Upanishads Explained

By
Narayanalakshmi
1
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Narayanalakshmi (Maa Tejaswini)
Narayanalakshmi, also known as Tejaswini in her ascetic life

spent most of her life in the Himalayan terrain, engaged in the
penance of knowledge. She is well-versed in all philosophies
and is a scholar in Sanskrit language. Her mission life is to
retrieve the lost knowledge of the ancient Rishis and offer it
unblemished to all the seekers of the Truth.
She is from Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
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AATMAN/THE SELF
INTRODUCTION
This is a collection of hymn-translations from various Upanishads and other

scriptures randomly selected, with a slight explanation when needed. Hope
the reader is able to have a glimpse into the abstract world of the Ancient
Seers.
In the Himalayas, a learned knower wrote these small clippings based on
Upanishads and Shankaras works.
By publishing these I offer my humble salutations to that Paramahamsa who
is a sincere devotee of Mother Tripuraa.
Here is an attempt to explain what is Aatman, which is always present as

yourself, as the true you masked by the inert ego, the self-imagined ideas
about yourself.
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AATMAN/THE SELF
PART ONE
[1]
SELF
SELF is faster than Mind.

Space is in Mind.
SELF covers the Mind.
SELF is PURE CONSCIOUSNESS.
SELF is everywhere.
SELF is there where the Mind can go.
SELF is there where the Mind cannot go.
SELF is already there where the Mind wants to go.
SELF is faster than the Mind.
SELF does not move.
SELF runs faster than the Senses.
Senses experience objects in Space and Time.
SELF is beyond Space and Time.
Space and Time are Thoughts of the Mind.
SELF covers the Mind.
SELF does not move.
SELF has no Space to move.
SELF is very far.

Nobody understands their own SELF.
Some call it the Body, when they look into the mirror.
Some call it the Mind, when they are absorbed in Thoughts.
Some call it the Intellect, when they think of abstract things.
Is it the Body?
Is it the Mind?
Is it the Intellect?
Is it beyond all these?
Nobody Knows.
SELF is very far.
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SELF is very near.

Everyone knows their own SELF exists.
Otherwise-
They would not be selfish.
Because-
The husband is loved not for the sake of the husband -
but for the sake of her own SELF.
[The wife cries when the husband dies.

Why?
Because of
Loss of security?
Un-fulfilled desires?
Burden of responsibilities?
Does she really care about his fate?
Does she wonder about his destiny after death?
Does she repent for forcing him to accumulate wealth without rest?
Does she forget the Safe keys hanging in her waist-
even as she cries sitting next to the dead body?
Does she miss the morning coffee after the body is cremated?
Does she welcome the thought of the dead person suddenly getting up and
hugging her?
Can she stay with the dead body alone without fear?
Can she bear the spirit of the dead person appearing before her?
Whom does she love?
Herself? Or, her husband?]
The wife is loved not for the sake of the wife -

But for the sake of his own SELF.
[The husband cries when the wife is dead.

He vowed eternal love to his spouse;
When she is no more
Does his mind waver when he sees other women?
Does his love for the dead wife make him forget all pleasures in life?
He cries.
He is frustrated.
Why?
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Because
The cooking is unmanageable?
The children are too fussy?
The increased burden of work?
The bed of enjoyment is empty?
Sex remains un-satiated?
Loneliness bites?
Old age overtakes?
Death frightens?
For whom is he crying?
For himself? Or- For the dead wife?
The wealth, the learning, the status, the pleasures even the sacrifices one
makes
and feels elated about ]
Everything is for the sake of the SELF alone.

SELF is the dearest of all.
All are loved because one always loves ones own SELF.
What is SELF?
SELF is the support of sense organs.
Sense organs are of two kinds-
Organs of Knowledge and Organs of Action
Organs of action are -
Hands, feet, speaking faculty, procreating organ, and excretory organ
Organs of action act mechanically -

Even when one is not aware of them.
They do not need much control.
They can manage themselves.
They do not ask the Mind to give them a hand.
The action done by them is inert.
Their actions do not have any part in creating destiny.
They are parts of a superb machine called Body.
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[2]
GOD
God is very cruel indeed.

He is heartless when sees the selfish ones.
That is why He has become a stone statue in temples.
He is stone-hearted.
He stares at you with cold steely eyes.
He sees deep inside you.
He knows all the dirty thoughts hovering in your mind.
He watches silently
The priest - his sweaty body; the unclean hands; the stupid intellect;
the senseless harsh un-rhythmic intonations of the hymns; the greedy mind;
the quick grabbing of the coins from the Aarati plate.
He also watches -
Your horripulations not rising out of devotion;
but - out of the sweet fragrance flowing from the pretty bodies,
who jostle and hustle in the crowd near you.
He also watches
The crowd of -so-called devotees, who sit, after the worship, on the stone
slab outside;
(One is supposed to sit in contemplation -for a few minutes before leaving
the temple of God)
and discuss -politics; economy of the country; new chappals; beauty of the
opposite sex; gossips and rumors; any and every other topic that is there -
except God.
HE watches all.
But
Nobody watches Him.
Nobody loves Him.
Nobody wants Him.
Nobody knows Him.
Nobody cares for Him.
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Nobody actually believes in His Existence -

Not even the sweating priest.
That is why
He has become a stone statue.
For Meeraa - He played the Flute.

For Tukaram - He danced.
For Purandara dasa - He smiled.
For Shankara - He melted off.
For Akka MahaDevi - He wooed.
But-
For others - He is just a stone statue.
He cannot be fooled by diamond diadems and crowns.
He cannot be fooled by the grand processions of the chariot.
He cannot be fooled by the garlands, gold ornaments and silver armors.
He is tired of all the pompous show.
He does not need them.
He can create any amount of them from dust.
He wants only hearts
Golden hearts full of LOVE.
He is a vagabond.
He does not need the shelter of a golden roof.
He needs your silent heart, to rest in peace.
He misses the tear -filled calls.
He misses the love-lorn songs.
He is lonely. He is very very lonely.
Nobody loves Him.
Nobody wants to know what He wants.
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[3]
CHILD
The child is interested in
Home-works, games, computers, films, videos, fictions.
YOUTH
The teenager is interested in
Girls, hotels, bunking classes, trash books, obscene films,
or the fraud organizations parading as spiritual havens.
And The youth hates GOD; he hates religion; worship halls.
For him, God is an irrational concept. For him, God-believers are stupid.
But-
Drug addicts are rational?
God exists not for him. And- he exists not for God.
The young man and woman believe in enjoyments.
They do not believe in giving up enjoyments - for any Ultimate Truth.
For these lost souls Sex is the motto. Dating is the discipline.
Disrespecting elders is fashion. Old is bad. Vedas are senseless.
Career and money is the supreme goal of life.
Getting a name in the Guinness book of Records is fulfillment in life.
They care two hoots for God and Knowledge.
OLDAGE
The old men they have time only to worry; to blame others for their own
faults;
to be frustrated about the unfulfilled desires; they also have no time for
GOD.
God is lonely.
He is the real orphan of the world. He misses the love-lorn calls.
Krishna misses Raadhaa.
Shiva misses Akka.
Rama misses Thyagaiah.
Vittala misses Tukaram.
Giridhar misses his Meeraa.
God is alone.alone!
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[4]
SELF
SELF is alone.
SELF is second-less.
SELF is the support of the sense organs.
There are two kinds of organs.

Organs of Action and Organs of Knowledge.
Organs of Knowledge are placed in the Dome of the temple called body.
Body is supported by the pillars of legs.

Supreme is placed in the Sanctum Sanctorum of the Heart.
The Dome is adorned with the organs of Knowledge.
Organs of Knowledge are five in number; Eyes, ears, nose, skin, and tongue.
All placed in the Dome - including the so-called brainless brain.
The organs of Knowledge are ruled by the Mind.

Each sense acts in one particular way -fit for one particular experience only.
Ear can only hear.
Eye can only see.
Nose can only smell.
Tongue can only taste.
Skin can only feel.
When you see, you cant hear.
When you hear, you cant see.
When you smell the rose - You do not see the rose.
Each organ of Knowledge can function only one at a time;

only with the help of the Mind; only when the Mind co-operates.
That is why -You miss so many things in life.
Being unaware of your minds evil ways You allow it to wander.

And-The Mind-Power is wasted away.
You lose the ability to concentrate.
You have not even the ability to memorize the daily tasks.
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Whereas-The irrational stupid ancients could memorize the whole of

Vedas, Puranas
by the age of eight.
The rational, intelligent, modern child
cant even master one essay taught by the bored teacher.
Teachers [not all; some]
Who think they are the superior creatures of Earth
Who have no time to improve their Knowledge
Who stick to the lessons written in pre-independent era
Who quote Gandhi, Nehru and Vivekananda
But only follow the dictates of their ignorant mind;
God watches them too.
[5]
MIND
Mind is very powerful When controlled.

What is Mind-control? Power to concentrate!
If you can smell a flower continuously for two minutes without distraction
Even that is called Mind Control.
But
Mind is like a monkey
senseless by the drinking the wine of pleasures, and bitten by the scorpion of
desires!
Mind madly runs about here and there.
The only way to control the Mind is to dam it up;

And
Use the energy collected for achieving higher goals in life.
Or
Kill the Mind once for all.
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THOUGHTS
What is Mind? Thoughts!

What is a thought? A Flash of awareness!
Flashes are unconnected.
What connects these unconnected flashes in awareness?
Silence!
Pure Awareness!
SELF!
Silent Witness!
SUN!
BRAHMAN! I!
On the stage of the SILENT SELF
All thoughts dance holding on to IT.
[The usually quoted analogy for the above-mentioned concept is

the Raasa-Dance of Krishna and Gopis.
One main Krishna stands in the centre; all gopis dance around Him. Though
the central figure is not moving, there is a copy of the Krishna-figure-
dancing with each Gopi, as her own partner. The gopis never see the central
figure, but each Gopi is under the delusion that Krishna is dancing only
with her, and not with other Gopis. SELF or I is the un- moving central
figure. But with every thought that arises, there is an I idea associated with
it. Though analogy is good, and will look attractive in a painting, we have to
remember that it is only an analogy. In reality, Krishna was just a kid in
Gokul and in any festive dance occasion, the gopis had their own husbands
and lovers as partners, not just Krishna. This analogy is borrowed from one
of the works of saint Soordas. He was an ardent devotee of Sri Krishna and
even voluntarily blinded himself so as not to see any object in the world,
which only served the purpose of diverting his mind from God.]
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[6]
ANTARANGA
[INNER FACULTY]
Mind absorbs sensations from the objects

sends them inside like unsorted files.
Mind again,
wears the garb of the Intellect and sorts all the files.
Some special sensations are- kept inside

stored and treasured in the innermost chambers of the Brain.
And
The unwanted files are burnt in dreams - each night.
Next day, again -

Mind is ready to collect a lot more sensations.
A trash-loving mind collects trashes.
A Knowledge- loving mind seeks Knowledge

from all Knowers even in books.
An active mind
seeks out more fields for actions.
A lazy mind seeks ruses to relax,

even in the working places.
A lazy dark mind does not need Knowledge or light.

It is Taamasic.
It is filled with TAMAS Darkness.
Active mind is also averse to Higher Knowledge.

It is Rajasic.
It is filled with RAJAS dust.
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A pure silent mind loves Knowledge.

It is Saatvic.
It is filled with SATTVA purity.
Saatvic mind is forever seeking Light.
Saatvic mind is nearer SELF.
[7]
SELF
SELF is Light.
SELF is Knowledge.
SELF is Pure Awareness.
SELF is the Support of the Senses.
SELF is the Support of the Mind.
SELF is the Support of the Intellect.
SELF acts as the MANAS the sorting out faculty.

SELF acts as the CHITTA the remembering faculty.
When you want a file back-

When you want to remember a forgotten song
When you frantically sit in the exam-hall,
recalling a forgotten maths formula
CHITTA acts.
You just have to close your eyes, ears etc

Detach the mind from all senses
You have to forget everything
Even time and space
Then
Withdrawing into deeper depths -
You have to knock continuously -
at the door of the Inner Chamber
till the file is thrown at your face
unexpectedly.
A sudden flash!
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You remember the song

The formula-
Or, whatever you were trying to remember.
Then-
Mind is back in action.
World appears as before.
You are back collecting sensations.
SELF is Manas.
SELF is Buddhi.
SELF is Chitta.
SELF is CHIT.
[8]
SENSE EXPERIENCE
There are two stages in any sense experience.
In the First stage-

there is only silence.
There is only Awareness.
No particularity is perceived.
When any object comes in the line of vision,

at first there is no recognition of the object.
Only an awareness of something out there is there.
Only in the second stage,
Recognition of the object with name and form occurs...!
From the Silence of the SELF

arise the thoughts of particularities-
VAAK as the Upanishad proclaims.
Since the perception process is very fast,
We dont observe the two different stages
in-built in it.
The thought flashes so fast.

The first stage is missed by all
though it is the supporting state of sense-experience.
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And-
That silent state is SELF Pure Awareness!
How do the eyes see?

The physical eye has not the capacity to see.
An inner eye is needed to understand the world.
Something sees through the eyes.

Something hears through the ears.
Something tastes through the tongue.
Something feels through the skin.
Something smells through the nose.
Awareness of some name and form

Awareness of some sound
Awareness of some sensation in the tongue
Awareness of some sensation in the skin
Awareness of some sensation in the nose
This Awareness is followed immediately by overflowing thoughts.

Mind starts reacting.
Reaction leads to further actions and reactions.
The process continues till you are completely drowned in actions.
Actions are inert.

Reactions provoke the results.
Reactions bind you to outcomes.
Act always, but do not react.

Embrace a girl
Act-
The action does not bind you.
React -
Enjoy or get repulsed by the touch
you are bound.
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[YOGA VAASISHTA - quotes an anecdote from King Janakas life.

King Janaka was once walking in the royal garden.
Five SIDDHAS Sages with miraculous powers descend into the garden
from the sky.
Invisible, but within the hearing of the king, each one utters a verse of
Knowledge.
The king overhears the verses. As he listens, he contemplates on the
Supreme Self
and realizes the next instant. A sudden dispassion rushes through his mind.
He decides to walk out of the palace immediately, and become a recluse.
But he again thinks- What does it matter, whether I walk out or stay here.
Both are not different states. Both the palace- life and the jungle life are
just illusions.
Without bothering to outwardly exhibit his dispassion, he continues to get
engaged in his kingly duties.]
In the exam hall, see the question paper and start writing.
But feel anxious or frightened you are bound to good or bad results.
Action is inert. Reaction binds.

Action is pure. Reaction colors it.
[9]
SVAPNA-JAAGRT-SUSHUPTI
[DREAM- WAKING- DEEP SLEEP STATES]
SELF is the Support of all.

SELF is the support of all thoughts.
SELF is the support of all states of Mind.
The waking, dream and deep sleep are the three states of Mind.
You are aware of all actions in the waking state.

You are aware of all actions during the dream state.
Of course you may forget the dream when you wake up
But, at the time of dreaming, you know what happens in the dream.
You do not know, what happened in the deep- sleep state.
You know nothing was there.
You are aware of nothing.
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[10]
AWARENESS
You are not aware that you are aware at all times.
You have forgotten to be aware of the awareness.
If you learn the art of
being aware at all times;
being aware of your own actions,
being aware of your thoughts, your thinking processes,
you are in the state of SELF.
Practicing such an awareness state leads you to greater awareness and

bliss.
You will find the Truth behind all the actions you perform.
You will know the formless nameless ONE - behind all the varied names
and forms.
You will know the life of your life-energy.
You will know the Praana of Praana.
You will know the Truth of the Truth.
You will know the Unknowable SELF.
SELF is ATMAN.
SELF is BRAHMAN.
SELF is KEVALA.
KEVALA- THE LONE ONE.
[11]
PANCHAKOSHA
FIVE SHEATHS
SELF is covered by five sheaths.

ANNA is the food sheath.
PRAANA is the vital force sheath.
MANA is the mind sheath.
VIJNAANA is the Knowledge sheath.
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AANANDA is the bliss sheath.

Food is BRAHMAN.
Vital Force is BRAHMAN.
Mind is BRAHMAN.
Knowledge is BRAHMAN.
Bliss is BRAHMAN.
He who crosses over these five sheaths

He becomes
The Food
The eater of Food
The Unifier of all
The Creator of worlds
The Container of forms and formless ones
The Source of Immortality
The Conqueror of all worlds
The Effulgent One
The Pervader of All
He is BRAHMAN.
He is all the five sheaths and - is the SELF covered by these sheaths.
He alone IS
He IS
IS.
[12]
THE LETTER DA
Gods, Men, and Demons approached PRAJAAPATI.

He instructed them all
DA
All three understood them differently.
DAMA, DAANA, DAYA.
Control Charity Compassion
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Gods had too many enjoyments.

So they needed to Control.
Men had too much greed.

So they needed to Give.
Demons were cruel to others.
So they needed to be kind.
If you have too many enjoyments - develop Self-Control.

If you have too much wealth - give to the needy.
If you have too much selfishness - learn to be kind.
Control, Give, Be kind and, realize the TRUTH.
[13]
AATMA-SAAKSHAATKAARA
[SELF-REALIZATION]
SELF.
SELF is never bound.
SELF never acts.
SELF never reacts.
SELF is without any fluctuations.
SELF can be known only through a non-fluctuating mind.
A non-fluctuating mind is dead.
A non-reacting mind is dead.
A dead mind does not react.
Only a dead mind can see the SELF.
SELF cannot be known.
SELF is not the object of Knowledge.
SELF is the Support of All Knowledge.
River cannot see its own origin.

Mind cannot sense the SELF.
Intellect cannot understand the SELF.
But-
CHITTA can remember the SELF.
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When all the files are burnt off

When you knock at the door of CHITTA
With repletion of the Mantra OM -
CHITTA gets tired by the knocks, and burns off the whole filing system.
Collections cease.
Sorting ceases.
CHITTA is silent.
A single state alone remains.
AN AWARENESS OF ONES OWN EXISTENCE
And you just KNOW who you are.
You KNOW the Unknowable SELF.
You exist as
The eye of the eye
The ear of the ear
The nose of the nose
The taste of the taste
The touch of the touch-
The AWARENESS behind All Knowledge
[14]
ADI SHANKARA

EXISTENCE ABSOLUTE; CONSCIOUSNESS ABSLOUTE; ETERNAL;
BLISS ABSOLUTE; UNDIMINISHING;
THAT ALONE EXISTS; THE ONE; SECONDLESS; GREAT ONE;
DIFFERENCES ARE NOT - HERE; NOT EVEN A LITTLE BIT.

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AATMAN/THE SELF
PART TWO
SELF-REALIZATION
AATMAN
What is ATMAN?
Soul?
Ghost?
A white-light residing inside you, or as you?
When you die, does this white light hover around cremation grounds?
Is the world filled to the brim with these white ghosts?
The word ATMAN- used in Upanishads does not mean an apparition.

ATMAN means Essence- RASA.
What is Essence?
Think- what is your essence?
What is the real you?
Are you part of the surrounding patterns?
Or,
Are you different from all that is around you?
Start removing all that is around you-like peeling the onion.
The method of removing all that is not you is called the NETI method.
NETI is a two-letter word; NA and ITI; meaning Not so
What am I?
Am I the World around me?
No!
Am I the house?
No!
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In this way, one by one, every thing that is perceived by you is discarded as
Not You!
Family, relatives, objects that belong to you, your physical limbs, mind,
intellect, thought, all are marked off as Not You! [Not I!]
Well- you have come to the dead end.

There is nothing there now to give you any identity.
Everything gets branded as Mine! But there is no trace of I!
Everything is Mine only!
My city, my house, my family, my body, my hand etc, my mind, my
intellect, my thought.!
A Sanskrit poet finds humor in this mine of the ignorant ones!

The Sanskrit word for mine is mey!
He says that the lamb which went on bleating mey mey [mine mine]
This wife is mine, these sons are mine, these animals are mine, and so on
was carried away by the wolf called Death!
What happens if any of your Mine is removed from you?

You suffer!
If your vehicle gets a scratch you flare up!
If you son leaves you, you cry!
If your wife dies, you collapse!
If your house is destroyed, you feel lost!
Even if your pen is lost, you feel as if a part of you is missing!
You seem to be made up of only Mines!
Does all the things which you own as mine, own you instead?
Are you just a pattern among patterns?
Are you just a pattern which disintegrates when patterns related to you
disintegrate?
All patterns are in a state of constant flux.
So, if you are just a pattern made up of only mines, then you are also an
ever-changing pattern.
There is no I at all!
There are only mines!
Without your body, family and world you are a nothing.
You have peeled the onion and found nothing there.
The world, family, body and even neural actions in the brain are just
changing patterns!
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Then you also must be a changing pattern.

If you are just made of parts like radio, then you will not exist as you
without parts.
If you are just made of mines, then you will not exist as you without the
mines.
So where is this renowned ATMAN?
What is your essence?
Are you just a bio-chemical organism?
But, all bio-chemical organisms are not the same!
One likes to dance; one likes adventures;
one likes to find the origin of the Universe;
one may even like to see God! Everyone is different!
Your I might be this most cherished desire of yours.
Just a Vaasanaa!
That is your essence.
That is the essence of your individuality.
So you now have identified the I as the deepest Vaasanaa which

programmes all the events of your life!
If no obstacles arise to block your Vaasanaa fulfillment, then everything is
fine!
But any slightest obstacle, immediately negative vibrations like anger,
frustration, anxiety, etc arise leading you to utter destruction!
Are you just a Vaasanaa then?

Are you just a latent tendency of the Unconscious?
Is that all your essence?
Once the desire is fulfilled, you will cease to exist as the individual you.
Some other Vaasanaa will start manifesting as you and your essence!
You will be only a Vaasanaa-carrier like your body is a gene carrier.
VAASANAA [Latent impressions]
What is the origin of this Vaasanaa which is you?

From where did this Vaasanaa arise?
From CHIT!
THAT is the Atman!
THAT is your true essence!
THAT is I!
THAT is YOU!
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You are not the Vaasanaa manifestation as individual Self bound by space
and time.
You are THAT which transcends space and time.
The Upanishads instruct the student-

THINK OF PARABRAHMAN AS YOU.
The Upanishads, as their very name suggests, take you near the TRUTH!
From the state of acting blindly as led by the Vaasanaa, you realize THAT
STATE from which the Vaasanaa originated!
You realize the TRUTH that, this pattern-you is not your Essence!
You realize that your True-Essence is CHIT!
You realize that all others around you are also just Vaasanaas
masquerading as people!
You realize that you are the CHIT from which those other Vaasanaas also
originated.
You realize, I AM THAT! You realize, I AM ALL.
Well, it is not as easy as it sounds!

You are not the manifestation of one single Vaasanaa!
Countless Vaasanaas are standing in queue to get fulfilled through the
pattern-you!
They keep rising without a break!
There is no time to stand back and think-Who am I?
From the early morning waking-up Vaasanaa to night sleep-Vaasanaa,
countless Vaasanaas prompt your actions every moment!
You are a bundle of Vaasanaas acting as you!
In a waterfall, continuous movements of water drops create an illusion of a

picture of the waterfall! You are also an illusion of a person created by the
continuous manifestations of Vaasanaas!
To stop this Vaasanaa-flow and know the CHIT as YOU is not an easy
job!
It is like asking the darkness to realize itself as light!
It is like asking the shadow to be its origin!
The purpose of the Upanishads is to make this possible!

Upanishads instruct you to contemplate on this Truth always and realize
the Truth!
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Upanishads instruct you the Truth in various ways!

Upanishads have no words to describe this Truth, which transcends any
description!
They take ordinary words like water, air etc, and try to explain the Grand
Truth of CHIT!
Lest ignorant people corrupt their instructions, but Upanishads hide the
Truths in ordinary words!
Only the real self seekers sought the realized Sages residing in forests and
learnt from them the Knowledge of Brahman!
Later Sri Shankaraachaarya chose to simplify these instructions and wrote
treatises on them. He started his instructions from a kindergarten level and
simplified the Upanishads.
He advised his students to discriminate the real from the false and
analyze the Upanishad truths logically. Many saints of the later ages
simplified these instructions to the utmost level, so students could easily
understand them.
Simple, or complicated, the ultimate purpose of human life is to realize the
SELF!
What happens to a man who realizes his SELF?
Does he get all the supernatural powers? No!

Does he get the Knowledge of future? No!
Does he get all the wealth and glory of the world? No!
Does he get the power to change his life at least? No!
Does his face shine like a Sun or Moon? No!
Does he at least get a halo round his head? No!
He just lives like anybody else; looks like anybody else; talks like anybody
else!
So, why should one realize oneself? What for?

To be free!
To be out of the slavery of Vaasanaas!
To stop acting blindly as just a bio-chemical organism!
To be in control of your own actions and thoughts!
To be an observer of patterns, than being a pattern among patterns!
To be yourself and act, than cry and weep like a TV serial character!
To be awake, rather than keep on dreaming incessant wasteful dreams!
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So, what will the realized man look like, act like?
How to find out whether anyone is realized?
How to know whether you are in the state of realization?
Arjuna once asked this question to Krishna!
He was living with a realized man as his closest friend all throughout his
life!
He never even had a hint, even for a second that his friend was acting from a
higher level! Krishna patiently explains to his friend, the characteristics of
a Sthitaprajna!
STHITA-PRAJNA- ONE OF STABILIZED INTELLECT
A person who is stabilized in the Knowledge of the Truth is known as

STHITA PRAJNA.
[The reader is requested to understand the word he in this passage as
referring to she also. The word he refers to Purusha, the SELF.]
A STHITA-PRAJNA knows the Truth!

A STHITA-PRAJNA knows who he is!
He has realized that he is not a pattern among patterns!
He is a single person who is awake when all others are dreaming!
He is a single person who is seeing when all others are blind!
So, how does he act in the world?
Normal! He eats, sleeps, talks like we all do!

But a minute change has occurred unknown to all his acquaintances!
He has stopped feeling anxious about anything!
He does not get angry and frustrated at anything that happens in his life!
He is almost perfect in any role he is placed in the family!
He does not get irritated at all!
A unique expression of love lurks in his eyes, whenever he looks at
anybody1
He sees all as his own Self!
He always acts from the Self level only.
He is an actor now in the drama of life.
He never reacts, but always knows how to act in any situation.
His emotions are under complete control.
27
To correct his children, he may get angry; but the anger is an emotion
employed by him. He does not pounce on his children like a lion attacking
rabbits. He may even slap the children, if necessary, but his hand does not
wound their bodies. It is just a gesture of anger, somewhat like what a filmy
hero may act like, in such a situation. Or, he may deal more patiently with
his children and guide them in the right way.
He understands the feelings of everyone around him.

He perfectly understands the pros and cons of any situation and acts
accordingly.
For all others he looks normal, but in his inner mind, a unique peace
prevails.
His mind is always overflowing in bliss hitherto unknown!
He is equanimous in all circumstances.

He does not get too much excited by any happy event and does not collapse
if any tragic event occurs.
His desires have died as it were. He just maintains a facade of wants.
He lives in the world without any attachments.
Not that he pretends or cheats everyone in the world. His emotions act in the
finest level. But any world event does not affect him in the least. He is like
a rock in the midst of dashing waves.
He does not hanker after wealth. But he can amass wealth acting as a
perfect businessman also.
He can do anything, act any role, but he always acts with a predetermined
calmness.
Any pattern can be his, as his world around him.
But patterns are just patterns!
Dream is just a dream whatever the pictures might be!
Life in this world is just a phase of Vaasanaa- fulfillment!

When he sees any name and form, he knows that they are all the
manifestations of the nameless formless CHIT, which is actually his own
SELF!
Then how can he act as if there are differences?

28
Like a play! Like an actor who plays all the roles in the Drama!
Or, like an author who watches all the characters of his novel with equal
vision.
He is so bliss-filled that nothing can either increase it or diminish it!
Like the ocean which remains always of the same measure, he remains in the
same blissful state always. Like the ocean never increases in size, by the
countless rivers flowing towards it or never decreases by its waters
evaporating to form clouds; the realized man is not affected by loss or gains
in his world of experiences!
If any happy event occurs, it is nothing compared to his inner bliss state, like
a handful of water in front of the ocean! If any tragic event occurs, it does
not affect him like the darkness which can never exist in light! He is
always blissful!
A question someone may ask:

Is it not a too selfish state, that when the whole world is suffering in many
ways,
one realizes the SELF and is always happy?
Well, if every dreamer is crying in a dream world, does the waking person
appear selfish, because he woke up and escaped the sufferings of the dream
world?
Or, as Sage Yaajnavalkya explains to his devoted wife, Maitreyi, - Who is
not selfish?
A husband loves his wife, not for the sake of his wife,
but because he loves himself or his own self!
A wife loves her husband, not for the sake of the husband
but because she loves her own Self!
-BR.UP
Everyone loves their own Self! Only they dont know what that Self is!
A Realized person knows his own Self and acts from that level!
So where is the selfishness that has to be condemned here?
It is as unfair as condemning a man for using a torch in a dark road, when
others are walking without torches!
Enlightenment is not a sin!
29
DEATH
So far so good!
But what happens after death? How to escape death?
Death does not exist for the realized person! Who is there to die?
Suppose you take a mud pot and drown it in the ocean!
The pot as it falls down inside the ocean is filled with ocean water inside and
outside!
A realized person is similar to that pot!
Or, rather, he is the ocean water inside the pot!
He has realized, he is not the pot, but that he is the ocean-water inside
and outside!
Actually there is no inside and outside for the ocean water!
It does not even feel the presence of the pot drowned inside it!
The pot travels down to the bottom floor of the ocean and breaks to pieces.
It is as if the inside water of the pot and the outside water of the ocean mixed
up!
But did they?
What is inside and outside for the ocean? Pot never exists for it!
The realized person is always in the state of the CHIT!
The body-identification does not exist for him!
When death of the body occurs, he never knows it!
The other pots not drowned in the ocean of CHIT will cry for the pot
which broke inside the ocean!
But, why does not he die, when he realizes the Self?
He cant die!
He cant die ever!
When he realizes that he is deathless, how can he die?
From the dream of the body which gets born and dies, he has woken up to
the reality of CHIT! The body remains alive, as long as that particular
Vaasanaa manifestation finishes its course! Like an arrow already shot, his
body exists as long as necessary and dies!
30
Well, leave the realized person alone!
What happens to people who have started on this spiritual journey, but die
before their goal of Self-Realization is achieved?
Another question put forth by Arjuna to Krishna!
DEATH!
Is it an end?
No!
The Vaasanaas are the cause of births!
If one form disappears, they can easily manifest as another ego, as another
form or as the same form even! There need not be a chronologically
ordered births and deaths for an individual! Simultaneously one can finish
off ones Vaasanaas in the same form existing in many similar space-time
bubbles!
The main issue here is not how many births or how many lives! Vaasanaa-
fulfillment is the problem here! As many Vaasanaas, so many lives!
Every time one dies, we see only cessation of body-cells! His Vaasanaas
may just start acting in another space-time existence, which we are not
aware off!
Nobody has experienced death!
As long as you are alive, there is no death!
And you will never ever stop living for sure!
Every night you fall asleep, you experience a mini-death!

