The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad - Ch-1. THIRD BRAHMANA : Chapter-1.THE SUPERIORITY OF THE VITAL FORCE AMONG ALL FUNCTIONS -11 to 15. Swami Krishnananda.

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Sunday, November 14, 2021. 8:00. PM.

The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad - Swami Krishnananda.

Chapter - I : THIRD BRAHMANA : 

THE SUPERIORITY OF THE VITAL FORCE AMONG ALL FUNCTIONS -11 to15. 

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Mantram-11 : sā vā eṣā devataitāsāṁ devatānām pāpmānam mṛtyum apahatya athainā mṛtyum atyavahat.

Gone above the fear of death are the senses when they took refuge in the Maha-Prāṇa. The Hiraṇyabargha-Prāṇa is the overcoming principle of death, where death is consumed. 'Mṛityu', or death, is like a condiment to this great All-consumer, says the Kaṭha Upaniṣhad. Death consumes all, but this Being consumes death itself. That enabled the senses to overcome death, that is, to free themselves from desire for things. What happened to them when they were free from desire? What was the condition of the senses and the deities thereof when they were freed from the principle of death? One by one, each sense-organ is described in the following Mantras.

Mantram-12 : sa vai vācam eva prathamām atyavahat, sā yadā mṛtyum atyamucyata, so׳gnir abhavat, so׳yam agniḥ pareṇa mṛtyum atikrānto dīpyate.

Mantram-13 : atha prāṇam atyavahat, sa yadā mṛtyum atyamucyata, sa vāyur abhavat. so'yaṁ vāyuḥ pareṇa mṛtyum atikrāntaḥ pavate.

Mantram-14 : atha cakṣur atyavahat, tad yadā mṛtyum atyamucyata, saādityo'bhavat, so'sāv ādityaḥ pareṇa mṛtyum atikrāntas tapati.

Mantram-15 : atha śrotram atyavahat, tad yadā mṛtyum atyamucyata, tā diśo'bhavan, tā imā diśaḥ pareṇa mṛtyum atikrāntāḥ.

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Speech was freed from the evil of death, first of all. Then, what happened to speech? It ceased to be a mere instrument as speech. The principle of speech is not merely an organ to express words in language, as it is ordinarily in human beings. It assumed its original form. Fire is the deity of the organ of speech, and Fire is the causative principle of speech, and speech is the effect of the principle of Fire in individuals. Speech is subject to the principle of Fire, as an effect of the function of Fire. But the original condition of speech is something quite different. What we call speech, or the principle of speech, is something like a reflection of the true form of speech. We observed how an object can appear topsy-turvy when it is reflected, as when we stand on the bank of a river and look at our body. The top looks as the bottom; the head is lowermost in the reflection. The highest principle has become the lowest principle in the individual. Speech, in the Virāt, is the highest principle, superior to the principle of Fire, whereas in the individual it is an effect. It is far below the principle of Fire, here. Fire (Agnī) is the Devatā, the deity, the presiding principle over the sense of speech in the individual, so that Fire stands above the senses as a cause. But in the Virāt, it is an effect of the principle of speech. From the mouth of the Virāt, Fire came, says the Aitareya Upaniṣhad, and certain other passages in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣhad.

When we contemplate the Universal Subjectivity of things, the sense-organs become causes rather than effects, not as they are now in our individual cases. What this contemplation means, is a hard thing to grasp. But, once it is grasped, all fear vanishes in a moment, because fear is due to dependence on things, and independence is assumed the moment this art of transmuting individual consciousness to the Universal Reality is gained. That is real meditation, in the light of the Upaniṣhad. And this contemplation, this meditation on Hiraṇyagarbha, which is actually the subject of this chapter, and which is the reason behind the purification of the senses and their overcoming death, completely converts the effect into the cause, so that speech becomes Fire, the effect becomes the cause, and Fire finds its proper place in the Being of Reality. It does not move about like a servant wanted by nobody, but it becomes an organic part, or limb, of the Universal Being, who is the Virāt, just as the mouth or the principle of speech in the individual is an organic part of the individual body. The Cosmic Body becomes the abode of the cosmic principle of speech which is prior to the operation of creation, during which process the Fire principle is supposed to have emanated from the mouth of the Virāt. Thus, what happened when the principle of speech was freed from the principle of death? The moment speech was freed from the evil of death, it became the Fire principle, not the fire that is used in the kitchen for cooking the food, but the original, subtle Satya, or reality behind fire, the deity of fire, Agnī-Devata, who is the mouth of the Virāt, as stated in the scripture. This fire shines in the realm of reality in its own pristine glory. And if we read the Purāṇas and Epics, we shall find that whenever the Virāt-Puruṣha is described, Fire is mentioned there as coming out of His mouth. When Sri Krishna opened up His Cosmic Form in the court of the Kauravas, it is said that the mouth opened, and Fire came out from His mouth. And, in the Upaniṣhad also, we find references to this fact.

