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Introduction - The Brihadaranyaka Upanishada is an integral part of the Vajaseneya Brahmana of the Kaanva branch of the Yajurveda. With respect to the size, this Upanishad is biggest among all the Upanishads hence its name Brihat, and because it is worth reading in the forest (Aranya), it is known as Aranyaka. Along with it huge size, the comprehensiveness of the meanings also is noticeable. The knowledge of self-realization is the theme of this Upanishad covered over a length of six chapters.
Once upon a time, the gods decided to defeat the Asuras by Udgeetha. Udgeetha is a segment of the Karma performed during a religious sacrifice. They decided to suppress all the evil impulses with the aid of Udgeetha. They told the proud gods of the speech, nose, ears, eyes and skin to sing the praises. Every god, through his action, sang the praises so as to enhance the strength of goodness but they were selfish. They wanted to enjoy immediately the fruits of what they had done.
This selfishness itself is a evil or demonic quality. That is why their work went in vain. At the end the prime 'prana' was told to perform this karma. On this, prana started contemplating. 'Prana' itself does not enjoy any material pleasures and it is his blessings that the senses do enjoy the pleasures. All the other senses are awake at times and sleep at others, but the prana is always awakened. When 'prana' was praised the demons were absolutely defeated and the gods were victorious. We construe from this story that the root of all evil deeds and thoughts lie in selfishness. Till the Jiva is attached and locked in the shackles of evil, he cannot be liberated from this vicious cycle of misery. The persons who surrender all attachments cannot be affected by any temptation.
The second chapter begins with the conversation between Drupta bala Gargya and Ajaatashatru. The emperor of Kashi. Ajaatashatru was a great thinker and a philosopher, while Drupta Gargya was self-conceited. When he said to Ajaatashatru that- " I will give the knowledge of the Divine Cosmic Spirit." Ajaatashatru immediately gave him one thousand gold coins. This Shruti thus opines the fact that the king was indeed a noble soul, he would not see other's weaknesses and shortcomings, rather he would respect one and all. Along with this the greatness of the Cosmic Divine knowledge is also enumerated. After this whoever (who had pride on the Aditya) was taught Divine knowledge by Gargya was proclaimed as non-venerable. Ajaatashatru went to the extent of stating the benefits of their propitiation also.
As a result of this, Gargya was confused and his ego ceased to exist. He sought the refuge of the king at last so that he could understand the Divine cosmic Spirit. Listening to this, the king, holding his hand took him to his palace to a sleeping person and called out to Moon who was self-conceited because of prana, by different names i.e. Brihat, Pandakhaasa, Soma, Rajan etc.
But despite this, the sleeping person did not get up. The King gradually went near him and pressed his hand. As soon as this happened the person woke up.
Through this incident, the Shruti opines that all the gods, who are proud of their name and beauty, are not in reality the Vignamaya souls. The Vignamaya souls are devoid of name and form. Although the divine God is omnipresent the Supreme God resides in the heart of each and every creature.
In the real sense, He is the real inspirer and the one who really bears. The other gods who are proud of their senses are also expressions of that divine god. Without His reign, all their independent energies are useless and futile. Because they control the senses they are prana (breath) but the divine soul, because He is the controller and inspirer of the prana, is the prana of the pranas i.e. Mahaprana.
In the fourth Brahmana of this chapter itself is the conversation of Yagyavalkya and Maitreyi. Yagyavalkya had two wives- Maitreyi and Katyayani. Amongst them Maitreyi had realized the divine cosmic spirit while Katyayani was a woman with ordinary intellect. When Yagyavalkya decided to renounce the world, he decided to divide the property between his two wives. On this Katyayani did not say anything as she was desirous only of physical or material pleasures. Maitreyi commented- "If this entire earth filled with wealth and riches becomes mine, Shall I become immortal?" Listening to this Yagyavalkya replied- "One cannot expect to attain immortality by wealth. But one can enjoy all the physical pleasures like a desirous person." Maitreyi became all the more curious, she asked- "What shall I do by taking that which cannot make me immortal? Tell me something by which I will become immortal?"
