Essentials of Hinduism - Brihadaranyaka Upanishads

Essentials of Hinduism

Brihadaranyaka Upanishads

SUMMARY:

Aham Brahmasmi – this is the Mahavakya for Yajur Veda that is attributed to the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad is a part of the Shukla Yajur Veda.

To know and realize is only One and that is Atma. One who thinks or considers himself as Brahman, even Devas consider him great. Realize that wife, husband, children, wealth are not meant for attachment – understand this! Find Paramatma inside them and get overwhelmed – this is the life’s concept! Understanding Shruti and Smriti does not constitute knowing Paramatma. Only when Vairagya (will power) matures and the Jnyana blossoms, we get to see Paramatma. When you churn curd, get butter and place on water or buttermilk it will not stick to them, but will just float. Similarly, the mind of a Brahma Jnani will not get involved with the worldly objects around him but will be steady on the Brahman.

DETAILS:

There are six Chapters but the details are provided for the combined Chapters.

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad presents several conversations between two (2) people each time and explains different Spiritual Truths in a beautiful manner.

Conversation started with proud Gargya as the teacher and King Ajatasatru as the Learner and ended the other way. Gargya said: that same person is the Sun that I Worship as the Brahman. Ajatasatru said: do not talk to me on this; I adore him as the excelling one, as the head of all beings, as King. Thus Gargya went on to mention several other objects he was adoring as the Brahman – Moon, Lightning, Ether, Air, Fire, Water etc., but Ajatasatru did not approve of any of these. Ajatasatru took Gargya by the hand to Soma who was sleeping; he woke him up. Ajatasatru asked: in the form of intelligence, where had he gone (while sleeping) and from where did he come back now. Gargil knew this not. Ajatasatru: when he was asleep, he gathers the senses and moves about as he pleases, in deep sleep he is not aware of anything, and after he wakes he stays in the body.

Next is a conversation between Yajnavalkya who was leaving the station to begin the Life of Renunciation and his Wife Maitreyi. He was splitting his possession between his two (2) wives, Maitreyi and Katyayani. Maitreyi questions if she would attain immortality with the Wealth. When he says No, Maitreyi asks him to tell her the way to immortality. Yajnavalkya explains that is not for the sake of Husband that the Husband is dear to the Wife, but is for the sake of one’s Self; similarly he quotes Wife, sons and says they are dear for the sake of one’s Self. Then he repeats

the statement with reference to Wealth, the Worlds and so on. Finally Yajnavalkya said to Maitreyi: it is the Self that is to be seen, heard about, thought about, and contemplated upon.

Janaka, King of Videha, on a certain occasion performed a Sacrifice and was going to give away cow fastened with ten gold coins to the wisemen. He had several Cows to give away like this. The Brahmins dared not. Yajnavalkya came forward. The Brahmins were enraged. Aswala, priest to King Janaka accosted (confronted) Yajnavalkya with a question: by what means can a Worshipper overcome death? The Knower of the Truth of Brahman overcomes death. Now asked: when one gives up his Body, do his perceptive faculties, along with his mind, go out of him, or do they not? Yajnavalkya: they do not. Then, Ushasta asked: what is the ultimate, the immediate Brahman, the Self which dwells within all? Yajnavalkya: The Self which is within all. Ushasta: which Self, is within all? Yajnavalkya: that which breathes in and out is thy Self, which is within all. That which is beyond hunger, thirst, grief, delusion (fantasy), decay, and death. Anything that is not the Self perishes. Then arose Gargi: revered Brahmins, if Yajnavalkya answers my two questions, no one among us can ever defeat him. Question 1: of which they say that it is above Heaven and below the Earth, which is between Heaven and Earth as well, and which was, is, and shall be woven (basket weave) and warp (twisted)? Yajnavalkya: in the ether. Question 2: in whom is that ether woven? Yajnavalkya: in the changeless Reality.

On a certain occasion, King Janaka saw the sage Yajnavalkya among his visitors and accosted him: what is Knowledge? Yajnavalkya: the Supreme Brahman; Janaka: who is the Self? Yajnavalkya: the Self-Luminous being who dwells within the lotus of the heart, surrounded by the senses and sense organs, and who is the light of the intellect, is that Self. Becoming identified with the intellect, he moves to and fro, through birth and death, between this world and the next. When man, the individual Soul, is born, and assumes the relationship with the Body and sense organs, he becomes associated with the evils of the World. When at death he gives up the Body, he leaves all the evils behind.

There are two states of man – the state in this World, and the state in the next; there is also a third state, the state intermediate between these two, which can be likened to dream. While in the intermediate state, a man experiences both the states, that in this World and in the next; and the manner is as follows: when he dies, he lives only in the subtle Body, on which are left the impressions of his past deeds, and of these impressions, illumined as they are by the pure light of the Self. Thus it is that in the intermediate state he experiences the first state, or that of the Life in the World. Again, while in the intermediate state, he foresees both the evils and the Blessings that will yet come to him, as these are determined by his conduct, good and bad, upon the Earth, and by the character in which this conduct has resulted. Thus, it is that in the intermediate state that he experiences the second state, or that of the Life in the World to come.

