reason are
beings born?" "Those who wish for progeny are the Prajakamas; the wish is basically to
become oneself the progeny, to perpetuate oneself. Hiranyagarbha, who is non-separate from
Para-Brahma, is the Prajapathi. Hiranyagarbha, as Prajapathi, wishes for Progeny; he has
traces of A-para Vidya attached to Him from past origins that induces in Him the wish". This
is the reply of the Guru.

Surya or the Sun with His Rays illumines all beings in the ten regions. Surya is the very Self
of Prajapathi, and hence, all beings - both in the regions so illumined - become the very "self"
of Prajapathi. The word "Prana" therefore refers to Adithya Itself, for Adithya (the Sun) gives
Prana (the Vital Essence). Since all beings are able to live by consumption of food etc., the
Sun is also known as Viswanara. The whole Universe is of His Nature and so He is also
known as Viswarupa. Samvathsara or the year, is an indicator of Time, according to the
position of the Sun. Time is but a series of days and nights, and these are phases caused by the
Sun. The rotation of the Moon causes Thithis or stages in fullness. The twin Forces, the Sun
and the Moon, are the products of Prajapathi and so, Time, which is marked out by the
tropics, the seasons, the months etc., is also of the same essence. Prajapathi has the Northern
and the Southern cycles also.

The contemplation and worship of Prajapathi in this universal aspect is referred to as "Jnana"
itself. He who is endowed with this Jnana and who has mastery over the senses as well as
faith in the Vedas, can easily convince himself that he is the very Atman; pursuing the
Uttaramarga or the Northern Path, he reaches the spiritual stage known as Suryaloka. That
Loka is the refuge of all living beings. Only those who worshipfully engage themselves in
their daily duties, without any desire for the fruits thereof, can enter that Loka.

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The seasons like Vasantha or Spring are the Feet of the Sun, the symbol of Time; the twelve
months are His Personal Traits; He is the Cause of the worlds - these are truths expressed in
the fourth and sixth manthras. The rains too are caused by the Sun; so, He is the master of
another Loka too, the third, the Dyu-loka.

Akasa, Vayu, Agni, Jala, Bhumi - the elements which compose the body have their presiding
deities; the activating senses like speech and the "knowing" senses like the eye have also their
deities which reside in them and promote their functions: the mind and the intellect too have
their deities; they all are pillars which support the Being and prevent the structure of the body
from falling asunder.

The body is a complex produced by a combination of the 5 elements. The Jnanendriyas are
the consequences of this combination. So the body is a bundle of consequences and causes.
Like the spokes of the wheel, they are fixed in the hub of Prana. So too, the Riks, the
Yajurvedic manthras, the Sama-vedic manthras, the Yajnas where they are employed, the
Kshathra which protects the people from danger, the Brahmanic Force consecrating the
Yajnas, ... all these are of the nature of Prana. When Prajapathi becomes the Cloud and pours
rain, all beings rejoice and are enabled to live. "All things that contribute to happiness are
bound to You; cherish us therefore as the Mother. You cause all wealth and welfare, related to
spiritual and physical protection. Give us that wealth and that wisdom". This is the prayer
addressed to Prajapathi. The Rig, Yajus, Sama manthras are the Brahmanic wealth; riches are
the Kshatriya wealth. Thus, the Upanishad elaborates on the Prana Prajapathi and its
Functions and Attributes.

Thereafter, Pippalada takes up the question of Bhargava, and, later, Kosalya, the Aswalayana,
asks him about Prana. Then, Pippalada says, "My dear boy, like shadow caused by a person
the Prana is produced by the Atma. The Prana dedicates itself to the Atma through the
sankalpa of the Manas. Like a ruler who arranges for the governance of his possessions, the
Chief Prana appoints different Pranas assigning functions and areas of work for each. The
Mukhya prana or the Chief has Adithya and other Gods as its Impelling Force. Like sparks
leaping out of the flames of a raging fire, beings emanate from the Imperishable Paramatma;
they lose themselves in the self-same Fire". This is mentioned in the Mundaka, (II - 1 - 1).

Then, Pippalada answered Gargi thus: "The rays of the setting sun merge in the Sun itself;
they emanate and spread again, when the sun rises the next day. In the same manner, during
dream, the sensory world gets merged in the consciousness-reflecting Mind and when one
wakes from sleep, the sensory impressions emanate as of old and move out in their native
form. That is why the Self or Purusha does not hear or see or touch or enjoy. He does not
walk or talk.

The Atma, which is Pure Effulgence during the dream Stage, sees, hears and experiences, as
Vasanas, whatever it sees, hears and experiences during the waking stage. When the statement
is made that "the Atma is the base of every thing" the impression is created that everything is
different from it. But, the distinction that is apparent between the "Base of All" and the
"Jivas" that rest upon It is merely an illusion caused by circumstances; it is mental, not
fundamental. Pippalada also said that whatever Loka is connoted by the deity worshipped
through Pranava, that Loka will be attained.

Next, Sukesa, the son of Bharadwaja, questioned the master and his answer ran thus: "The
Purusha you inquire about is in this body itself, as the resident of the Inner Sky, the Heart. It

20
is on account of His being there, that you are shining forth in full splendour of attainment and
personality. They emanate from Him and merge in Him. Like milestones, progressively
increasing and inter-dependent, the Earth, Durga, Food and Purusha - all four Principles
originate one from the other (according to the second section of the Thaithiriya). The origin
might not be evident to the eye but, since the origin of the Jnanendriyas and the Karmendriyas
has been described already, the origin of the Purusha is as good as said. All rivers join the sea
and lose therein their Names and Forms. The rivers are thereafter called "the sea". So too,
only the Purusha remains. He is without any attainment and traits or changes. He is
imperishable, endless. That is all I know about Brahman and that is all there is to know", said
Pippalada to Kadandhi and other disciples.

This Upanishad ends with the respectful homage paid by the disciple to the master. The father
gives but the body; Pippalada gave them the Brahma-sarira by teaching them the
Atmathathwa. The six disciples, Kadandhi, Vaidarbhi, Kosalya, Souryayani, Sthyakama and
Sukesa finally ask six questions in all. These questions and answers bring out the implications
of the Mundaka and serve as a nice commentary on that succinct text.

The 6 questions are:

1. What exactly is Para and Apara?

2. Who protects and guards created beings?
3. How does Hiranyagarbha emerge from Paramatma?
4. How does Creation take place from Paramatma?
5. How does the Chaithanya-full principle, the Prana, enter the body and get diverted into
five channels?
6. Which are the senses that operate in the three stages - the waking, dreaming and
sleeping?
These are the lines of inquiry that are followed in this Upanishad.

