The Essence of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad- Introduction -3. : Swami Krishnananda.

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Thursday, December 16, 2021. 8:00. PM.
The Essence of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad- Introduction -3.

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The texts, known as the Upanishads, are spread out throughout the range of Vedic literature, and each section of the Veda has its own Upanishad or Upanishads. The Brihadaranyaka is the most important of them; it is very rarely studied by people and rarely discussed about. The ‘Brihadaranyaka Upanishad' means the great forest of knowledge'. It is really a forest of every aspect of spiritual knowledge. One can find everything there, as one finds in a forest. 

And this Upanishad, particularly, is never studied by students, nor is it taught by tutors, because of its complicated structure, difficult to grasp, and not safe also to communicate if its meaning is not properly rendered. If its meaning is properly grasped, it would be the ultimate, unfailing friend of a person till death. It will guard you, protect you and save you, and provide you with everything, at all times. 

But if it is not properly understood, it can be like a sword in the hands of a child. So, this Upanishad has to be studied with great reverence and holiness of attitude, not as some book that you study in a library. It is not a book at all. It is Spirit that manifests itself, and not merely a word that is spoken. 

Such is the Upanishad, the Brihadaranyaka.

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The Upanishad begins with a startling exposition of the very methodology adopted in the Upanishads. 

The method of the Upanishad is secret, esoteric and intended to go into the meaning of an action which is otherwise exoteric. The Vedas have one aspect, namely, the ritual aspect, the aspect of sacrifice, performance of religious ceremony, by the application of the Mantras of the Samhitas, as expounded in the section known as the Brahmanas. 

The Aranyakas go to the contemplative side of the Brahmanas, and tell us that a sacrifice need not necessarily be outward. It can also be inward; and the inward is as powerful as the outward. It can even be more powerful than the outward ritual. The ritual that is performed by the mind, say the Aranyakas, is more powerful in the production of effect than the ritual that is outwardly performed through the sacred fire or in the holy altar. 

The entire range of the Aranyakas is filled with this meaning, that mental action is a greater action than the external act. Its capacity is greater than that of external activity. Thought is more potent than word and deed. 

This principle is carried to its logical limit in the Upanishads.

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The Upanishads are embodiments of different types of contemplation on Ultimate Reality, and so is the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. 

The beginning of the Upanishad is a contemplation on the inward meaning of a great sacrifice described in the Brahmanas, known as the Asvamedha Sacrifice. It is an external performance of a religious character for the purpose of achieving higher results in the form of celestial enjoyments, etc; but the Upanishad tells us that the proper approach to the aims of human life, such as ultimate satisfaction, delight, etc. would not be the method of the Brahmanas which is only symbolic, but there is a deeper approach which can be more easily affiliated to the nature of Reality than is the external action of the Brahmanas. 

The sacrifice of the Asvamedha—it is a peculiar term which signifies the consecration of a horse in a large ritual performance—was mostly undertaken by princes and kings in ancient times, for the purpose of name, fame, etc. in this world and heavenly rejoicing hereafter. But the Upanishad tells us that its meaning is something quite different. What we see with our eyes and what we do with our deeds are indicative of a deeper aspiration in our minds, and what we actually seek is not pleasure, not satisfaction in the ordinary sense, not power, not name, fame, because all these are transient. Everything shall end, one day or the other. 

What are these joys in heaven? What is this power in this world? What is this name and status? 

They are mirages; they are nothing but husk, because they pass like wisp of wind. And how is it possible for the soul of an individual to ask for that which is transitory, perishable and passes like a wind? Will any wise person ask for a perishable joy? How could anyone engage oneself in activities, performances, religious or otherwise, which are capable of promising only transient joys, which will rob us of all our strength, and, then, land us in sorrow most inconceivable? What is the real aspiration of the soul of the individual? What is it that we really ask for? What is it that we need? It is difficult to answer these questions. The child cannot answer the question: ‘What do you need?' ‘I want a sweetmeat, a sugar-candy, a toy.' What else can the child say? 

Such seems to be the answer of the untutored mind, the illiterate soul, sunk in the darkness of ignorance, which speaks in terms of name, fame, power, wealth and diversion and gain and pleasures; whether they are transient or not, it cares not. It asks for pleasure, which shall end in a complication from which it is difficult for one to free oneself.

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To be continued ....

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