You wake up and start acting, based on your own memory data!
If you had actually died in one world and started living in another world, you
will never be aware of it! In such a case, you would have just fallen asleep to
get up in a new life, with memories fixing your identity!
You can die at any age! You can get born at any age!
Every scene in your life might be a new life you are experiencing to get the
Vaasanaa-fulfillment done!
Dont be afraid! There is no you or I as persons anywhere!
It is just random fulfillment of Vaasanaas that is going on!
Any wave can disappear to pop up as any other wave anytime!
Any you can be any you anywhere anytime!
31
Today morning you got up! Any guarantee, that you did not die the previous
night?
You are only a bundle of Vaasanaas, not the cellular colony called the
body!
Awareness plus Vaasanaa can appear in any pattern and can get fulfilled!
So, if you have developed Mumukshutva, the desire to realize, then that
very Vaasanaa will create conducive worlds in some space-time, helping you
to achieve the goal!
The trick is to have fewer desires!
Already this birth is there to fulfill some particular Vaasanaas! But as you
experience the world, you create more and more Vaasanaas! And if by
chance this body ceases its existence, the Vaasanaa creates new bodies for
its fulfillment!
If hoarding wealth alone is your Vaasanaa all your life, the Vaasanaa may
just get finished off in a rats life!
If shouting at others is alone your identity, a future life of a dog is the best
way for its expression!
Why future? Maybe the street-dog shouting at you might be your own
Vaasanaa manifesting as a dog!
Are the cockroaches in your cup-board your own dirty thoughts?
Is the unclean garbage dump yard, the unclean thoughts of the people who
live there?
Anything around you is just a Vaasanaa expression!
Yours, or some one elses!
Your reading Vaasanaa creates books!

Your sex Vaasanaa creates call-girls!
Your service Vaasanaa creates the sufferers!
Your curing Vaasanaa creates patients.
Your teaching Vaasanaa creates students.
Your love for beauty creates flowers!
Your desire to realize creates a world of saints for you, who will guide you!
The world is nothing but units of threesome;

The Vaasanaa as experiencer and experienced and experiencing!
The Vaasanaa as perceiver, perceived and perceiving!
Nothing else is there!
There is no solid world out there!
32
A thought of the world alone is there!
Even hundreds of properties you own all over the world are nothing but
thoughts in your brain; perturbations in the mental faculty.
Every inch of the world every moment gets newly created by your
Vaasanaa!
Vaasanaa predicts your future, not the astrologer!
Reduce the Vaasanaas, you have fewer experiences!

Lessen the Vaasanaas, less are the ego-experiences!
Hate your wife; you will get her same copy repeatedly in many lives to
fulfill the hatred Vaasanaa!
Love your wife; you will get her same copy repeatedly in many lives to
fulfill the love Vaasanaa!
Get rid of both hatred and love; be unattached; develop a desire to realize the
self; you will get a world of Ramana or Ramakrishna!
There is no past, or future!

If your Vaasanaa to be with a Ramana is so great, the Vaasanaa will create
such a world! Yes even now!
Past and present do not exist.
A Vaasanaa can create any space time boundary!
If you want to be in Ramayana times so much, no problem; you will get to
be in that space time boundary of Ramas life, even if you of 21st century
think now, that Rama lived thousands of years back in the past.
Vaasanaa is a powerful magician. Just desire and it will happen.
[There is an ancient folktale where a man wandering in a forest lost his way
and sat of under a huge tree hungry and tired. He visualized in his mind a lot
of exotic delicacies and cried! When he opened the eyes he found all the
delicacies he had imagined in front of him. Enthralled he went on wishing
for gold, silver, diamonds etc. All appeared instantly by the magic of the
tree. But suddenly the man wondered, suppose a tiger came and ate him up?
Well the story ends there!]
If every want of yours will create its fulfillment, every thought of yours
leads to its fulfillment, then think why anxiety in the mind is capable of
creating negative worlds for you forever.
33
Will it happen? Will my son die? Will I pass? Will I meet an accident? Will
my plane crash...
Any such thought creates the world you wanted. Why blame fate or God?
It does not mean you should not be prepared for calamities and tragedies.
But do it with a calm mind. Do not act with a doubtful mind!
As Dalai Lama aptly comments, trust in God; but lock your car door!
A realized man is a perfect man! He is never anxious.

He does not create new Vaasanaas. He is ever satisfied.
His ego has died already.
He is like a burnt seed. He will no more sprout!
He is like a burnt rope, only maintaining a show of life, but never really
involved in the play.
Replace all your worldly Vaasanaas with one single Vaasanaa of wanting to
realize the SELF! Very soon, as Krishna suggests you will attain your
goal no matter whether you believe in the myth of death or not!
YES! DEATH IS A MYTH!
There is a favorite story of Vivekananda, taken from some Upanishad!
In some forest, there was a fruit tree!

It had countless fruits on its far spreading branches.
Some fruits were fully ripe, some half-ripe, others were in many stages of
ripening!
On the topmost branch of the tree, there rested a beautiful golden-hued bird!
It had a very peaceful state of existence.
It never bothered to taste the fruits of the tree!
On the lower branches was another bird hopping here and there.
This bird was forever searching for ripe fruits.
Since it could not differentiate between good and bad fruits, it tasted every
fruit it could find access to!
When it bit the unripe fruits, it would suffer a lot.
It would stop tasting the fruits for some time.
When it by chance got the ripe fruit, it would be very happy.
Again filled with greed, it would start tasting the fruits again.
This process went on for a long time!
Screams of pain and exclamations of joy repeated incessantly!

34
Suddenly, the lower branch bird got the glimpse of the golden-hued bird!
Attracted by its peaceful look, this bird slowly started to climb up.
It had to stop eating fruits in order to climb up.
But soon it fell a prey to greed and started eating fruits.
Again it remembered the golden-hued bird; again stopped eating the fruits.
After a long time, it managed to reach the top branch!

It looked around for the golden-hued bird.
There was no sign of the other bird.
The bird looked at itself!
Aha! It was the golden hued bird!
It was never the fruit eating bird any time!
There were never two birds!
There was only this one bird!
As Shankara says-
NEHA NAANAASTI KINCHANA!

There is not at all MANY here!
TIME -KAALA
Absolute Time is a myth.
It is just a measurement like length or breadth or height.
Just like we measure space, we can measure time also.
It is just a number.
Absolute space also does not exist.
There is no simultaneity of events occurring at the same time.
There is no one Now for everyone.
Everyones time conception differs from one another.
Your Now is never my Now.
Similarly space also differs.
There is no solid same space where we walk about.
Space and time are relative to each other.
We just perceive objects with some time measurement and space
measurement.
Objects themselves are just constantly moving atoms.
The brain has the capacity to draw pictures of the world very fast.
35
Every fraction of a second the retina captures just a tiny bit of the World-
picture in front of us; but the brain somehow manages to present us a full
picture of a solid world in a solid time. That is why Aakaasha is considered
as the first step in the manifestation of the perceived world.
Each Vaasanaa creates its own space time co-ordinates for its fulfillment.
Each ego perceives its own world based on the Vaasanaa it is channeling
out.
Each individual Self carries its own world in its mind.
The world that is perceived is a network of Vaasanaas all acting at once.
Some perceptions are common for some egos and a certainty in a solid world
comes into vogue.
Just think for a few minutes what the world around us is like!
We the embodied ones who are certain that we are the gross bodies which
gets born and dies, act only from the body-level, think only from the body-
level.
These bodies are just various groups of cells acting together just for survival.
They have no thoughts.
These cells are nothing but atoms which are just moving in and out of our
body area.
The light which is moving at a speed of 300,000 Km per second connects
these atoms to our retina and instantly the brain draws lines and gives an
audio visual presentation of the world. Colors and sounds and solid shapes
do not exist out there. They are created by the magic wand of the brain; of
course the magician is as Shankara says Para Brahman!
But for the brain, this world is bereft of colors and sounds.
Moreover we the atom-piles are constantly on the move on a supposedly
bigger pile of atoms called Earth which is circling the Sun at the speed of
67,000 miles per hour.
Sun itself rotates and is a tiny part of a gigantic galaxy moving around in
space.
Where are we solidly situated in this world? What is the meaning of our tiny
identities and the mine mine which we hold on to?
Neither are we real; nor is the world around us real!
Upanishads do not give us all the data science presents us now; but they do
not differ in their conceptual Knowledge from Science.
36
Space and time are just illusory concepts of the brain this fact is
repeatedly discussed in Upanishads, Vaasishta Raamaayanam and Tripura
Rahasya and Physics.
The perceived world is nothing but a brain signal getting its fulfillment.
Suppose two persons decide to visit a temple some two kilometers away.
The Vaasanaa or the brain signal is going to the temple in both of them. Do
they go to the same temple? No!
If you go by car, the time is short, space is short; if you walk, time taken is
longer, and space is more.
Time is elastic; Space is elastic.
Time can stretch or contract; space can stretch or contract.
Clock is another illusory pattern deluding us to believe that we all

experience the same world in the same time.
Going to the temple can become a three hour movie or a five minutes flash
scene. The man who walked to the temple and one who used the car do not
visit the same temple as we commonly believe.
Car-man goes to his own temple in his own world created by his own brain.
Walking man also goes to his own temple in his own world created by his
own brain. Both temples are not the same; they are similar copies of the
temple presented by their brains. When they both meet they can synchronize
their experiences and believe that they visited the same temple. But the
experiences for both of them are different.
Waters are different.
They visited different temples of their own separate brain created words.
They existed in different space-time dimensions.
Every moment, whatever we perceive, be it our own homes or other objects,

each person, each ego perceives a different world based on his own brain.
Each Vaasanaa creates a world around us which we perceive as a huge
world!
The mind just believes that a solid world exists and we feel certain that the
world exists outside our body whether we exist or not. Even the body is just
an idea in the brain.
The whole existence we perceive is just a collection of ideas. Even the
rainbow we see adorning the sky is not the same rainbow for everyone.
37
Each sees a different rainbow as per the land he is located. Everything is just
a perception created by the brain.
Time and Space are just illusory measures holding our perceptions together.
Our life stories are nothing but made-up stories of the brain.
Even the TV programme seen, say at 6PM is not the same 6PM for the two
neighbors.
Neither do we as egos have real existence; nor does the world we

perceive has real existence.
WHAT CAN EXIST, OTHER THAN THAT REALITY STATE?
THAT ALONE EXISTS!
YOU ARE NOT THERE AT ALL!
THIS KNOWLEDGE IS AATMA-SAAKSHAATKAARAM
AUM

SELECTIONS
FROM
BRHADAARANYAKA UPANISHAT
[AJAATASHATRU INSTRUCTS GAARGYA]
Translation and Explanation
by
Narayanalakshmi
1
CONVERSATION BETWEEN AJAATASHATRU AND GAARGYA
There lived a great Sage named Garga. He was the son of Sage Bharadvaaja. He was
revered as the family Preceptor by the family of Nanda, the foster father of Sri Krishna
Vaasudeva.
In any family, the future generations carry only the name as their pride and do not imbibe
the knowledge of the ancestors. Baalaaki was an example for that. He was highly
arrogant and proud of his family name. He considered himself equal to Sage Garga and
behaved rudely with other Brahmins of his times. He was well versed in Scriptures but
was not a realized Sage like his ancestor Garga. He argued out any opponent with the
mere play of words he had mastered from the Vedas. He was nicknamed as Proud
Baalaaki (Drpta Baalaaki). Every one feared his torrent of words and kept away from him
for fear of ridicule and scornful retorts.
Baalaaki was always envious of Sage Yajnavalkya, who collected enormous gold and
cows from King Janaka by offering the king some knowledge about Brahman whenever
he needed wealth. Baalaaki knew in his heart of hearts that his knowledge of Scriptures
was not enough to please a knower of Brahman like King Janaka. He decided that
Ajaatashatru, the king of Banaras could be fooled to part with wealth by some talks on
Brahman. He had no way of knowing Ajaatashatru had also mastered the knowledge of
Brahman like king Janaka and was more learned than Baalaaki himself.
Baalaaki sent word to Ajaatashatru that he wished to honor him with his visit.
The king had already heard of Baalaakis arrogant behavior from his confidants and
agreed to give an audience to the ignorant Brahmin and teach him a lesson.
Baalaaki entered the court, his head held high and looking like a Brahma descended on
Earth to grace the ignorant souls.
The king welcomed him with all due rites and got him seated on a golden throne. He
politely enquired the proud Brahmin the purpose of his visit.
Baalaaki looked at the king as if he was just a worm crawling at his feet and said:
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1. There was the proud Baalaaki born in the family of Sage Garga.
He said to Ajaatashatru, king of Kaashi,
O King! I, the great Baalaaki, have come here to teach you about
Brahman.
(The king smiled graciously with a mischievous twinkle in the eye.)
Ajaatashatru said:
O Sage! (I am blessed indeed by your visit.)
I will offer you thousand cows for this proposal.
People rush saying Janaka Janaka always.
(Always King Janaka gets all the name and fame as a Sage in the guise of a King. He
never tires of organizing debates on Brahman and showers all the Sages and Brahmins
with countless gifts. I am happy that you have decided to honor me with your visit and
raise me to the level of King Janaka. Soon I will also become a famous Raajarshi like
Janaka. So please instruct me about Brahman.)
Baalaakis stern face mellowed down a little. His future as a rich Brahmin always
collecting wealth from the king loomed large before his eyes. He smiled at the king
compassionately and said,
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2. Gaargya said,
I meditate on that embodied being (PURUSHA) who exists in the Sun
(AADITYA) as Brahman.
Ajaatashatru (stopped him before he continued his discourse) said-

Wait Wait, do not talk further!
(Brahman is not a thing to be meditated upon as an object.)
I meditate upon myself as that lustrous shining one who is the Lord of all
(BHOOTAANAAM MOORDHAA RAAJAA).
He who meditates upon him as such becomes all-surpassing, head of all

beings and resplendent.
PURUSHA is the embodied individual self, one who resides in the City of nine gates
namely the body.
Aaditya is the Sun deity, the son of Aditi.
Gaargya refers here to the Sun who makes the life on Earth possible. It is by the light of
the Sun that the beings perceive the world and perform their ordained actions. The
perception occurs because of the Sun, the source of light. When the light enters the eye,
perception occurs and the perceiver sees the worlds. So the perceiver is the ego residing
in the aggregate of the body and organs. I meditate on that being who perceives the world
through this body endowed with senses as Brahman, says Baalaaki.
However king Ajaatashatru refers by the term Sun to the Brahman who remains as a
mute witness to all the actions of the individual self.
Sun is the indirect cause of the actions that occur on Earth. Sun is the nonchalant witness
of everything that happens without itself getting affected by it. Similarly Consciousness
which is just pure awareness which lights up all perceptions is represented by the term
Sun. The term Sun represents the witness principle namely the consciousness (Chit)
which though the indirect cause of the principles of perceiver, perceived and perceiving,
is unaffected by the nature of perceptions.
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3. Gaargya said,
I meditate on that embodied one (PURUSHA) in the Moon (CHANDRA) as
Brahman.

I meditate upon myself as that great white-robed, radiant Soma.
He who meditates upon him as such has abundant Soma pressed in all the
principal and auxiliary Sacrifices everyday and is never short of food.
Gaargya refers here to the Moon deity which is the consumer of Soma.
The term Chandra means glittering shining. In the Vedas, Soma is portrayed as sacred
and as a god (Deva). The god, the drink and the plant probably referred to the same
entity, or at least the differentiation was ambiguous. Two holy drinks exist: Soma for the
immortal soul and Amrita for the immortal body. The gods drink Soma, and become
deities. Indra and Agni are portrayed as consuming Soma in copious quantities. The
consumption of Soma by human beings is probably under the belief that it bestows divine
qualities on them.
However king Ajaatashatru refers by the term Moon to the Brahman who is the
principle of Mind.
Moon which waxes and wanes refers to the principle of Mind which oscillates between
pleasure and pain. The perceiver experiences pain and pleasure through the mental
faculty. Mind is the sixth sense which collects all the random data coming through the
five senses of Knowledge and presents a coherent picture of the Universe. Mind is one of
the functions of the Brain.
Brahman alone projects the Mind as the perceived world and experiences the pain and
pleasure as the individual self.
5
The term Soma represents the bliss principle. Moon is also referred to by the term
Soma. Soma is also a juice of the plant offered to the Gods in the sacrificial rites.
Pure Consciousness is the sum-total of all the bliss experienced by any one at any time.
Mind contacts the world through the senses and becomes happy by fulfilling its desires.
We super-impose the pain and pleasures as belonging to the objects perceived by senses.
But actually the Mind as a devolved principle of Chit experiences the bliss of Chit alone,
when it is happy. The mind is happy whenever a desire is fulfilled. The anxiety remains
as long as the desire needs to get fulfilled. Once the desire is satisfied, the mind dies at
that moment. A flash of bliss occurs where the Chit shines forth as pure awareness, like
the Sun shines when clouds dissolve away. But instantly another desire or need arises and
mind rises up like the phoenix bird and exists as the principle of anxiety and
apprehension.
Moon gets it light from the Sun. The glittering of the Moon is due to the shine of the Sun.
Mind exists because of the Chit principle.
What bliss is experienced by the Mind is just a reflected light of the Sun, the bliss
principle of Chit.
So the king describes Moon as getting pressed with abundant Soma.
Moon is white-robed (PAANDARAVAASAAHA).

White robed means the power of Praana. Praana is the grosser layer of the Mind. Both
Praana and Mind are interconnected and act complementary to each other. If one stops its
function, other also ceases to exist. The main purpose of Praanaayaama or breath-control
is aimed at the cessation of thoughts. Stop the breath and the mind stops functioning.
So Soma, the pleasure and pain experiencing mind is sheathed by Praana, the white
robed. White robe also refers to the aqueous nature of the Vital force. Water is a term
used in Vedas to refer to the flow of experiences of an individual.
As the contact point between the world and mind, Praana is the channel for experiences
the mind has to undergo. So it is said to be aqueous in nature.
Moon radiantly shines forth. {RAAJAA)

As mind is just another form of Chit which is acting as the experiencer, it shines forth
radiantly. Mind is the Creator of all our perceptions.
The undifferentiated principle of Chit acts as the Mind and becomes the perceived world.
The Chit perceives the world projected by the mind and becomes the experiencer as it
were. Chit the ever shining principle of Consciousness becomes the Sun, the mute
perceiver of all actions.
By the power of Chit, Mind projects a world and experiences pain and pleasure.
The ever oscillating mind runs after Soma, the bliss factor and wants to consume it in
huge quantities. Though the mind seems to be consuming (Soma) bliss from the outside
world of objects, in reality the bliss is experienced because of the Chit (Sun) alone which
is just a witness and indirect cause of everything.
Mind grossified as Praana connects itself to the outside world projected by itself.
6
A knower of Brahman does not run after the pleasures of the world and knows that the
perceived world is unreal and has no innate bliss as its nature.
He contemplates on Brahman as himself and never is short of bliss; nor does he run after
the sense pleasures for happiness as he remains as the source of all perceptions.
Ajaatashatru refers to the Brahman as the source of the bliss.
One who realizes Brahman is Brahman himself. He becomes the Lord of all. He sees his
own Self as all.
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4. Gaargya said,
I meditate on that embodied person in the Lightning (VIDYUT) as Brahman.

I meditate upon myself as that which is extremely lustrous and powerful
(TEJASVEE).
He who meditates upon him as such becomes lustrous and his progeny also
is lustrous.
Gaargya refers here to the Deity of Lightning.
The king however refers to the thought or the Chitta vrtti by the term VIDYUT
(Lightning). Lightning is the term which refers to the continuous agitations or thoughts
produced in the mind. Where there are clouds, there is water; where the clouds dash
against each other, lightning occurs.
Unmanifest desires are the unmanifest waters in the clouds in the form of vapors ready to
pour out as rains. Desires in the unconscious part of our mind always are in a ready-state
to become grossified as experiences.
With our inner mind filled with countless desires, collisions are a common feature. We
rush after the fulfillment of desires all at once and these desire-clouds clash; lightning
occurs. Thoughts keep on arising giving different orders to the senses all at once. The
thunder also accompanies as the AHAMKAARA the I factor of the mind.
7
If the clouds were not there, lightning will not occur and thunder will also not be there.
If desires are absent, there are no experiences of the world and there is no ego also.
Only the Sun shines with all its brilliance. Pure consciousness alone remains as the mute
witness. The Jeevan Muktaa in such a state remains blissful as his own Self. He does not
hanker after the pleasures of the world.
Brahman is Tejaswee, the most powerful, because Brahman is the very source of all
lustrous things existing in the world. He is the ever shining Chit state, acting as the
witness of all the times and places that arise out of the mind.
One who contemplates on his own self as the principle of awareness remains as Brahman
alone and is supremely lustrous. The flashes of awareness namely thoughts, referred to by
the term lightning, does not trouble him anymore. He remains as bliss and whatever
progeny he begets namely the perceived worlds, also become a projection of his own
Self. He sees himself as all and remains ever blissful.
He is the supreme Brahman and is not troubled by agitations any more.
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5. Gaargya said,
I meditate on that embodied being in the AAKAASHA (space) as Brahman.

I meditate upon myself as the Whole (POORNAM) and non-acting
(APRAVARTA).
He who meditates upon him as such is filled with progeny and cattle and his
progeny will never go extinct from this world.
Gaargya refers here to the deity of the skies. However the king refers to the idea of
space/time in the mind by the term AAKAASHA. The extension of space is projected
from the brain.
8
According to the king the term Aakaasha refers to the entire world of space and time as
Brahman. Everything in space is an expression of Brahman. So he explains that Brahman
is everything that is in the world contained within the space-time boundaries.
The king uses the term Aakaasha in a different sense than that of a deity. According to
him the element-space which makes the visibility of the objects possible is in fact only
a projection of the mind.
The whole world exists as a tiny vibration of the CHITTAAKAASHA, the Mind-space.
This mind which contains countless universes again exists as just a slight perturbation
in the CHIDAAKAASHA, the space of the Consciousness. So the king presents a counter
argument to Gaargya saying that he meditates on the Self as the very point transcending
space-time phenomenons which contains within it whatever that exists as space or time.
Self is Whole. Since there exists nothing outside Brahman, there is no action arising
from it. One who knows his Self as whole and non-acting is the Lord of whatever
exists in any space at any time. He is not the perceiver of the world inside a space-time
boundary but the very reality which makes the existence of everything possible. He can
create whatever world he feels like. He remains as the eternal principle of Brahman
transcending space and time.
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6. Gaargya said,
I meditate on that embodied being in the VAAYU (Wind) as Brahman.

I meditate upon myself as the Lord of all (INDRA), completely freed from
anxiety (VAIKUNTA), undefeated and as the unvanquished army (APARAAJITAA
SENAA).
He who meditates upon him as such is ever victorious and invincible; and
conquers all his enemies.
9
Gaargya refers here to the deity of Winds. However the king refers to the subtle energy or
Praana which connects the mind to the world.
Praana acts as the bridge between Aativaahika and Aadhibhoutika bodies.
(Aativaahika is the mental phenomenon a collection of thoughts, ideas and belief
systems. Aadhibhoutika is the physical phenomenon composed of elements.)
According to the king, Praana is the Supreme Chit or Consciousness which is the support
of the entire existence of anything and everything. This Praana is just another level of
Para Brahman.
This Brahman is Indra, the Lord whom the senses serve by providing the data of the
world. This Brahman who manifests as the Supreme support of the Creation is the
principle of contact and is Vaikunta free of afflictions because he is the source of the
very mind, the abode of afflictions.
This Brahman cannot be conquered by any one as no one exists besides That.
This Brahman is unvanquished army. The Brahman is the sum total of all Vaasanaas.
These Vaasanaas are the infinite possibilities and potentialities which manifest as
countless worlds. They never can ever end. Either they remain as potentialities or change
into realities. These can never be destroyed.
One who realizes this Supreme state of Brahman is never affected by the Vaasanaas and
is free of all afflictions. He remains as the Supreme subtle power of Brahman unaffected
by both Aativaahika and Aadhibhoutika bodies.
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7. Gaargya said,
I meditate on that embodied being in the AGNI (Fire) as Brahman.

I meditate upon myself as one who has extreme forbearance (VISHAASAHI).
He who meditates upon him as such becomes extremely forbearing and his
progeny also becomes forbearing.
10
AGNI means ANGATI URDHVAM GACCHATI- goes up.

Gaargya refers to the Fire which is one of the principle elements, which is also the deity
of Vedas, who acts as a communicator between the performers of sacrifice and gods.
The king however refers to the Supreme Consciousness, Chit as the Fire.
The term Agni or fire refers to the individual self.
When the Unmanifest manifests as the world, a separate entity as it were arises like a
wave in the ocean of Chit, which identifies with the combination of Aativaahika and
Aadhibhoutika bodies and develops an ego or Ahamkaara, the Iness.
This individual self which is in essence the Supreme Brahman gets deluded as a limited
phenomenon. This is the fire which is forever trying to consume the fuel of pleasures
and pains. Acting as a channel for Vaasanaas, it becomes the producer of more Vaasanaas
and keeps the cycle of worldly existence going on forever.
The king says that he contemplates on the Supreme Brahman who appears deluded as it
were as the individual self or fire. This Brahman is unaffected by the pains or pleasures
of the world. He who realizes the essence of his own existence remains unaffected by any
occurrences of the world and has extreme forbearance and equanimity. Those who follow
this instruction and meditate on the supreme Brahman as fire namely the individual self
also remain unaffected by the pains and pleasures of the world; his progeny.
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8. Gaargya said,
I meditate on that embodied being in the AAPA (WATER) as Brahman.

I meditate upon myself as the same image (PRATIROOPAM as agreeable).
(I attain only my own Self everywhere, never anything other than my own self.
Whatever arises out of me also is my own self, the image of Para Brahman.)
He who meditates upon him as such has all agreeable thing coming to him,
and not the contrary ones; his progeny is also agreeable only.
11
Gaargya refers to the deity of Waters by the term AAPA. However, the king gives the
meaning experiences to the word AAPA, the waters. The ego is a continuum
produced as it were, by the continuous flow of experiences like the constant picture of a
water fall seen in the ever continuous flow of water drops.
According to the king waters are also a form of Brahman alone. The source from which
these experiences arise, the support of these experiences is Brahman alone.
The Unmanifest Brahman alone appears as the manifest form of experiences.
There is nothing else other than the Brahman.
The individual self which experiences the world is the image of Para Brahman alone. One
who contemplates on his own self as the essence of Brahman sees only his self
everywhere.
The misconception of a separate individuality vanishes and only Para Brahman shines as
the undifferentiated principle.
Since there exists nothing other than the Brahman, the experiencer (fire) also is Brahman.
The Jeevan Muktaa is Brahman himself.
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9. Gaargya said,
I meditate on that embodied being in the mirror (AADARSHA) as Brahman.
I meditate upon myself as the shining one (ROCHISHNUHU).
He who meditates upon him as such, shines; he surpasses anything he

contacts.
12
Gaargya refers to the deity of the mirror by the term AADARSHA.
The king refers to the word AAdarsha, to mean Brahman; the one who makes all
appearances possible. AADARSHA as Brahman is the very mirror inside which countless
universes are reflected. But unlike the ordinary mirror, there does not exist anything
outside the mirror getting reflected inside the mirror. There is no inside and outside in
Para Brahman. Brahman is one undifferentiated state of Existence.
Here the Para Brahman who exists as both the unmanifest and the manifest exists as the
mirror reflecting the appearances of the worlds. The very nature of the mirror is to reflect
images. The very nature of Brahman is to exist as the perceived worlds also. The mirror
and reflections both are Para Brahman. Brahman is the supreme principle of
consciousness which makes the world appearances possible. He alone shines as the
mirror reflecting the worlds. He shines as all.
We always perceive only the images in the mirror and never the glass. So also, we do not
know the existence of Para Brahman on which the world is reflected.
One who realizes the Brahman sees his own Self as the entire world. He knows that he
alone is the mirror of Brahman where the unreal appearances of the world keep
occurring. Since he shines as the very support and source of the world, nothing can
surpass his shine. Reflections can never shine surpassing the mirror. Mirror alone shines
as the reflected images also.
The realized knower remains as Brahman alone.
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13
10. Gaargya said,

I meditate on Brahman as the sound (SHABDA) that arises behind as he
walks (YANTAM).

I meditate upon myself as the one who resides in the body (ASUHU).
He who meditates upon him as such lives the full term of his life. Life does
not depart from him before the allotted time.
Gaargya refers to the term SHABDA as the ego or the AHAMKAARA of the individual self
as it moves about in the delusory world.
The term YANTAM means moving towards something. Each individual self moves in
the space projected by the mind fulfilling the Vaasanaas. As successive Vaasanaa
fulfillment takes place, the persisting memory of experiences creates the individuality.
One segregates oneself from others with the idea of I, the first sound which arises from
the silence of the Brahman.
However the king points out that he meditates on the life (ASU) as Brahman.
The term ASU means one who lives in the physical attire. There is no individual self at
all as separate entity from the Supreme and there exists no meaning in the Iness idea.
Each Vaasanaa projects a space-time arena for its fulfillment. The collective projections
of countless Vaasanaas give rise to the false sense of an individual experiencing a life.
This individual, who is chosen to act randomly as the channel for the fulfillment of
Vaasanaas, is referred to by the term Jeeva. Jeeva is the collective manifestation of many
Vaasanaas. But the essence of each Jeeva is the supreme Brahman. He alone appears as a
living entity experiencing the pains and pleasures of a world appearance.
One who contemplates on the essence of the living entity called Jeeva remains as
Brahman himself. He never ceases to exist. As a Jeevan Muktaa he lives without getting
controlled by the Vaasanaas. He remains a witness to the life events and becomes
deathless. The existence or non-existence of the physical body does not affect him at all.
He is Brahman himself.
14
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11. Gaargya said,

I meditate upon that embodied being in the Directions (Quarters) as
Brahman.
I meditate upon myself as the second and as non-separating.
He who meditates upon him as such has companions and his companions
never desert him.
Gaargya refers to the term DIK to mean the twin deities of Quarters namely the
ASHVINS. However the king refers to the term as fixed ideas of space an embodied
being has in his mind. An embodied person identifies with the physical body perceived
by him as belonging to him and identifies with it. That makes him also believe that he is a
conditioned being bound by the space/time phenomenon.
The sum total of all creations is the Hiranya Garbha, the golden wombed Purusha who
fills all the directions. He is the first individual self of which all other individual selves
form a part of.
The king suggests that the Brahman contemplated by him is of course the Supreme
Individual Self Brahma, who appears as if he is a second person existing separate from
the Supreme Self. But since the Supreme self and the individual self are both identical,
they are never separate. One who realizes his identity with the Supreme person sees all
the selves as his own Self and never is separated from them. He is all. Brahman is all.
15
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12. Gaargya said,

I meditate on that embodied being as of the nature of shadow
(CHAAYAAMAYAHA).

