The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad - 21. Swami Krishnananda.

Chinmaya Mission :

“The tragedy of human history is decreasing happiness in the midst of increasing comforts.”

In an age of unprecedented consumerism, we often forget how much we buy and consume. We acquire countless things that don’t mean much beyond momentary, fleeting joy.

Choosing to spend mindfully can create lasting joy and fulfilment. By donating even the cost of one or two cups of coffee, you can change someone’s life and help their dreams come true.

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Saturday, January 14, 2023. 07:30.

Chapter- II :

FIFTH BRAHMANA: 

MADHU-VIDYA – THE HONEY DOCTRINE : There is an interesting story behind this knowledge.

Post-21.

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Mantram-19.

"idam vai tan madhu dadhyann ātharvano' śvibhyām uvāca, 

tad etad rsih paśyann avocat: rūpam rūpam pratirūpo babhūva, 

tad asya rūpam praticaksanāya; indro māyābhih puru-rūpa īyate. 

yuktā hy asya harayah śatā daśa iti. 

ayam vai harayah, ayam vai daśa ca sahasrāni bahūni cānantāni ca, 

tad etad brahmāpūrvam, anaparam, anantaram, abāhyam, 

ayam ātmā brahma sarvānubhūḥ, ity anuśāsanam."

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idam vai tan madhu dadhyann ātharvano' śvibhyām uvāca, :

This again is the knowledge which Dadhyann ātharvana taught to the Aśvins. 
He said like this: rūpam rūpam pratirūpo babhūva,, tad asya rūpam praticaksanāya;: 

"In every form He appears in a corresponding form." 

This is a very important passage in the Upaniṣhad. He casts Himself into the mould of every creature and becomes formulated into the structure of that particular creature. He can be conveniently made to assume any shape under any condition. When He casts Himself into the mould of a bird's body, it looks as if He is a bird. When He casts Himself into the mould of a human body, it looks as if He is a human being. When He shines as a celestial, it looks as if He is an angel. He is, then, that which you visualise with your eyes.

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These forms, these bodies, these visible individualities of things, are really intended for the recognition of His presence in all things – tad asya rūpam praticaksanāya. He has not created this world merely for nothing, as if He has no other work to do. It is intended to give an indication of His presence; an indication of the variety which He can comprise within Himself; an indication of the contradictions that can be reconciled in His Being; an indication of the Majesty which is in His own stature, and an indication of the inscrutability of His nature. All these forms are visualised by us directly with our own eyes, a contradictory world where nothing is clear; everything is enigmatic, if considered in isolation. However, everything is reconcilable if it is connected in its proper context in the manner which we have just described in the Madhu-Vidyā. So, there is no contradiction in the world; everything is harmonious. We, unfortunately, find it impossible to see the harmony as we are not in a position to harmonise ourselves with the harmony that is His. But His intention is something different. His intention is to make it possible for us to visualise the harmony and the interconnectedness through every finite form.

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indro māyābhih puru-rūpa īyate :

Due to the magnificence of His nature and the variety of His manifestation we are unable to see the truth of things. We visualise only one particular form and are not able to connect this form with other forms. So we are not able to see things as they ought to be seen. We are not supposed to see one thing only, or a few things only, or a hundred things only. We are supposed to see anything in its connection with other things. If this connection is lost, it is as if we see nothing and know nothing, and one day we will be full of sorrow. "So, let it be understood," says the great Rishi, "that the Master magician who can be called great Mayavi, the Supreme Being who is designated here as Indra, the Lord of all beings, appears in such manifold forms that it is impossible for the physical eyes to connect the forms with the circumstances in which they are really placed."

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yuktā hy asya harayah śatā daśa iti : 

All the sense-organs are He only. They are not outside Him. It is He that appears as the senses; He appears as the forms and He appears as the perception of the objects, and in His Masterly variety, He has cast Himself into the mould of even the senses. He is Hari. Hari means the Lord Supreme, or it may mean the senses which drag you away to the objects. Harayah Hari: He may take away the ignorance of a person, and then He will be called Hari; or He may take away your consciousness towards the objects outside; that is also another function of His, and so He is called Hari. He is tens and hundreds and thousands; not one, two, three, four, merely. Any number is He, and all these numbers are capable of reconciliation in the One that He really is.

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ayam vai harayah, ayam vai daśa ca sahasrāni bahūni cānantāni ca, 

tad etad brahmāpūrvam, anaparam, anantaram, abāhyam, 

ayam ātmā brahma sarvānubhūḥ, ity anuśāsanam." :

This Supreme is tens and hundreds and thousands and manifold and variety and what not. Everything is that glorious resplendence which appears as these colours and forms that move in various directions, in many ways. It is manifold and it is infinite in Its variety; It is the Supreme Brahman, the Absolute – tad etad brahma. He has neither a beginning nor an end – anaparam. Anantaram: You do not know what is before It; you do not know what is after It; you do not know what is inside It. It is all things – anantaram. Abāhyam ayam ātmā brahma: This is, verily, your own Self. This manifold Majesty, which is regarded as inscrutable, is seated in your own heart, not outside you. It is the experiencer of everything. Sorrows and joys, varieties, differences, apparent irreconcilabilities confusions – everything is Its experience. It is experiencing everything in Its own totality, and if you could experience through Its eyes and through Its forms, through Its Being, then you would not see the variety in the world. You would not see any contradiction nor any irreconcilability It is a One single interconnectedness that is Cosmic Being.

This is the subject of the great Madhu-Vidyā instructed by Dadhyaṅṅ ātharvaṇa to the gods, Aśvins, through the mouth of the horse.

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Next

Chapter- III :

FIRST BRAHMANA: SACRIFICIAL WORSHIP AND ITS REWARDS

To be continued

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