VIII. KENOPANISHAD

The Kenopanishad is ascribed to Sama Veda and its Thalavakara branch and hence it is also
referred to as the Thalavakaropanishad. The name Kena is derived from the first word of the
stanza of the first section of the Upanishad:

"Keneshitham pathathi preshitham manah, Kena praanah prathamah Praithiyuktah,

keneshithaam vaacham imaam vadanthi, chakshuhsrothram kaudevo yunakthi?"
"Who impels the mind to alight on its object? Enjoined by whom does the vital force proceed
to function? At whose behest do men utter speech? What Intelligence, indeed, directs the eyes
and ears?"

The ear, skin, eye, tongue, nose - these five senses are able to cognise sound, touch, form,
taste and smell respectively; objects of knowledge are cognised through these five only. The
world is experienced through these instruments, which stand intermediate between the knower
and the knowable. The inner capacity to understand objects is named mind, or Manas. The
Manas moves out through the Jnanendriyas aforesaid and attaches itself to objects and at that
time, by that very occurrence, the manas assumes the form of that object; this is called a vritti
or function. The manas is achethana and so, its transformations and manipulations or vikaaras

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are also achethana, non-intelligent, non-vital. A wooden doll has only the property of wood; a
sugar doll has just the property of sugar. The a-chethana manas cannot achieve the knowledge
of Chethana or of the Supreme Intelligence that pervades the Universe.

Just as the unintelligent chariot is directed by a charioteer, there must be a Charioteer who
directs the unintelligent Manas, seated in it and having it as His vehicle. The Motive Force
that activates the Inner Instruments, the Senses of Action, the Senses of Knowledge, the Five
Pranas, that Force is God. The question quoted above implies that this Force is distinct from
the Senses. Naturally, therefore, the Motivator of the entire group of senses must be distinct
from the Manas too, is it not? Those who seek to know the Eternal, convinced that all acts and
activities are ephemeral will not worry about the Eternal.

That Eternal Entity is agitation-less and so it is not moved by the Three-fold urge. It does not
order the senses about for this purpose or that. Then the question arises: "Do the Manas, the
Prana, the Vaak, the Eye, the Ear etc., carry out their respective functions, prompted by the
Law of Cause and Effect? Or, do they act so, moved by the wish of a conscious force?" That
is the doubt.

The ear has the capacity to know sound, the eye is endowed with the skill to know and
distinguish form. The other senses are also similarly equipped. When the manas passes out
through the knowing-senses towards objects and envelopes them, you acquire knowledge
about them. The five senses and the manas are all, therefore, instruments of knowledge. How
could they manage to perform this intelligent function, being themselves devoid of
intelligence?

Well, the answer is: Due to the presence of the Atma, due to the reflection of the effulgence of
the Atma, on the Anthahkarana. The Sun illumines the world and makes it active in a
thousand ways. So too the Atma, by its Thejas, activates and illumines the world. All
instruments of knowledge are activated by the Atma; the current of electricity energises the
machines and does various operations - printing etc., but it is not visible or concrete. The
electric current is the Mover of the movement, the Machine of the Machine. So too, the Atmic
Tejas is the Ear of the ear; the Eye of the eye. That is the activating current.

The wonder is: the Atma is inactive and without qualifications. It does not get anything done
with the manas or the senses, remember. They get activated by the very presence of the Atma!
The rays of the Sun are not aware at all of the activity they invoke; the Atma is not
responsible for the activity of the senses (This teaching was given by Varuna to his son
Bhrigu).

The eye, when illumined by the Splendour of the Atma, is able to grasp Form, which is its
sphere; it can never hope to illumine the Atma, which is self-luminous. The lamp illumines
objects; but, the objects cannot, in their turn, illumine the lamp. The Vaak can describe or
denote only such as possess qualifications, like name, form, guna, kriya etc. How can it
describe or define that which has no qualifications, no name, no form, no characteristic ... viz.
the Paramatma? You cannot describe sweetness or similar tastes by means of words. The
Atma is not a subject for description. The non-intelligent Manas cannot experience the
Intelligence. There is no knower who can know the Knower of all. He is beyond all knowable
things. When known, He is no longer Knower or Knowledge.

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Brahmam is Jnanam itself: so, it can never be "known" by a "knower". By the process of
knowing, other things can be known, not Knowledge itself. The lamp will not crave for
another lamp to see itself nor will it crave for its own light. It has light, it is light - that is all. It
sheds light on other objects; it does not shed light on its light. So too you are Light, you are
Atma. The Atma in you is of the same nature as the Atma in all beings. It is the only one
Reality; it has no limitation or attribute or qualification.

The Atma can be cognised by the study of the Sastras and by following the injunctions laid
down there. That which cannot be illumined by words or speech or by the senses, that which
illumine the word and speech and all the senses - that is Brahman, or Atma. The first Khanda
of this Upanishad makes clear that Brahmam is incapable of being limited or discarded or
over-looked.

So, for those who claim that they have seen Brahmam, "It" is yet a subject for further
investigation and inquiry. They have not reached the final stage. For, theirs is not authentic
Jnana; theirs is but a delusion. The Atma of the person who knows, is itself the very
Brahmam; that is the undoubted verdict of Vedantha, is it not? Fire cannot burn itself; how
can Atma know Atma, how can the knower know Himself? Therefore, the statement, I have
known Brahmam, is an indication of delusion, not of real knowledge.

It is said that Brahmam has various cognisable and countable forms; but, that is only in the
limited sense of being qualified by Name and Form. By Itself, the Absolute has not got sound
or smell or taste or touch or form. It is ever-existing. In whatever activity you become aware
of its presence, that activity lends its appropriate characteristic. In whichever sphere the
Sastras discuss and decide, that sphere becomes for the particular Sastras, the characteristic of
Brahmam. The Consciousness which becomes apparent when it is limited by certain bounds
or vessels - that Chaithanya is Brahmam. Chaithanya is attachment-less; but, yet, when
associated with objects like the physical body, It gives the impression that It is attached. From
the fact that when the waters of the lake are agitated the image of the Sun under the water
shakes, you cannot infer that the Sun in the Sky, which is remote and afar, also shakes! The
Sun and the sheet of water are unrelated. No relationship can be posited between these two.
Similarly when the body undergoes growth, decay, destruction etc., it gives the impression
that the Atma too is so affected; but, the Atma is unaffected. Brahmam is beyond the reach of
the intellectual seeker; it can be reached only by those who give up the intellect as a useless
instrument. Experience alone is the method of approach, the proof, the result. The ultimate
state of Brahma-jnana is the end of all enquiry, all search. Actual Realisation, Sakshathkara is
the fruition thereof. This highest stage is reached in Samadhi, the quietening of all agitations
in all levels of consciousness, though of course, the preliminary steps of Sravana, Manana and
Nididhyasana are concerned with Buddhi or the Intellect. One will acquire the
Sathyaswarupa, if he understands the nature of the Atma; if he does not, then, it is a big loss,
no doubt. The Jnani recognises in every being and every object the Principle of the all-
pervading Atma and when he leaves the world, he becomes free from birth and death.