I meditate upon myself as Death.
He who meditates upon him as such lives the full term of his life. Life does
not depart from him before the allotted time.
Gaargya refers to the term CHAAYAA to mean the deity in the shadow or external
darkness, internally in ignorance, which is a veil covering the Knowledge. The term
CHAAYAA means the ignorance that is in the embodied person. Since the individual self
identifies himself with the physical body, the ascertainment of death at the destruction of
the physical attire is imminent. This is the shadow of ignorance which accompanies the
individual self according to Gaargya.
However the king counter argues saying that he contemplates on death as his own self.
Death here means the Unmanifest. Vaasanaas are potentialities which are ever ready to
manifest as realities projecting the channels of Jeevas, the living entities. One who
contemplates on his Self as the Unmanifest never dies and death never overtakes him.
16
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13. Gaargya said,

I meditate on that embodied being in the Self of all.

I meditate upon myself as that self.
He who meditates upon him as such attains the Self and his progeny also
attains the Self.
Gaargya instructs the king that Brahman is the essence of each embodied being.
However the king argues back saying that he is the very essence that manifests as all
these selves. Whatever he perceives is his own self.
Gaargya remained silent.
Gaargya feels completely defeated. He understands that the king is a true knower of
Brahman. He is ashamed of his vanity. He stands in front of the king humbled and
miserable.
17
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14. Ajaatashatru asked,
Is that all? Is that all? Is that all?

Gaargya replied,
That is all.
The king smiled and said,
By knowing this much, one cannot know Brahman.
(Gaargya hung his head in shame. He understood that he had only verbal excellence but
was not the knower of Brahman.)
Gaargya (saluted the king humbly and) said,

Accept me as your student.
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15. The king said,
A Brahmin should not approach a KSHATRIYA (warrior clan) and plead for
instructions about Brahman.
(Anyhow, since even the terms denoting the clans are just illusions created
by the mind, since Self alone appears as you, me or any one, I do not find
any harm in teaching you. Come with me),
I will make you understand everything.
The skies were dark. Innumerable stars twinkled in the sky. The city was silent. All the
people were lost in deep slumber. The king and his student walked silently for some time.
They came to a sleeping man.
They saw a man sleeping soundly under a tree. The king approached the sleeping man
and said,
(The king) Called him with these names-

O Great One, O white robed, O radiant Soma, wake up.
The man did not move even a little.

The king shook him till he woke up. The man woke up.
(He saw the king standing in front of him. He stood up immediately and saluted him.
The king gifted him some gold coins and sent him away.
He sat on a rock nearby and asked Gaargya-)
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You saw the man asleep!
So tell me, this Purusha, the embodied one made of Knowledge alone, in the
state of deep slumber where was he? From where did he come from when I
woke him up?
Gaargya did not know that.
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17. Ajaatashatru said-
This Purusha, the embodied one in the state of deep slumber is of the nature
of Knowledge alone.
He absorbs the functions of the senses through his own Knowledge-essence
and sleeps in the expanse in the heart (Brahman state).
When this being absorbs them, he is said to be asleep.
At that time, the organ of Praana remains withdrawn, organ of speech
remains withdrawn, the eyes remain withdrawn, ears remain withdrawn, and
the mind remains withdrawn.
(When awake, the individual self or Jeeva absorbs all the knowledge brought to him
through his five senses of knowledge. He performs actions based on the knowledge
brought by the senses and reacts through his mind on the support of sense knowledge.
This is said to be the Jaagrat state of the mind.
When asleep, the senses cease to function. They are absorbed by the mind. All the
thoughts, ideas, desires lie in a suspended state and the individual self remains as the
Supreme Self bereft of the perception of the world. The world ceases to exist for him. It
is as if the tree has reverted back to the state of the seed. The manifested world reverts
back to the state of the unmanifest. Then the Jeeva is said to be in Deep sleep.
The element AAKAASHA is absorbed by the mind-space and this mind- space remains
absorbed in the CHIT or the conscious space.
The Principle of Praana which connects the world to the Mind is withdrawn; the names
and forms (VAAK) which are perceived as the world is withdrawn; the seer who perceives
the world is withdrawn (CHAKSHUSH); the principle of ego, (sound) (SHROTRAM) which
is the idea of differentiation is withdrawn. The mind which experiences the pain and
pleasure in the world, also is withdrawn.)
20
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21
18. 19. 20.

Gaargya questions the king about the dream state.
The king replies:
When in the Svapna state, these are his worlds.

(In the dream state, the mind remains active.)
The person who is dreaming thinks that he is an emperor or a Brahmin, or a
person of a higher caste or a lower caste.
Like an emperor moves anywhere in his kingdom accompanied by his
people, this one also roams about in the body as it pleases, accompanied by
the Praanas.
When in deep sleep, it does not know anything.

It comes back along the seventy two thousand nerves called Hitaa, which
extend from the heart to the pericardium (entire body) and remains in the
body. It remains as whatever form it was, happy like a baby, Brahmin or an
emperor, each of whom is always happy in their natural states.
The mind is equal to an emperor with an ever expanding kingdom. It moves everywhere
as it pleases taking along the senses with it and roams about freely everywhere.
Then again suddenly the mind becomes silent and is withdrawn inside the consciousness.
It remains dormant there without projecting any perceptions. The mind does not know
anything. Then again it comes back through the seventy-two thousand nerves called
HITAA, which extend from the center of the neural system to the whole of the body and
rests in the body. It remains as whatever form it was, happy like a baby, Brahmin or an
emperor, each of whom is always happy in their natural states.
A child, a Brahmin who knows Brahman and an emperor who rules the kingdom are
always happy in their natural states. A man who wakes up from the sleep feels happy
because he remained in his natural state of the Brahman when he was in deep sleep. But
as soon as he enters the Jaagrat state, ignorance envelops him and he starts feeling
unhappy and anxious. But a knower of Brahman is always in the natural state of Brahman
whether he is asleep or awake. He is without anxieties like a child; he experiences
incessant bliss as his own Self; he remains carefree like an emperor as he exists as
Brahman, the Supreme Lord of all that exists.
As a spider moves along the thread produced by itself, as sparks rise from
the fire into all directions, all the Praanaas, all the worlds, all the gods, all
the beings arise out of this Self.
22
Brahman alone appears as all the perceived phenomena. Like a spider ejecting a liquid
from its own mouth and building a web around itself, the Supreme Self projects the world
of appearances and acts as if bound. Like the spider moving along the thread produced
from its own mouth, the Supreme alone projects this world of appearances and moves
everywhere experiencing everything as if He has become a different person with
limitations. But there exists nothing else but Brahman.
Brahman alone is all. There is no differentiation in Brahman.
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This is the UPANISHAD; the Truth of the Truth!

Praana is the Truth; this is the Truth of That.
OM
BRH.UP: CHAP II: Section I
Brahman is the essence of all that exists.

Brahman is the Praana of everything that exists.
Brahman is the Supreme Truth to be attained.
Brahman is the Truth of Truths.
Realization of oneself as Brahman alone is the Truth.
This is the Upanishad, the path towards the Truth.
This is the Upanishad which destroys the ignorance.
23

g

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---
Let both of us be protected together.

Let both of us experience together.
Let us both raise the valor together.
Let the ever shining one be attained by us both.
Let there be no cavalry between us.
OM Peace Peace Peace
24
About the Author:
Maa Tejasvini
The author spent many years doing research on ancient Sanskrit texts in the Himalayan
region. She was exposed to many unique spiritual experiences which are beyond human
comprehension.
Her mission in life was to translate all renowned spiritual texts and literature of Sanskrit
and bring them to the light of the public.

SELECTIONS
FROM
[BRAHMAN DEBATE IN JANAKAS COURT ROOM]
by
Narayanalakshmi
1
INTRODUCTION
King Janaka was the king of Videha.

He took care of his people like an affectionate father; and he was known by the name of
Janaka, the father, by all his people.
His country was Videha; and he was also in as state of Videha, the lack of identity with
the physical and mental attire.
He was a great BrahmaJnaani (Knower of Brahman); a Raajarshi (a royal Sage); and a
close friend of Sage Yaajnavalkya.
Since the country was never troubled by enemies or any natural calamities, the king could
spare time to pursue his intellectual quests. He performed many Yajnas for the well-being
of his people; and on such occasions, conducted knowledge-debates for the benefit of all
Sages. The winner was showered with gold, cows and all other necessities of life.
Here we are given a sample of one such debate that was conducted in the court room of
Janaka.
All the Sages assembled there, were great scholars and well versed in all Vedas.
Vedas are knowledge-sections that rose out of Lord Brahmaa to enlighten the people on
earth, and are in Mantra forms. Those hymns and their meanings have become as
distanced as the twinkling stars in the sky; as none of the minds of today can comprehend
or recite them in the proper manner.
Anyhow, here the Sages assembled here are well versed in the sacrificial proceedings.
Very few knew the Knowledge section of the Vedas.
They were not Knowers of Brahman.
The king proclaims that he will offer abundant gold and wealth to any one who can prove
himself or herself as a great Brahma Jnaani. (Ladies were also part of the assembly as
renowned female scholars. Distinction of gender was unknown in Janakas times.)
Yaajnavalkya declares himself as the winner, even before the debate starts and is ready to
carry off the rewards, thus annoying all those who were assembled there.
Everyone is forced to argue with Yaajnavalkya and thus reveal their ignorant levels.
Well versed in the performance of the Yajnas, all the Sages ask him questions based on
Yajnas; and Yaajnavalkya converts the terms referring to Yajna-proceedings into terms
relating to the Knowledge of Brahman, very ingeniously.
The debate starts with the questions posed by Ashvala, the Hotaa (conductor of the
Sacrifice).
2
DEBATE IN JANAKAS COURTROOM (1)
(ASHVALA QUESTIONS YAAJNAVALKYA)
(1)

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.
' 35

AUM ; Janaka, emperor of Videha, performed a sacrifice accompanied by

abundant charity.
Learned Brahmins (adept in the Knowledge of Vedas) from Kuru and Paanchaala had
assembled there.
That Janaka of Videha, had a desire to know,

Who among these learned Brahmins is the best of scholars?
He placed thousand young cows in a shelter.

On the horns of each of these cows, ten Paadas of gold were tied up.
(Paada approximately measures a quarter of a Pala)
(Janaka was ready to offer the thousand well-bred cows along with abundant gold to the
one who proved himself as the greatest Knower of Brahman among all those assembled
at the court.)
(2)
9
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3
He spoke to them-
Hey revered Brahmins, may he who is the best knower of Brahman take
these cows away.
None of the Braahmanas dared.
(They had doubts about their own knowledge. Intellectual knowledge of Brahman differs
from the experienced state of Brahman, as does an excellent article on jaggery and the
experienced taste of jaggery.)
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Then Yaajnavalkya said to one of his celibate disciples

Dear Saamashrava, take these cows away.
He (his student) drove them away (with him).
(Yaajnavalkya was confident that he was the winner already.)
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:
,
Those Brahmins were enraged with the thought,

How dare he call himself a Knower of Brahman?
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There was this Ashvala who acted as the Hotr in the sacrifice of Janaka.
He questioned him-
Yaajnavalkya! Are you the best of Knowers of Brahman amongst us?
(Hotr is the prime reciter of Vedic hymns in a sacrifice; and plays a leading role in any
sacrifice.)
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4
He said-
We salute the best of the Knower of Brahman; but I just need the cows.
Hotaa Ashvala got ready to interrogate him.
(Yaajnavalkya knew that none of the priests assembled there, had any true experienced
knowledge of Brahman. He was ready to face any question raised from any of them.
The first one who stood up to interrogate him was the Hotr Ashvala.)
(3)
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Ashvala said- Yaajnavalkya!

All this is covered by death. All this is overpowered by death.
By what means, does the Sacrificer go beyond the clutches of death?
(Everything is here is perishable and will cease to be; the ingredients used in the sacrifice,
priests, fire etc.
What is that which the Sacrificer should meditate upon to conquer this death?)
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(Yaajnavalkya answered)
Through the organ of speech (Vaak), the fire, the real Hotr;
Vaak alone is the Hotaa in the sacrifice (Yajna).
This Vaak alone is the Agni (Fire).
It is the Hotr, it is the liberation, and it is the complete emancipation.
5
(For any reciter of a Mantra, Vaak is an important part of his work. He should be
perfect in uttering the hymns. Even if he commits a slightest mistake in pronunciation or
tone, the Mantra will lose its power.
Vaak is the Hotr. Vaak alone controls the Yajna.
Yaajnavalkya however talks about another Hotr and another Vaak.

His Vaak refers to the name and form conceived by the mind.
Everything is made of some name (sound) referring to some form (image perceived by
the mind).
This is the Vaak which brings differentiation in the undifferentiated Brahman.
In the Yajna called Life which is overcome by death, Vaak, the identification of name
and form acts as the Hotr, by the prime invocation sound of I at every moment.
This Vaak, the name and form is the Fire, the individual Jeeva, who burns fiercely
with Vaasanaas or subtle desires.
If one meditates on Brahman, the origin of this Vaak (Fire), he will conquer death and
attain complete freedom from death.)
(4)
M?@,
N JVP
JV!9
P,H
,

All this is covered by day and night.
All this is overpowered by day and night.
By what means, does the sacrificer go beyond the clutches of day and
night?
(Everything in this world is controlled by the phenomenon of time.
Time as understood by a common man is just the passing of day and night.
How does he free himself from the clutches of this Kaala which swallows everything?)
WJ
&J N&
X >'WJ
SN N&
WJ @
, ,@

6
Through the organ of eye (cakshus), the sun which is the real Adhvaryu;
Eye alone is the Adhvaryu in the sacrifice (Yajna).
This Eye alone is that Sun.
It is the Adhvaryu, it is the liberation, and it is the complete emancipation.
(Adhvaryu is in charge of the physical details of the sacrifice, like arranging the fuel for
the fire, checking the size of the altar, arrangement of vessels, water, ghee etc.)
(How does one conquer the Kaala symbolized by the passing of days and nights?
Through the eye!
Cakshu here refers to all the five senses which are used in perceiving a world endowed
with the qualities of sight, smell, touch, sound and taste.
These senses create a solid world filled with sense objects by bringing in the knowledge
of touch, taste etc.
Though emptiness of Brahman alone shines all around the Jeeva, yet the senses, acting
like the Adhvaryu, produce the objects and people in the life-story, as objects that are
sensed.
Senses or Cakshus is the Adhvaryu in the Yajna of life.
Cakshus produces the knowledge of all objects and people of the world.
These senses are inert and produce inert sensations. They cannot act by themselves.
Who understands the world through them?
The Mind (moon)!
This mind also is inert; and is dependent on the conscious essence that supports it.
Therefore, this conscious principle which is changeless and pure, acts as the real Eye
which perceives the world. It is the real Advaryu.
What is it?
The Sun!
The Conscious Principle is the Sun which empowers the Eye (senses and mind) that
acts as the Advaryu in the life-sacrifice.
Eye is the Sun in essence.
Sun alone produces the perceived form of the world by its luster.
Sun shine of Brahman empowers the Vaasanaas in the mind, thus producing a perceived
world around everyone.
The Sun of Pure consciousness, Brahman alone reveals the world that is perceived.
Brahman shining as the moon produces the Time phenomenon of the world.
He is the Advaryu of the Sacrifice.
If one meditates on the real Advaryu, he will get complete liberation from the Kaala.
Sun alone is the cause of day and night.
Day is the light of Knowledge and night is the darkness of ignorance.
One who stays in the Sun-state always, gets freed of the day and night recurrences.
He transcends the concepts of knowledge and ignorance.
He shines as Brahman himself.)
7
(5)
M?@,
N O J
VP
O J
V!9
J
P,H
,

All this is covered by bright and dark fortnights. All this is overpowered by
bright and dark fortnights. By what means, does the sacrificer go beyond the
clutches of bright and dark fortnights?
(Mind like the moon is always swinging between happiness and sadness.
How does one transcend these oscillating states of mind?)
S&J
G
G >'S
S G S
@
, ,@

Through the Praana, the Vaayu which is the real Udgaatr;
Praana alone is the Udgaatr in the sacrifice (Yajna).
This Praana alone is the Vaayu (wind).
It is the Udgaatr, it is the liberation, and it is the complete emancipation.
(Udgaatr is the one sings Saama hymns set to melodies.)
(Brahman is the Udgaatr. He sings the Saama; because he is present equally (Saamaanya)
in all. He is the vibrating essence of Praana in all.
This Praana alone shines forth as the mind.
Praana is the Vaayu. Vaayu is the principle of touch.
It alone provides the contact of the world.
It alone helps the fire (individual self) to burn.
One should contemplate on the Praana as Brahman, the single source of the Praana and
Apaana Vaayus (incoming and outgoing functions of Praana). If one contemplates on
pure Praana as oneself, he stays in the state of Brahman and transcends the level of the
oscillating mind.)
8
(6)
M?@,
N9AB!
D 'O D ,

Since this sky is without support, through what support does a Sacrificer go
to the heaven?
(Antariskha is the intermediate space between the Bhoomi and the heaven. It is not
supported by anything. There is nothing that connects the earth and the heaven.
How can one reach the heaven from the earth traveling through the Antariskha which is
without support?)
&J 9[ >'
SN 9[,
@
,@
&,
B
Through the mind, through the moon that acts as the priest called Brahman;
Mind of the Sacrificer is Brahman.
Mind is the moon.
Moon is the Brahman.
This is liberation.
This is complete emancipation.
Now about the mediation based on resemblance
(Rtvij is a general name for all the four priests who form the part of the Sacrifice (Hotr,
Udgaatr, Adhvaryu and Brahman. Brahman is the superintendent of the entire Yajna
performance and corrects the mistakes in the supplementary invocations.)
(Which Rtvij acts as the Brahman in the life-Yajna?

Mind alone acts as the superintendent of the life narrative.
It is the Rtvij that takes on the functions of a Brahman in the life-Yajna.
9
Mind is the moon, which shines in the darkness of the ignorance.

It shines by the light of the sun only.
Mind (Moon) alone conceives heaven, earth and the intermediate space.
The material space (aakaasha) is contained within the mind.
Mind-space is contained within the Brahman state.
Supreme Brahman alone manifests as the mind-space and the material space.
He alone is the earth, heaven and Antariskha.
Mind is the priest; the one which supervises the entire sacrifice called life.
Brahman the Supreme alone perceives the world and conceives the heaven, earth and
Antariskha. Brahman is the mind.
When one stays established in the state of the Supreme Brahman, he crosses over all the
intermediate spaces, as he is everywhere; for everything is contained within Brahman as
its shine. This state alone is termed as Moksha or liberation.)
(What is the common essence in the mind (the person) and the Brahman state?
That will be the next topic that will be discussed.)
(7)
M?@,
,!SRJ_'9M A:,
,!A,

''. ,
@
M '

` !J,
& GN,


With how many kinds of Rk (sacred text) will the Hotr recite in this sacrifice
today?
Of three kinds
Which are those three?
The preliminary (recited before the performance of the sacrifice), the sacrificial
(recited at the performance of the sacrifice), and the eulogistic hymns (recited in
praise of deities at the end) as the third
What does he win through them? All this that is endowed with Praana
10
(Hotaa recites three kinds of hymns in the Yajna; one before the commencement of the
Sacrifice, one during the particular sacrifice; and some eulogistic hymns at the end f the
sacrifice.
Life is the Sacrifice; Hotr is the Jeeva.
Preliminary hymns are the merits and demerits that belong to his mind (AatiVaahika)
before taking birth as a physical body (AadhiBhoutika).
Sacrificial hymns are the merits and demerits connected to his Karmas (actions) during
his life.
Eulogistic hymns are the worlds favoured by the Jeeva after the death of the body.
Praana is the principle of vibration which manifests as the mind; and connects the
formless Jeeva to the form of the world, through these three recitations.)
(8)
M?@,
&SWJ '9> _:,

,. ,
''. ,

MM9
,9
c
` !J,

MM9 !J,
d N

,9 (
!J,
N (

c :
!J,
N :


How many kinds of oblations will the Advaryu (one who takes care of the
physical details of the sacrifice) offer in this sacrifice today?
Three
(What are the types of Karmas that decide the future worlds of the Jeeva?
Three Types are there - Saatvic, Raajasic and Taamasic.)
11

Those that blaze up on being offered; those that make a great noise when
offered; those that sink on being offered
(Those that blaze up (by pouring pure ghee and using dry wood)
The actions which are performed through the intellect endowed with reasoning and
discriminative powers lead to higher worlds; and through them to the state of liberation.
Mind is churned through Vichaara; butter of knowledge is obtained; heated by
detachment it turns into ghee. When actions are performed through this state of mind, the
world shines forth as Brahman only.)
(Those that make noise (by pouring flesh and meat)

The actions which are performed for the well-being of the flesh piece called the body are
filled with the noise of anxiety and agitations; and block the silence of the Brahman state;
they lead to successive states of births and deaths, for a prolonged time.
Flesh and meat are what makes the inert physical body. One, who is attached to it, is
bound by the duties of families, offspring, and their welfare. He desires pleasures here
and hereafter. His world is full of noise because his mind cannot be silent even for a
fraction of a second. He is beset with worries and anxieties. He is caught in the
succession of births and deaths. He just goes on from one identity to another, carried
helplessly through the flood of life-experiences.)
(Those that make the fire sink down (by pouring milk, Soma juice)
The actions which are extremely selfish, injurious to others, belong to those whose minds
are steeped in complete ignorance. They take birth as lowly creatures that belong to the
earth, and go through inert lives without conscious understanding of anything, like
animals, birds, insects, trees, rocks etc.)
What does he win through them?
Through those that blaze up on being offered he wins the world of gods, for
the world shines as it were.
Through those that make a great noise when offered, he wins the world of
the manes, for the world is full of uproar.
Through those that sink on being offered, he wins the human world, for this
world is lower.
(Those who contemplate on Brahman only, all throughout the actions of the life, remain
in worlds that shine with knowledge.)
12
(9)
M?@,
,!S > !_,
,
, ,
9 9 (F
9 ,

Through how many gods does this Brahman from the Dakshina protect the
sacrifice today?
Through one
Which is that one?
Mind
Mind indeed is infinite, and infinite are the Vishva Devas.
Through this meditation, he wins an infinite world.
(In the ordinary sacrifice, a priest officiates seated on the right side, Dakshina)
(Dakshina (south) is the world; and Uttara (north) is Brahman-state.
Brahman shines as both the states of Uttara and Dakshina.
Gods are invoked by the priest to offer protection to the sacrifice without any obstacles.
In the life Yajna, how many Gods are invoked to protect it? One!
Mind alone is the deity that protects the Yajna of life.
Mind alone conceives the world through the senses according to the Vaasanaas (subtle
desires) that fill it.
Formless Brahman alone shines as this mind seated in Dakshina side, namely the form-
filled level of the world.
Mind is inert. It shines empowered by the Brahman.
Therefore Brahman alone is the shine of the world; and is the protector of the perceived
phenomenon. Brahman is infinite and one without a second.
Mind is not limited to one Jeeva. Brahman alone shines as all the minds as one.
All the gods are the shine of one Brahman only, which is infinite.
Brahman is infinite; mind is infinite; Devas that protect the world are just the essence of
Brahman. One who contemplates on the mind as Brahman is Brahman itself; he is
infinite.)
13
(10)
M?@,
&SS'> 'g ':,
,. ,
'''. ,
@
M '

' W&,
G @
M h '
` !J,
c
@
,
9A M S
'
F
, G
He said - Yaajnavalkya!
How many classes of hymns will the Udgaatr chant in this sacrifice today?
Three classes

Preliminary, sacrificial, and eulogistic as the third
Which are those that have reference to the individual Self (Aatman)?
Praana is the preliminary hymn, Apaana is the sacrificial hymn, and
Vyaana is the eulogistic hymn
What does he win through them?
Through the preliminary hymns, he wins the earth, through the sacrificial,
he wins the sky, and through the eulogistic hymns he wins the heaven.
Thereupon the Hotr Ashvala remained silent.
[Thus ends the First Braahmana section.]

14
(It has already been mentioned about the three types of recitations as connected to a Jeeva
going through a life-experience.
Udgaatr is the one who sings Saama.
Udgaatr is the one who is established in the Brahman state.
He sings always Saama in his life.
He sees the essence of Brahman alone in all perceived objects.
He sees everything as the shine of knowledge of Brahman.
Knowledge is taintless; it is not sadness or happiness.
Knowledge is pure.
Knower of Brahman sees everything as Knowledge only; and is not affected by the world
or its events.
His mind is always silent and unaffected as if asleep; yet awake.
What hymns does he sing?

Three types as any other Jeeva!
However they all have become Saama recitals for him.
His Jeevaness stays as destroyed completely.

He has no identity with the physical structure seen in the mirror.
He does not act in the level of the mind filled with attachment and anxieties.
He does not reach other worlds also, since he never dies.
How does he act through the body then?
Praana is the source of all life-perceptions.

For a Knower of Brahman, Praana is Brahman.
He acts from the level of the silent unattached state of Brahman.
He sees everything as Brahman, the Knowledge essence.
Others act from the level of the tainted mind namely the Moon and are drowned in
darkness all around. They act from the level of Avidyaa.
Knower of Brahman acts from the level of the sun, where knowledge alone is there
without any taint of darkness. He acts from the level of Vidyaa.
Apaana is the function, which removes all harmful things from the body.
It also refers to the breathing out of the air.
Knower of Brahman has removed all Vaasanaas and attachments out of his mind.
His mind is form of purity only.
He never identifies with the physical form and is always in the state of pure Brahman.
Vyaana is the function of Praana, which energies all parts of the body.
A Knower of Brahman is filled with Brahman only and is energized by that state always.
He sings Saama in the beginning; sings Saama in the performance of life-duties; he sings
Saama after the death of the body also.
Actually he sees no birth or death or life of the body.
He is always in the silent state of the Brahman, in whatever duty he is engaged in.
15
All the worlds are his, because he has attained the source-state of all.
There is nothing for him to attain anymore.
Earth, sky and heaven, have become one in him.
He sees no differentiation at all.
All gods are one in him.
The perceived world is his shine as Brahman; and he is not affected by any world scene
that he has to move through.
He is the Udgaatr, the Brahman.)
(Hotaashvala had no more questions. He sat down, accepting his defeat.)
(AARTABHAAGA QUESTIONS YAAJNAVALKYA)
(Grahas and Atigrahas are discussed here, which cause the bondage of a Jeeva.
Graha means that which extends to grasp; and Atigraha is that which gets grasped, but
holds sway over the Graha.
Graha also means that which perceives. )
(How does an individual gets bound?

Subtle organs move forth to seize and get seized by objects in turn.
Both became inseparable.
The perceptions holds on to the perceiving entity without leaving him till the death of the
body.
Grahas are - Praana, Vaak, Jihvaa, Cakshus, Shrotram, Manas, Hasta, Tvach; namely,
Vital force, speech, tongue, eyes, ears, mind, hands, skin
Corresponding Atigrahas are Apaana, Naaman, Rasa, Roopa, Shabda, Kaama, Karma and
Sparsha (Apaana, name, taste, form, sound, desire, action and touch.)
(1)
& J GH
>?@,
, j &,j ,
: j :,j ,
: j :,j ,
16
Then, AarthaBhaaga of the lineage of Jaratkaaru bean his interrogation.

He asked; Yaajnavalkya!
How many are the Grahas and how many are the Atigrahas?
There are eight Grahas and eight Atigrahas.
Which are those eight Grahas and eight Atigrahas?
(2)
G j
,j d

N 9k,
Praana is the Graha; it is controlled by the Apaana.

Through Apaana it smells the odours.
(Praana is the breathing function and Apaana is the discarding function.

Praana and Apaana functions both belong to the main Praana, the vibrating power of
Brahman.
Praana is the Graha; it contacts the outside world.
It is seized by Apaana; which brings in the outside world in the form of the smell.
Praana alone as the subtle sense of nose understands smell because of Apaana.
The two things unite together to produce the misconception in the mind; that there is an
object outside which has smell.)
(Actually the idea of outside is also a conception of the mind only.
If one meditates on the source of Praana and Apaana, the outgoing and ingoing breaths
which are the functions of Praana, his body identity will cease; and he will rest in the
formless Brahman.)
(3)
R j
B,j d

N 9!,
Vaak is the Graha; it is controlled by the name.

Through Vaak, one utters the names.
17
(Vaak is the function rising from within, which differentiates the objects through various
sounds; these sounds are understood by the mind as names denoting objects.
Names take over the organ of speech.
Mind differentiates objects through names uttered by the organ of speech.
Speech cannot exist without the words and meanings, which denote the objects of the
world.
The individual Jeeva, who is actually Brahman in essence, gets stuck to Vaak and name;
and identifies with a name and form.)
(4)
j
,j d

N 9,
Tongue is the Graha; it is controlled by the taste.

Through the tongue, one understands taste.
(Tongue is the function rising from within, which differentiates the objects through
various tastes; these tastes are understood by the mind as qualities belonging to the
objects. Taste takes over the organ of tongue.
Mind differentiates objects through tastes sensed by the organ of tongue.
A Jeeva is bound by the taste sensation.
It superimposes the idea of taste in the objects and gets attached to food, good and bad.)
(5)
X j
l,j d

N lm F,
Eye is the Graha; it is controlled by the form.

