Brihadaranyaka Upanishad

Friday, July 24, 2020. 10:34.AM. 1.Introduction -10. The Upanishad promises us a freedom which is above the turmoil of all earthly existence. It can make us happy perennially under every condition, even after death, not merely in this life. In fact, the Upani?had assures us that death is not a bar and not a fear. There is no such thing as death as we think of it. Death is another kind of process which is intended for the training of the soul in its march to a greater perfection; and perfection is what we seek, not pleasure. This is what the Upanishads teach us; that is what the Brhadaranyaka contemplates in vast detail. The knowledge proclaimed in the Upanishad is a science which deals with the removal of sorrow. Thus, it is a knowledge which is different in kind from the learning that we usually acquire or the knowledge that we gain in respect of the things of the world. It is not a science in the ordinary sense of the term. While there are sciences and arts of various kinds, all of w...

Saturday, June 27, 2020. 7:38.AM. 1.Introduction -9. 1. The Upanishads are embodiments of different types of contemplation on Ultimate Truth, and so is the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. The beginning of the Upanishad is a contemplation of the inward meaning of a great sacrifice described in the Brahmanas, known as Asvamedha Yajna. It is an external performance of a religious character for the purpose of achieving higher results in the form of celestial enjoyment, etc., but, the Upanishad tells us that the proper approach to the aims of human life, such as ultimate satisfaction, delight, etc., need not be the method of the Brahmanas, which is only symbolic, and there should be a technique more affiliated to the nature of Reality than is the external action of the Brahmanas.  The sacrifice known as the Asvamedha signifies the consecration of a horse in a large ritual performance, mostly undertaken by princes and kings in ancient times for the purpose of name, fame etc. in this world and ...

Saturday, June 20, 2020.09:37. AM. 1.Introduction -8. 1.We are to free ourselves from this mess of involvement, through a deeper diagnostic technique applied to our own life; and this is the purpose of Upanishad. The difficulty of this achievement is well-known. Every one of you knows what this difficulty is. Just as you cannot peel your own skin from the body, you cannot dissociate yourself from the conditions of life. But such a feat has to be performed in this superpsychic technique known as Upani?hadic contemplation of 'being'. 2. The beginning of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad is, thus, a rise of thought into the inward principles of outward sacrifice as advocated in the Brahmanas of the Vedas: What is a sacrifice; what is a ritual; what is a performance; and what is an action?  When this is understood in its principle, its inward significance, it becomes commensurate with human thought; it becomes inseparable from mind; it becomes a part of one's psychic life. You will ...

Wednesday, June 10, 2020. 1.Introduction -7. 1. The Upanishad begins with a startling exposition of the very methodology of living adopted in our country. As I tried to mention to you, the method of the Upanishad is secret, esoteric and intended to go into the meaning of action which is otherwise exoteric. I have also mentioned that the Veda has an 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 contemplated 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. The ritual that is performed by the mind, say the Aranyakas, is more puissant in the production of effect than the ritual that is outwardly performed through the sacred fire, or in the holy altar.  The en...

=========================================================== ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunday, May 31, 2020. 1.Introduction -6. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. #The texts, known as the Upanishads, are spread out throughout the range of the literature of the Veda, and each section of the Veda has its own Upanishad or Upani?hads. We are proposing to take up the study of the most important of them, very rarely studied by people and very rarely still discussed about – the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad – the great forest of knowledge, as its name suggests. ##One can find everything there, as one finds in a forest. 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 import is not properly rendered. If its meaning is properly grasped, ...

============================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Monday, May 18, 2020. 1.Introduction -5. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. #The seers of the Upanishads were bent upon entering into the kernel of Reality by casting off all vestures which limit human life, and attaining a kind of attunement with it, if necessity arose, and the unconditioned was plumbed and experienced. #So, in a way, we may say that the Upanishad texts are records of experiences and explanations of Masters who set themselves in tune with ultimate Truth. ##Such are the Upanishads. ##It is a very strange word, 'Upanishad', which is supposed to mean a secret knowledge, not to be imparted to the uninitiated or to the common public who are wedded to the exoteric approach only, who are totally conditioned in their life, and who cannot rise above the bia...

================================================================ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Friday, May 15, 2020. 1.Introduction -4. ----------------------------------------- The Veda-Sastra is classified into the exoteric and the esoteric, as in the case of every religious lore. We have this distinction in Christianity, in Islam, and everywhere : the outward religion and the mystical approach to no where.  The Vedas are a general term for this entire group of scriptures which discuss by a long range of development of thought, every approach to Reality possible, from the lowest to the highest. These layers of approach, recorded in the Vedas, are available to us in the groupings, today known as the Samhitas, the Brahmanas, the Aranyakas and the Upanishads. These are terms known to many of us, and we know very well that the Samhita portion of the Veda is constituted of hymns and...