Brahmajnana is the heritage of Man; he is entitled to it. If he is aware of this and if by his
efforts, he achieves the Jnana of Brahmam adopting the above-mentioned methods, then
verily, his career in this world is worth while. Otherwise, it is all a waste. The Atma, when
cognised in the Consciousness, flashes like a streak of lightning; in a second it will reveal its
brilliance and splendour. It is impossible to grasp its full majesty. Manas is the cloak of the
Atma; it conditions the Atma, or rather appears to. So, it seems to be very close to the Atma,
and makes you believe that it attains It; it is incapable of doing so. Since it is closest, the

23
Sadhaka imagines that his mind has realised the Atma and yearns for the experience again and
again. This, of course, is good, for it fosters the search for the merger with Brahmam.

For the Brahmajnani, the opposites of Dharma and Adharma, of Merit and De-merit, are non-
existent. Dharmic life offers the Upper Lokas after death and Adharmic life leads one to the
Lower Lokas; but, both are shackles for the aspiring Sadhaka, whose eye is on the removal of
ignorance and realisation of Truth. He has to seek to snap the strings that bind the heart to the
objective world. So, he wants an answer to the question with which this Upanishad starts: By
which does the mind grasp things etc.? To attain the Jnana of Brahmam, Thapas, Self-control,
Vedic rites, Image-Worship, are all good helps. Jnana has Sathya as its location.

This Upanishad gives all seekers the Upadesa of Brahmajnana: it deals with Brahmam, which
is Sathyam, Jnanam and Anantham.

IX. CHANDOGYA UPANISHAD

This Upanishad is incorporated in the Samaveda. It has 8 sections, the first 5 dealing with
various Upasanas or Forms of approaching the Ideal and the last 3 explaining the manner of
acquisition of true Knowledge. Purity of the Consciousness is the essential pre-requisite for
Upaasana. Single-minded concentration is essential for Knowledge of Brahmam. These can
be got by Karma and Upasana; thus is Brahmajnana won. That is the reason why in the
Sastras, Karma is first described and Upasana next and Jnanam last.

In the First Chapter of the Chandogya, the Upasanas which form part of the Sama Veda are
detailed. In the Second, the entire ritual of Sama is described. In the Third, the Upasana of
Surya known as Madhuvidya, the Gayathri Upasana, and the Sandilya Vidya are all given. In
the Fourth, the Samvarga Vidya, and the sixteen-phased Brahmavidya are taught. In the Fifth,
the three Vidyas, Prana, Panchagni and Vaiswanara are elaborated.

Uddalaka taught his son, Swethakethu, that knowledge which if known, all things can be
known. The knowledge of mud and of gold will give the knowledge of all pots and pans, as
well as of all bracelets and necklaces. The mud and the gold are the truth; their modifications
and transformations are temporary, mere name-forms. So too, the world, like the pot and the
bracelet, is just an effect, the cause being "Sath". Sath means "Is-ness" is common to all
objects; the pot "is", the "bracelet" "is". "Is-ness" becomes manifest through association with
the pots and pans, the bracelets and necklaces. The "is-ness" may not be apparent to gross
intelligences, for, it needs subtlety to realise it. The rosy colour which is manifested in the
rose "is", even in the absence of the flower.

Similarly, the "is-ness" that is the universal characteristic of all objects persists even in the
absence of objects. Prior to creation, there was only just this 'is-ness'. There was no void then;
there was this "is-ness" everywhere! When the "is" was reflected in Maya or Primal Activity,
it resulted in Iswara who partook of that activity to manifest as the Universe with the three
elements of Fire, Earth and Wind. All creation is but the permutation of these three.

The line of Uddalaka is steeped in the study of the Vedas and so it is famed as a noble high-
born family. But Swethakethu, the son, was wasting precious years after Upanayana in
idleness, without using them for Vedic Study. This caused concern for Uddalaka, for he who

24
neglects the study of the Vedas, being born as a Brahmin, does not deserve that appellation.
He can only be called Brahmanabandhu, one who has Brahmins as his relatives! So, Uddalaka
took him to task and forced him to go to a teacher. There, by the exercise of his superior
intelligence, he mastered before he grew up to 24 the Four Vedas with their meanings. He
returned, proud and pompous, swelling with egoism, declaring that there was no one to equal
him in scholarship and righteousness.

In order prick his pride, Uddalaka asked him one day, "You have become haughty that you
have no equal in learning and virtue. Well, did you seek from your Teacher the Message that
reveals the Absolute, the lesson that only the practice of the Sastras can impart, the message
which when imagined makes you imagine all things imagined? Did you learn that? That
Message would have shown you the Atma which is the fulfillment of all Study and
Scholarship."

The Atma is the base of individuals like Swethakethu. The pure Consciousness becomes
apparently limited into a variety of individuals. In deep sleep, the variety disappears and each
individual lapses back into this "is-ness". Then, all the manifold activities, and experiences,
like, "I am Ranga", "I am Ganga", "I am father", "I am son" etc., are destroyed. The sweetness
and fragrance of many flowers are collected and fused into one uniformly sweet honey, where
all the manifold individualities are destroyed. The names Ganga, Krishna, Indus are all lost
when they enter the sea.

They are thereafter called "the sea". The Jivi who is eternal and immortal is born again and
again, as a transitory mortal; he continues to accumulate activity, prompted by inherited
impulses and the activity produces consequences, which he must shoulder and suffer. It is the
body that decays and dies, not the Jivi or the Individualised Soul. The banyan seed will sprout
even if it is trampled upon. The salt placed in water, though not available for the grasp, is
recognisable by the taste!

The Jivi, befogged by Ajnana, is unable to recognise his Reality. Discrimination will reveal
the truth. A millionaire is kidnapped and left alone in a jungle but he discovers the way out
and comes back into his home. So also, the Jivi is restored to his millions! Once the Jivi
reaches its Real Status, it is free from all the change and chance that is involved in Samsara,
or the Flow of Time and Space, of Name and Form. If he does not reach that Status, then, like
the happy sleeper who wakes into the confusion of the day, he will be born into the world of
decay and death.