"In reality this is the real form of detachment and judgement. He who does not see the birth of these aforesaid things within himself cannot realize God", seeing the curiosity of Maitreyi, Yagyavalkya gave her the sermon of the Divine cosmic spirit. He told her that the soul and the cosmic spirit are in reality one and self-realization is a way to realize this entire world. It is defeat to see anything or realize anything other than the soul. All humans take birth from that cosmic soul and that all creatures devoid of the realization of that soul reside in final dissolution and the ignorance. In this way everything is pervaded by the divine cosmic soul. For that person everything is devoid of the doer, the act and the effect. It is not easy to realize the element of the divine soul as that divine cosmic soul is omniscient.
After this comes the 'Madhubrahman'. The nectar is the essence of many types of flowers. The flowers are for the nectars. The flower is the benefactor and the nectar is the beneficent. This relation of the benefactor and the beneficent is referred to 'Madhu' in this Brahmana. It is opined that- All the things/ elements i.e. earth, water, fire, air, space, moon, lightning and directions are the motives of the four elements and the humans or creatures created are emerged from these four elements. But this is the practical view -point. In reality all these four elements reside in and are protected by the Divine cosmic soul. This is the real and divine form. In this way the Madhubrahman speaks of the all pervasive nature of the divine cosmic soul and that each and every atom of this universe contains that divine cosmic element.
|| INDRO MAAYABHIHI PURU RUPA EEYATEY ||
This Shruti states that it is that divine energy who with the aid of the Mayashakti (divine play of delusion) that assumes all forms.
The second chapters following the Madhu kanda is the Yagyavalkya Kanda.
The chapter begins with the narration of king Janak who performed a religious yagya and gave plenty of money in Dakshina. All the scholars, Brahmins of the Panchal region were present on the occasion. The king proclaimed: "scholar, who is the most intelligent and has realized Brahma, can take from my cowshed ten thousand cows on each of whose horns twenty gold coins are tied." There was not even one scholar who had the courage to come before the king and assertively state that he was the most noble and greatest scholar. At that time, Yagyavalkya got up and told his Brahmacharis to take away all the ten thousand cows. Seeing this, all the Brahmins present were unnerved. One of them asked- "Do you think you are the greatest scholar to have realized the supreme God?" Yagyavalkya's reply was indeed of a sublime noble soul. He replied: "We respect that person who is incessantly meditating upon the Brahma but we are desirous of the cows. After this all the Brahmins present asked one question each to Yagyavalkya and were satisfied with the answers."
In the end, Gargi asked him what is the cause for the evolution of the different Lokas (worlds). When she asked the cause of the evolution of the Brahmaloka, Yagyavalkya stopped her. He told her: "the Brahmaloka and its evolution is devoid of doubt and to question its evolution itself is a crime." Therefore he refuted and repudiated the question.
After this Yagyavalkya himself asked a question to the Brahmins present. No one could dare to answer that question.
The first Brahmana of the fourth chapter comprises of the conversation between Janak and Yagyavalkya. Janak had heard from different sources that the speech, the prana, the eyes etc. are basically embodiments of Brahma. Yagyavalkya asked Janak about the purview and the greatness of these embodiments. He also told him how each of them can be propitiated and the attainment of the Devaloka. Listening to this Janak considered these things as the greatest attainments and wanted to give one thousand cows to Yagyavalkya. But Yagyavalkya told him that taking wealth from a disciple who is not satisfied is against his father's principles and refused to accept Dakshina (gifts/fees).
In the second Brahmana considering Janak as the authority, Yagyavalkya narrated to him the gigantic form of that cosmic soul that is all pervasive and immovable. On this, the king Janak was thoroughly satisfied and he surrendered all the riches and wealth at the feet of Yagyavalkya.