Through the eye, one sees forms.
(Eye is the function rising from within, which differentiates the objects through various
shapes; these shapes are understood by the mind as qualities belonging to the objects.
Shape takes over the organ of eye.
Mind differentiates objects through images sensed by the organ of eye.
Mind superimposes forms in the emptiness outside and is bound by these perceptions.
It can never understand anything that is without a form or name.)
18
(6)
C j
n ,j d

C N n9,

Ear is the Graha; it is controlled by the sound.

Through the ear, one hears sounds.
(Ear is the function rising from within, which differentiates the objects through various
sounds; these sounds are understood by the mind as qualities belonging to the objects.
Sound takes over the organ of ear.
Mind differentiates objects through the sounds sensed by the organ of ear.
Though the sound exists only in the ear, the mind superimposes sound as belonging to the
objects.)
(7)
N j
,j d

N 9
Mind is the Graha; it is controlled by the desire.

Through the mind, one desires objects of want.
(Mind is the function rising from within, which differentiates the objects through various
desires, as liked and disliked; these desired objects are understood by the mind as
pleasures belonging to the objects.
Desire takes over the organ of mind.
Mind differentiates objects as having varied types of pleasures through desires sensed by
all the senses of Knowledge.
Mind is made up of subtle Vaasanaas and it perceives the world which becomes a stage
for its Vaasanaa fulfillment.
It is pulled by desires here and there; and suffers like a man pulled by many ropes from
all sides.)
19
(8)
' j
J,j d

'V ` J ,
Hand is the Graha; it is controlled by the action

Through the hand, one performs actions.
(Hand is the organ of action; it is seized by the action.)
Desires make one do actions.
Believing in a world outside made of sensations only and not real objects, the mind
extends forth as a physical body (again made of sensations).
The hands move as willed by the mind, perform actions to gain the end of desire
fulfilment.
Actions become so much a part of life, that even for a second, a man cannot remain
without doing some action or other.
Senses and Praanas keep the Karmendriyas (hand etc) always on the move.
(9)
&R j
',j
o d

& N 'J9
&: j :,j
Skin is the Graha; it is controlled by the touch.

Through the skin one understands touch sensations.
(Skin is the function rising from within, which differentiates the objects through different
sensations of touch; these sensations of soft, hard etc are understood by the mind as
qualities belonging to the objects.
Touch takes over the organ of skin.
Mind differentiates objects through sensations of touch sensed by the organ of skin.
The skin covering the body is inert; but through this, the mind experiences the sensations
of touch. This sensation makes the Jeeva move through various objects with the idea of
differentiation. If the sense of touch was not there, even a sand particle cannot be held by
the fingers. )
20
(10)
>?@,
N O &9

'& ' &9!,

Since everything is the food for death.
Who is that deity for whom death becomes the food?
(It is understood that a Jeeva is bound by these Grahas and Atigrahas.

After struggling in the life for just the fulfilment of desires through senses, a man ends up
in death only.
Everything wastes away into nothing.
All actions and enterprises vanish off as nothing.
Which deity should be worshipped, to conquer this death?)
RX &

9
J
& ,
Fire is death.
Death is the food for the water.
He (who knows thus) conquers death.
(A Jeeva identified with the body, lives a body and dies as a body.
The individual Self chasing the pleasures is the fire that blazes high with experiences; and
dies when the body dies.
Water destroys the fire.
When one experiences the essence of Brahman within, he conquers death.
Staying as identified with Brahman, one becomes immortal; and does not die along with
the body.)
21
(11)
>?@,

!p '&G
D9& D9& D9& ,
When this Knower dies, do his Praanas go up from him or not?
(Even when a man is liberated, others around him see the death of his body.
At such a time, what happens to his subtle senses and Praanas which form his subtle
body? Does the liberated man get bound by them again?)
, >?@
9 Hq, W,
W

Yaajnavalkya said;
No! They merge in him only; the body swells, is inflated and in that state
lies dead.
(Since the liberated man is one with the Brahman, he has no identity with the Praanas or
organs. They do not project out again; but merge into him like waves inside the ocean.
For the others, the body will swell with air and remain motionless.
A liberated man never knows death ever; for his body dies the very moment he is one
with Brahman. He lives as Brahman only, after realization.
Others see his body and its actions; he remains as a witness only for the actions of the
body. )
(12)
>?@,

!p ` ,
When this Knower dies, what is it that does not leave him?
(After his death, what is left back?)
22
,
9
9 (F
9 ,
Yaajnavalkya said;
Name!
Name indeed is infinite.
Vishva Devas are infinite.
He (who knows thus) wins thereby an infinite world.
(Name alone is left back as belonging to the Vaak functioning in others.

A man just becomes a memory in other minds, after his death, whether liberated or
ignorant.
Name is a word with meaning.
Name refers to an individual with form.
Deities and Gods are also understood as having names and forms.
If one contemplates on the source if this name, one will understand that the name is
bondage and Brahman, the source essence is nameless and formless.
A Knower is free of the mind which conceives names as bound to the forms.
He never is bound by names and forms again.
He never has the idea of differentiation.
He sees the source of Grahas and Atigrahas as Brahman only and remains firm in the seat
of the Self.
Brahman the source of all names is infinite; so are the deities with names and forms who
are Brahman in essence.
One who knows this wins infinite world; because he has understood his true essence.)
(13)
>?@,
' '
'R
P,
G, F9[ , N C c
d &
_,, '9 P N &F ,
@
,
23
When the man dies,
his Vaak enters the fire; Praana enters the air; eye in the sun; ear into the
directions; body into the Prthvee; individual self into Aakaasha; hairs into
herbs; hair on the head into trees; blood and seed into the water;
then where is that man?
(AarthaBhaaga now wonders after the death of the body, all the subtle organs also enter
into their sources. There is nothing left back.
If the man has not realized yet, then where is anything left over as his identity that can
lead him to the state of liberation? Or how does he continue to his next incarnation when
nothing of him is left back, except his name in the minds of others?)
B 'J
' N:
,
(Yaajnavalkya said)
Hey good man! AartaBhaaga! Give me your hand.
Let us discuss this between ourselves.
We cannot do this in a crowd.
(Mimaamsakas believed in Gods and heaven; Buddhists in Shoonya, Chaarvaakas in

materialism and so on.
There are many theories in vogue about what happens to a man after death.
Therefore Yaajnavalkya and AarthaBhaaga move away from the crowd and discuss
various theories and come to the conclusion that Karma alone was left back.)
&DB 9D
They both went out and discussed the topic between them.

J

&G J &GB
s
s
J ,
,
24
What they talked about was Karma.

What they praised was Karma.
A man becomes meritorious by performing meritorious deeds; and wicked
by wicked deeds.
(They both concluded that a man after the death of the body is just a collection of results
of his good and bad deeds. That alone carry forward and push into other body-identities,
good or bad. Therefore, a man who performs good actions ends up in bodies which enjoy
the merits of his actions; and a man who performs wicked acts suffers the demerits of his
actions.
The body and identity connected to the body dies along with the body.
A nameless formless emptiness with the bundle of merits and demerits produces another
body, another identity and another flood of actions, bound by Grahas and Atigrahas.
A man who realizes the state of Brahman through proper reasoning power is untouched
by both good and bad actions. He is not bound by actions, or Grahas and Atigrahas. He
stays as the essence of Brahman and never again suffers the bondage of any birth or
death.)
& J
, S
Thereupon, AarthaBhaaga of the lineage of Jaratkaaru kept silent.
[Thus ends the second Braahmana section.]

25
(BHUJYU QUESTIONS YAAJNAVALKYA)
(1)
MJ
, GH
M?@,
[ Jt
' P'

'uN 9Jd

H
,
&93
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Then, Bhujyu, the grandson of Lahya questioned.

He said; Yaajnavalkya!
We wandered in Madra country as students.
We came to the house of Patancala of the lineage of Kaapi.
His daughter had been possessed by a Gandharva.
We asked him- Who are you?
He said- I am Sudhanvaan, in the lineage of Angirasa.
We asked him about the limits of all worlds and told him
Where were the descendents of Pareekshit?
Where were the descendents of Pareekshit?

I ask you, hey Yaajnavalkya, where were the descendents of Pareekshit?
(Since what Gandharva related to us was a very secret knowledge, you Yaajnavalkya do
not know of it. If you already know that secret knowledge, explain to us; or find yourself
as defeated.)
26

H9 SF H9,
@ 9F H9,
He said; Gandharva must have told you that they went where the
performers of the Horse-sacrifice go.
(Bhujyu asked again)

Where do the performers of the Horse-sacrifice go to?
(Upanishads always have managed to conceal the Supreme Knowledge in ordinary day to
day language. Very few had the capacity to see through those words to arrive at the real
meaning intended by these Mantras.
Horse Sacrifice is highly celebrated among all kings of the yore.
However, in Brhadaaranyaka Upanishad, Horse-sacrifice refers to the slicing of

ignorance in the form of the perceived world. (a/shva - that which is ever changing)
Pareekshit was the last king of the Lunar dynasty and was present when KaliYuga
overlapped DvaaparaYuga. This king has nothing to do with the Upanishad Mantras.
The term Pareekshit means-One who possesses all that is around him (pari/ksi).
Therefore in this context of debate on Brahman, the word Pareekshit means Brahman
who possesses all that is around him as his manifestation.
Who are Pareekshits descendents?

All those who realize Brahman are Brahman in essence; and so are the true descendants
of Brahman, the Pareekshit; for they have performed the Horse-sacrifice of destroying
(the reality of) the perceived world (DrshyaJagat).
Therefore, Where do the performers of the Horse-sacrifice go to? - means -

Where do those who realize Brahman go to, when their mortal coil falls down
lifeless?)
27
(2)
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Thirty two times the space covered by the suns chariot in a day makes this
world (entire manifest Jagat).
(Loka is that which gets perceived by the senses and mind.)
Around it, covering twice that area is the Prthvee.

Around the Prthvee, covering twice the area is the ocean.
As is the edge of a sharp knife, or the wing of a fly, so is there - just that
much opening at the junction (of the two halves of the cosmic shell).
(Through that they go out.)
Indra became Suparna and gave them to Vaayu.

Vaayu held them within himself and deposited them where the previous
performers of the Horse sacrifice went to.
Thus did the Gandharva praise, Vaayu.
Vaayu alone is the diversity of individuals; and Vaayu is the aggregate.
He who knows this conquers the death.
Then Bhujyu, the grandson of Lahya kept silent.

[Thus ends the Third Braahmana section.]
28
(Brahman is formless.
Its shine alone appears as the perceived world called Jagat.
Who sees it?
Nobody; but Brahman alone stays both as the perceiver and perceived, since there exists
nothing other than Brahman.
Brahman alone swells up as the Jagat; that is why That gets referred to, by the term
Brahman. (Brhm/to swell)
Does Brahmaanda exist as a solid reality made of solid elements?

Brahmaanda, the Cosmic egg is as much real as what you conceive in a dream; and is
made of pure emptiness alone.
Wake up from the dream; and everything that stayed as real in the dream is gone off in a
puff, instantly. None of the palaces and forests you saw in a dream, exist as solid objects
anywhere in the waking world, when you wake up from that dream.
The dream-world is made of the mind-conceptions only.
So also, the waking-state called Jagat is made of mind-conceptions only.
A Knower of Brahman has woken up from the dream called Jagat.

Till his mortal coil is seen as dead by the others around him, he also has the perception of
the world like everyone else; but he sees it not assolid and real, but as emptiness of
Brahman-expanse alone.
He remains as Brahman himself and watches his life-dream with the full knowledge of its
unreal nature.
So, where do the liberated ones go after the death of the bodies?
Nowhere!
They are like pots sunk in ocean waters.
Inside and outside there is only the Brahman state, like the pot has only the ocean-water
inside and outside. When the pot breaks, the ocean never feels it at all.
For a knower of Brahman, his body is like a pot sunk in the ocean of Brahman.
He never knows of it at all.
Pot is non-existent for the ocean; body is non-existent for the Knower of Brahman.
If still you pose a question as to where the Knowers of Brahman Pareekshit descendents
go to, then here is how it can be explained to the ignorant minds, who cannot think of
anything without the ideas of space.
Thirty two times the space covered by the suns chariot in a day makes this world.
If Brahman has to be described as a solid space, how big it could be..?

Unimaginable!
If you think the sky alone is the biggest space that can be imagined by your little mind,
then imagine the space travelled in a day by the Suns chariot for thirty two times.
29
What is suns chariot?

The chariot is the perceiving mind which is endowed with the conception of a physical
body. Sun is the witness state of the Knower of Brahman.
Why thirty two?

Ten sense organs, mind, intellect, ten directions, five elements and their subtle essences;
these alone make up the world.
So Jagat is that much: or that much as the suns chariot going round the sky-region thirty
two times.
in a day
day refers to knowledge shine of the Knower of Brahman.
Around it, covering twice that area is the Prthvee.
What is Prthvee?
Prthvee cannot be translated as earth.
Earth in modern vocabulary means this earth planet.
This tiny planet is not even equal to a dust particle in size, in the vast space of the
universe that contains it. This universe again is nothing but one tiny Trasarenu (dust
mote floating in sunlight) in Brahman shine.
Prthvee means the spread out land or stage where Vaasanaas unfold as perceptions.
(Prth/to spread)
What are Vaasanaas?

Vaasanaas are subtle wants or latent desires that rise up from Brahmaa, the Creator of a
particular world-creation. (There are countless Brahmaas and creations that rise up like
bubbles in the ocean of Brahman.)
Our lives are just the arenas of space and time produced by the Vaasanaas.
This stage of Vaasanaa-unfoldment is known as Prthvee.
There is no universal time or space experienced by all at once as absolute realties. Each
mind creates its own personal field of experience with its own time and space
measurements.
The dreams get experienced differently in their own minds by all the persons who are
asleep in a room; so also, the world experiences are also experienced differently by every
one in a world-existence.
Each dream is private and personal; so is the perceived world different for different
minds. We live inside a world as agreed upon by words (Vaak); not inside a solid world
made of elements.
30
Therefore
If material space can be imagined as huge as a path traversed by the suns chariot thirty
two times in a day, that is the size of the perceived world.
Now imagine again, Prthvee as double that size (though Prthvee is just the world-stage
perceived in the ignorant minds).
Why double?
Never can one fully experience the Jagat-space all over; there is always some space that
stretches out never reaching its end ever.
After all Prthvee is Brahman alone; how can it have any end?
However much you traverse along the space, it will extend as if doubled in size.
Around the Prthvee, covering twice the area is the ocean.
What is ocean?
Ocean is a huge collection of waters.
What are waters in Upanishad language?
Experiences!
Waters are never-ending like the stretching surface of the ocean.

Experiences also never end, for the ignorant minds.
Vaasanaa unfolds the Prthvee, the stage for experiences; but the minds steeped in hatred
and attachment, fail the purpose of fulfilling the Vaasanaa; instead they gather up more
Vaasanaas in their life-path; and through ignorance produce more Prthvee to be crossed
over.
The process goes on and on through many births and the end never gets reached.
The ignorant exist as constant dream-identities, going from one dream to another, without
ever waking up.
Experiences can be different for different minds depending on the varied levels of
knowledge gained by them.
Oceans are seven in that count.
If you enjoy suffering through anxiety more than the happiness of the anxiety-less
state, you have the salt ocean.
If you have only pleasures at your door-step without any suffering as in Gandharva Loka,
you have the ocean of sugarcane juice (without stickiness of course).
If you have the silent states of contemplation as your nature, then you have the curd
ocean.
If you have the intellectual capacity to churn the experiences and rise up higher in
knowledge, then you have the ghee ocean.
If your experiences are very pure and pleasant, then your ocean is filled with milk (of
course not the milk produced from the udders of cows).
If you have exhilarating experiences as with a spouse like Shiva, Naaraayana and other
Siddhas, you will have the ocean of wine (these experiences do not belong to the inert
chemical world of earth planet).
31
If you experience pure Brahman without any narrative made up by the mind, then you
have the ocean of pure waters.
Of course, if a person believes in the real existence of these oceans; and wants to have a
sight seeing trip, he can see them as solid oceans each double the size of the other. Rising
from the lowest of all is the salt ocean; and the milk ocean stays at the top.
Actually the description of the manifest universe of Brahman is like this;

Seven oceans, seven islands and seven mountains each double the size of the previous
one, in a spherical form, rising from within the previous one.
On top of it all is the Meru Mountain with its golden shine. It is not made of gold; but its
shine is so thick that it is like solidified lustre.
After crossing over the Prthvee and ocean-stretches you will reach the great chasm of
darkness or ignorance double the size of the ocean.
This darkness is Aloka. Nothing is seen here.
The huge hill of Lokaaloka (Loka and Aloka) covers all this.
Though it is not a solid mountain; but only the perceived and non-perceived state of a
mind; it looms up as a solid rocky mountain for the ignorant.
For the knower, it is like a mist rising from Brahman. It does not ever block his path.
This Lokaaloka is so huge that every atom of this gigantic hill contains a world within it.
Each of the worlds again contains worlds inside its own atoms.
There is no count of worlds that can exist within this Lokaaloka hill.
As is the edge of a sharp knife, or the wing of a fly, so is there just that much opening at
the junction (of the two halves of the cosmic shell).
You have to imagine Prthvee stretching all around you; then the ocean surrounding it;
and the dark chasm surrounding it; and then all that inside a huge Brahmaanda egg!
This egg was broken by Brahmaa when he started the process of creation.
This Brahmaa is a concentrated form all the Brahmaas.
He is Brahman manifest as Brahmaa.
The egg broke into two halves; the top one became the sky (dyau), the bottom one
became the Prthvee and the intermediate space was Antariksha.
Why Brahmaa broke into two pieces?

That was the point where one appears as if it is two.
It is the state of delusion and differentiation.
No Jeeva can get out of this egg-space.

It is very a tiny gap; and sharp like a razor. One may get caught by many misconceived
theories and get into worse states of darkness and ignorance; that is why it is dangerous
like crossing through sharp razor- like space.
32
Slightest disturbance in the mind, even as much as a flutter of the wing of a tiny fly; then
you swerve down from your Knowledge state and fall, one knows not where!
Even the idea that I am a Knower of Brahman will end you up in another worldly
existence. One can easily end up in any world-existence in the Lokaaloka hill teeming
with worlds; or fall into any ocean or mountain or island; or even start falling down the
chasm without ever reaching the bottom.
Brahman does not know that he is Brahman; Brahman is not an object of Knowledge; it
is just an unperturbed state of silent emptiness of knowledge.
If Brahman knows that it is Brahman, then the world shines forth as its knowledge!
A Knower of Brahman does not know that he is knower; but just is as Knowledge.
A man who has woken up from the dream does not know that he is awake; but is
awake; that is all!
A Knower of Brahman is Brahman without knowing that he is Brahman.
He is just that; without the fluttering of any thought!
He is just the silent state, though engaged in his duties of the world.
The ignorant keep wandering inside the broken shell-pieces, forever and ever, engaged in
fulfilling Vaasanaas.
They are in the dark chasm sometimes; caught in the waves of the oceans sometimes.
They keep appearing and disappearing in the countless worlds of the Lokaaloka hill.
They have no fixed identities; and have no freedom to choose their experiences.
Experiences experience them as objects!
The Brahmaanda shell is a Chit-Brahmaanda, which contains the Aakaasha, Antariksha,

and Prthvee.
It is the entire shine of Brahman described as Brahmaanda shell.
(Through that they go out.)
Knowers of Brahman escape through the tiny gap between the shell pieces and enter the
Brahmaakaasha.
This Brahmaakaasha is Brahman-state without perturbation.
These descendents of Pareekshit stay as Brahman alone.
From this level, they act as any identity in any world in the Lokaaloka hill, with full
freedom; or need not take any identity also.
They are ever free and shine as Brahman.
What can ever bind a Brahman-Knower?
Indra became Suparna (bird with excellent wings) and gave them to Vaayu.
Vaayu held them within himself and deposited them where the previous performers of the
Horse sacrifice went to.
33
Indra is the mind who controls the senses.

Suparna (golden bird with excellent wings) is the intellect shining with knowledge; and
is endowed with the excellent wings of Viveka and Vichaara.
This Suparna gave them to Vaayu.
Vaayu is Praana.
Through the process of proper reasoning, a man withdraws himself to the Praana level,
which is taintless Brahman.
Mind, the shine of Praana-force remains silent without perturbation.
The Knowers of Brahman remain without the perturbation of the mind; in the Praana
level,
Thus did the Gandharva praise, Vaayu.
Such a state of a Knower, who acts from the taintless Praana level only, is indeed
praiseworthy. He never acts as the ignorant mind.
Vaayu alone is the diversity of individuals; and Vaayu is the aggregate.
Vaayu is Praana; the vibrating power of Brahman which shines as the Jagat.
Vaayu is the contact principle that divides as it were, Brahman into various names and
forms through Vaak.
Vaayu is formless Brahman and is the essence of all names and forms.
Vaayu is the mind in the ignorant.
Praana is mind; mind is Jagat.
Praana is Brahman when the mind is silent.
Brahman alone is!
He who knows this conquers the death.

34
(USHASTA QUESTIONS YAAJNAVALKYA)
(1)

'FD GH
>?@,
&S & J9 hv ,
Then, Ushasta, son of Chakra, questioned.

Explain to me that Brahman that is immediate and not indirect, the
Aatman within all.
(Aatman means the essence of each individual self.

Aatman is the common essence (Sattaa Saamaanya) in all the individual selves and the
objects perceived by them.
Minds may differ; but this understanding consciousness called Aatman is the same in
all. Aatman means - that which knows that which understands that which breathes
( m ) the individual existence which understands limitations as its Knowledge-
shine.
Brahman is all that the knowledge is. It knows itself as Brahman also.
This knowledge of itself brings in the knowledge of limitations.
The knowledge of limitations brings about differentiation.
This differentiation is the so-called perceived world.
Therefore, Brahman is Aatman who shines as limited knowledge.
There is no difference between Brahman and Aatman, like there is no difference between
the ocean and the wave; or the mirror and reflection; or the gem and its shine.
If Brahman can be compared to the sun, then Aatman is the sunlight that falls through
tiny windows called the minds; and appears as if limited by space and time boundaries.
Aatman is loved by everyone by the name of I, as a direct and immediate experience
(Saakshaat); as direct and immediate as any object seen in front.
Aatman is not actually directly perceived by the senses; it is not Pratyaksha.
It is not indirectly perceived as through inference or as a logical derivation; it is not
Paroksha; it is not indirectly known.
It is not Pratyaksha; not Paroksha (directly or indirectly known).
It is Aparoksha; it is not direct, not indirect; but is not not-indirect; some knowledge
which is beyond the grasp of senses, mind and intellect.
One just knows that he exists without logically deriving at this truth.
What he thinks himself to be depends on his ignorance level!)
Aatman is unaffected by the idiotic superimpositions of the deluded intellect.)
35
& J9
>?@ J9
(Yaajnavalkya said)
This one is the Aatman within all.
(Ushasta questioned)
Which is within all, Yaajnavalkya?
(What is that which is called Aatman, which is commonly present in all objects?)
G Gm, & J9
, & J9
h h, & J9
,, & J9
& J9
(Yaajnavalkya said)
That which breathes through the Praana is the Aatman which is in all.
That which moves downward through the Apaana is the Aatman which is in
all. That which pervades through the Praana is the Aatman which is in all.
That which goes upwards through the Udaana is the Aatman which is in all.
That is the Aatman which is within all.
(What is commonly present in all? Let us analyze.

Praana with its five functions of Praana, Apaana, Vyaana, Udaana, Samaana is the
Aatman, the common essence in all.
Praana is the main power of vibration in each individual self. It is the power which acts as
the mind also in revealing perceptions. It is the contact-principle which connects the
unperturbed Brahman to the perturbation called the world-perception.
This Praana is differentiated as five types according to its functions observed in a
physical body.
Praana - breathing
Apaana - removal of waste products from the body through lungs and excretory systems
Vyaana - expansion and contraction processes all over the body
Udaana - control of higher centers as used in speech, emotions etc
Samaana - digestion, cell-metabolism, heat regulation etc)
Therefore this Praana which is taintless is the common essence of all.
That alone supports the life-functions of the body.)
36
(2)
'FD
(
,
ShN: ,
S & J9 hv,
Then, Ushasta, son of Chakra said;

You have given the details as one describes, this is a cow, this is a horse
(by defining some characters only).
Explain to me that Brahman that is immediate and direct, the Aatman within
all.
& J9
>?@ J9
(Yaajnavalkya said)
(Ushasta questioned)
(What is that which is called Aatman, which is commonly present in all?)
w[J: F
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37
(Yaajnavalkya said)
You cannot see that, which sees the seeing.
You cannot hear that, which hears the hearing.
You cannot think of that, which is the thinker that makes possible the
thinking process.
You cannot understand that, which understands the understanding.
Whatever is other than this, perishes.
(This Aatman cannot be described by words.

It has no name or form, which can bind it through Vaak.
Then what is it? How to identify it?
All the objects of the world are understood through the medium of senses only.
We see the image of the object; we recognize the sounds connected to the object; we
sometimes recognize the object by smell and taste. We understand its existence by
touching it.
If senses (including the mind) were removedthere will be no perceiver and the
perceived at all. Only Brahman, the empty expanse of knowledge will remain as it is.
All the senses bring in the sensations as the proof of the existence of the world; and the
mind recognizes the objects as with particular names and forms.
Rather it is the mind that produces the sensations; and calls it a world filled with names
and forms.
Can Aatman be cognized in the same manner as cognizing a world of names and forms?
No!
Aatman cannot be sensed by any senses; because it is the very understanding power
which understands the world through the senses.
Aatman cannot be thought by the mind, because it is the very understanding power which
makes thoughts appear in the mind.
You cannot understand Aatman like you understand a cow or horse, or logically infer
it, because it is the very understanding power which makes possible all that which is
understood.
This consciousness, the principle of knowing is Aatman that exists in all as the common
essence.
Objects perceived by senses perish; thoughts in the mind appear and disappear.
Everything perishes; but that which understands this perishing also, does not perish ever.)
Thereupon, Ushasta, son of Chakra kept silent.
[Thus ends the Fourth Braahmana section.]

38
(KAHOLA QUESTIONS YAAJNAVALKYA)
(1)
GH
>?@,
S & J9 h,
Then, Kahola, son of Kushitaka, questioned.

Explain to me that Brahman that is immediate and not indirect, the Aatman
within all.
& J9
>?@ J9
(Yaajnavalkya said)
(Kahola questioned)
(What is that which is called Aatman, which is commonly present in all objects?)
( &&
,
(Yaajnavalkya said)
That which transcends hunger, thirst, grief, delusion and death.
(This Aatman is different from the physical body which is tormented by hunger and
thirst; is different from the mind which feels grief and joy; is different from the intellect
which gets deluded by incorrect understanding.
This Aatman does not ever cease to be.)
39
& (N&

F (&F
h&
!O 9
Knowing this very Aatman, the Knowers of Brahman renounce the desire
for sons, desire for wealth, desire for worlds; and live like recluses.
(This Aatman cannot be meditated upon by the mind, cannot be understood by the
intellect; cannot be sensed by the senses.
This Aatman is the inner essence of each and every individual Jeeva.
One can attain that supremely sacred state if and only the senses, mind, intellect remain
quiet. When there is no perturbation at all, that unperturbed state alone remains; that is
Aatman.
When a person experiences this tranquil state, he understands the perishing nature of the
world; and renounces the desire for sons, wealth and other worlds.
He renounces all his possessions and lives as a recluse till his body falls.)

(&
(&

That which is the desire for the sons, is the desire for wealth; that which is
the desire for wealth is the desire for the worlds; for these are just desires
(one being but a means to the other).
(A person desires a son in order to continue his family and to save himself from the hell
named Pun. A Knower of Brahman transcends all hells and heavens; he has no fear of
any hell, and also no need for any son.
Since he has no son or family, he does not covet wealth also.
He has no desire for other worlds also.
He is free of all desires. He has no duties that bind him.
He has nothing more to achieve.)
'S s& ,(JS ? ,:

? s& ,(JS ,

,(JS
40
Therefore (one who wants to be) the Knower of Brahman must achieve
expertise in scriptures; and live upon the strength which comes from
knowledge.
Having understood the strength and knowledge, he becomes silent within;
then he understands what is silence and non-silence.
Then he becomes the Knower of Brahman
(A person who wants to experience the state of Brahman should methodically study
scriptures that instruct the Knowledge of Brahman; and by constant reasoning process
understand the instructions; practice them.
Through faith in the instructions of the scriptures, he must renounce all that is non-
Aatman and search for the Aatman within.
Then he becomes silent within.
This silence is not the silence of noise as pertaining to any sense of hearing.
This silence is the silence obtained by true knowledge, where one understands everything
else as perishable and unreal, other than his true essence, the Aatman.
It is the silent state of truth, where one understands the waters in the mirage are unreal
and no more hankers after it, where one understands that snake seen in the rope is unreal
and no more fears it.
A Knower of Brahman does not maintain any desire for the perishing objects of the
world. He finds no pleasure in any object.
He understands that the inert objects have no quality of happiness hidden within them.
He has found the source of all joys within himself.
He understands silence and non-silence.
Though he moves among all objects cognized by his six senses (mind included), he is not
affected by their presence or absence. The world is seen by him as the shine of Aatman.
He sees silence within and silence outside.
The reality seen in the world is silenced by true knowledge.)
'
'&w
9J
(Kahola questioned)
How does the Knower of Brahman conduct himself in the world?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
In whatever way he feels fit.
Whatever is other than this, perishes.
41
(A Knower of Brahman is freed of all duties. He has nothing to want for; or nothing to
achieve any more.
Then, what should be his conduct like?
It does not matter how or in what makes he makes a living in the world.
He does not ever transgress the rules laid by the scriptures.
If he is a king, he continues to live as a king; if he is a householder, he continues to live
as a householder; or he renounces everything and lives as a mendicant, seeking a life of
solitude.
He is free to do what he likes to do.
Any perceived surrounding has no effect on him, since he has burnt all perceptions in the
fire of knowledge.
He exists as Brahman only, whether he is with the body or without a body.
In his level, his body is non-existent only.
Aatman is deathless; all things other than Aatman perish.
A knower of Brahman is deathless.
Death of the body is not experienced by him; since he has burnt it already with the fire of
Knowledge.)
Thereupon, Kahola, son of Kushitaka, kept silent.
,
[Thus ends the Fifth Braahmana section.]
(GAARGI QUESTIONS YAAJNAVALKYA)
(Gaargi, the female Sage is as intelligent as well-versed as Yaajnavalkya himself.