Brahmam is described as Ekameva-adwithiyam; all this visible world is denoted as Thath-

swarupa or the Form of Brahmam; it can be realised by Sagunopasana, or Worship of the
limited qualified Divinity, just as Sathyakama and others did. The path of Brahmopasana is
called the Sushumna Marga also. The Omnipresent Brahmam can be enclosed and discovered
in the firmament of the heart! It is the capital of that Raja. Since He is seated there, the heart
is called Brahmavesma, or the House of Brahmam. That firmament cannot, of course, limit or
set boundaries to the illimitable Brahmam!

Yogis who are turned away from the objective world can attain the Parabrahmam, with Its
Splendour of Realised Knowledge, in the pure clear sky of their hearts. The worlds are fixed
as the spokes of the wheel in the hub of Brahmam. Decline, decay and death do not affect It.
Since the Supreme Entity can achieve whatever it decides on, It is called Sathyakaama and

25
Sathyasankalpa. Now, what exactly is the Parabrahmam? We can know it by a single test.
That which remains, after everything is negated as 'Not this,' 'Not that' - that is Brahmam.

This is the Truth that all aspirants seek. Attaining It, they get the status of emperors and can
travel wherever they like. The Jnani who is established in the pure Reality sees all desires that
dawn in his heart as expressions of that Truth only.

The Atma transcends all the worlds. It is uncontaminated. He who is aware of only the Atma
is ever in Bliss. The Brahmacharya stage is an important step for attaining Atmaic Wisdom.
Yajnas, fasts and other vows are also equally helpful. The solar energy surges through the
countless nerves of the body; the senses merge in the mind at the moment of death; the Jivi
who has realised that it was all this, while limited by the mind, then escapes into the
Hridayakasa through the nerves. At last, on the point of death, the Jivi moves out of the
Sushumna into the solar rays and from thence to the Suryaloka itself. The journey does not
end there. It reaches out into Brahmaloka too.

But, the Jivi who is caught in the mire of Ajnana, who is identified with the mind and its
vagaries, escapes through the ear or eye or other senses and falls into lokas, where Karma
rules. The feeling of content and joy one gets in deep sleep is the result of Ajnana persisting in
the individual.

The Chiththa is the source and support of Resolution. All resolutions, decisions and plans are
the products of the Chiththa; they are of its form; they originate there; why they are registered
there. That is when death overtakes a scholar of all Sastras, he becomes but the equal of
ordinary men and his fate is the same as that of the Ajnani. The Chiththa has to be saturated
with Brahmic endeavour; then only will it be an instrument of Liberation, freed from the
shackles of Sankalapa. The mind etc., cannot free itself, as the Chiththa can. The Chiththa
discriminates between resolutions; it tests them as duty and not-duty and justifies with proper
reasons the classification it has made. Once this selection is made, the word utters it, the name
signifies it. The special sound-forms or manthras incorporate the resolutions, accepted as
duty, by the purified Chiththa; the rites become one with the manthras. There can be no
proper Karma without Chiththa.

Next, about Dhyana, which is even superior to Chiththa. Dhyana is the fixing of the Buddhi
on the Divine, when it transcends such inferior helps as images, idols or saligrams. In Dhyana,
all agitations cease, all modifications are unnoticed. On account of the effect of the
Thamoguna, and even of the Rajoguna, all created things like the waters, the hills and
mountains, the stars and planets, men with the spark of the Divine in them, all are agitation-
bound, change-bound.

Vijnana is better than Dhyana. Jnana based on scholarship steeped in the Sastras is referred to
as Vijnana. It is attained by Dhyana and, hence, it is more valuable than Dhyana.

Superior to Vijnana is Balam ... Strength, Fortitude, Vigour. It illumines the objective world,
it sharpens the Prathibha or Intuition. Prathibha is the power by which you can sense the
Consciousness in all knowledge objects. Now there is one thing superior even to Prathibha:
Annam, Food, Sustenance. It is the support of life; deprived of it for ten days man becomes
powerless to grasp anything. It is life that makes possible study, service of the teacher,
listening to his teaching, cogitation over what he has taught, and the earning of Thejas.

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Thejas or Illumination is higher than Intuition, Prathibha or Food. Thejas is Fire, heat and
light. Thejas creates water and water produces food. Thejas can make even Wind lighter. It
shines as lightning and sounds as thunder.

Akasa is superior to Thejas, remember. It is through Akasa that sounds are transmitted and
heard. Love and play are products of Akasa. Seeds sprout on account of Akasa.

Now, consider this. Smarana, memory, is superior to Akasa. Without it, all experience is
meaningless, all knowledge is waste, all effort is purposeless. Nothing can be experienced
without the help of memory. Objects like the Akasa will be recognised in its absence. It can
be said that memory creates the Akasa and other objects.

Thus analysing the value and relative importance of objects and powers, man must give up
identification of self with the physical body and recognise his real Reality. Such a man rises to
the height of an Uttamapurusha, the noblest of men, laughing, playing and moving without
regard to the needs or comforts of the body. The body-bound man is caught in Samsara; for
the one who is free from that bondage, Swaswarupa is the field of activity. The wind, the
lightning and the thunder have no permanent existence. When the rainy season comes on, they
appear in the sky and get merged in it. So too the particularised Jivi appears as separate for a
time against the background of Brahmam and gets merged in It, at last.

This Ashtaadhyayi Upanishad teaches the series of evolved objects from Hiranyagarbha,
Kasyapaprajapathi, Manu and Manushya; this lineage and the lessons to ennoble it are vital
for mankind. It has to be learnt by sons and students from father and teachers.

X. AITHAREYOPANISHAD

This Upanishad is incorporated in the Rig-Veda; it shines bejewelled by six chapters which
describe the absolute Atmic Principle. It is therefore famous as the Atma-shataka, or the
Atmic Six. The Vision of the Atma which results from the destruction of Delusion and
Ignorance is made possible for the aspirant by this Upanishad. The term is used in two ways:
Vyavahara and Visishta. Used in the Vyavahara sense it indicates the Jivi; in every Jivi, the
Atma expresses itself through the senses of perception or the jnanendriyas into the outer
world. The word is derived from the root Ath ... which indicates "expansion, consumption,
movement", among other things. So, the word Atma denotes universal immanence, universal
assimilation and perpetual movement. That is to say, it connotes the Brahmam itself.