The third and the fourth Brahmanas of the fourth chapter speak of the conversation between Janak and Yagyavalkya. Although Yagyavalkya had taken a resolution that 'I won't say anything to Janak', but he had agreed to answer all the questions Janak asked. That is why he asked- "Whose effulgence is the cause of purush's radiance?"
Once upon a time, the gods decided to defeat the Asuras by Udgeetha. Udgeetha is a segment of the Karma performed during a religious sacrifice. They decided to suppress all the evil impulses with the aid of Udgeetha. They told the proud gods of the speech, nose, ears, eyes and skin to sing the praises. Every god, through his action, sang the praises so as to enhance the strength of goodness but they were selfish. They wanted to enjoy immediately the fruits of what they had done.
This selfishness itself is a evil or demonic quality. That is why their work went in vain. At the end the prime 'prana' was told to perform this karma. On this, prana started contemplating. 'Prana' itself does not enjoy any material pleasures and it is his blessings that the senses do enjoy the pleasures. All the other senses are awake at times and sleep at others, but the prana is always awakened. When 'prana' was praised the demons were absolutely defeated and the gods were victorious. We construe from this story that the root of all evil deeds and thoughts lie in selfishness. Till the Jiva is attached and locked in the shackles of evil, he cannot be liberated from this vicious cycle of misery. The persons who surrender all attachments cannot be affected by any temptation.
The second chapter begins with the conversation between Drupta bala Gargya and Ajaatashatru. The emperor of Kashi. Ajaatashatru was a great thinker and a philosopher, while Drupta Gargya was self-conceited. When he said to Ajaatashatru that- " I will give the knowledge of the Divine Cosmic Spirit." Ajaatashatru immediately gave him one thousand gold coins. This Shruti thus opines the fact that the king was indeed a noble soul, he would not see other's weaknesses and shortcomings, rather he would respect one and all. Along with this the greatness of the Cosmic Divine knowledge is also enumerated. After this whoever (who had pride on the Aditya) was taught Divine knowledge by Gargya was proclaimed as non-venerable. Ajaatashatru went to the extent of stating the benefits of their propitiation also.
As a result of this, Gargya was confused and his ego ceased to exist. He sought the refuge of the king at last so that he could understand the Divine cosmic Spirit. Listening to this, the king, holding his hand took him to his palace to a sleeping person and called out to Moon who was self-conceited because of prana, by different names i.e. Brihat, Pandakhaasa, Soma, Rajan etc.
But despite this, the sleeping person did not get up. The King gradually went near him and pressed his hand. As soon as this happened the person woke up.
Through this incident, the Shruti opines that all the gods, who are proud of their name and beauty, are not in reality the Vignamaya souls. The Vignamaya souls are devoid of name and form. Although the divine God is omnipresent the Supreme God resides in the heart of each and every creature.
In the real sense, He is the real inspirer and the one who really bears. The other gods who are proud of their senses are also expressions of that divine god. Without His reign, all their independent energies are useless and futile. Because they control the senses they are prana (breath) but the divine soul, because He is the controller and inspirer of the prana, is the prana of the pranas i.e. Mahaprana.
In the fourth Brahmana of this chapter itself is the conversation of Yagyavalkya and Maitreyi. Yagyavalkya had two wives- Maitreyi and Katyayani. Amongst them Maitreyi had realized the divine cosmic spirit while Katyayani was a woman with ordinary intellect. When Yagyavalkya decided to renounce the world, he decided to divide the property between his two wives. On this Katyayani did not say anything as she was desirous only of physical or material pleasures. Maitreyi commented- "If this entire earth filled with wealth and riches becomes mine, Shall I become immortal?" Listening to this Yagyavalkya replied- "One cannot expect to attain immortality by wealth. But one can enjoy all the physical pleasures like a desirous person." Maitreyi became all the more curious, she asked- "What shall I do by taking that which cannot make me immortal? Tell me something by which I will become immortal?"