She is also a Knower of Brahman like Yaajnavalkya. She is revered by King Janaka and
all other Sages of his times, for her courage and boldness in speaking out the truth. She is
the only one who has enough wisdom to argue with Yaajnavalkya.
If she is defeated by Yaajnavalkya in this debate, then no one can stop Yaajnavalkya
from declaring himself as the winner.)
42
y @ GH
Then, Gaargi, the daughter of Vacaknu, questioned.
9?@,
She said; Yaajnavalkya!
N JP' G '9 ? F GF,

If all this is interwoven and pervaded by water,
then, what is this water interwoven and pervaded by?
(Whatever is perceived by the senses and mind is nothing but the experience.
A Jeeva is nothing but a river of experiences, good and bad.
World is made of experiences only.
However, what acts as the support of this experience?)
y,
By Vaayu, O Gaargi!
(Vaayu includes also the fire.)
(Principle of air (not the air that fills your lungs; but the shine of Praana) with touch as
its essence; for it connects the formless Brahman to the form of the world; Vaayu
supports the experience called the world. It makes the individual Jeeva, the fire to burn
fiercely.
More the attachment to the world; more fiercely does the fire burn as the Jeeva.
Air helps the fire burn; fire consumes the fuel (Oshadhis/plants) produced by water.
Oshadhis are the drying up objects of the world, which keep on perishing moment to
moment.)
(All the functions connected to the body, mind and intellect are supported by Vaayu.)
'9 F GF,
What is this Vaayu interwoven and pervaded by?
(What is the support of this Vaayu? What pervades it all over?)
9A y,
By the worlds of intermediate space, O Gaargi!
43
(Inter-mediate space is not the sky filled with clouds!

Vaayu connects the intermediate space between the knowledge of Brahman above and
the field of experience below.
When the mind cognizes objects, it has to jump from one object to another very fast and
make an instant connection to all the cognition-points. This connecting capacity alone is
referred to by the term Vaayu.
In-between the cognition points experienced by the mind, there is a minute gap of
perception-less interval; which is just the state of Praana, the taintless shine of Aatman.
No thoughts exist there. It is empty. It is the Antariksha.
It is not the state of the Brahman; it is not the state of the perception; but in-between.
If one contemplates on this state and stays silent; he will experience the state of Aatman
and reach the unperturbed state.)
'9 ?9A F GF,

What are these worlds of intermediate space interwoven and pervaded by?
(What is the support of this in-between state? What pervades it all over?)
9J y,
By the worlds of Gandharvas, O Gaargi!
(The in-between state of cognition is pervaded by the agitations of the mind.

One can never silence the thoughts to get a glimpse even of that Antariksha.
Mind is filled with illusory thoughts. Delusion alone acts as its support.
Mind alone creates ideas of likes and dislikes and suffers for no reason.
It understands everything with a misconceived interpretation.
It is like a child which imagines a ghost and then gets tormented by it.)
'9 9J F GF,
What are these worlds of Gandharvas interwoven and pervaded by?
(What is the delusion pervaded by?)
N& y,
By the worlds of Aaditya, O Gaargi!
(Aadityas are the years, months, fortnights and days which take away everything that
belong to the Jeeva. This conception of time is produced in the mind through delusion.
This limits the Jeeva and makes him believe in death as his end.)
44
'9 ?N& F GF,

What are these worlds of Aaditya interwoven and pervaded by?
(What is Time pervaded by?)
9[ y,
By the worlds of Moon, O Gaargi!
(Moon oozes out nectar.

Mind oozes out the bliss of the Aatman.
It is bliss-state when the mind is silent.
Silenced mind without agitations is Praana; this taintless state of Praana is Aatman;
Aatman is Brahman; Brahman is bliss.
Like the shine of moon spread out everywhere, the mind superimposes bliss on all inert
objects and enjoys the bliss as if from outside, in tiny droplets.
Actually the bliss rises when the desire is silenced; not because the object has been
contacted. If objects are not contacted by the mind, it is always in bliss state.)
(Mind desires objects of the outside as if they are made up of bliss. This is the delusion it
is innate with. This want of pleasures creates the sense of time.)
'9 9[ F GF,
What are these worlds of Moon interwoven and pervaded by?
(What is the mind-state pervaded by?)
y,
By the worlds of Stars, O Gaargi!
(The mind is filled with the fixed ideas of body-identity, ego, solid world of sense
objects, absolute time, and absolute space etc; which like star constellations surround the
mind in its state of ignorance.)
'9 F GF,
What are these worlds of Stars interwoven and pervaded by?
(What are these ideas supported by?)

45
y,
By the worlds of Devas, O Gaargi!
(Thoughts which flash forth continuously!)
'9 F GF,
What are these worlds of Devas interwoven and pervaded by?
(What are thoughts supported by?)
9[ y,
By the worlds of Indra, O Gaargi!
(Thoughts are supported by the mind which controls the senses!)
'9 ?9[ F GF,

What are these worlds of Indra interwoven and pervaded by?
(What is the mind with its sense-servants supported by?)
G, y,
By the worlds of Prajaapati O Gaargi!
(By Vaasanaas; the subtle desires; the producers of Jeeva off-springs!)
'9 G, F GF,
What are these worlds of Prajaapati interwoven and pervaded by?
(What are Vaasanaas supported by?)
y,
By the worlds of Brahmaa, O Gaargi!
(By the collective state of Viraat-Brahmaa!

Brahman shining as the world is called Brahmaa, the Viraat, whose body is the world;
and whose mind is the Jeevas.)
46
'9 F GF,
What are these worlds of Brahmaa interwoven and pervaded by?
(What is Brahmaa supported by?)

cJ ,G
J h
,GF9 ,H!
cJ ,GA,
Yaajnavalkya said;
Do not push your enquiry too far, lest your head should fall off.
You are questioning about a deity who should not be reasoned about.
Do not push your enquiry too far.
(That which supports Brahmaa is the Supreme Brahman; it cannot be made into an object
of reasoning.
Brahman state should be understood by proper methods of studying scriptures and
contemplation. Such a state cannot be logically proved in an assembly and be degraded
like this.)
cJ @h

, :
Thereupon, Gaargi, the daughter of Vacaknu, kept silent.
[Thus ends the Sixth Braahmana section.]

47
(AARUNI QUESTIONS YAAJNAVALKYA)
(1)
5
m GH
>?@,
[ : ' P' >
zJ 9Jd

H
,
&9 J ,
Then, Uddaalaka, son of Aruna, questioned.

In Madra, we lived in the house of Patancala of the lineage of Kaapi, and
were studying the scriptures on Sacrifices.
His wife had been possessed by a Gandharva.
We asked him- Who are you?
He said- I am Kabandha, son of Atharvaan.
& P >F
& & P &
F
Jm
, wn, 9,
& P z9,
He said to Patancala Kaapya and others who studied the scriptures on

Sacrifices;
Kaapya! Do you know that Sootra (thread) by which this world, and the
other world, and all the beings are held together?
Then Patancala Kaapya said Bhagavan! I do not know that!

48
& P >F
& & P 9J!
Jm ,
9 ,
& P 9,

Sacrifices;
Kaapya! Do you know that Antaryaami (Inner controller) by which this
world, and the other world, and all the beings are controlled?
Then Patancala Kaapya said Bhagavan! I do not know that!
& P >F
&P
(S& 9J!!,
( ( (
( (
&( J(N,

Sacrifices;
Kaapya! He who knows that Sutra and the Internal ruler as mentioned
above, knows Brahman, knows the worlds, knows the Devas, knows the
Vedas, knows beings, knows the Aatman, knows everything.
V
H&& >?@
(S9'
9J!
J
(,:,
He (Gandharva) explained that to them.

I know it.
If you Yaajnavalkya do not know that Sutra and the Internal Ruler, and still
take away the cows that belong to the Knower of Brahman, then your head
will fall off.
49
&
9J!!,
(Yaajnavalkya said)
I know Gautama, that Sutra and the Internal Ruler.
FSS
,
& d,

(Kaapya said)
Any one can say I know, I know.
Tell us what you know.
(2)
X
&

F
Jm ,
wn, 9
'S
GhJ
'!'3,
N
wn, 9,
S>?@
9J! d,

He said; Gautama! Vaayu (Praana) is that Sootra.

Through this Sootra (thread) of Vaayu, this world, the other world and all
the beings are held together.
Gautama! That is why, when a man dies, they say that his limbs have been
loosened; for, they are held together O Gautama, by the Sootra of Vaayu.
So it is Yaajnavalkya!
Now describe the Internal Ruler.
50
(3)
ch
,: ch
9
c
' c
d
' c9
,
&9JB

He, who inhabits the Prthvee, is within Prthvee, whom Prthvee does not
know, whose body is Prthvee, and who controls Prthvee from within, he is
the Aatman, the Internal Ruler who is immortal.
(Prthvee is the field of action; or the field of experience of a Jeeva.)
(4)
P ,:9SV9 (
' d 9 ,
&9JB

He, who inhabits the water, is within water, whom water does not know,
whose body is water, and who controls water from within, he is the Aatman,
the Internal Ruler who is immortal.
(Water is the flow of experience.)
(5)
R ,:9R9 RJ
'R d R9 ,
&9JB

51
He, who inhabits fire, is within fire, whom fire does not know, whose body
is fire, and who controls fire from within, he is the Aatman, the Internal
Ruler who is immortal.
(Fire is the individual Self who blazes high with the fuel of desires.)
(6)
9A ,:99A9 9A

'9A d 9A9 ,
&9JB

He, who inhabits the intermediate space, is within the intermediate space,
whom the intermediate space does not know, whose body is intermediate
space, and who controls intermediate space from within, he is the Aatman,
(Antariksha is the in-between state between the ignorance level of Prthvee and the
knowledge state of Brahman.)
(7)
,:99 J

' d 9
,
&9JB

He, who inhabits Vaayu, is within Vaayu, whom Vaayu does not know,
whose body is Vaayu, and who controls Vaayu from within, he is the
Aatman, the Internal Ruler who is immortal.
(Vaayu is the contact principle, with the essence of touch.)
52
(8)
N( ,:99 SJ
' S d ' N9 ,
&9JB

He, who inhabits the Dyau, is within Dyau, whom Dyau does not know,
whose body is Dyau and who controls Dyau from within, he is the Aatman,
(Dyau is the Knowledge state where the Sun shines.)
(9)
N& ,:9N&9 N&

'N& d N&9 ,
&9JB

He, who inhabits the Aaditya, is within Aaditya, whom Aaditya does not
know, whose body is Aaditya, and who controls Aaditya from within, he is
(Sun is the witness consciousness shining in the individual self.

It is unaffected by the experiences of a Jeeva in the ignorant field of Prthvee.
Aaditya also refers to the time phenomenon that binds the Jeeva.)
(10)
N ,:9RV9 N (
' N d ' N9 ,
&9JB

53
He, who inhabits the Directions, is within Directions, whom Directions does
not know, whose body is Directions, and who controls Directions from
within, he is the Aatman, the Internal Ruler who is immortal.
(Directions are the ideas of limitations of space superimposed on the emptiness outside.)
(11)
F9[ ,:9F9[9 9[
' 9[ d F9[9 ,
&9JB

He, who inhabits the moon and stars, is within moon and stars, whom
moon and stars does not know, whose body is moon and stars, and who
controls moon and stars from within, he is the Aatman, the Internal Ruler
who is immortal.
(Moon is the mind which is always waxing and waning in joys and sorrows. Stars are the
ideas superimposed by the mind on the taintless state of Aatman.
Moon and Stars shine in the darkness of ignorance only.
If one stays in the witness state of the Sun, moon and stars lose their shine.)
(12)
,:99
' d 9 ,
&9JB

He, who inhabits the Aakaasha, is within Aakaasha, whom Aakaasha does
not know, whose body is Aakaasha, and who controls Aakaasha from
(Aakaasha is the material-expanse contained within the mind-expanse which is contained

within Aatman-expanse of knowledge.)
54
(13)
'! ,: '9
' d '9 ,
&9JB

He, who inhabits the Darkness, is within Darkness, whom Darkness does not
know, whose body is Darkness, and who controls Darkness from within, he
is the Aatman, the Internal Ruler who is immortal.
(Darkness is the state where the sun of knowledge is not shining.

It is the state of Avidyaa, the absence of correct knowledge.
Even this incorrect understanding rising through Avidyaa is there because of the shine of
Aatman alone.)
(14)
'! ,: '9
' d '9 ,
&9JB

&c c

He, who inhabits the lustre, is within lustre, whom lustre does not know,
whose body is lustre, and who controls lustre from within, he is the Aatman,
(Tejas is the shine of Aatman as the individual consciousness.)
This much about the AdhiDaivata; now the Adhibhuta
(Till now the divine topics were discussed; now the topic pertaining to the physical!)
55
(15)

o
,: V
o
V9
Jm ,
( ' Jm ,
d
Jm ,
,
&9JB

&c
W&
He, who inhabits all the elements, is within all the elements, whom all the
elements do not know, whose body is all the elements, and who controls all
the beings from within, he is the Aatman, the Internal Ruler who is
immortal.
(All that is seen as objects made of elements is also pervaded by Aatman alone.
Any object of knowledge also is part of the knowledge only.
Knowledge is untainted undifferentiated Knowledge; Knower and Known are the same;
Aatman and the world are also the same.
Therefore all the objects of the world which are understood by Aatman are Aatman
alone.)
This much about the AdhiBhuta; now the Adhyaatma
(Till now the topic pertaining to the physical was discussed; now the topic pertaining to
the Aatman!)
(16)
G ,: G9 G
' G: d G9 ,
&9JB

He, who inhabits the Praana, is within Praana , whom Praana does not know,
whose body is Praana, and who controls Praana from within, he is the
(Brahman is the taintless state of Praana, which supports the embodied Jeeva and its field
of perceptions.)
56
(17)
c ,:99 ~
' @d 9 ,
&9JB

He, who inhabits the speech, is within speech, whom speech does not
know, whose body is speech, and who controls speech from within, he is the
(Vaak refers to all the names and forms conceived by the mind in the emptiness of
Brahman.)
(18)
F( ,:99 J
' d F9 ,
&9JB

He, who inhabits the eye, is within eye, whom the eye does not know, whose
body is the eye, and who controls the eye from within, he is the Aatman, the
Internal Ruler who is immortal.
(Aatman alone sees through the eye-sense and understands images.
The physical eye is just an inert organ.)
(19)
C ,:9 C
' C d C9 ,
&9JB

57
He, who inhabits the ear, is within the ear, whom the ear does not know,
whose body is the ear, and who controls the ear from within, he is the
(Aatman alone sees through the ear and understands sounds.
The physical ear is just an inert organ.)
(20)
! ,:99
' d 9 ,
&9JB

He, who inhabits the mind, is within the mind, whom the mind does not
know, whose body is the mind, and who controls the mind from within, he is
(Aatman alone empowers the thought processes which go by the name of mind.
Mind is also an inert mechanism.)
(21)
'&c ,: '&9 &~

' & d '&9 ,
&9JB

He, who inhabits the skin, is within the skin, whom the skin does not know,
whose body is the skin, and who controls the skin from within, he is the
(Aatman alone sees through the skin and understands hardness and softness.
The physical skin is just an inert organ.)
58
(22)
(> ,:9>9 (>

' (> d (>9 ,
&9JB

He, who inhabits the understanding, is within the understanding, whom the
understanding does not understand, whose body is the understanding, and
who controls the understanding from within, he is the Aatman, the Internal
Ruler who is immortal.
(Aatman alone reasons through the intellect and understands the world.
The physical intellect (brain) is just an inert organ.)
(23)
! ,: 9
' d 9 ,
&9JB

He, who inhabits the seed of reproduction, is within the seed of

reproduction, whom the seed of reproduction does not know, whose body is
the seed of reproduction and who controls the seed of reproduction from
(Retas here is the Vaasanaa which produces innumerable Jeevas.)
w: [: C
C 9 (> (>
He is unseen but is the seer; he is unheard but is the hearer; he cannot be

thought but is the thinker; he cannot be understood; but is the one who
understands.
59
9' [: 9' C
9' 9 9' (>
Therefore there is no other one but he as the seer.

Therefore there is no other one but he as the hearer.
Therefore there is no other one but he as the thinker.
Therefore there is no other one but he as the one who understands.
&9JB
9J
This one is the Aatman, the Internal Ruler who is immortal.

Whatever is other than this perishes.
5 m
, P
Thereupon, Uddaalaka, son of Aruna, kept silent.
[Thus ends the Seventh Braahmana section.]
(AGAIN GAARGI QUESTIONS YAAJNAVALKYA)
(Gaargi again stands up to question Yaajnavalkya; but this time it was not to oppose the
great Sage; but to help him explain Brahman-state to others who were simply wasting his
time in futile arguments.
She simplifies her question and allows him to answer it in a detailed way.
She warns the others sitting in the assembly, that they should not taunt him with
questions any more but salute him with reverence, as he is truly a Knower of Brahman;
and that he was not carrying away the cows out of greed for wealth; but was intent on
proving to King Janaka, their levels of ignorance.)
(Anyhow, ignoring her warning statement, Shaakalya stands up to ask some more
questions. He was intellectually proficient only and was not a true Knower of Brahman;
so he meets a tragic end for disrespecting a Knower of Brahman.)
60
(1)
@h

9
9! S GF Gv!
9 v, :
! FSS ,
H
y,
Then, the daughter of vacaknu, questioned.

Revered Brahmins!
I shall dare myself to present two more questions.
If he answers them, none of you can defeat him in describing Brahman.
(Yaajnavalkya said)
Ask Gaargi.
(2)

& >?@
F j
MM cM
&

S 9 &,hc ' &&:

& SV GFV'
d,

H
y,
She said; Yaajnavalkya! As does a man of Kaashi, or the king of Videha,

the scion of a war-dynasty, might string his bow; stand facing straight at the
target; join the two opposing arrows which cause extreme pain; and keep the
bow in his hand ready to shoot,
so also, I to you - point out two questions.
Answer them both.
(Yaajnavalkya said)
Ask Gaargi.
61
(3)

WO
>?@ N ch
9 Sc

z
H (:H&
''
G ,

That which is above the Dyau, below the Prthvee,
that which is in-between,
that which is Dyau and Prthvee;
and that which was in the past, is in the present and the future;
what is all this interwoven and pervaded by?
(4)

WO
cJ N ch
9 Sc

z
H (:H&
G ,
He said; Gaargi!
is all this interwoven and pervaded by Aakaasha.
(Aakaasha here means the expanse of Brahmaakaasha.

This Brahmaakaasha is the expanse of knowledge.)
62
(5)

'' >?@ h
' ',
H
y,

I bow to you with reverence, for you have answered rightly.
Be prepared for the other question.
(Yaajnavalkya said)
Ask Gaargi.
(6)

WO
>?@ N ch
9 Sc

z
H (:H&
''
G ,

what is all this interwoven and pervaded by?
63
(7)

WO
cJ N ch
9 Sc

z
H (:H&
G ,
'9 ? GF,
He said; Gaargi!
is all this interwoven and pervaded by Aakaasha.
(She asked)
What is that Aakaasha interwoven and pervaded by?
(8)

S cJ !9
's'dJ
N-
'H-
39:C-
'G
-
9

F, ` F, F
64
He said; Gaargi!
The Knowers of Brahman speak of it as immutable (changeless).
It is neither gross nor subtle (cannot be defined);
neither short nor long (cannot be measured);
neither red nor sticky (cannot be heated or melted);
neither shadow nor darkness (cannot hide anything and is not the
ignorance);
neither Vaayu (air), nor Aakaasha (sky), nor attached (to anything for
support).
It is without taste (cannot be tasted), without smell (cannot be smelt),
without eyes and ears (cannot be seen or heard), without a vocal organ (it
cannot speak), without a mind (it cannot think), not shining lustrously (it is
not a shining object), is without Praana (it is not a breathing live entity),
without face (it is not a deity with face), without measure (it is beyond
measures.).
It is endless (and beginningless).
(Beginning, end etc are all words that define the world of sense
perceptions.)
It has no inside or outside (since outside and inside are just conceptions of
the mind.).
It does not eat anything (does not experience); nor is it eaten (is not
experienced) by anybody (as a second object; since it is without a second).
(It is not a deity that you can worship like a god with form.
You yourself are that! You understand a deity also by the understanding power shining as
Aatman. That alone is you. There is nothing that is outside of Aatman!)
(9)
' ' G cJ
J9[ (
,:
' ' G cJ
Sch
(
,:
' ' G cJ
, J
sJ
& , (':9

65
' ' G cJ
GH9 S '99 FV JV
GH9 N
' ' G cJ
:
G9
(9&
Under the mighty rule of this immutable, O Gaargi, the sun and moon are
held in their positions.
Under the mighty rule of this immutable, O Gaargi, the Dyau and Prthvee
are held in their positions.
Under the mighty rule of this immutable, O Gaargi, minutes, Muhurtas, day
and nights, fortnights, months, seasons, and years are held in their positions.
Under the mighty rule of this immutable, O Gaargi, some rivers flow
eastward from the White Mountains, some flow westward in that direction,
and still others keep to their respective distances.
Under the mighty rule of this immutable, O Gaargi, men praise those that
give; and the gods depend on the sacrificer; and the manes depend on
independent offerings (DarviHoma).
(Whatever is perceived is the wondrous shine of Brahman.

Brahman alone is shining as the knowledge of all these.)
(10)
RJ(N&'?

,
'P ,
J.m
9 ' z,
RJ(N&'?
&G,

cJ (N&'?
&G,
66
He, O Gaargi, who in this world, without knowing this Immutable, offers
oblations in the fire, performs sacrifices, and undergoes austerities even for
thousands of years - experiences all of them as perishing only.
He, O Gaargi, who departs from this world, without knowing this
Immutable, is a wretched creature.
He, O Gaargi, who departs from this world, knowing this Immutable, is a
Knower of Brahman.
(Whatever sacrifices one performs or austerities one undergoes, all turn into meaningless
movements of hands and feet, if one has not realized his true essence.
A Jeeva who does not make effort and realize his true essence will go through the
experiences of varied identities and will never find rest.
He will be like a person who jumps from dream to dream without ever waking up.
He will be just changing his names and forms one after the other without even knowing
the pathetic state he is in!)
(11)
RJw: [: C
C
9 (> (>
9' [: 9' C
9' 9 9' (>
'9 ? RJ F GF,
This Immutable, O Gaargi, is never seen, but is the seer; never heard, but is
the hearer; is never thought, but is the thinker; never understood but is the
understanding one.
There is no other seer but this; no other hearer but this; no other thinker but
this; no other understanding one but this.
By this Immutable, O Gaargi, all this is interwoven and pervaded by.

67

9' 9W
'9' H
W
:!
FSS ,
She said; Revered Brahmins!

You should consider yourself fortunate if you can get off from him through
salutations.
Never shall any of you gain victory over him in the description of
Brahman.
(12)
@h

&:
Thereupon, the daughter of Vacaknu, kept silent.
[Thus ends the Eighth Braahmana section.]
(SHAAKALYA QUESTIONS YAAJNAVALKYA)
(1)
(R ? GH
Then, Vidagdha, son of Shakala, questioned.
, >?@,
Yaajnavalkya! How many Gods are there?
68
,( G, 9 F ' ,(SH
9
F F .,
!,
He decided it through the group of Mantras known as Nivid; and said-

As many as are indicated in the Nivid of the VishvaDevas; three hundred
and three, and three thousand and three.
Agreed (said Shaakalya).
& 9?@,
gN,
!,
Yaajnavalkya! How many Gods exactly are there?
Thirty three.
Agreed said Shaakalya.
& 9?@,
,
!,
Six.
& 9?@,
,
!,
69
Three.
& 9?@,
S(,
!,
Two.
& 9?@,
WJ ,
!,
One and a half.
& 9?@,
,
!,
F F .,
70
One.
Agreed! Which are those three hundred and three, and three thousand and
three? asked Shaakalya.
(2)

N
'&& ,
'N,
: [ SN& g
9[F G,F F'(,
Yaajnavalkya said;
These are just their powers; but there are only thirty three gods.
(Shaakalya asked)
Which are those thirty three?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
Eight Vasus, eleven Rudras and twelve Aadityas, these are thirty one; Indra
and Prajaapati make up the thirty three.
(3)
,
RFc
F9A
N&F SF 9[F m
d O N!, 'S ,
71
(Shaakalya asked)
Which are the Vasus?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
Agni, Prthvee, Vaayu, Antariksha, Aaditya, Dyau, Chandramaa,
Nakshatras, these are the Vasus; for in these (Vasus), all this (collection of
living beings) is placed (abided by); therefore they are called Vasus.
(These Vasus help the beings to live.)
(4)
[ ,

G &
'Hd9&J&9&
9
S[9 '[[
,
(Shaakalya asked)
Which are the Rudras?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
Ten sense organs with the mind as the eleventh.
When they depart from the mortal body, they make (relatives and friends)
cry (Rud). Because they make them cry, they are called Rudras.
(5)
N& ,
S &' N&
d J 9
N J 9 'N& ,
72
(Shaakalya asked)
Which are the Aadityas?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
Twelve months of a year; these are the Aadityas; for they go off taking all
this along with them.
Because they go taking all this along with them (Aada), they are called
Aadityas.
(Time takes away everything.)
(6)
9[ G,A,
',& 9[ > G,A,
',&A,

,A,
> ,
,
(Shaakalya asked)
Which is Indra, which is Prajaapati?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
Thundering Cloud itself is Indra, Yajna is Prajaapati.
(Shaakalya asked)
Which is the thundering Cloud?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
Lightning
(Mind with flashing thoughts is the Indra that makes noise with its nature of agitation. It
is Indra, because the senses serve it like servants.)
(Shaakalya asked)
Which is Yajna?
73
(Yaajnavalkya said)
Living beings
(The animals which make the Yajna fruitful are the Jeevas with their unending
Vaasanaas.)
(7)
,
RF c
9A

N&F SF
d O ,
(Shaakalya asked)
Which are the six (deities)?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
Agni, Prthvee, Vaayu, Antariksha, Aaditya, Dyau; these are the six;
because all those are in this six.
(Vasus are also included in these six.)
(8) (9)
,

d o ,
S (,
9 GF,
WJ ,
,
74

WJ ,
'9 JW WJ ,
, G ,
&N&
(Shaakalya asked)
Which are the three gods?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
These three worlds alone; because in these are all gods comprised.
(Three states of Jaagrat, Svapna and Sushupti contain all these deities.)
(Shaakalya asked)
Which are the two gods?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
Food and Praana
(The two deities are the body which is maintained by food, and the Praana which
supports it; these two which comprise the embodied Jeeva, contain all other deities.)
(Shaakalya asked)
Which are the one and the half?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
This that blows;
they say since this blows as one substance, how can it be one and a half; it
is one and a half because, through its presence, all this attain the glory.
(Even the physical body is a conception of the mind; so what is left back is that which
blows.
What blows?
Unmanifest Brahman which moves as it were.
Unmanifest Brahman which is like Praana that moves as it were.
But it is not one! It is more than one; because it swells as the perceived world and is
known as Brahman.)
75
(Shaakalya asked)
Which is that one God?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
Praana; it is Brahman which is called Tyat.
(It is Brahman which stretches forth as all this. It has no name.

It is referred to as That.)
(10)
ch
' R_ M,

(S&J'&
N 'S>?@

J'& &
d

?
' ,
!,

(Shaakalya said)
He who knows that being - whose abode is the Prthvee, sight is Agni, light
is mind; who is the ultimate resort of the entire body and organs, (he alone)
knows truly, O Yaajnavalkya.
(This Brahman who as an individual Self resides in the field of experience; perceives as a
perceiver bound to desires; cognizes objects through the mind; and is the underlying
support of body and its organs.)
(Yaajnavalkya said)
I do know that being of whom you speak, who is the ultimate resort of the
entire body and organs.
It is the very being who is identified with the body (embodied Jeeva who is
Brahman in essence).
Ask more O Shaakalya!

76
(Shaakalya said)
Who is his Deity?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
Amrtam
(What is the essence of this Purusha?

Immortality!)
(11)
' M,

(S&J'&
N 'S>?@

J'& &

?
' ,
' ,
(Shaakalya said)
He who knows that being whose abode is Kaama, sight is Hrdaya, light is
the Manas; who is the ultimate resort of the entire body and organs, (he
alone) knows truly, O Yaajnavalkya.
(Kaama is desire of all types. Kaama is manifest form of Vaasanaas.

Hrdayam is the centre of understanding, namely consciousness.
Mind reveals the objects.)
(Yaajnavalkya said)
I do know that beings of whom you speak, who is the ultimate resort of the
entire body and organs. It is the very being who is identified with Kaama
(Vaasanaa).
(A Jeeva is made of Vaasanaas only; his whole life is just a succession of Vaasanaa
fulfilment and Vaasanaa gathering; it never ends.)
77
(Shaakalya said)
Who is his Deity?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
Stree (as opposed to Purusha)
(Stree is Prakrti holding on to the embodied Purusha.
Body and the world connected to the body, form the essence of this Vaasanaa-person
called Jeeva.)
(Note: In the Vedanta scriptures, the term Stree does not refer to a woman but refers always to the inert
physical body. You cannot expect genders to exist in Brahman-knowledge.
The term Hrdayam also does not refer to the heart-organ of the body; but to the Central essence of
existence, namely Aatman.
Physical body is just an object perceived by senses; and is as inert as a log of wood.)
(12)
ls ' _ M,

(S&J'&
N 'S>?@

J'& &
N&

?
' ,
&!,
(Shaakalya said)
He who knows that being whose abode is Roopa, sight is the eye, light is
the mind; who is the ultimate resort of the entire body and organs, (he alone)
(Roopa is that which appears as a disturbing scream and is maintained also.

Eye creates a disturbance in the emptiness, as if like a scream heard in an empty expanse;
and maintains it as a real object with name and form.
78
Mind reveals the world of forms through the sense of eye.

It imagines an outside; moves out of the hole in the physical body; takes on the form of
an object; and stays as that within itself.)
(Yaajnavalkya said)
entire body and organs. It is the very being who is identified with Aaditya.
(Aaditya, the Sun, the witness consciousness, Brahman alone is the support of the mind
which exists as the world of forms.)
(Shaakalya said)
Who is his Deity?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
Satyam
(What is the essence of the perceived world of forms?
Truth! Existence!
The truth of Brahman alone shines as the world and makes it appear real.
World appears real because the Brahman shining as the world is real.)
(13)
' C M,

(S&J'&
N 'S>?@

J'& &
C G,C&

?
' ,
N ,
79
(Shaakalya said)
He who knows that being whose abode is Aakaasha, sight is the ear, light is
(Aakaasha is the revealing power of the mind; which appears as an outside.