In the waking stage, it enjoys all the experiences; in the dream stage, all the senses of
perception and action hold back their activities but, it creates its own forms and names on the
basis of experiences and impressions collected from the outer world; in the "deep sleep" stage,
it becomes immanent everywhere and assumes its basic role of pure bliss, unaware of any
thing outside or inside. The meaning of the world is in conformity with the experience of the
three stages. On account of the apparent limitation in time, space and condition, the Atma too
is taken to be conditioned and limited; but, that is not its real nature. It is endless,
beginningless, changeless. It knows all, can achieve all; it has no attributes. It is eternal,
unsullied, conscious, free. It has no second; it is unique, whole without parts.

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The external world is cognised through direct perception etc. So, all that is capable of being
pointed out as this or that, or of being indicated by a name or a form is subsumed by the idea
of "Creation", Srishti. Creation means an act: a result: what then was before that act? "Idam
agre, Atma eva aaseeth" - "Before this, the Atma alone was". The Jagath or World is a
product which was latent; later it becomes patent. In the latent stage, it was unmanifest in the
Atman itself. When the urge to manifold has appeared the multiplicity of names blossomed
forth and all this variety arose to view. Being perceptible by the senses ... this is the test of
manifestation.

Name is fundamentally sound, manifesting as a word. In the statement, this is Ranga, when
the sound Ranga is produced the listener turns to the person indicated before him and
identifies him as Ranga. The word and its meaning are inseparable. They two were both non-
existent before Creation. Therefore, the Atma and the un-manifested Jagath were unreachable
by the intelligence, and the world which it fashions. After Creation, since Name and Form
became the essence of all this, everything can be grasped by words and meaning. The non-
dual which was and is and will be, is the Atma; the multiple manifestation of variety
proliferating in name and form, is Jagath. But, basically, it is just one unique Vasthu, or
Substance.

The one uniform Ocean appears as foam, bubble, wave and wavelet; so too, Creation made
manifest the apparent manifoldness from the changeless One. Manifoldness is due to myopia,
ignorance. There is no need to posit a second entity, other than the Atma. The ignorance or
myopia or maya is but a product of the will of the Atma. It is not distinct from the Atma.
Strength is not distinct from the strong person, is it not? The Atma is devoid of distinctions,
from the same kind or from different species or from one's own characteristic. It is
categorically declared as Eka eva: One Only.

But, it does not become clear so soon that all this is one. The idea is just like the rope
appearing as the snake, or the mirage deluding; the Atma too is misleading us as Jagath. It is
all a magician's tricks, manipulated by the wish of the Absolute. The rope is the prime cause
for the illusion of the snake on the rope. The Atma is beyond the reach of the senses; it has no
limbs or body. Only the explanation that it is all an unreal illusion can satisfy the critic who
questions how the Jagath can emanate from the Atma, which is pure Consciousness only.

Everything is Atma, even Maya, which is the delusion of variety. It is so strong that it causes
the execution of deeds through instruments like the sensory organs; you then declare that it is
our will and power that did that deed, though it is the delusion that was manifested by Atma
that accomplished it.

The world thus created is devoid of Consciousness and so it has to be fostered like a yanthra.
How can a machine operate after its manufacture and even installation, without a mechanic or
machinist? He created the Virat-Purusha, from out of the five elements; He also endowed him
with head and limbs. Like the figure of clay made by the potter from earth dug up by him, the
Virat-Purusha was produced from the elements. From the limbs of that Purusha, the
Lokapalas were created. Then, each sense was separated and equipped with an appropriate
Deity. In front, the face and the mouth, with Agni as the deity of the Vaak or Speech which is
the function of the Mouth, the nose, the eyes; in this manner, the senses and their respective
deities were created and assigned.

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These deities bless the senses and see that they function properly. The external appearance of
the eye, the nose and the ear may be quite right but yet without the help of the presiding deity,
they may not function at all. The cow and the horse were created from the waters and offered
to the gods. But, they were yet discontented; so to answer their prayers, the Purusha was
created similar to the Virat-Purusha. Since that Purusha was associated with discrimination or
Viveka, the gods were delighted. All bodies other than human are merely instruments for the
experiencing of the fruits of action. The human is the only instrument for liberation.

The Lord after entering the body becomes the ruler of the conjunction of the senses and the
mind with the objective world. Like an actor, He contacts the outer world and experiences all
the lessons of the previous births. In the Presence of the Lord, danseuse Buddhi dances her
steps keeping to the timing of the senses, moving from one object to another.

Thus, the Lord illumines everything through the form of the Jivi. The Paramatma, who is
limited as Jivatma has three areas of recreation: the eye, the throat and the heart. The eyes
shine with a special splendour when the realisation of Brahmam is achieved or even
attempted. This is an evident fact. When the Jivi has earned the knowledge of its reality, it
may not be able to describe how all is nothing besides Atma; but it will achieve the
knowledge that Brahmam itself is appearing as all this. He who delves deep into the unity of
the Jiva and the Brahmam has certainly discovered the goal of Life; there is no doubt of that.

The stages of wakefulness, dream and deep sleep are unrelated to the Atma. They are
concerned only with the physical sensory causes and effects. Every human being has two
bodies; One's own and the progenetic. The duties of study, teaching, japam and these assigned
tasks are handed down by the father to the son at the time of his death and they are carried on
by him as the representative of the father and on his behalf. Then, the father leaves this body,
assumes another, more in conformity with the actions and tendencies cultivated and
established in this birth. That is the third birth of the father. The first three manthras speak
about the two births, the physical and the spiritual. Now, a third one is added; the continuation
by the son.

Vamadeva Rishi understood the Atma Swarupa in this form and became liberated from all the
constant flux of the objective world.

XI. TAITTIRIYOPANISHAD

Brahmavidya is the specific theme of this Upanishad. It has three sections: Siksha Valli,
Ananda Valli or Brahma Valli, and Bhrigu Valli. The latter two sections are very important
for those seeking Brahmajnana. In the Siksha Valli, certain methods to overcome the
obstacles placed in men's way by Devas and Rishis and to acquire one-pointedness in mental
exertions are detailed. This Valli has twelve Anuvakas, or Sections. In the other two Vallis,
the same Instruction, the Vaaruni Vidya, is given, which leads to Liberation and so they are
practically one; for convenience of study, it is dealt with in two Sections, that is all.