Speech was freed from the evil of death, first of all. Then, what happened to speech? It ceased to be a mere instrument as speech. The principle of speech is not merely an organ to express words in language, as it is ordinarily in human beings. It assumed its original form. Fire is the deity of the organ of speech, and Fire is the causative principle of speech, and speech is the effect of the principle of Fire in individuals. Speech is subject to the principle of Fire, as an effect of the function of Fire. But the original condition of speech is something quite different. What we call speech, or the principle of speech, is something like a reflection of the true form of speech. We observed how an object can appear topsy-turvy when it is reflected, as when we stand on the bank of a river and look at our body. The top looks as the bottom; the head is lowermost in the reflection. The highest principle has become the lowest principle in the individual. Speech, in the Virāt, is the highest principle, superior to the principle of Fire, whereas in the individual it is an effect. It is far below the principle of Fire, here. Fire (Agnī) is the Devatā, the deity, the presiding principle over the sense of speech in the individual, so that Fire stands above the senses as a cause. But in the Virāt, it is an effect of the principle of speech. From the mouth of the Virāt, Fire came, says the Aitareya Upaniṣhad, and certain other passages in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣhad.

When we contemplate the Universal Subjectivity of things, the sense-organs become causes rather than effects, not as they are now in our individual cases. What this contemplation means, is a hard thing to grasp. But, once it is grasped, all fear vanishes in a moment, because fear is due to dependence on things, and independence is assumed the moment this art of transmuting individual consciousness to the Universal Reality is gained. That is real meditation, in the light of the Upaniṣhad. And this contemplation, this meditation on Hiraṇyagarbha, which is actually the subject of this chapter, and which is the reason behind the purification of the senses and their overcoming death, completely converts the effect into the cause, so that speech becomes Fire, the effect becomes the cause, and Fire finds its proper place in the Being of Reality. It does not move about like a servant wanted by nobody, but it becomes an organic part, or limb, of the Universal Being, who is the Virāt, just as the mouth or the principle of speech in the individual is an organic part of the individual body. The Cosmic Body becomes the abode of the cosmic principle of speech which is prior to the operation of creation, during which process the Fire principle is supposed to have emanated from the mouth of the Virāt. Thus, what happened when the principle of speech was freed from the principle of death? The moment speech was freed from the evil of death, it became the Fire principle, not the fire that is used in the kitchen for cooking the food, but the original, subtle Satya, or reality behind fire, the deity of fire, Agnī-Devata, who is the mouth of the Virāt, as stated in the scripture. This fire shines in the realm of reality in its own pristine glory. And if we read the Purāṇas and Epics, we shall find that whenever the Virāt-Puruṣha is described, Fire is mentioned there as coming out of His mouth. When Sri Krishna opened up His Cosmic Form in the court of the Kauravas, it is said that the mouth opened, and Fire came out from His mouth. And, in the Upaniṣhad also, we find references to this fact.

This sort of freedom from death was achieved by every sense, and they all became the deity, rather than the effect. The eye became sun, and the sun assumed his location in the Virāt, and so on every sense-organ is thus described as having regained its original status. They got over their limitations. They were reinstated in their original forms – smell, taste, hearing and touch became their own deities. The object does not any more control the activity and the existence of the individual subject, as it is the case ordinarily. Individuals, we people, are all dependent on the objects of sense. We are helplessly driven to objects on account of the fact that we live in a world of diversity, multiplicity and the separation of one thing from another thing. That element of separation has been completely mastered here in this deep technique of meditation, and all the senses, including the mind, became integrated in the body of the Virāt, while they were all scattered in different directions, disintegrated in the organism of the individual. When the mind, in our case, moves towards objects outside, thus depleting its energy, disintegrating itself, gets integrated in the Virāt and moves back to its source, it becomes one with the great source of energy.

Next - Mantram-16. atha mano׳tyavahat, tad yadā mṛtyum atyamucyata, sa candramā abhavat, so'sau candraḥ pareṇa mṛtyum atikrānto bhāti, evaṁ ha vā enam eṣā devatā mṛtyum ativahati, ya evaṁ veda.

To be continued ...

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