Sound refers to the names that differentiate the objects.
Mind with the sense of ear, moves out of the hole called ear; becomes the required sound;
and stays as that object within itself.)
(Yaajnavalkya said)
entire body and organs. It is the very being who is identified with ear and the
echo (that returns back from the object).
(Shaakalya said)
Who is his Deity?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
Directions
(Space with its directions is the essence of the sound and the sense organ called ear.
Actually there are no directions in space. These are again superimpositions of the mind
based on the positions of sun moon etc.)
(14)
' M,

(S&J'&
N 'S>?@

J'& &

? ' ,
&A,

80
(Shaakalya said)
He who knows that being whose abode is Tamas, sight is Hrdayam, light is
(Tamas is ignorance of Aatman.

This Tamas also is revealed by the central essence namely Brahman.
Ignorance is revealed by the mind as the reality of the perceived world..)
(Yaajnavalkya said)
entire body and organs. It is the very being who is identified with the
shadow.
(Shadow is produced when the sun is blocked by a cloud or some other obstacle.
When the Aatman the Sun is not known, the world looks real and solid for the mind filled
with ignorance.)
(Shaakalya said)
Who is his Deity?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
Mrtyu
(What is the essence of ignorance?
Death!
Identified with the inert body, the ignorant Jeeva goes through endless births and deaths.)
(15)
ls ' _ M,

(S&J'&
N 'S>?@

J'& &
o

? ' ,
A,

81
(Shaakalya said)
He who knows that being whose abode is varieties of forms, sight is
Hrdayam, light is the mind; who is the ultimate resort of the entire body and
organs, (he alone) knows truly, O Yaajnavalkya.
(Roopa is the world of names and forms, which the Jeeva believes in as real.
Aatman as the understanding power knows the world of forms and names.
Mind reveals the world through the senses.)
(Yaajnavalkya said)
entire body and organs. It is the very being who is identified with the
Aadarsha.
(Aadarsha is that which reflects fully.

World is a reflection of Brahman as it were.
Brahman is the mirror which shines as the reflections also.
Mirror and reflections cannot be separated. Mirror alone is the reflection.)
(Shaakalya said)
Who is his Deity?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
Life-force
(Brahman is the embodied Purusha which identifies with the form seen in the mirror.
What is the essence of this Ahamkaara or ego?
Ego is a self imagined identity produced by the ignorant mind.
The essence of this ego is life.
The ego is alive as long life is there; once the life departs, the identity also dies and
becomes nothing.)
82
(16)
' M,

(S&J'&
N 'S>?@

J'& &
P

?
' ,
,
(Shaakalya said)
He who knows that being whose abode is Aapa, sight is Hrdayam, light is
(Experiences are revealed by the mind which is empowered by the central essence.)
(Yaajnavalkya said)
entire body and organs. It is the very being who is in the Ap.
(Who is the one who makes possible these experiences?

Brahman; for he alone knows the experiences.)
(Shaakalya said)
Who is his Deity?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
Varuna
(Lord of ocean or ocean is the essence of these waters namely experiences.
Ocean is the worldly existence.)
83
(17)
' M,

(S&J'&
N 'S>?@

J'& &

?
' ,
G,A,
(Shaakalya said)
He who knows that being whose abode is Retas, sight is Hrdayam, light is
(Seed is the doership; as identified by the mind.

The doer of action identifies with the action performed by the body and mind; this
becomes the seed for his future life-dreams.)
(Yaajnavalkya said)
entire body and organs. It is the very being who is identified with the Putra.
(The embodied Jeeva identifies with the actions and takes on the doership.
What is the off-spring?
Successive births carrying over the previous Vaasanaas)
(Shaakalya said)
Who is his Deity?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
Prajaapati
(Creator who is the collective form of all actions and their results)
84
(18)
?, >?@
& 'N
3D 3D 3D
,
Yaajnavalkya said;
O Shaakalya! Have these Vedic scholars made you their instrument for
burning charcoals?
(Dont you understand that you are getting burnt by me?)
(19) (20)
9?@, ?
N
&d ` (S,,
N G,: ,
Nu & G,:
' GH NF,
`
N& ,
N& ' G,: ,
,
'9 G,:!,
l:, N lm F,
'9 lm G,:,
, N lm ,
lm G,:, 9,
S>?@
85
Shaakalya said;
Is it because you know Brahman that you have thus flouted these Vedic
scholars of Kuru and Paanchaala?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
I know the Directions with their deities and supports.
(Shaakalya said)
If you know the Directions with their deities and supports
Which deity are you identified with in the east (the abode of knowledge)?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
AadityaDevata (Witness state)
(Shaakalya said)
On what does Aaditya rest?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
On Eye (Perceiver)
(Shaakalya said)
On what does Eye rest?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
Roopa; for one sees Roopa with the eyes (Forms connected to names)
(Shaakalya said)
On what do Roopas rest?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
Hrdayam (central essence of a being or the Aatman); for one knows Roopa with
Hrdayam; it is on Hrdayam, that Roopas are established
(Shaakalya said)
It is so, O Yaajnavalkya
86
(21)
' NF,
`
,
' G,: ,
> ,
'9 > G,: ,
,
'9 G,:,
C5!,
C5 G,:,
'9 C5 G,:,
,
N C5 , C5 G,: ,
S>?@
(Shaakalya said)
Which deity are you identified with in the Dakshina (abode of ignorance)?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
YamaDevata (Death/mortality)
(Shaakalya said)
On what does Yama rest?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
On Yajna (Life of beings)
(Shaakalya said)
On what does Yajna rest?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
On Dakshinaa (offering) (charity/the symbol for non-possession)
87
(Shaakalya said)
On what does Dakshinaa rest?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
On Shraddhaa (faith); because one offers Dakshinaa when one has
Shraddhaa; therefore it is on faith that Dakshinaa is established.
(Shaakalya said)
On what does Shraddhaa rest?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
Hrdayam; for one knows Shraddhaa with Hrdayam; it is on Hrdayam, that
Shraddhaa is established
(Shaakalya said)
(2)
' GH NF,
`
,
' G,: ,
P',
'99 G,: ,
,
'9 G,:!,
,
'( N P N ,!J ,
G,: ,
S>?@
88
(Shaakalya said)
Which deity are you identified with in the West (abode of dying beings)?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
VarunaDevata (worldly existence filled with waves of sufferings and pains)
(Shaakalya said)
On what does Varuna rest?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
On Ap (experiences)
(Shaakalya said)
On what does Ap rest?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
On Retas (seed) (Vaasanaas)
(Shaakalya said)
On what does Retas rest?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
Hrdayam; for, they say of the new born as an image of the father; that he is
made of the same Hrdayam. It is on Hrdayam, that Retas is established
(The Jeeva carries over the seeds of Vaasanaas to his next birth. The future births are
produced by the impressions of the previous births, like sons from fathers.
Bodies may be newly got; Aatman is changeless.)
(Shaakalya said)
(23)
'dH
` NF,
,
' G,: ,
d ,
89
'9 d G,:,
& ,
'( d & ,
& d G,:,
'9 & G,:!,
,
N & , & G,: ,
S>?@
(Shaakalya said)
Which deity are you identified with in the Udeechi (north) (abode of
wisdom)?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
SomaDevata (Purified Mind filled with the nectar of bliss)
(Shaakalya said)
On what does Soma rest?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
On Deekshaa (Initiated into the knowledge of Brahman)
(Shaakalya said)
On what does Deekshaa rest?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
On Satyam; that is why they instruct the one who has been given Deekshaa
to speak Satyam; it is on Satyam that Deekshaa is established
(A man desirous of attaining Brahman state always sees everything as Brahman, the truth
only. He has been instructed to discard all that is not-truth and understand Brahman
alone as the essence of everything.)
90
(Shaakalya said)
On what does Satyam rest?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
Hrdayam (Aatman); for, one knows Satyam through Hrdayam; it is on
Hrdayam, that Satyam is established
(Shaakalya said)
(24)
' K
` NF,
R ,
R ' G,: ,
,
'9 G,:,
,
'9 G,:!,
(Shaakalya said)
Which deity are you identified with in the Dhruva direction (abode of
bondage)?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
AgniDevata (Individual self who burns)
(Shaakalya said)
On what does Agni rest?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
On Vaak (names and forms)
91
(Shaakalya said)
On what does Vaak rest?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
On Hrdayam (Aatman))
(Shaakalya said)
On what does Hrdayam rest?
(25)
?, >?@
9&99 SS9'&'
F S ! (59,
Yaajnavalkya said;
You ghost who vanish at day time! (You idiot filled with ignorance!)
When you think of the heart elsewhere than in oneself, should it be
elsewhere than in us, dogs would eat this body, or birds tear it to pieces!
(How can one ask where does Aatman rest?
The very essence of everything is Aatman.
That is the true essence of one and all.
It is the very understanding power that shines as all.
If one stupidly asks, just for the sake of argument, what supports Aatman, then he is
refuting his own existence and is an inert corpse fit to be eaten by dogs and birds.)
(26)
'9 & & G,: ' ,

G ,
'9 G G,: ,
,
'99 G,: ,
h ,
92
'9 h G,: ,
,
'9
G,: ,
,
(Shaakalya said)
On what do you (the form with name) and the Aatmaa rest on?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
On Praana
(Shaakalya said)
On what does Praana rest?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
On Apaana
(Shaakalya said)
On what does Apaana rest?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
On Vyaana
(Shaakalya said)
On what does Vyaana rest?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
On Udaana
(Shaakalya said)
On what does Udaana rest?
(Yaajnavalkya said)
On Samaana
93
, &&

_ J 3 M
! h A:,
9:, : : :

'99
G&&D

&,
H!

9 (v, J
(,:,
?
' J
(
( ' A('9999
:
This Aatman is that, which is not anything else, other than itself.
It is imperceptible for it cannot be perceived.
It is un-decaying; for it cannot decay.
It is unattached; for it cannot be attached to.
It is unfettered; it never suffers and never can be injured.
These are the eight abodes, eight instruments of vision, eight deities and
eight beings.
(I have answered all your questions.

Now I will ask you a question. Answer me if you dare.)
I ask you of the Purusha who is known only from the Upanishads, who
projects these beings and withdraws them into oneself, transcending them
also. If you do not explain him to me, your head will fall off.
Shaakalya did not know him.

His head fell off.
Robbers snatched away his bones, mistaking them for something else.
(As per some previous curse, his bones were also taken by robbers; and nothing was left
of his body even.
This is the fate of those who disrespect Knowers of Brahman.)
94
(27)

9 H

o H

H!

J9 H,

Then he (Yaajnavalkya) said;

Revered Brahmins!
Whosoever wants to interrogate me, can ask questions; or all those here can
ask me questions.
Or, I will question whomsoever you want to be questioned, or all of you.
The scholars did not dare (afraid of offending him).
F GH
He asked them through these verses.
(He decided to teach them some lessons on BrahmaJnaana.)

','

' , J, &''&N N
& ' c G'9 & &
'&s&G
, N

9' m ` ' &'
'99 lm M M

Purusha (an embodied person) is like the tree which grows in a forest.
This is not untrue.
His hairs on the body are the leaves; his skin is the outer bark.
Blood flows from the skin and the sap from the bark.
Therefore when a body is injured, blood flows; as the sap from a tree which
is injured.
95
His flesh is the inner bark, his tendons the innermost layer of the bark; both
are tough.
His bones lie under, as does its wood; his marrow is comparable to its pith.
S
@
, 9

&J '9&
@
'9&G,

, '&G

G&
A tree springs again from its root in a newer form, after it is felled.
From what root indeed does a man spring forth after he is cut off by death?
Do not say-from the Retas; for it is produced from a living man.
(After death, how does a man move off to his future birth, even as his body lays there
inert and lifeless?)
A tree springs also from a seed; after it is dead also, it certainly springs again
indeed!
(A tree may again sprout from the same place where it was axed; because of the roots
under the ground.)
&
J

&J '9&
@
'9&G,

If someone pulls out a tree with its root, it no more sprouts.

From what root does a man spring forth, after he is cut off by Death?
9 &

If you think he is ever-born, I say no, he is again born.

Who brings him forth again?
(You cannot answer by just saying-He is born.

I say that he again is born.
How does he take birth again so as to reap his karmas?)
96
(None of the Brahmins knew the answer.

Yaajnavalkya took away the cows as he was the best of the Knowers of Brahman.)
(What is the answer for his question?)
(>9 ,J
,:' S ,
Knowledge, Bliss, Brahman!

It is the resort of one who dispenses the wealth, and one who stays
established in Brahman by realizing its truth.
(It is Brahman who brings forth the one who is dead.

Brahman is the essence of all knowledge; and the world is just the shine of his
knowledge.
Brahman is bliss; because all that you know as joy or happiness in the world are just tiny
drops that get experienced from the ocean of bliss called Brahman.
Brahman state is the silent state of full tranquillity, which is never experienced in sense
objects. True bliss is the silence of the mind. Brahman state is without the agitation of the
mind; and is a unique state of bliss unparalleled.
One who develops dispassion towards the world and its objects, and understands the truth
of Brahman stays as Brahman only.
He is like a wave which understood its essence as the ocean.
It stays as the ocean only. He stays as Brahman only.
Brahman is immortal; so is a Knower of Brahman!)
, , W

[Thus ends the Ninth Braahmana section.]

[Thus ends the Third Chapter]
97
About the Author:
Maa Tejasvini
comprehension.
CONCEALED MEANINGS
OF
THE TERMS
USED
IN THE
UPANISHADS
by
Narayanalakshmi
1

!"#
%

!%
% #

%!%
! # %!%
AUM
NOTHING WHATSOEVER EXISTED HERE IN THE BEGINNING.
THIS WAS AS IF COVERED BY DEATH.
HUNGER HUNGER INDEED IS DEATH.
THAT WILLED
LET ME HAVE A MIND.
IT MOVED WORSHIPPING ITSELF.
AS IT WORSHIPPED WATERS WERE PRODUCED.
AS I WORSHIPPED WATERS OCCURRED (SO HE THOUGHT)
THAT ALONE IS THE ARKATVA OF ARKA.
WATERS HAPPEN TO THIS ONE

WHO KNOWS THIS ARKATVA OF ARKA IN THIS MANNER.
- BrhadaaranyakaUpanishat-I.i.1
2
CONCEALED MEANINGS OF WORDS USED IN UPANISHADS
INTRODUCTION
The given hymn is from Brhadaaranyaka Upanishad!

Upanishads abound with such mysterious incantations in every chapter.
Can any one make any sense out of these words? Of course not!
These hymns are not meant to be understood by anybody and everybody. They are as
obscure as any equation or formula from the world of Maths or Physics. Only one who is
thoroughly trained in the subject can understand the vague terms.
They were not even written in a well worded script. They were sounds which passed on
from a Rishis mouth to the ear of another Rishi (Shabda).
They were Secret Knowledge not to be revealed to ordinary denizens of the world. Even
Devas had to serve a Rishi with extreme devotion to get a glimpse of these Truths.
Each word was phonetically coined and the Truths were transferred using commonly
known words. Any one who just understood the surface meanings of the words would get
a completely misconceived Knowledge and miss the real meaning of the words.
This work is intended to help the Seekers of Knowledge in decoding the ancient
Knowledge.
The most misinterpreted subjects in this world at recent times are the Vedas, the
Upanishads and the Life-stories of Avatars!
Vedas are a mix up of Karma (Ritual) section and Knowledge Section.
Upanishads belong to the Knowledge Section coded in ordinary language.
Vedic verses are nowadays recited mechanically without any idea about the truths
conveyed by them. Upanishads are understood at their face value with no Knowledge of
the coding method used by the ancient sages.
In the hectic pace of the modern world no one has time to study the original scriptures;
very few have an expertise in Sanskrit language; very few understand the Vedic
language; realized souls who alone can convey the true purport of the scriptures are a rare
category. And even the printed versions of the scriptures we now have are mostly
corrupted versions of the originals.
Studying Upanishads without ever understanding the hidden Truths in their words is like
parading equations like E=MC2 on T-shirts never ever knowing what they mean actually.
This work is intended to decode the E=MC2 of the Vedas and Upanishads.
Salutations to all the Vedic Seers

Salutations to all the Realized Sages
3
VEDAS AND UPANISHADS

VEDAS
The word VEDA is coined from the root letter VID to know.
The word VEDA means Knowledge.
Vedas were not written.
They were transferred from Guru to disciple in spoken language only.
They were known as SHABDAS SOUNDS.
These Vedas are not the work of one person.
Any one, who had a revelation of the Supreme Truth, just passed it on to his son or
disciple.
There were two classes of Truth-Seekers; those who performed sacrificial rites to please
the Gods through hymns; and those who lived in forests contemplating on the mysteries
of Existence itself.
Only close disciples of the Great Sages had access to the Knowledge of the Self and even
they never ventured out of their forest dwellings to reveal these Truths to others. Only
seekers very keen on learning and who could gain confidence of these Sages were taught
the sacred Knowledge. They had to face a lot of hardships of the forest life before any
Sage condescended to explain his personal revelations. Most of the Upanishads contain
such dialogues or discussions revealing the Knowledge of Brahman.
VYAASA
Sri Krishna Vaasudeva was a contemporary of the venerable Sage Krishna Dvaipaayana
Vyaasa. The Sage was named Krishna because he was dark; he was Dvaipaayana because
he was born in an island; he was Paaraashara because he was the son of Sage
Paaraashara; he was Vyaasa because he edited the Vedas. The dark handsome youth
assisted the ugly dark old man in the compilation of all the spread out revelations of all
known Sages at that time. It was not an easy job. They had to collect all written and non-
written hymns; understand the inner meaning of all revelations and sort them out. Since
Krishna Dvaipaayana was respected among one and all, everyone offered him any
Knowledge they possessed. Both Krishnas sorted out the huge pile of all available data.
They separated the Ritual portion from the Knowledge portion. They divided the
Vedas into two categories one filled with descriptions of rituals accompanied by
appropriate hymns - Karma Kaanda and the other devoted to only discussions on
Para Brahman- Jnaana Kaanda. If Karma Kanda portion gives a detailed description of
ASHVA MEDHA Horse Sacrifice to be performed by Kings, Upanishads will have
sections describing in detail as to how the entire perceived world is a horse and how to
cut it asunder.
UPANISHADS
Knowledge section of the Vedas was known by the name - Upanishads.
According to Adi Shankara, the word Upanishad is made of three root letters.
Upa - close or near; Ni - to carry; Shad- to destroy.
The complete meaning of the word Upanishad according to Shankara is
That which takes you near Truth and destroys ignorance.
Upanishads are also known as VEDAANTA the concluding portion of Vedas.
4
KARMA/JNAANA
The Karma Kaanda believers were opposed to Jnaana Kaanda followers.
The former category believed that Karma (Sacrifices -Rituals performed with hymns),
was capable of fulfilling all their desires and take them to Swarga Heaven, and bestow
on them eternal pleasures after the death of the mortal coil.
The word Karma as used in Bhagavad-Gita refers only to the Rituals performed with
hymns.
In modern times, Karma is translated as any action performed by one, or Fate, or
(Results of) the actions of previous births, as per the context.
The Knowledge-seekers were not after heavenly or Earthly pleasures. They stayed away
from crowded cities, lived a life of contemplation and realized the Para Brahman as their
own Self. They never bothered much about the Gods or Heaven.
CODES
At the time of Swami Vivekananda, most of these unseen scriptures took a printed
version and were brought to the purview of public, with great effort by his followers. But
it was a literal translated version that was made available to the public. Nobody knew the
hidden meanings of the Vedic statements. Since the Rishis were not there to explain
them, all Sanskrit words used in the Scriptures were taken at their face value. Even the
word Karma was given the translation as Action, any general action performed by body,
mind and intellect by any person.
The Upanishads were actually written in a code-language so ordinary people would
never grasp the meaning. The reason was that the Knowledge of Brahman was considered
too sacred to be offered to any person who had not qualified himself by the rise of
dispassion and discrimination. The seeker had to prove his intense desire for liberation
through strenuous ascetic practices and please the Guru; otherwise he could beg and
plead; no Sage would explain anything to any ordinary seeker. All truths were supposed
to be learnt at the feet of the Rishis who had direct experience of the state of Brahman.
But in the modern era, the Upanishads were translated into all popular languages, just
taking the literal meaning of the words used there. They were never decoded in the
correct way. The key was lost.
PURANAAS
PURANAAS composed by Sage Vyaasa were not actually a fairy tale of Heavens.
The phonetic vibrations which invoked the powers of respected deities through sound
were hidden inside the ordinary looking words of the Puraanas. Only few trained ones
could recite the Puraanas in the prescribed tones to reveal the hidden phonetic vibrations
or sound waves.
These Puraanas also like Upanishads were translated in a word to word format just taking
the literal meanings of the words and we now have a pile of miracle-stories, which are
supposed to be the occurrences in a God-world abounding in magical mumbo jumbo.
5
DEVAS
Div means light or shine. The Devas have bodies made of light or shine of different
hues. They are residents of a world of a better design. They might have interfered in the
Earth-World just projecting their Light-forms. They might be projected computer
avatars playing around in a parallel Universe like ours. They have created our world and
programmed our existence and are in full control of our world. Maybe the ancient world
of Rishis had the courage to interact with them. Maybe the Sages were intellectually at
par with those God-world residents. But now, in the 21st century, lacking the actual
Knowledge of anything and misled by the portrayal of the media, the Earth residents
might not be intellectual enough for the God-world residents to bother about contacting
us. Why would a God or a Scientist of the next world visit a slum like ours? Why should
he care? Whereas in the ancient times Rishis cared not for these projected Light-forms!
Their search was more for THAT SUPREME TRUTH which makes all these perceptive
worlds possible!
This is how the Teacher and the Taught offered their Prayers to the Supreme:

OM Peace Peace Peace.

6
LOST KEY TO THE TREASURE-HOUSE OF VEDAS
How do we open the treasure box of Knowledge?

Where is the key?
Here is an attempt to decode the sayings in Upanishads, the Concluding

portion of the Vedas!
Hope this will open the door to THE SUPREME TRUTH.
Try replacing these code words for the ordinary words of the Upanishads
and understand the Meaning!
These Codes were mentioned in a worn out palm-leaf said to be the

instructions of a Sage Vishvaamitra to his close disciples.
Sage Vishvaamitra gave the Sacred Gaayatri Mantra also to the World.
Salutations to the Compassionate Sage

May He lead all the sincere seekers of Knowledge towards Self-Realization.

!
" % '
( *

OM BHOORBHUVASSUVAHA
TATSAVITURVARENYAM BHARGODEVASYA DHEEMAHI
DHIYOYONAH PRACHODAYAAT
OM SHANTIHSHANTIHSHANTIHI
He who is the Supreme Sun,

He who shines as the Self of all individuals
should be contemplated upon.
Let him inspire our thinking to understand this great truth.
7
PART ONE

AUM
Everything originated from AUM.

AUM - AA+U+M is the symbolic sound representation of all the sounds emanating from
the region below the throat ending in the labial region.
AUM is the Beginning.
AUM is the First Vibration in the Vibration-less BRAHMAN.
AUM is the First Wave in the Ocean of PARABRAHMAN.
AUM is the First Manifestation of the Unmanifest.
AUM is the First Gross manifestation of the Subtle CHIT.
CHIT is Pure Awareness. AUM is the throne for the CHIT to sit and act.
AAKAASHA
From AUM arises AAKAASHA.
AAKAASHA is the idea of space-time.
AAKAASHA is the first vibration in the manifest world.
AAKAASHA is not the blue sky above your head.
The word-derivation in Sanskrit is as follows: AA whole, complete; KAASHA contains.
AAKAASHA contains within it everything that has existence; everything that can be
perceived.
Space and time are the co-ordinates of any object that is perceived in the world.
AAKKASHA refers to the idea of space-time which contains all the perceptions
conceived by our brains.
SHABDA
AAKAASHA is connected to SHABDA - SOUND.

SOUND is the gross manifestation of CHIT.
A HELLO from the UNMANIFEST!
SHABDA is the symbol of individuality.
SHABDA is the symbol of duality.
SHABDA is the symbol of I and the world,
SHABDA is the symbol of the arising of JEEVA, the LIFE PRINCIPLE.
8
JEEVA
JEEVA is the channel manifesting all UNMANIFEST VAASANAAS.
JEEVA is one who lives; one who experiences a particular span of life events within
particular space time boundaries.
JEEVA is the expression of VAASANAAS.
VAASANAA means THAT WHICH RESIDES
Vaasanaas are the unmanifest potentialities residing in Brahma who is a random vibration
of Brahman.
Since VAASANAAS are countless, JEEVAS are also countless.
Each JEEVA manifests a single VAASANAA at one instant, in his own space time bubble.
In the scriptures this JEEVA, who acts only as medium for the manifestation of a
Vaasanaa, is referred by the name JANTU.
JANTU means organism a creature which is born, lives, reproduces and dies.
As long as a person, even if be in a human garb, acts as just a bio-chemical organism,
only reacting to outer circumstances, he is only a JANTU.
He has no Essence. He has no Atman.
He is just a collection of living cells randomly formed in the evolutionary cycle.
There is no after-life or identity for such human shapes. They are only gene carriers on
the physical side and Vaasanaa-carriers in the psychological side. They live only at the
animal level of intelligence, even if they are acclaimed persons in the world-story.
They have no control over their actions or emotions. The chemicals in the brain and body
control them. Their Vaasanaas decide their fate. They are always slave to their
Vaasanaas. Like an Earthworm which reacts to a pin prick, the JANTU reacts to the outer
circumstances. He [or she] RE-ACTS; DOES NOT ACT!
This JANTU becomes a JEEVA, through the rise of self-awareness and self analysis.
It gets trained to ACT in this world.
AAKAASHA GIVES RISE TO SOUND; SPACETIME IDEA GIVES RISE TO THE LIVING IDEA.
VAAYU
VAAYU means that which blows.
Next one to rise after AAkaasha is VAAYU- WIND -the CONTACT PRINCIPLE.
VAAYU gives rise to SPARSHA - TOUCH.
VAASANAA needs an arena to manifest. VAAYU arranges it.
VAAYU makes the FIRE burn.
SPARSHA
CONTACT SPARSHA - arises out of the JEEVA principle - towards the fulfillment of the
VAASANAA.
TOUCH is the CONNECTION to the things around us.
TOUCH is the Dividing- Line in CHIT, which creates a duality.
TOUCH gives rise to I, YOU, WORLD and innumerable relationships with everything.
TOUCH gives a solid experience of the world around oneself.
9
AGNI
VAAYU gives rise to AGNI.
AGNI means that which keeps rising high.
AGNI is FIRE; the ever unsatisfied principle.
AGNI symbolizes the gross individual Ego with Vaasanaas.
AGNI symbolizes Vaasanaas getting ready to manifest.
FIRE arises.
EGO arises.
INDIVIDUALITY arises.
I arises.
ROOPA
FIRE gives rise to the principle of form.
ROOPA is form; shape.
ROOPA means to appear.
FIRE -EGO is provided with a suitable form to
fulfill the Vaasanaas.
The individual ego has to perceive forms and get perceived also as a form by others.
FIRE needs FUEL to survive.
FIRE needs FIREWOOD.
EGO needs Perceptions to survive.
EGO needs FUEL.
AAPAH
FIRE gives rise to WATER.
AAPA means to attain, to obtain.
AAPA means water.
WATER is the Experience.
WATER is the continuous flow of experiences.
WATER is the potential Vaasanaa turning into gross experience similar to the water vapor
in the cloud ready to burst into a downpour.
WATER symbolizes Vaasanaa changing into DESIRE.
Vaasanaa is the potential desire; Water is the grossified Vaasanaa.
Vaasanaa is just a potential state; unmanifest vibration.
Desire is the actuality of the Vaasanaa; manifest wave.
Desire fulfillment needs a space-time arena.
WATER is the experience of fulfillment (rains) or un-fulfillment of desires (cloud).
WATER symbolizes arising of Desire and its fulfillment.
WATER is the EXPERIENCE arising out of DESIRE.
[NAARAAYANA- the word is derived thus: AAPAAH are known as NAARAAH;

AAPAAH means Human clan; He is their abode. So He is Naaraayana. Humans are Experiencers of
Vaasanaa fields. Naaraayana is the abode of these subtle Vaasanaas. His son Lord Brahma creates the rules
and channelizes these Vaasanaas.]
10
RASA
RASA means Essence, Juice.
WATER has TASTE RASA.
WATER has different tastes.
EXPERIENCES are also variegated.
The world around you is nothing but water with different tastes.
PRTHVEE
PRTHVEE means to spread out.
PRTHVEE is EARTH - BHOO spreading out (not the planet Earth, but anything you can
perceive in any space-time boundary).
TASTE in WATER gives rise to EARTH.
EARTH is the field created for experiences to occur.
EARTH is the platform where the VAASANAAS wear the costume of EGO and dance.
OSHADHI
EARTH has OSHADIS.
OSHADI means PLANTS and TREES.
OSHADI means that which ripens.
OSHADI is Nature.
OSHADI is nourishing food.
OSHADI belongs to BHOO.
BHOO is NOT the Planet Earth
BHOO means that which becomes.
BHOO is anything that changes into something else.
BHOO is this UNIVERSE.
BHOO is the EARTH.
There is no solid Earth around us.
There is only a space-time perception which keeps changing continuously.
This flux is BHOO the Universe around us.
Each person has his own Universe around him.
(The word He in Upanishad verses always refers to PURUSHA one who resides in the city of nine gates;
both women and men are referred to by the term He)
There is no absolute space, no absolute time and there is no solid Universe around us.
Each persons time perception is different from that of the other person.
Everything is just a perception of the brain.
Vaasanaa creates a new Universe every second for its manifestation. Every fraction of a
perceiving moment, the brain creates a new Universe bound by space and time.
The Universe which spreads out through the senses is BHOO.
The Brain is like the projector with the small reel of the film of Vaasanaa-possibilities
inside it and it projects out the film through the senses and the world-film is screened in
the space time theatre.
11
Adi Shankara explains this fact in detail in his UpadeshaSaahasri.

We do not experience the world already outside us, through the senses.
On the contrary, we create a Universe as if outside us, through the senses.
Senses are not the physical organs;

but the faculties which create a particular form of perception.
The AAkaasha Principle in the Chit creates a projection of space and time.
The Vaayu Principle in the Chit creates the ability to contact.
The Agni principle in the Chit creates the visual Universe.
The Water Principle in the Chit creates the Experiences.
The BHOO Principle in the Chit creates the perceived Universe around the Jeeva.
With all these principle acting at once, we see a world around us; rather we create a world
around us every moment.
PRTHVEE means spreading out.