In the Siksha Valli, subjects like Samhitha, which are not antagonistic to Karma, and like
Upasana which are associated with Karma are dealt with. These lead to Swaarajya. But, by
these alone, the complete destruction of Samsara or Flux will not be accomplished. Upasana
exists along with Desire. So, like Karma, even Upasana cannot bring about Liberation. All

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this Flux, this Samsara, is due to A-jnana; bondage is the result. So, when the A-jnana is
destroyed, then, the bonds loosen and Liberation is attained. A-jnana is there, persisting,
through natural causes. It is just like the delusion that it is your train that is moving, when the
truth is your train is stationary and the train on the adjacent rails is moving! Watch your train
only and you know the truth; watch the other train, and you are deceived. There is no use
seeking to know the cause of this delusion. Seek how to escape from it. This A-jnana, which
is the seed out of which Samsara sprouts, can be destroyed only by Brahma-jnana. There is no
other method.

All that is caused, everything that is a result, is short-lived; this is evident from the Sastras as
well as experience and reason. The Sastras speak of aspirants who discarded even higher
regions like Heaven, which are attainable by persons who perform the prescribed rites; for
Liberation is beyond the reach of those who dwell therein. Heaven and hell are results of
actions, they are created objects and so they cannot be eternal; they are conditioned by birth,
growth, decay and death. They do not exist from the very beginning; they were made; before
that act, they were not. That which once was not and later will not be is as good as "not" even
in the present. The fruit of Karma shares this quality and so, it cannot grant eternal joy.

No effort can result in the creation of Akasa now; nothing can produce anew what already
exists. Moksha exists and is there self-evident. It cannot be produced anew by any Karma.
The moment the A-jnana which hides it from experience disappears, that moment you are
liberated and you know your Reality; you are free from bondage. Prior to that moment, you
were free, but imagined you were bound and you behaved as if you were bound. How then are
you to get rid of this idea that you are bound? By listening to the teachings of the Vedas with
faith therein. Then only can A-jnana perish. That is the task which the Brahma Valli has
placed before itself, in this Upanishad.

It is in the nature of things that ignorance prompts men to crave for plentiful fruits through the
performance of actions. Then, they become despondent that they only bind them more and do
not help to make them free. That craving for fruit, is hard to shove off, though this fearful flux
of growth and decay makes them shiver in dread.

In this Upanishad, the three words, Sathyam, Jnanam, Anantham, are meaningfully affixed to
Brahmam, to explain its characteristics. They are three distinct words, signifying qualities
seeking to mark out the One from the rest, the One Brahmam from other types of Brahmam
which have not these traits. That is to say, Brahmam is not to be confused with anything that
is not Sathyam, Jnanam and Anantham. All that are limited by time, space and objectivity are
jada, material apparently different from Brahmam. The characteristics of Sathyam, Jnanam,
Anantham, help to differentiate and distinguish from kindred and similar phenomena the real
Brahmam. Whichever Rupam a thing is determined to have, if that rupa is unchanged, then it
is referred to as Sathyam. If that rupa undergoes change, then it is A-sathyam. Modification is
the sign of untruth; absence of modification is the sign of Truth.

Brahmam is Sathyam, that is to say, it has no modifications. It is nithyam, it is unaffected by

time. All that is not Brahmam ... that is, Jagath, is subject to change. All objects are subject to
the triple process of the intellect: are known, the knower and knowledge; hence, the intellect
or Buddhi is spoken of as a guha or cave, where the threefold process resides.

In the Taittiriya Brahmana as well as in this Upanishad, Dharma too is treated elaborately. It
has three forms: Kamya, Naimittika, and Nithya. The Sastras seldom command that Karma

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has to be pursued; there is no need to do so for karma comes naturally to man. Kama (desire)
is the prompter of such Karma and man gets various fruits thereby. The Sastras teach only the
ways of directing this natural activity to ensure desirable objects.

The Upanishad exhorts you not to swerve from duties of learning and teaching. "Swerve not
from the true and the truth", it says. "From the true, it will not do to swerve nor from Dharma
nor from welfare and well-being, nor from duties to Devas and Pitris. Treat thy mother as
God. What works are free from fault, they should be resorted to, not others..." this is what the
Upanishad teaches.

Listening, rumination and concentration are the three steps in Realisation. Listening refers to
Vedas, which have to be revered in faith and learnt by heart from a Guru; this confers the
knowledge of the unknowable. Manana or Rumination is the Tapas taught in the Bhriguvalli.
By this process, the Brahma Atma Swarupa can be fixed in the mind. Concentration helps the
development of single-minded attention on the Principle so installed. In the two Vallis,
Brahma and Bhrigu, Brahmavidya or the discipline which ensures the Realisation of
Brahmam is expounded. The Brahmavalli teaches; the Bhriguvalli proves by experience.

Bhrigu, the son of Varuna, tells him that Brahmam is Food, Prana, the Senses, Manas, Vaak,
etc. But, since the son soon learns that these are not Brahmam he declares that Brahmam is
that from which these are born and by which they live and function. He first believed that
Annam or Food is Brahmam since all beings exist on food but, later, he feels that Brahmam is
much more inclusive. He asks for direct teaching of the Real, the Brahmam.

Thereafter, he was told that Thapas is Brahmam, for it is that by which Brahmam the Reality
is known. He discovered by Thapas that Vijnanam is Brahmam, for Vijnanam is that in which
creatures are born and it is that by which creatures live.

Thus it is announced that, of all disciplines and subjects of study, the Brahmavidya is the most
sacred, holy and esoteric. Annam is not to be decried; that should be the vow of the Wise. The
vital airs are all Annam. The physical body is the gift of Annam. The Prana or vital airs have
the body as the vehicle. So, Annam should not be slighted. That should be the resolution. The
waters in conjunction with the fire in the stomach become food. In the water that comes down
as rain the "fire" of lightning is inherent. So, whoever is established in the Aapojyothi or the
Splendour of water is aware of the splendour of Annam and is persuaded to revere it. Annam
is the Guru, for it leads you on to the knowledge of Brahmam. It should not therefore be
treated with disrespect. That must be observed just like a vow by the aspirant.

Since the physical body is the transformation of food, it has an Annamayakosa: the vital airs
form another sheath, the Pranamaya. It weighs between good and bad, right and wrong in the
sheath of mind, or Manomaya-kosa. When it fixes upon a step, with a purpose in view, it is
the function of the Vijnanamayakosa. When the joy of achievement is tasted, it is the
Anandamayakosa that functions.

To progress with Brahmic outlook, that you are Brahmam and not the body etc., the
Pranamaya is the first instrument. It is subtle and separate and different from the body. It is
activated by Vayu and is saturated with it. It pervades and subsumes the entire
Annamayakosa. You can say that the Pranamaya is the soul of the Annamaya, for it makes it
function from head to foot. It cannot survive without the Prana. It is the motive force; it has
five varieties: Prana, Apana, Vyana, Udana and Samana. By contemplating that the

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Pranamaya is the Atma of the Annamaya, the notion that the body is the Self will disappear.
You rise from the gross to the subtle. Prana is like the molten metal in the crucible. By effort,
the Pranamayakosa can be experienced.