In the intermediate state, there are no real Chariots, nor Horses nor Roads; but by the light of the Self he creates Chariots and Horses and the Roads. There are no Real Blessings, nor joys, nor pleasures; but he Creates Blessings and joys and pleasures. There are no real Ponds, nor Lakes, nor Rivers; but he Creates Ponds and Lakes and Rivers. He is the Creator of all these out of the impressions left by his past deeds.

Regarding the different states of consciousness: While one is in the state of the dream, the golden, Self-Luminous Being, the Self within, makes the Body to sleep, though he himself remains forever awake and watches by his own light the impressions of his deeds that have been left upon the mind. Thereafter, associating himself again with the consciousness of the organs of sense, the Self causes the Body to wake up. While one is in the state of dream, the golden, Self Luminous Being, the Self within, the Immortal One, keeps alive the house of flesh with the help of the vital force, but at the same time walks out of this house (meaning, the body). The Eternal goes wherever he Desires. The Self-Luminous Being assumes manifold forms, high and low, in the world of dreams. He seems to be enjoying the pleasure of love, or to be laughing with the friends, or looking at terrifying spectacles.

As a man passes from dream to wakefulness, so does he pass at death from this Life to the Next.

Death Experiences:

When a man is about to die, the subtle Body, mounted by the intelligent Self, groans (cries out) – similar to a heavily laden cart groans under the burden. When his Body becomes thin through old age or disease, the dying man separates himself from his limbs, even as a mango or a fig or a banyan fruit separates itself from its stalk, and by the same way he came he hastens to his New Abode (Residence) – gets a New Body – to begin a New Life. When his Body grows weak and he becomes apparently unconscious, the dying man gathers his senses about him and completely withdraws their powers, descends into his heart. No more does he see form or color.

He neither sees, nor smells, nor tastes. He does not speak, he does not hear. He does not think, he does not know. All the organs, detaching themselves from his Physical Body will unite with his Subtle Body. Then the point of his heart, where the nerves join, is lighted by the light of the Self, and by that light he departs either through the eye, or through the gate of the skull, or through some other Aperture of the Body. When he thus departs, Life departs; and when Life departs, all the functions of the vital principle depart. The Self remains conscious, the deeds of this Life in the form of impressions, go with him. The Self, having left this Body behind it unconscious, takes hold of another Body. The Self takes on a newer and better form, either that of the Fathers, or Celestial Singers, or that of the Gods, or that of Other Beings, Heavenly or Earthly.

As a man acts, so does he become. A man of good deeds becomes good, a man of evil deeds becomes evil. A man becomes Pure through Pure Deeds, impure through impure deeds. After death, he goes to the other World bearing in his mind the subtle impressions of his deeds; and after reaping there the harvest of his deeds, he returns again to this World of action. Thus he who has desires continues the Cycle of Births-and-Rebirths.

But he in whom Desire is stilled suffers no Rebirth. After death, having attained to the highest, desiring only the Self, he goes to no other World. Realizing Brahman, he becomes Brahman. When all the Desires which once entered into his heart have been driven out by Divine Knowledge, the mortal attaining to Brahman, becomes immortal.

Yajnavalkya continues to speak to King Janaka: the Path of Liberation is Subtle, and Hard, and Long. I am walking in it; I have reached the end. By this Path alone the Wise, the knowers of Brahman, attain Him while living, and achieve Final Liberation at death. Other Worlds there are, joyless, enveloped in darkness. To these Worlds, after death, go those who are unwise, who know not the Self.

When a man has realized the Self, the Pure, the Immortal, the Blissful, what craving can be left in him that he should take to himself another Body, full of suffering. Brahman may be realized while one dwells in the ephemeral (temporary) Body. To fail to realize him is to live in ignorance, and therefore to be subject to birth and death. Let therefore the Wise Aspirant, knowing Brahman to be the Supreme Goal, so shape his Life and his Conduct. Two cravings there are: the craving for a Life of Pleasure in this World, and the craving for a Life of Pleasure in the other Worlds. The Self is to be described as not this, not that. It is incomprehensible, for it cannot be comprehended.

Self – Pure like a crystal water is that Self, the only Seer, the One without a second. He is the Kingdom of Brahman – man’s highest Goal, Supreme Treasure, Greatest Bliss. Creatures who live within the bonds of ignorance experience but a small portion of his Infinite Being.

This article is a snippet from the Book Essentials of Hinduism, Authored by G.S Nilakantan. Hinduism for All is available online at www.giri.in and across Giri Trading Agency Private Limited, A chain of Speciality Stores dealing in all kinds of products needed in Indian Culture and Tradition.