The Universe spreads out as much as the Chitta is able to project out.
Chitta is the thinking faculty.
Universe expands if the AAkaasha principle in the Jeeva expands.
Universe of the cat is the rat-hole and the milk bowl.
Universe of Homo sapiens stretches out beyond the stars.
As per the capacity to think, that much is the BHOO arises in our mind-screen.
OSHADI is the plant-life of the Universe.
OSHADI is the variegated perceptions of the Jeeva.
GANDHA
EARTH has SMELL - GANDHA.
BHOO is the field where the plants and trees arise.
BHOO is the field where perceptions arise.
BHOO is the arena for experiences.
Waters help the plants to grow.
Desires keep the perceptions well nourished.
Experiences give rise to memories.
Plants and trees give out smell.
Smell is good or bad.
Memories are good or bad.
Smell persists even after the object disappears.
Memories persist even after the experience is over.
The faculty of smell NAASIKA (a combination of tongue and nose) is necessary to
distinguish the qualities of objects so that we avoid the bad and seek the good.
Memories are a like the persisting smell of the perceptions.
Memories help us to evolve.
Memories help us to avoid the bad and seek the good.
12
PARJANYA
PARJANYA is THUNDERING CLOUD.
Clouds are unmanifest desires.
Rain is a continuous grossification of water vapor into water.
Water Vapor becomes water due to a slight Variation in temperature.
The Want that accompanies the Vaasanaa to get manifested, the Hunger is the heat
which makes the manifestation possible.
NAKSHATRA
NAKSHATRA means STAR.
NA+KSHARATI does not perish.
Stars are Fixed ideas!
These Stars namely fixed ideas in the brain as programmed by the Creator Brahma
make us perceive a Universe in which we are all common inhabitants.
We all see the same objects because we are all programmed in the same way to see the
same objects. This common perception gives rise to the delusion that there is a solid
world outside us with absolute space and time.
Ideas which we are certain to be true are -Space time idea; the Up/down idea;
Directions idea; I am a person different from the other person idea, etc etc.
Actually all our world consists of ideas only.
It is enough for the brain to have just the idea-there is tree in the garden; the tree need
not exist as a solid object outside; because there is no outside, unless you yourself take
the trouble of walking a few steps and perceiving the tree and check out its existence.
Only the ideas exist as the proof of a world external to us.
When we move our hands and feet, the space gets formed.
Self cannot move; because there is no space for it to move. We, who are Vaasanaa
manifestations of the Self, create the world by moving our hands and feet.
Karmendriyaas create the space-time arena by movement; Jnaanendriyaas cognize it as a
solid world.
Star is the code word for the ideas common to all selves of one particular Universe.
Planet is the code word for our particular personal ideas of family, etc. as connected to
our gross body of nine holes. That is why the nine-planet idea is in vogue; these nine
planets - the nine holed city alone controls our lives; not the gross planets of the solar
system. If we learn to have full control of our body and practice dis-identifying with it,
we will no more be controlled by these NAVA-GRAHAAS.
GRAHA means that which holds you in its grasp; the nine holes of the body keep you in
their grasp forcing you to chase pleasures in the world; not the planetary system!
Space contains within it all the stars and planets.
Space time idea AAKAASHA contains within it all the ideas of existence.
13
CHANDRA/SOORYA
CHANDRA! The glittering Moon! The waxing and waning Mind!

Moon gets its shine from the Sun.
The Mind is a perturbation in CHIT.
Moon waxes and wanes! Either it is full moon or it is new moon.
Mind also waxes and wanes; either it is happy or sad.
Moon circles the Earth!
The mind constantly perceives the world and experiences pain and pleasure.
SOORYA! The ever-shining Sun!

Sun prompts the people to engage in actions continuously.
The Sun by its very existence makes the Earth alive with beings.
All activities on Earth are due to the existence of the Sun.
Sun is the Witness consciousness.
Para Brahman is aware of the perceptions but remains un-affected by them.
Sun appears to move but does not actually move.
Self appears to act; but does not act.
Awareness is just a witness; the light by which all lights shine.
But for the Awareness nothing exists.
Whatever be the actions of the mind or the body, Awareness forms the silent support for
everything.
14
PART THREE
ASHVAMEDHA (HORSE SACRIFICE)

This is the Horse Sacrifice mentioned in the Brhadaaranyaka Upanishad.
It is like a satire of the Karma Kaanda Horse Sacrifice.
Here the entire perceived world is sacrificed through Knowledge.
The term Ashva is derived as . / 012 2
(eats, pervades, fills up the road, consumes all, moves fast etc.)
According to Upanishads, Ashva is the perceived phenomenon of the world.
Ashva is what swells up continuously consuming food..
When you slice its head namely the perceived phenomenon, the horse dies.
Perceiver is released from the bondage of perception.
This is the true Ashva Medha according to Upanishads.
When you understand that the Upanishads always have the subject matter as the
Brahman-Aatman identity, then all the analogies in the Vedaantic texts are to be decoded
to mean the same truth- Self-realization.
Reciting these hymns with perfect intonations, understanding the meaning, truly raises
one to the state of realization instantly.
If the meanings are not understood, it is just a hotch potch of nonsense.
This is just a little hint in understanding the mysterious hymns of Upanishads.
But a seeker after Self can surely understand these sacred scriptures by sincere efforts and
hard work.
All that all Upanishads declare is
AHAM BRAHMAASMI -I AM BRAHMAN
AND
TATVAMASI- THAT THOU ART
Truth is very simple; but explanations are varied! But all explanations have only one
target - AHAM BRAHMAASMI AND TATVAMASI!
The Upanishads may sometime contain the Karma Kaanda portions also describing in
detail the rituals to be performed desiring some result. They need to be ignored by the
seeker of Knowledge.
PURPOSE OF THE HYMNS

Actually what is the purpose of such analogies and allegorical representations about the
one and only Truth of the oneness of the individual Self and the Supreme Self?
Just reverse the whole hymn and think backward; it becomes a step by step contemplative
process to the state of Self-Realization!
For example, we can start from ARKA state- the Experiencer, mentioned in the verse
given at the beginning of the book.
15
The hymn is a help-line for contemplation.

From the Arka state you have to recede back to the There was nothing whatsoever but
Hunger There was only the Unmanifest; only the Self
What is ARKA? Ar+Kam when one worshipped himself, waters (Kam) arose.
When ego appeared, experiences arose.
Arka is the one who has the idea of his limited identity and goes through many
experiences.
You are ARKA; analyze the whole of your life from birth to until the present instant as
much as you can remember.
What is life, but a collection of experiences within some space time boundary!
Instead of identifying with the experiences, segregate yourself as an audience of all
episodes that happened in your life!
Be a witness to all your life events; contemplate it as ASHVA ever changing ephemeral
phenomenon; how it expanded from the tiny world of a baby to the present world you are
experiencing as an adult, with the scope for more expansion still.
Do not chase the KAM (experiences) as ARKA ( experiencing Ego).
Realize the whole world as an unreal picture drawn by the senses.
Recede back to what existed before before and after!

Nothing existed; the world did not exist then, like it does not exist in deep sleep state!
Remain silent in that nothingness; the realization will occur that you alone exist as the
Nirvikalpa Brahman; remain as THAT alone!
JUST BE as Ramana says.
Every hymn of Upanishads is a helpline offered to contemplate in the reverse way and
realize the Self.
You can just play with contemplation practices of all Upanishads and reach the same
state of BRAHMAN!
That is why these hymns are known as UPANISHADS that which destroys ignorance and
leads you closer to Knowledge.
16
PART FOUR
FIVE ELEMENTS
Beautiful blue sky like canopy spreads above hiding the infinity behind it.
Sun looks on unperturbed by anything that happens anywhere like a mute witness; yet is
the cause of all activities on Earth.
Earth spreads out with countless varieties of plants and trees.
Water pouring from the clouds helps the seeds to sprout and grow.
A raging fire, a symbol of the Sun continuously swallows all that appears in front of it.
As waters make more fuel, the fire consumes more and more fuel.
The winds fan vigorously increasing the capacity of the fire.
The process is never ending.
The sky is ever expanding.
Air never stops blowing.
Fire never stops burning.
Water never stops pouring.
Plants never stop growing.
Sun looks on silently.
Fire crawls further and further consuming everything as its fuel.
Fire changes form as its fuel changes.
Jeeva continues its unending journey assuming different forms experiencing all the
perceptions created by its Vaasanaas!
The Witness Consciousness CHIT silently exists as the Supreme cause of all the
Universes.
Where is the UPANISHAD the Truth which destroys ignorance and leads towards the
Supreme? All around you!
Just analyze the characteristics of the world around you.
Nature silently teaches you the structure of this perceived Universe like
Shree DakshinaaMoorthy, the Manifest Brahman.
The Sages were not Nature worshipers as the history text books inform; they used the
simple workings of the Nature to explain the Highest Truths.
Ordinary people could not grasp the hidden meanings in the Upanishads. The surface
meaning was only understood and the theory of five elements forming the world arose.
So it was stated in the texts of Hinduism, that Hindus believe that Earth, water, fire, air
and sky are the five elements which make up the world; and so on.
Of course the gross bodies are a combined form of the five elements.
However Upanishads give instructions only about how Brahman appears as this
perceived world and not about the formation of gross physical bodies.
Understand the code-language taught by Sage Vishvaamitra and decode the

Upanishad-words properly and grasp the hidden Truths.
17
PART SIX
STUDY OF UPANISHADS
In Upanishads many words are used which have to be understood according to the
context of the Teaching.
BRAHMAN {GREATEST}
ATMAN [SELF]
OM [MANIFESTED BRAHMAN](UDGITHA)
All these three sounds -refer to the same thing.

Why Sounds?
Vedic language is sound based.
Vedic language is phonetic based.
It had no script as such.
All communications were verbal.
Vedas are also known as Shabdas; Sounds!
A slightest mistake in pronunciation and the meaning would change drastically.

Memory had to be perfect; Hearing had to be perfect; Sound producing mechanism in the
body throat and mouth section had to be perfect. That is why AUM is considered as the
complete sound principle which contains all the possibilities of all sound effects.
Women were not banned from the Vedic world. Female Sages like Gaargi, Maitreyi were
well versed in all the Vedas and were equal to male Sages in the Knowledge of the
phonetic Science of Vedas.
Vedas were not written.

It was not so rigidly bound by grammar rules. Since it was a chemistry of sounds, any
Sage could utter any new sound and create a desired effect.
Mantras (magical chants) were also sounds perfectly coined which could affect the brains
of the other organisms and create a change in the perceived worlds. After all it is not a
solid world out there. Everything that is perceived is just a conception of the mind.
So by affecting the brains of less intellectual brains, the whole world could be made to
change. Rains could be caused by a Mantra; Fire could be caused by a Mantra and so on.
The brains perceiving a rainless world had to see a world filled with rains; that is all.
Anything could become a perception by the power of the Mantra and create the illusory
effect. If one is cursed to become a fish, his brain and the other brains which perceive
him will see the fish-form; that is all. The curse gets redeemed by changes in brains.
There is no solid world out there. Brains only create perceptions. Mantras or phonetic
waves create changes in brains to perceive particular things in a particular way.
So Mantras were considered to be powerful.
18
But these Mantras cannot be recited like songs or repeated parrot like. Only a person who
is well-trained in phonetic emanations of the throat can utter a Mantra and create an
effect.
The phonetic science is as dangerous and as powerful as chemistry lab concoctions.
An ordinary person without the Knowledge of the chemicals inside the lab cannot be
adept in creating wonders like a chemistry Professor; nor will he be safe in the midst of
such dangerous chemicals and acids.
However nowadays no one is adept in this science and no one can perform any magic
with Mantras. The present day Homo sapiens do not have such sound producing systems
like the Sages of the yore.
When any sound is recited as a Mantra, it is supposed to affect the whole physical and
mental system of the person who utters it. The whole body vibrates to the sound of the
Mantra. Gaayatri Mantra is a very powerful Mantra which can improve ones intellectual
capacity only if the phonetic pronunciation is perfect; otherwise just muttering it like a
Naama-japa does not serve the purpose of the Mantra.
If a Sage curses a person with a Mantra, the brain of the victim remains still and changes
its configurations as per the sound waves emanating from the mouth of the Sage.
You cannot just scream I curse you and get anything to happen.
You need to be trained under a perfect Master of phonetics and learn the secrets from
him. But the science cannot be reinvented now as the present physical structures do not
have the capacity to make perfect sounds like the Sages of the yore.
SHABDA [SOUND]; VAAK [SPEECH]

Both words refer to the same thing.
VAAK is just modified sound.
Any perturbation in the CHITTA> appears as a Thought in the mind> appears as sound in
the mouth> appears as language in the mouth.
Vikalpa is the Unmanifest Vaasanaa in Brahman> is perturbation in Buddhi> a thought in

the Mind> sound in the mouth> language in the World.
In Nirvikalpa state of Brahman, no Vikalpa exists; no perturbation in Buddhi; no thought

in the mind; no sound in the mouth; no language!
Only THAT exists! Silence alone exists!
Other than Mantras, words have to be invented which is commonly understood by all the
people and so language evolved.
19
The Vedic Language which was the secret coded sound system of the intellectuals and
divinities was brought under the disciplinary rules of Grammar in the recent times by
Paanini, the great scholar who invented SAMSKRTAM- Well- modified Language
Sanskrit as we say now.
Dammed for the general good like the uncontrolled River Ganges, Sanskrit was perfected
with strict rules of Grammar. Coded Vedic language vanished into oblivion.
The true meanings of Vedas were lost!
One should also have a thorough Knowledge of Sanskrit language before one starts
studying the Sacred scriptures.
Each word has to be understood thoroughly.
Each word is a derivation of a particular root-letter with its own unique meaning.
Translated words in English do not covey the full-meaning of the Sanskrit words.
English does not have so many words as can be formed in Sanskrit.
To give an example The word LOTUS is the same translated word for
Jalaja water born; Pankaja mire-born; Saroja lake-born; Kamala water decoration;
Neeraja- water born; Padmam - attractive
Every Sanskrit word is a coined word!

Countless new words can be formed by using the root letters according to fixed rules
made by Paanini.
For example-
da means to give; ja means to to get born.
Adding these verb roots to all the synonyms of water produce many synonyms for
cloud-water giver and lotus-water born!
Take the word cloud - Jalada, ambuda, abda etc.

All these words mean rain bearing cloud!
Vedic language was sound-based; but no rules.

Sanskrit is letter based; bound by rules.
If ordinary literature in Sanskrit language can abound in such abundance vocabulary,
what can we speak of Vedas and Upanishads!
Even in a simple sentence of the Upanishad, which says for example, cut the head of the
Ashva- the translated English gives the literal meaning and we may explain it as
horse Sacrifice!
Since the term Ashva can have different derived meanings, it can mean a literal
Sacrifice of the animal horse or the cutting the head of the perceived phenomenon which
keeps swelling up!
One has to thoroughly analyze each single sound of the Vedas and Upanishads to grasp
their true meanings.
20
Vedas and Upanishads or even Puraanas cannot be read like a text books or story books!
The study of these sacred books needs an enquiring mind; a discriminating intellect and a
dispassionate attitude. Without purifying the mind of desires and attachments, one can
never grasp the hidden knowledge of the Upanishad texts.
Ignorant minds can easily go astray by saying I am Brahman!
The I of the ignorant is the physical shape. The Brahman may easily be misinterpreted
by them as a God.
So any idiot who thinks I am God will destroy his own life and others too.
To understand what is this I and what is this Brahman is not so easy.
If it was just a matter of reading printed texts or attending lectures every one would be a
Ramana or a Vivekananda. It is not so.
Only a mind without attachments and desires can grasp the real meanings of the
Upanishadic statements. Discriminative power of the intellect accompanied by dispassion
alone can reveal the Truths of the Upanishads. Even Shankara presents only the surface
meanings of the texts in his works; but kept the secret knowledge hidden only to be
shared with his closest disciples who were qualified to receive such knowledge.
Gender is not important for recital of Vedic hymns. Vaani is the female deity who
instructs Lord Brahma about Vedas. The Upanishads speak of MAITREYI, GARGI as
female Sages. Even SITA, the beloved daughter of King Janaka was well-versed in all
Upanishads. She was present always in the countless intellectual debates held by her
father in his court. Even Rama had attained the Essence of Knowledge, at the feet of
Sage VASISHTA, before he even left with Sage VISHAVAAMITRA to fight the demons.
Even so, unless one at least has a basic Knowledge of Sanskrit, it is difficult to study
Upanishads. More than that, one should have the Knowledge of the secret codes
employed by Rishis who hid the Supreme Knowledge in ordinary words.
When studying Upanishads understand-

First the word meaning;
Next the denoted meaning;
Then the context;
Then the hidden meaning;
Then chant in correct meter, to get the phonetic effect.
Upanishad hymns have to be chanted in exact phonetic measures.

They cant be sung in filmy tunes.
They need special training.
Women are not banned from reciting any Mantras.
If their voice can have unfaltering flow of sound from the stomach to the mouth, they can
also chant! But if it is a shrieking soft mellowed voice, one cannot recite hymns; even if
it be a male voice.
If one understands the general concept, then it is easy to follow any Upanishad easily.
21
Check the code-meanings with the random passage from Brh.Upanishat and reason out
the truth of the statements thereof:
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22

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Gaargi, the daughter of VACHAKNU, and the Great Sage YAAJNAVALKYA, once faced
each other in a discussion on BRAHMAN.
Gaargi, the mischievous Seer wanted to test Sage Yaajnavalkyas ability to comprehend
the hidden meanings of the Upanishad Truths. She asked many questions and he
answered them all immediately.
G: If everything here is filled with waters (experiences) what are these

waters pervaded within and without (filled)?
Y: Winds, O Gaargi!
[Attachments]
G: What are the winds filled with?

Y: Worlds of space, O Gaargi!
[Antariksha- Space time conceptions- Boundaries- Limitations]
G: What are these Worlds of space covered with?

Y: Worlds of Gandharvas O Gaargi!
[Illusions- Mind conceptions]
G: What are these Worlds of Gandharvas covered with?

Y: Worlds of Sun O Gaargi!
[Conscious observer witness]
G: What are these Worlds of Sun covered with?

Y: Worlds of Moon O Gaargi!
[Mental faculty]
G: What are these Worlds of Moon covered with?

Y: Worlds of Stars O Gaargi!
[Fixed conceptions or ideas]
23
G: What are these Worlds of Stars covered with?

Y: By the Worlds of Gods, O Gaargi!
[Thoughts Flashes in Consciousness- Perturbations in the brain]
G: What are these Worlds of Gods covered with?

Y: Worlds of Indras O Gaargi!
[Sense perceptions]
G: What are these Worlds of Indras covered with?

Y: By the Worlds of Prajaapatis O Gaargi!
[Individual worlds created by Vaasanaas]
G: What are these Worlds of Prajaapatis covered with?

Y: World of Brahmas O Gaargi!
[Jeevas Individual Creators of their own worlds-
Totality of all Jeevas- HiranyaGarbha]
G: What are these World of Brahmas covered with?
[Yaajnavalkya lost patience at her impudence. The argument had gone too
far.]
He said-
Gaargi! Do not transgress your limits lest your head fall off!
You are questioning about the deity (Brahman) who should not be reasoned
about.
Do not push your enquiry too far.
Gaargi the daughter of Vacaknu remained silent.
Brhadaaranyaka Upanishad [III.V.1]

24
If the codes for these simple words are not known, the whole passage will appear to be
some tribal explanation of reality!
If the hierarchy is known as-
Para Brahman
Manifestation as Jeevas
Individual worlds
Sense perceptions
Thoughts
Fixed ideas
Mind
Witness Consciousness
Illusions
Boundaries
Space Time conceptions
Contact
Experiences
- it makes better sense!
We can re-write the same passage as:
What is the world around us?

Experiences!
How does it occur?

Contact through the Praana!
What is the result?

There is some space around us and some sensation of past present and future.
What does it lead to?

The conception that we live in a solid world of a fixed time and space.
What are these worlds bound by space and time?

Just Illusory worlds!
Who perceives them actually?

Pure Consciousness which is a silent witness unaffected by all experiences.
Then who is affected?

The mental Faculty!
Why it gets affected?

Because of ascertained conceptions about the world.
25
What is the nature of the mind?

Flashes of unceasing thoughts or perturbations.
How is the world cognized?

Through Senses!
What is the result of all this?

Each perceives a world based on his own mental conceptions.
Who is the perceiver?

The individual Self!
Who is the individual Self?

A point in the Totality of Selves Brahma.
What is this based on?

Since the intellect is incapable of comprehending the nature of the Para Brahman, it will
shatter into million pieces if it ever tries to reason out the Para Brahman.
All analysis stops at this point of understanding.
CHIT PURE AWARENESS - BRAHMAN

CHIT!
THAT CHIT!
CHIT means - to be conscious of, to be aware of, to perceive etc.
This Awareness alone existed even before the perceptions get perceived.
The Pure Awareness where nothing is perceived is CHIT.
Since it is not a person, it is referred to as TAT THAT!

It is similar to a canvas without pictures; a mirror without reflections.
But the potentiality of reflections exists as its inherent nature in the mirror.
The potentiality of paintings exists as the inherent nature of the canvas.
The potentiality of perceptions exists as the inherent nature of the CHIT!
THAT is Existence SAT!

THAT is Knowledge CHIT!
THAT is Bliss- AANANDAM!
THAT CHIT - exists before the beginning!
THAT CHIT - is beyond Space and Time!
THAT CHIT - out of which

AAKAASHA arose
VAAYU arose
AGNI arose
AAPA arose
BHOO arose!
26
THAT PURE AWARENESS out of which

SPACE TIME arose
CONTACT arose
JEEVA arose
WANTS arose
FIELD [Stage] arose!
THAT CHIT out of which

SPACE TIME IDEA with SOUND arose (Aakaasha/Shabda)
CONTACT PRINCIPLE with TOUCH arose (Vaayu/Sparsha)
EXPERIENCER with FORM arose (Agni/Roopa)
WANTS with TASTE arose (Aapa/Rasa)
STAGE with SMELL arose! (Prthvee/Gandha)
When
Fuel thins out;
Fires stops burning;
Waters stop forming;
Winds stop blowing;
Boundaries disappear;
Moon vanishes;
Stars vanish;
Sun alone shines.
Transcend the Sun also.

CHIT ALONE REMAINS!
PURE AWARENESS ALONE REMAINS!
SILENCE ALONE REMAINS!
27

About the Author:
Maa Tejasvini
comprehension.
28

SELECTIONS
FROM
[BRAHMAAS INSTRUCTIONS]
by
Narayanalakshmi
1
GIST OF THE PASSAGE IN BRIEF
When you hear the sound of thunder as Da Da Da, understand that it proclaims the teachings of Brahmaa,
the Creator.
DA - DAMA
Those, who are rich and have access to abundant pleasures must perform the penance of self-control and
abstain from all the sense pleasures.
Understand that the sense pleasures are momentary and actually result in painful experiences only. Objects
never contain the quality of pleasures in them.
Mind alone imagines the pleasures as contained in the objects and seeks them for fulfillment.
Understand the truth that Brahman is a state of fulfillment; and remain silent in the state of fulfillment only,
empty of all perceptions, by the acquirement of true knowledge.
DA - DAANA
Those who are attached to their possessions must develop detachment and practice charity. Possessions are
nothing but the ideas held on to by the mind as mine.
Nobody can possess anything actually.
All objects are just sensations experienced in the emptiness of Brahman.
Do not hold on to the ghosts seen in emptiness.
Develop dispassion and detachment through proper reasoning methods.
Understand the truth that Brahman is a state of fulfillment and remain silent in the state of fulfillment only,
empty of all perceptions.
DA - DAYAA
Those who are selfish and rude must practice unselfishness and must show kindness to all the living beings,
animals and humans alike.
See the Self (the essence of Reality that is common) in all and love all as yourself. Never hurt anyone by word,
act or thought.
Understand the truth that Brahman is a state of fulfillment and remain silent in the state of fulfillment only,
empty of all perceptions.
This is what Brahmaa taught to his three classes of children Da Da Da!

The instruction was the same; but the three classes of beings understood the same sound in different
manners, as per their own mind-structures.
The perceived world also is seen differently by every person according to his own mind-capacity. That is why
we have so many philosophies and theories prevailing in the world.
A person who knows Brahman has no philosophy at all as his.
He remains silent in the knowledge of Brahman.
Thunder rises from clouds.

Cloud is ready to pour out as rains.
Cloud is the potential state which is ready to burst out as experiences with perceivers attached to them.
It thunders and makes sounds.
The same sound is heard differently by everyone.
Each interprets the sound in their own way, because they see the duality.
Ignorance alone makes one hear the sound of differentiation.
A knower hears no sounds.
He need not make effort to control his senses, because he is never attracted by the sense objects.
He need not make effort to give off his possessions in charity, because he possesses nothing; not even the
sense of a limited ego.
He need not make effort to be kind to another person, because he sees no second person.
A Knower of Brahman is Brahman only.
2

;
Three classes of Praajaapatis sons- (Creators sons)

Devas the shining ones (Saatvic in nature),
Manushyas, Manus descendents (Raajasic in nature),
and Asuras (Taamasic in nature)
lived with their father,
strictly following the discipline of Brahmacharya (celibate student hood).

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After the completion of their disciplined course of life,

Devas said -Kindly give us instructions.
He spoke to them this letter DA.
He asked - Have you understood?
They said - We have understood.

It means; Have control; for you are not like that.
He said -AUM (So it is); you have understood rightly.
(Devas had access to abundant pleasures; so they understood that they had to practice
self-control. Dama became their practice.)
3

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Then Manus descendents said -Kindly give us instructions.
He asked - Have you understood?

It means - Give; for you are not like that.
(Manus descendents were attached to objects and people. They held on to the
possessions only, as their identity. They understood that they should develop detachment
and give off their possessions to the needy. Daana became their practice.)
4

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Then Asuras said -Kindly give us instructions.
He asked -Have you understood?

It means; Have kindness; for you are not like that.
(Asuras were cruel by nature and acted selfish at all times. They understood that they had
to practice being kind to others and thus live unselfishly. Dayaa became their practice.)
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That is why this alone is the divine speech that thunders as

Da Da Da Daamyata, Datta, Dayadhvam -
control; give; be endowed with kindness;
therefore these three instructions should be taught -
Dama, Daana, Dayaa.
Second Braahmana section
5
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Narayanalakshmi, also known as Tejaswini in her ascetic life spent most of her life in the Himalayan
terrain, engaged in the penance of knowledge. She is well-versed in all philosophies and is a scholar in
Sanskrit language. Her mission life is to retrieve the lost knowledge of the ancient Rishis and offer it

SELECTIONS
FROM
[WHAT IS BRAHMAN]
by
Narayanalakshmi
1

OM POORNAMADAH POORNAMIDAM
POORNAATPOORNAMUDACYATE
POORNASYA POORNAMAADAAYA
POORNAMEVAAVASHISHYATE
That is Filled Whole; this is Filled Whole;

Filled Whole rises from the Filled Whole.
Even when the Filled Whole is taken out of the Filled Whole,
Filled Whole alone is left back.
The Two completely filled Wholes!

That and This!
Brahman and the world!
Are they two or one; or one changing into the other?
There is no one or two or change that can limit Brahman.

Brahman is all the perceived in a completed state.
It is Poornam! It is always full!
Whatever you understand, whatever is experienced as happiness, and whatever exists

anywhere anytime is
Brahmans completeness perceived as the incompleteness through ignorance.
There is nothing outside of Brahman.
Brahman is the world (or Jagat - the continuous state of getting produced and destroyed).
The words Brahman and World are synonymous.

Brahman alone is seen as the world.
Brahman state alone is experienced as the world, and understood as the world, in bits and
pieces by the limited minds bound by ignorance.
Mind can see only incompleteness.

Mind always is in want of fulfillment.
Mind alone sees the world.
Mind never sees Brahman which is completeness.
Kill the mind; the incompleteness vanishes.
Brahman state is all the wants and fulfillments at the same instant.
Any want is already fulfilled in Brahman.
2
For example, take the case of an ordinary seed which has to grow up as a tree.
A seed grows into a tree; yields many more seeds; those seeds become trees and yield
more seeds; and those seeds grow into more trees and yield more seeds; and such a
process can go on endlessly in various levels of space and time, when we perceive the
growth of the seed into a tree through a limited mind-hole.
Of course, the ordinary seed of the world needs water, sunlight, soil etc to grow; but
Brahman-seed is already all the trees at the same instant, without the need of any
concomitant causes.
Brahman is the seed and the tree at the same time, without the need of going through the
space/time measurement which divides the seed and the tree as two.
In the Brahman-state, all the manifestations of that one seed as the ever appearing tree-
perceptions stay as a completed state only.
Brahman-state is the source of all possible states that can appear as perceptions, which get
defined as the world by the ignorant.
The possibilities are already in the completed state of experience, in the Brahman state.
That alone, this completeness alone is the perceived world phenomenon seen in some
arena of space and time.
The wholeness of Brahman appears as if incomplete when framed in the space time screen;
but actually this division belongs only to the lack of knowledge state and is not real.
Brahman alone is; and the world is not.

Brahman is the completeness of all.
It is already in a fulfilled state.
To see it as the incomplete world is the ignorance that needs to be removed.
World is just the idea of incompleteness and change.
Differentiation alone is termed as the world.
The differentiation is seen because of the limited understanding.
When through correct knowledge, differentiation (which is never there) is removed, then,
Brahman alone shines as Knowledge-essence.
Even the idea of right and wrong knowledge is also a product of delusion only.
There is nothing but Brahman.
Brahman is whole; the world perception shining forth as Brahman is also whole only.
Because of this shine, Brahman state has no changes or perturbations affecting it.
It stays as the essence of all the perceived phenomena in the form of Knowledge only.
A Knower of Brahman also is always in a fulfilled state only.

For a Knower, world is the blissful shine of Brahman without divisions.
3

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Om
Empty expanse is Brahman.
Empty expanse is ancient.
Son of Kauravyaayani says

Expanse of emptiness contains the wind.
Brahman-knowers (Braahmanas) know this truth.

Through this, one knows what is to be known.
First Braahmana section
Kham means emptiness.