Prana appears in the form of the breath. Prana activates the head, Vyana the right, Udana the
left, Samana the central and Apana the lower parts of the body. The Prana moves from the
heart through the nerves of the face, the nose etc., and reaches the head. From there, it
motivates the various nerves flowing through the body under different names with distinct
functions. The Prana that functions round the navel is, for example, called Samaana.

For the Mano-maya Kosa, the Yajurveda is the head; the Riks form the right wing; Sama is
the left wing, Brahmanas are the soul; the Atharvanaveda is the tail. The Manthras of the
Yajurveda are used very much in Yagas; with them, food is offered ceremonially in the
sacrificial Fire. Hence, it is considered as the Head. The sound of Yajus produces
modifications which are auspicious. That is the reason for the significance attached to the
other Vedas also. Thus all manthras become the causes of mental modifications. These in turn
illumine the splendour of the Atma; thus the Vedas and the Mystery of their Syllables belong
to the Science of the Atma itself. The Vedas become, therefore, eternally valuable and
eternally existent. The Atharvana Veda treats of various rites to win relief from evil forces
and ailments and so, it is described as the tail.

The Kosa thus described merges in the Vijnanamaya and later into the Anandamaya and
finally, the aspirant passes beyond even that, into the region of pure Sath.

XII. BRAHMANUBHAVA UPANISHAD

The Sruthis declare "Ekam eva Adwithiyam Brahma" (Brahmam is One Only, without a
second). That is to say, there is nothing besides Brahmam. Under all conditions, at all times,
everywhere, Brahmam alone is. In the beginning, there was just Sath and nothing else, says
the Chhandogya. The Mandukya names it as Santham, Sivam, Adwaitham. Only the evolved
or the manifested can appear as two. That which is seen is different, one from the other and all
from the seer. Moreover, the seen is the product of the seer's likes and dislikes, his
imagination and feelings, his impulses and tendencies. When the lamp is brought in, the
"snake" disappears and the rope alone remains and is understood as such. When the world is
examined in the light of Brahma Jnana, the illusory picture which attracted and repelled, the
picture of Duality disappears.

It is the "Two" that causes fear. If one is oneself the listener, the seer, the doer, the enjoyer,
how can fear arise? Consider your condition when asleep! The external world is then absent;
you are alone with yourself. The state is "One, without a second". Contemplation of that One
and worship of that One leading to the realistion of Secondlessness gives you that experience.
Like the other, He is Immanent; like the vital air, He is the Chith, the secret of all
consciousness, activity, movement.

Sath, Chith, Ananda, Paripurna, Nithya - Brahmam is described by these five attributes.
Through an understanding of these, Brahmam can be grasped. Sath is unaffected by Time:
Chith illumines and reveals itself as well as all else; Ananda creates the utmost desirability;

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Paripurna knows no defect or diminution or decline, or defeat. Nithyam is that which is
unaffected by the limitations of space, time and objectivisation.

In the light of this Brahmajnana, the World is a Mirage, temporary, unreal, negatived by
knowledge. The World is but another name for "things seen, heard, etc.,". But "You, the Jivi,
the seer are Sath Chith Ananda Brahmam" - remember. Get fixed in that assurance; meditate
on the Om which is its best Symbol. Become aware from this moment that you are the Atma.
When the fog of ignorance vanishes, the Atma in each will shine in its native splendour. Then,
you know that you were pursuing a mirage in the desert sands, that you were taking as "real",
objects that had a beginning and therefore had an end.

The mind becomes bound with attachment when it dwells upon an object, or desires it or
dislikes it. To get free from such bondage, the mind should be trained not to dwell on any
object or desire it or dislike it. It is the mind that binds and unbinds. If dominated by Rajas, it
easily falls into bondage; if Sathwa predominates, it can achieve freedom.

He, who feels one with the gross body, pursues feverishly the pleasure derivable through the
senses. Desire is the consequence of identification with the physical frame. Give that up and
you are given up by desire. Joy and grief are like right and wrong, to be transcended.
Affection and hatred are of the nature of the internal instruments of man. They do not belong
to the "Liver" who lives with them, the Jivi or to the Atma, the essential reality of the Jivi.

The Atma is ever pure, ever free from attachment, for there is no second to get attached to.
The Mundakopanishad (III-i) manthra says: Two birds, ever together, with significant and
subtle wings, are perched on a tree. (The tree is the body and the twin birds are Jivatma and
Paramatma). One bird is engaged in tasting the fruits, (The Jivatma experiences joy and grief
from the deeds it engages itself in). The other just watches. (The Paramatma is subtler than
the subtlest and is just a Witness).

How can this gross physical frame of plasma and pus be the pure, the self-luminous, the ever
witnessing Atma? This is built up by food; this is ever in a flux; it was not, before birth nor is
after death! It is perishable any moment. It can live on without a limb or two but the moment
the vital air stops its flow, it starts to decompose. So, the body should not be taken as the chief
or as the Be-all and the End-all.

The Yoga you should practise is: watch the agitation in the mind as a witness, free yourself
from resolutions and even decisions, for and against. Have your mind and its journeys always
under control. Yoga is the parallel progress of the Jivatma, every step in tune with the
Paramatma. The goal is the merger of both: then, all grief ends. He who steadily takes up
yoga with faith and who is prodded on by unswerving renunciation (non-attachment) can
certainly win victory.

Chith in Sath-Chith-Ananda means Vijnana, the Super-knowledge that confers perfect

equanimity and purity, in fact, the Atmajnana which can be experienced by one and all. In
common parlance Vijnana is used to indicate the sciences but really it means the Higher
Wisdom. In that Swa-rupa, "Self-form", there is no room for "impressions from Karma" nor
for wishes that prompt Karma. Wishes vitiate the mind. Wishes lead to action, action leaves a
scar, a Vasana on the Mind. Be alone with yourself and, then the mind can be negated. It is for
this reason that Yogis retire into caves.