"In reality this is the real form of detachment and judgement. He who does not see the birth of these aforesaid things within himself cannot realize God", seeing the curiosity of Maitreyi, Yagyavalkya gave her the sermon of the Divine cosmic spirit. He told her that the soul and the cosmic spirit are in reality one and self-realization is a way to realize this entire world. It is defeat to see anything or realize anything other than the soul. All humans take birth from that cosmic soul and that all creatures devoid of the realization of that soul reside in final dissolution and the ignorance. In this way everything is pervaded by the divine cosmic soul. For that person everything is devoid of the doer, the act and the effect. It is not easy to realize the element of the divine soul as that divine cosmic soul is omniscient.
After this comes the 'Madhubrahman'. The nectar is the essence of many types of flowers. The flowers are for the nectars. The flower is the benefactor and the nectar is the beneficent. This relation of the benefactor and the beneficent is referred to 'Madhu' in this Brahmana. It is opined that- All the things/ elements i.e. earth, water, fire, air, space, moon, lightning and directions are the motives of the four elements and the humans or creatures created are emerged from these four elements. But this is the practical view -point. In reality all these four elements reside in and are protected by the Divine cosmic soul. This is the real and divine form. In this way the Madhubrahman speaks of the all pervasive nature of the divine cosmic soul and that each and every atom of this universe contains that divine cosmic element.
|| INDRO MAAYABHIHI PURU RUPA EEYATEY ||
This Shruti states that it is that divine energy who with the aid of the Mayashakti (divine play of delusion) that assumes all forms.
The second chapters following the Madhu kanda is the Yagyavalkya Kanda.
The chapter begins with the narration of king Janak who performed a religious yagya and gave plenty of money in Dakshina. All the scholars, Brahmins of the Panchal region were present on the occasion. The king proclaimed: "scholar, who is the most intelligent and has realized Brahma, can take from my cowshed ten thousand cows on each of whose horns twenty gold coins are tied." There was not even one scholar who had the courage to come before the king and assertively state that he was the most noble and greatest scholar. At that time, Yagyavalkya got up and told his Brahmacharis to take away all the ten thousand cows. Seeing this, all the Brahmins present were unnerved. One of them asked- "Do you think you are the greatest scholar to have realized the supreme God?" Yagyavalkya's reply was indeed of a sublime noble soul. He replied: "We respect that person who is incessantly meditating upon the Brahma but we are desirous of the cows. After this all the Brahmins present asked one question each to Yagyavalkya and were satisfied with the answers."
In the end, Gargi asked him what is the cause for the evolution of the different Lokas (worlds). When she asked the cause of the evolution of the Brahmaloka, Yagyavalkya stopped her. He told her: "the Brahmaloka and its evolution is devoid of doubt and to question its evolution itself is a crime." Therefore he refuted and repudiated the question.
After this Yagyavalkya himself asked a question to the Brahmins present. No one could dare to answer that question.
The first Brahmana of the fourth chapter comprises of the conversation between Janak and Yagyavalkya. Janak had heard from different sources that the speech, the prana, the eyes etc. are basically embodiments of Brahma. Yagyavalkya asked Janak about the purview and the greatness of these embodiments. He also told him how each of them can be propitiated and the attainment of the Devaloka. Listening to this Janak considered these things as the greatest attainments and wanted to give one thousand cows to Yagyavalkya. But Yagyavalkya told him that taking wealth from a disciple who is not satisfied is against his father's principles and refused to accept Dakshina (gifts/fees).
In the second Brahmana considering Janak as the authority, Yagyavalkya narrated to him the gigantic form of that cosmic soul that is all pervasive and immovable. On this, the king Janak was thoroughly satisfied and he surrendered all the riches and wealth at the feet of Yagyavalkya.
The third and the fourth Brahmanas of the fourth chapter speak of the conversation between Janak and Yagyavalkya. Although Yagyavalkya had taken a resolution that 'I won't say anything to Janak', but he had agreed to answer all the questions Janak asked. That is why he asked- "Whose effulgence is the cause of purush's radiance?"