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The Vasanas or impressions fall into two Categories; "Subha" or Beneficent and "Asubha" or
Maleficent. Beneficent Vasanas help liberation. Japa, Dhyana, Good Works, Charity, Justice,
Unselfish Service, Fortitude, Compassion - these are all beneficent. The maleficent tendencies
of Anger, Cruelty, Greed, Lust, Egoism have to be uprooted with the help of the beneficent;
and finally, as the thorn with which the thorn in the foot is removed, is also thrown away, the
Vasanas that were used to overcome the Vasanas that hurt are also to be discarded. The
Subhavasanas are the products of attachment and produce further attachment which may
persist through many births. The Jivamuktha too has to conquer the Subhavasanas. For him,
they should be like a burnt rope that cannot bind. In fact the entire group, sensual craving,
desire, greed, gets burnt, the moment the Atman is visualised. He will not be inclined towards
anyone or anything; nor will he be attached. Where the sun sets, there he lays himself down
for rest. He moves among men, unknown and unrecognised, seeking no recognition, why even
avoiding it.

When the seer and the seen are both the same, the joy is described as that of the fourth stage,
the Thuriya stage. Beyond this, the Atman is certain to be reached. By dwelling constantly on
the Atma and its reality, the attachment to the world will fall off. The Sadhana must be
without break. The genuine Sadhaka must, with all his resources, redirect the mind from the
affairs of the world and the objects that entice the senses, and concentrate on the austere
purpose of knowing Brahmam.

Thamasic resolutions spell grief, Sathwic resolutions promote Dharma and help sustain
society and individual; the Rajasic ones plunge you into the worldly flood. Give up these
three and then you become entitled to the honour of Brahmajnana.

Brahmam is of immeasurable depth; how can it be measured and comprehended by this petty
mind? It is Aprameya, beyond all possibility of being described by categories; it is
Aparichhinna, without limit; it is Avyapadesya, beyond denotation; to grasp It through the
senses is an impossible task.

"The Brahmam, which the Vedanta declares can be spoken of as only 'Not-this, not-this' is I-
Myself; My reality is the Brahmam in the cavity of my heart; I am that Brahmam which
Sadhakas strive to know and succeed in reaching. Brahmam is that which remains after
subtracting the body, the mind, the vital airs, the brain etc.," This knowledge is reached by the
discipline of negation. Just as by this method of elimination, you arrive at the conclusion, "So,
this is Devadattha", by this principle of "Jagrathajagratha", the truth, "Thath thwam asi" "That
thou art" is established. When the veil hiding the Jivi is removed, the Jivi is revealed as
Paramatma or Parabrahmam. The Jivatma is of the essence of Paramatma.

"I" refers to this Reality, the Sath-Chith-Ananda: it is only ignorance that can use it to indicate
the body! This ignorance and this wrong identification are the causes of continuous chapters
of grief and joy. So, use the word "I" with discrimination to mean only your Brahmic reality;
that will win Atmajnana for you.

For experiencing the Atma as your Reality, control of the senses, removal of physical
attachment and truth are essential. The Brahmam is the Brihaspathi prompting the Buddhi, the
Manas of the manas, the Ear of the ear, the Eye of the eye, the Illuminer of all the Self-
Luminant One. His splendour is the light from which everything else emanates. He is the
Basic support and Sustenance. In the Mind, He is wisdom; the Manas and the Buddhi do
envelop the senses. Without Him, the Manas and the Buddhi are helpless to function; they

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emerge from Him and merge in Him like grass that is born from the earth and becomes part of
it. Iron placed in fire becomes red and turns black again when cooled: so too, Buddhi becomes
resplendent with Jnana by dwelling on Parabrahma who is Jnanaswarupa.

God is encased everywhere as the child in the womb. Some declare that they will believe only
in a God that can be seen or demonstrated. This is the usual argument of the worldly minded.
But it is not easy to see, with gross physical eyes, the Paramatma which is Subtler than the
Subtlest. You must first get command over a powerful microscope, fit for the purpose. Either
the Janana Chakshu or the Prema Chakshu is wanted, the Eye of Wisdom, the Eye of Love;
only with these can you see God. Can you show others what the thing called "pain" is or
"sweetness"? The eye cannot see an abstract thing like love, pity, mercy, virtue, faith; it is
beyond its capacity.

But by words, actions and behaviour, we infer that a person has Love in his heart. So too, it is
possible to judge whether a person is a Brahma-vid, how deep he is established in his own
Reality, whether by fits and starts or steadily and securely. Divine Wisdom, Divine Treasure,
Harmony with Nature, through these He can be identified and discovered. Therefore,
endeavour by all means to earn either the Jnanachakshu or the Premachakshu.

Just as sugar in cane-juice, or sweetness in sugar, the Paramatma is ever Immanent in

creation; He is the inner core of all Beings. He is everywhere, always in everything, He has no
form; Atma is "A-thanu" "without body". It is the in-dweller, the Purusha. Only by throwing
off the attachment to the body, and purifying the Mind and the Buddhi, can you merge in your
Truth and earn the eternal Bliss, highest Prasanthi, the purest Wisdom. Thus only can man
earn liberation from the bondage of birth and death.

"Deha", the word which means the body, is derived from the root "dah" meaning "burn". It
implies that which has to be burnt. But, the Jnani has three bodies, the gross, the subtle and
the causal. What is it then that is burnt? The fuels, Adhibhoutika, Adhideivika and
Adhyatmika, called the Thaapathraya or the Hrdaya-Kaashta can burn and consume the three
bodies quicker and more completely than fire. However informed a person may be, if he
identifies himself with the body, he must be pronounced foolish. On the other hand, a person
who is fixed in the faith that he is Sath-Chith-Ananda will be transformed into Divinity Itself.
Do not identify the Jivi with the gross body of flesh and bone or even with the subtle and
causal. The Atma must be identified with the Paramatma alone. Then only can permanent
Bliss emerge. Joy and Grief, good and bad belong to the realm of the Mind, not to you. You
are not the doer or the enjoyer of the fruits of the deeds. You are ever-free.

Virtue is dharma; Vice is Adharma. These are products of the Mind, strings that bind the
heart. When Man experiences this higher Truth, he becomes free from both, and achieves the
vision of Reality. As the silk worm gets entangled and imprisoned in the cocoon that it spins
around itself, so Man too spins a cocoon of wishes around himself and suffers.

The Atma is ever dis-entangled. It is "A-samsari". "Not-bound by flux". Its nature is purity,
wholeness, joy, wisdom; where Ego is, there bondage persists. Where there is no "I", there
freedom holds sway. The "I" is the real shackle.

There are three obstacles in the path of the seeker after Atmajnana; obstacles of the past, the
present and the future. These must be overcome. The Jivan-muktha is not worried over these.
He has gone beyond the triple distinction of the seer, the seen and the sight; he has known that

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the distinction is artificial, a product of the mind. Once you have conquered the Triple illusion
of Triputi, you will experience Brahmam in all things at all times.

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