Brahman means that which swells up.
Brahman- state is the expanse of emptiness.
What is emptiness?
It is not the material emptiness which is empty of objects.
It is not the emptiness of blankness as complete nothingness.
It is emptiness in reference to all perceptions.
It is empty of all divided perceptions which rise through ignorance only.
It is Knowledge in essence; so is empty of all superimpositions and perturbations that rise
because of ignorance.
It is not something which has appeared after emptying all the perceptions.
It has been always there.
It is changeless.
It is ancient, if you want to think in terms of now and ancient.
There was never a time it was not; never a time it will not be there.
Kham is Brahman.
Brahman is Puraanam.
Emptiness is Brahman; and it is ancient.
4
Son of Kauravyaayani says-

This emptiness is not wholly empty; but contains air.
What is air?
It is Praana.
What is Praana?
It is the power of vibration.
This is the vibration that appears as the world.
This vibration alone supports all the worlds of all the Jeevas.
What is this power of Brahman?

This power is to know itself as Brahman.
This knowledge of itself as Brahman is the perceived world.
Why so?
When Brahman knows that it is the power of vibrations, it sees all vibrations and that alone
is seen as the perceived world.
Is the perceived world different from Brahman?

No!
Brahman is itself the perceived world.
But it is empty of all perceptions.
Then, how can it have air?
Air is its own nature.
Like movement in the wind, world is the vibration of knowledge in Brahman.
Wind and movement are inseparable.
Movement is the nature of the wind.
Movement is the essence of the wind.
World is the essence of Brahman.
It is not filled with the vibration of the world; but shines forth as the world; like a gem
shining as luster.
Brahman shines as the vibration of the perceived world.
This shine is its nature.
Therefore there is not one containing the other; but emptiness alone appears as if it
contains the air.
Emptiness is seen as non-emptiness because of the idea of differentiation.
Brahman is emptiness alone.
It is the emptiness shining as the essence of itself; as Knowledge alone.
Even emptiness as a word is not there in Brahman.
Brahman itself shines as emptiness as defined by the minds seeing differentiation.
Brahman is filled up with world; world is filled up with Brahman.

Remove the filled up world from the filled up Brahman; filled up Brahman alone is there.
Brahman is the filled up world.
World is the filled up Brahman.
He who sees Brahman and world as different suffers forever in ignorant worlds.
5
.3
5 7
What is known as Hrdayam is Prajaapati.

This is Brahman. This is everything.
Hrdayam is Brahmaa (creation state).

It is the producer of everything.
It is the source of all.
Hrdayam is Brahman.
Hrdayam refers to Brahman only.
Hrdayam is everything.
Hrdayam is all that is perceived as the world.)
(Hrdayam here does not refer to the physical heart; but central essence of existence).
89 :
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7

This Hrdayam (word) is made of three letters.

Hr is one letter.
To him who knows this, his own and others bring.
Da is one letter.
To him who knows this, his own and others give.
Yam is one letter.
He who knows this, goes to the divine world.
Third Braahmana section
6
Why this word Hrdayam is synonymous with Brahman?
Hrdayam is coined out of three syllables.

Hr, da, and yam
What is the meaning of the sound Hr?

Hr means to bring.
To him who knows this, his and others bring.
What is the meaning of the sound Da?

Da means to give.
To him who knows this, his and others give.
What is the meaning of the sound Yam?

Yam means to go.
He, who knows this, goes to the heaven.
Brahman is the central essence of all.

He is the Supreme Lord of all.
(Brahman is not a deity; but the state which is the source of all knowledge.)
The world is of the form of knowledge.

It brings its knowledge to the Brahman the Lord who is embodied as the Purusha.
Who are his own and who are the others?

Other is the objective world which is outside as the other; it brings him the knowledge of
the perceived.
Mind and senses which belong to him superimpose their own knowledge on the objects
and bring him the knowledge of the world which becomes his, as his personal experience.
Based on the knowledge of the world brought by senses and the mind, he performs good
deeds and goes to heaven.
All those who see the Hr da yam as broken sounds see the differentiation.
For all these perceptions and the results of actions, Brahman alone is the source.
He is the Hrdayam - central essence - where Hr, da and yam take place.
Those who understand the Hr syllable only, bring in the perceived into their minds and
enjoy it as different from them.
Those who understand the Da syllable only, bring in the perceived into their minds and
enjoy it as different from them.
Those who understand the yam syllable only, believe in the other world; do good deeds
and aspire for a heaven.
If a person understands the true meaning of the whole word Hrdayam, then he stays as
Brahman alone.
The perceived world brings him the Knowledge of Brahman alone.
7
He stays as the essence of all the perceived.

Duality dissolves off.
He sees the perceived world as Brahman alone.
He aspires for no heaven.
Good and bad has no meaning for him.
He stays as the inner essence of the sound Hr da yam; as the very essence of all.
*
*9 . B
==
*9 .

7

That was this alone - as Truth (Satyam) alone.
He, who knows this great adorable first born as the Truth the Brahman, he
wins all the worlds.
His enemy is conquered and becomes non-existent for the one, who knows
this great adorable first born as the Truth the Brahman.
Satyam indeed is Brahman.

Fourth Braahmana section
Brahman is also Satyam.

The two words Brahman and Satyam are synonymous.
Brahman always is the truth. World is untruth.
Brahman is great because he is the huge expanse of this world.

Brahman is adorable, because he is the very bliss that fills the world.
Brahman is born before anything was there.
From him alone the conception of beginning itself begins.
He was there before the world was born.
The world is not at all there in Brahman.

Brahman alone is the truth; not the world which has a beginning and end.
One who knows the Truth as Brahman wins all the worlds.
How?
8
A Knower of Brahman as the Truth stays as Brahman only.

He sees himself as all the perceived.
He who knows Brahman is Brahman only.
He stays as the Satyam.
His enemies get conquered.

How?
That which harasses him and torments him is his enemy.
Ignorance alone is the enemy.
Ignorance blocks the truth and shows the untruth only.
A knower who understands Truth as Brahman has destroyed his enemy called ignorance.
He no more sees any untruth.
His ignorance completely vanishes without any trace.
A Knower of Brahman is Brahman alone.
D
=

. .
F

This was water alone in the beginning.

That water produced Satyam.
Satyam produced Prajaapati.
Prajaapati produced Devas.
Those Devas worship Satyam alone.
Water as unmanifest experiences was alone there at the beginning.

Those waters alone manifest as this world.
World is Satyam. World is Brahman alone. World is manifest Brahman (Satyam).
From this manifest Brahman (Satyam), Prajaapati Brahmaa rises.
From Prajaapati Brahmaa, Devas rise.
Devas worship Satyam only; for Satyam is Brahman.
Brahman is the source of even Prajaapati Brahmaa.
So everyone should worship that Satya Brahman only.
Vaasanaas (Waters) alone were in the beginning as unmanifest.

Vaasanaas are unmanifest experiences.
Vaasanaas are unmanifest perceptions.
Vaasanaas are unmanifest Knowledge-expressions.
Brahman knew itself as the Knowledge of all.
This Knowledge produced the perceiving knowledge of Brahman as Satyam.
9
That gave rise to Prajaapati.

Prajaapati is the mind.
He alone produces the perceived world.
Every mind is a reflected image of Prajaapati only.
Every mind acts as a Prajaapati, producing a world based on its understanding.
Prajaapati produced Devas.
What are Devas?
Deva means that which shines.
Thought, the counterpart of Praana is the Deva. It is the vibration in Brahman.
Mind is that which gives rise to thoughts.
Prajaapati produces Devas.
Devas, thoughts are shine of the Brahman alone.
These thoughts always adore Satyam, the manifest Brahman, the perceived world.
89
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. 9 G

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+
Satyam - This is made of three letters.

Sa is one letter.
Ti is one letter.
Yam is one letter.
The first and the last letters are the Truth.
In the middle is the Untruth.
This unreal is held on both sides by the Truth,
Truth alone is in excessive quantity.
One who knows this is never hurt by untruth.
The word Satyam is coined out of three syllables.

The three syllables are - Sa Ti and Yam.
Sa and Yam represent the Truth. How?
Sa means He.
He is Brahman.
Yam means that which is him.
He is Brahman who is perceived as the world.
Sa and Yam both refer to Brahman, the truth.
10
What is Ti?
Ti refers to Mrtyu and Anrtam (both words have ti in the middle) - Death and untruth.
Ti refers to the ignorance which produces the delusion of the perceived.
Untruth is covered by Truth on both sides.
Manifest and unmanifest Brahman support this world made of untruth.
Manifest Brahman is the same as unmanifest Brahman.

Words like manifest and unmanifest belong to the ignorant minds.
Sa and Yam appear as if separated by ti.
Since ti is non-existent and unreal, Sa and yam are one and the same.
Truth supersedes untruth.

Ti has no support without Sa and yam.
The world is Ti - untruth and is tainted by Death.
Brahman alone holds the world and shines as the truth of the world also.
One, who understands this truth that Brahman alone surpasses the untruth of the world, is
never affected by the untruth called the perceived world.
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That which is known as Satyam is this- he is the Sun.

He is the Purusha in that sphere; he is the Purusha who perceives south.
They both rest on each other.
The former rests on the latter through the rays;
and the latter rests on the former through the Praanas.
When the Purusha leaves the body, he sees the sun-sphere as pure.
The rays do not reach him anymore.
That which is known as Satyam is this- he is the Sun.

Brahman is Satyam.
Brahman is the manifest world.
Brahman shines as the knowledge of the world.
As Brahman, the world is Satyam and real.
The non-existent world is supported by the Brahman who shines as its source and support.
This Brahman is the Sun Aaditya.
11
The word Aaditya is again made of three letters.

Aadi, ti, and Yah are the three letters.
Aadi means the source, the beginning.
Ti again is the untruth, the delusion called the perceived.
Yah is he who is Aadi.
He who is the source and beginning of all is Aaditya.
Aaditya is Brahman.
He supports the ti - the untruth of the world.
Brahman is the changeless shine of Knowledge that shines as the ever-changing pattern of
the world.
He is the Purusha in that sphere; and is in the Dakshina Aksha. (South)

This Aaditya is the Purusha shining in his sphere.
What is his sphere? (Mandala)
Whatever the particular mind of the Purusha perceives as the world is his sphere.
(Kshetra field of perception as mentioned in BhagavadGita).
Brahmaa is the total field of all Jeevas in his creation.

Brahmaa is the Purusha who experiences his creation as all the Purushas of his creation.
This Brahmaa stays always in the state of Aaditya and is never affected by the creation.
Aaditya is the witness awareness that understands the world as perceived.

Aaditya is the Brahman-Sun, because of whom the world gets revealed.
He is in the Dakshinaa eye.
(Dakshina means right side as opposed to Vaama, the left side.
Here Dakshina refers to south, the death-perception.)
Dakshina eye is that which perceives change; and identifies with the change
and death.
They both rest on each other. The former rests on the latter through the rays; and the
latter rests on the former through the Praanas.
The witness consciousness (Aaditya) is aware of the perceived world.

His presence reveals the world of perceptions.
He remains unchanged and watches the changing patterns of the world.
He is unaffected by the world, like the Sun is unaffected by the world.
Witness consciousness (Aaditya) and the perceiver of the world (Purusha) are both
connected to each other.
Brahman who knows the world as the world is the Aaditya who shines and reveals the
world. Purusha, the Brahman who is deluded in the identity of a form, has only a limited
awareness; and sees only change and death.
12
Purusha identifies with the body and believes that he will die along with the body.
Or he believes that he will travel to other worlds after the death of the body.
Or he believes that he will take many births as different bodies.
Whatever the Purusha thinks, Aaditya is not affected by it.
He watches everything silently without any perturbation.
Aaditya is Brahman who is just aware of the Knowledge of the world.

Purusha is Brahman who sees with the Dakshinaa eye and so sees death.
Dakshinaa also means one who is adept in actions.

Purusha is bound by actions and their results.
Aaditya is never bound and just remains as awareness.
They both rest on each other.
The former rests on the latter through the rays;

and the latter rests on the former through the Praanas.
The former - Aaditya is established in the Purusha through his rays.

What are rays?
The rays are the shine of Aaditya.
These rays are the power of understanding that rises as objects of the world.
These objects create a perceiver named Purusha, an embodied one.
How is the Purusha connected to Aaditya?

He is connected to Aaditya as the Praanas.
Praanas are the powers that enable a Purusha to function in various ways.
These Praanas are the vibrations that belong to Brahman.
Brahman knows itself as Brahman.
This is the vibration of Brahman which is understood as the perceived world.
This perceived world produces many minds which experience the Vaasanaa fields as
Purushas.
This Purusha is connected to Brahman through his Praana.

This Praana gives the Purusha, the power of the mind.
This mind perceives a world through delusion.
Thoughts in the mind are the Devas which serve the Purusha.
Brahman is Aaditya, the witness consciousness which when perceiving a world made by a
mind, is termed as Purusha.
Purusha is Aaditya.
Aaditya is Brahman.
13
When the Purusha leaves the body, he sees the sun-sphere as pure.
The rays do not reach him anymore.
Purusha falsely believes in death and thinks that he dies along with the body.
He sees south. He sees with the Dakshinaa eye.
He understands death as real, though it is unreal.
When the body dies, what happens?

Purusha remains as Aaditya only.
The body was never there; Aaditya alone was there.
When the imagined death of the imagined body occurs, Purusha remains as Aaditya alone.
Thoughts stop and he rests in his source.
(Only unfulfilled Vaasanaas get left back, which produce another Mandala with another
Purusha, with Aaditya as the audience of the show.)
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For this one who is in the Sun-sphere, Bhoo is the head.

Single head; and single syllable;
Bhuva is the two arms;

Two arms; Two are the syllables.
Svar is the stabilized part.

Two are there as stable.
Two are the syllables.
His secret name is Ahar.
He who knows this destroys and shuns evil.

14
He who is the Lord of the Aaditya Mandala is Aaditya.

Aaditya is the perceiving Brahman.
Aaditya is the Lord of the perceiving field of a Purusha.
His head is Bhoo - the field of experience.

Head is the prominent portion of a person.
The world one sees is the head of the person who is Aaditya.
Aaditya is the unperturbed witness-state of that perceived field.

Bhoo is one letter and he has one head.
Aaditya has perception as his head.
What are his arms?

He has two arms.
Bhuvah are his arms.
They are two letters and he has two arms.
He stretches out as the concepts of space and time.
With his two arms he covers the entire perceived Mandala.
He has two feet.

Svar is his feet.
He stays stable on his feet.
Svar means his own.
Aaditya remains always stabilized in his own nature.

He is always the Brahman.
He never is affected by perceptions.
He is just the knowledge of perceptions.
He stays unswerving from his true nature.
He has no name actually.

But he is referred to by the sound Ahar.
Ahar is one who shuns evil.
Ahar is one who shuns ignorance.
He who remains identified with this Aaditya discards ignorance and stays stable in his own
nature, even while his head is Bhoo and his arms are Bhuvah.
A Knower of Brahman stays unperturbed amidst perceptions as the Aaditya.

15
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For this one who is in the Dakshinaa vision, Bhoo is the head.
Single head; and single syllable;
Bhuva is the two arms.

Two arms; Two are the syllables.
Svar is the stabilized part.

Two are there as stable.
Two are the syllables.
His secret name is Aham.

He who knows this destroys and shuns evil.
Fifth Braahmana section
Purusha is the embodied one who sees death.

He has a head.
He also has the perceived field Bhoo as his head.
He also has the space and time concepts as his arms which is the Bhuvah.
His feet are also established in his true nature of Brahman.
He also has no name.

He is referred to by the sound Aham.
He does not know his true nature and is identified with the inert form.
He builds up an ego Aham I ness because of ignorance.
If one understands that this unreal Aham is actually Ahar, he destroys ignorance and
remains as Aaditya only.
Aaditya is Brahman. A Knower of Brahman is also Brahman only.
16
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This Purusha is made of mind.

He shines resplendently.
He is (realized) within the heart like a grain of rice or barley.
He is the ruler of all.
He is the Lord of all.
Whatever is there, he governs them.
Sixth Braahmana section
What this Purusha made of?

He is made of mind only.
What is Manas -Mind?
Mind is a continuous stream of divided flashes.
It shines forth as the awareness of perceptions; imagines narratives in the inert
perceptions; produces an ego based on these perceptions.
Because of this mind, a Purusha always stays as Aham only; and sees death only.
Who is this Purusha who is made of mind?

He is the shine of Brahman only.
He shines as all the perceived resplendently.
Brahman stays inside the Purusha as his essence like a grain stays inside the husk.
Actually Purusha is in essence Brahman, the ruler of all, the Lord f all.
He is the shine which understands perceptions.
He gives meaning to the perceptions by his power of understanding.
He who realizes Brahman who stays as the central essence within, rules all.
17
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They say lightning is Brahman.

It is lightning, because it scatters away the darkness.
He who knows it as such, that lightning is Brahman, he scatters all evil.
Lightning indeed is Brahman.
Seventh Braahmana section
The learned speak of Brahman as Vidyut.

What is Vidyut?
Vidyut is that flash of light which destroys darkness.
Mind shines as a luster made of lightning flashes only.
If one can contemplate on the luster that makes up the lightning, he realizes
the true state of Brahman.
Vidyut is a flash of understanding.

Brahman is the essence of each thought and idea.
Brahmans shine as Aaditya alone shines as the luster in the mind and thought.
One who is in the state of Brahman even while amidst lightning flashes, kills the darkness
and stays as Brahman only.
Darkness is absence of light.
Darkness here refers to the absence of Knowledge.
A Knower of Brahman is always resplendent as Brahman and destroys the ignorance.
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18
This is indeed a great penance that a man suffers when not well.
He wins great worlds, he who knows like this.
This is indeed a great penance that a man whose life has departed is taken
to the forest.
This is indeed a great penance that a man whose life has departed is placed
inside the fire.
Eleventh Braahmana section
Purusha who is identified with the body goes one way.

Purusha identified with Brahman goes the other way.
A man who suffers illness of the body dies along with the body and suffers the fear of
death even when alive.
A man who understands that he is suffering the illness of ignorance practices knowledge
and wants to realize his true essence as Brahman.
The worldly man dies of mental and physical illnesses; and is taken to the forest as an
inauspicious thing that needs to be burnt off.
The aspirant who wants to realize his true essence goes to the forest to stay in solitude;
and he contemplates on Brahman as guided by some realized Sage.
The worldly man who is identified with the body is placed on the fire and burns off into
ashes.
Others who watch this burning of the body also fear their own deaths and suffer even
while living.
The aspirant who wants to realize his true essence places himself in the fire of dispassion
and burns off his attachment to the body.
He who understands this indeed wins the worlds because he is Brahman who
is the source of all worlds.
OM TAT SAT
19
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

SELECTIONS
FROM
[WHAT WAS THERE BEFORE BEGINNING]
by
Narayanalakshmi
WHAT WAS THERE
BEFORE THE BEGINNING?
[I]
1.
In the Supreme without perturbations (NIRVIKALPA), there arose a minute perturbation
as it were. The perturbation immediately took the form of a young Sage sitting under a
tree who questioned within himself What was there before everything began?

In the beginning Atmaa alone was there as the Purusha!

2.
What is in the beginning?
What was there before the beginning?
The word beginning denotes the space-time phenomenon.
Our brains on this planet are hardwired to see every object as enclosed within three
dimensions. May be there are universes which have different kinds of brains perceiving
objects in an entirely different dimensional enclosure. May be they see sounds and hear
sights! They even may perceive no solidity in objects and pass right through them.
Anything is possible in the Supreme Brahman who is a never-ending fountain of

possibilities. But whatever the perception be like, any perceiver is bound to perceive any
object only in some space-time box.
The very idea of space and time is entwined with the ideas of there and then; where
and when; now and here; beginning and end.
Time has to begin somewhere; so reasons our brain. There has to be a beginning to all
this we see; so ascertains our intellect. And of course many brains calmed down with the
theory of a God sitting outside space and time who created this world for his sport.
Since even God needed a space-time phenomenon to sit and do creation-work, all
grandeurs and characters that were beyond human reach were superimposed on the so
called God! And it was firmly believed that by pleasing him one could reach eternal
heavens where you again serve the god as a servant; or enjoy the pleasures of wine and
women; or become sub-gods with super natural powers helping those who still were
struggling to catch the side-glance of their God.
But in the ancient days the Gods mentioned in the Vedas were just higher beings with
individual functions allotted to them. The Sages and Brahmins and kings performed rites
and offered them oblations which in turn got delivered to them by the Fire-God. Other
than that, there was no special single God who ruled the worlds.
Brahma, Naaraayana and Shiva were the trinities who took to creating, maintaining and
destroying the worlds. They had their own followers and devotees. It was just a personal
issue and no one was seated on a high throne as a God. The Gods of the heavens were
called Devas the shining ones. The English word God itself seems to have arisen from
the word Khudaa so say some researchers.
The God of the Upanishads is not the modern version of Supremeity ruling universes, but
just divinities who had some roles allotted to them. Later on the God the Supreme came
into existence through the influence of various religious heads and philosophers.
3.
However one class of brains was not satisfied with these gods and heavens. Even if they
were real, these intellects yearned to transcend even such levels of pleasures and godly
presences. There was only one question that churned their minds night and day.
They had understood that their brains were hardwired only to perceive objects enclosed
in time and space. They decided to jump out of their brains and pursue the Truth which
transcended all space and times that ever existed.
So these unique brains posed the question-
What was there before beginning began?
What was there before the time and space ideas corrupted the brain?
As their brains remained silent, the answer flashed forth.
{Self alone was there before the beginning began!}
If every object perceived, including the body, mind, or intellect was not at all there, if the
very idea of space and time vanish, what could remain, but ones own Self!
So the Sage who contemplated on this profound question of beginning suddenly

discovered that he alone existed. His identity as a Sage posing the question had vanished.
He just was there as the one question longing for Truth.
He was just a perturbation, a tiny wavelet in the ocean of Reality bereft of perturbations.
He was the First-born, the so-called Creator.

He observed that there was no one else but himself.

4.
The Sage had lost his own space bound identity.
He now was the single point of consciousness which was the sum total of all conscious
experiences that could randomly express through him.
As a principle of consciousness, he was a being who was at once the potentiality of all
possible experiences.
He could experience any possible world within any space/time boundary.
He could visualize any possibility that his probing mind could think of.
He was the high energy point which could burst forth into all experiences at once.
Still not bound by space and time, he was only the PURUSHA, the tingling point of
consciousness.
There was no space, no time, no identity, no people, no beginning, and no end.

He was just a throbbing perturbation which was before the beginning.
He was just a point of consciousness ready to burst forth into infinite varieties of
perceivers and perceived worlds.
But yet, he had not become all this. He had not perceived all this.
He was just a lonely perturbation longing to become all this.
Nothing else was there but himself!
No one else was there but himself!
Nothing else was there but a teeny weeny thought which wanted to begin the beginning.

He first uttered I am He!
5.
The thought-identity meditated on its own identity and found that it was a tiny
perturbation of the Supreme Brahman who was again just a point holding infinite
vibrations like him ready to become all possible states of space and time.
He knew his source.
He knew that he was the Supreme without any perturbations and also the tiny
perturbation ready to burst forth into countless more perturbations.
He was the Supreme; yet now he felt he was different.
He knew himself as a perturbation different from the perturbation-less supreme.
He was now the sprout bursting out of the dormant seed.
Devolving down to the lower level of differentiation, he reassured himself with the
knowledge that he was the Supreme in essence.
6.
The thought which was just a zero added another number to it.
The identity-less thought, thought I am He!
The thought had separated itself from the source.
The seed had sprouted out of the ground.
The idea of a second one had arisen.
The one now separated itself and said I am He.
As long as one utters, I am He, one cannot said to have realized his Self.
The words I and He refer to two different beings.
I thinks - I am bound and He is free.
The I struggles to be the He and says, I am He!
But the seed had sprouted.
He was now He and I.
This thought now had a name I!
This thought which wanted to begin the beginning labeled itself as I!
The thought knew only one thing- I exist; I am.

#$%&(% * ,-
/
Therefore he was called AHAM (I).

Therefore, to this day when a person is addressed,
he first says, IT IS I, and says the other name that he may have.
7.
Every thinking person who is aware of his own existence knows that he exists. He knows
that he is capable of producing thoughts and ideas unique to himself. He unifies all his
thoughts as a single unit and labels them as I. Then he adds a name to that I, so that he
need not be confused with other Is seen moving in the world.
That is why whenever any one talks about himself, he first mentions the word I and
then adds the name to it as of the family he belongs to.
The word for I in Sanskrit is AHAM.

Sanskrit is a language of sounds. What the sound is - that the object is.
AHAM is just a sound (HM) ascertaining ones superiority as a thinking being.
A person can renounce anything in the name of religion or love or country. But the
AHAM or I cannot be renounced.
I is the basic vibration common to everyone, which later on keeps piling up countless
thoughts on itself and recognizes itself as different from the rest of the world.
I is a label for the collection of some thought processes.
0&
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/ &
/

Because he was the first and before all the others,

he burnt away all evils, he is the PURUSHA.
He who knows thus, indeed burns one who wants to exist before him.
8.
Why did this particular Sage attain the state before the beginning?
Because he was the winner!
He was the first!
He realized that he was Brahman and still entertained a desire to understand what was
there before the beginning!
If he had just realized his oneness with the Brahman, he would have attained the state of
the perturbation-less Brahman and remained as the NIRVIKALPA STATE where no
creations occurred.
But he retained a single thought as his identity as separated from the NIRVIKALPA
BRAHMAN.
He wanted to know what was there before anything began!
As any thought has to meet its fulfillment, this thought got fulfilled by his reaching the
state of a perturbation just before anything began. He was fated to find out the answer to
his question by becoming the very vibration which acted as the seed to the beginning of
beginning.
He was the one who vehemently searched for the answer to his quest and he ended up
where he could know the answer with a personal experience. Others who had not begun
their quest were still searching for their answers in gods and heavens. But this sincere
student burnt all the irrational ignorant ideas and remained steadfast in his quest and
realized the Brahman and yet retained his identity as that very quest. Since he burnt
(AOUSHAT) all other ideas, since he burnt the entire perceived phenomenon, he is called
PURUSHA.
That is why, in the beginning, all this was Self alone in the form of a PURUSHA.
/ &
/

He who knows thus, indeed burns one who wants to exist before him.
9.
He who knows thus indeed burns one who wants to be that PURUSHA before him.
The aspirant who has a longing to become the very seed which sprouts into these worlds,
must be capable of burning all ideas of ones own identity, all the desires, all attachments,
all ignorance and know the illusory nature of the perceived world. If the aspirant, after
realizing his Self, maintains only the longing to know the answer and has no other
identity as such, he will experience the state of the Creator or the First-born and know the
answer for the question he posed in the beginning-
What was there in the beginning?
Actually there is no dearth of such states in Brahman.

Infinite such Brahmas with Creation-Vaasanaas can exist simultaneously projecting
their own unique worlds.
But such a state can be attained only by persisting on that one quest and outrunning all
other aspirants struggling to reach that state. All the students can sit and ponder on such
questions. But only a person who has thoroughly burnt off his ignorance can ever aspire
to reach such a state.
[II]
7 9 7/
He was afraid.
Therefore a person who is alone is afraid.
1.
To continue with the story of the Sage who turned into the first vibration of the
Creation:
The thought identity which wanted to know how the beginning began was conscious of
its own existence. It named itself, I.
This I had lost its identity as a Sage, but the ideas connected to the world it had lived
once as a Sage had not vanished. It retained the subtle memories.
Or rather, it was filled with memories not experienced by it also.
The thought was now vibrating like a volcano ready to blow up.
Some restlessness had appeared in that little I.
It just longed for perceptions.
It was hungry. It missed something! But what?
The very next idea that popped up was the thought, where are the others?
It was not searching for the immediate connections of the Sage-identity; that was burnt
away already. But some vague idea of the missing world with its multifarious beings was
there biting its inner core.
It was as if you were a Sage meditating one moment and the next moment you are an
identity-less vibration only conscious of your own existence as a tiny vibration of the
Supreme. Suddenly the world had vanished and only the longing to know the meaning of
it all had separated it from the Brahman. Now it was just the conscious state just before
the beginning.
And there was no one else.
The silence was unnerving.
It was frightening.
He was afraid.
As he was the beginning state of the beginning, as he was the seed from whom other
beings raise forth, all the beings of his creation imbibed his own qualities.
He was afraid of being alone in the beginning.
Every one in his creation was also afraid of being alone.
Here the aloneness is not the aloneness experienced when standing alone in an island or
mountain. In such places still there is a satisfaction of having a world around you which
is solid and real. But suppose as you stand on top of a mountain, the entire world is
erased off including your very name and form, along with the space and time boundaries,
what will it be like? If you are just a conscious thought and nothing else is there, what
will it be like?
That was the state of the PURUSHA, who was at the beginning of the beginning!
He was afraid!
: < = 7/
Then he observed:
If there is nothing else beside myself, what am I afraid of?
2.
But the thought labeled PURUSHA was not an ordinary ignorant entity. It had the
knowledge of its source. It knew there was nothing else but Brahman. It knew it was the
subtle perturbation in Brahman. It knew it was the potential state for the worlds that will
arise out of it. It knew it was the beginning of beginning.
So the thought thought, what am I afraid of? There is no one else beside me! I am the
perturbation in the Brahman! I am Brahman! There is no second person of whom I should
be frightened of.
Thus reasoning, it got rid of its fear.
>?@
>> /
From that alone his fear was gone, for what was there to fear?
Only when a second entity is there, fear arises!
3.
Not only the Purusha who won the race and became the Creator, but every one of us who
imagine ourselves as bound by space and time are tossed by anxieties, fears, and
apprehensions.
But if we could also realize like that PURUSHA, that we are all just perturbations in the
Supreme Brahman; that there is no second entity other than the Self; then our fears,
anxieties and apprehensions will also vanish away.
When no one is there but the Self, what is there to be afraid of?
The idea of many is an illusion.
PURUSHA got rid of that illusion and became fearless.
Each individual Self becomes fearless when the illusory idea of many vanishes.
[III]
9
He was not at all happy.

Therefore a person who is alone is not happy.
1.
Fear was gone; but loneliness?
What to do if nobody is there?
To be the state of Brahman is different from to be in the state of Brahman.
This level was tainted with the idea of I and so a you was a necessary need in that
state. The Purusha longed for a companion.
>B
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He desired a second person.

He became a figure which became a female and male embracing each other.
2.
As he was the only being that existed, he projected a second being out of himself.
He became two.
He became a figure of a female and male embracing each other.
3.
Where comes the question of male and female here?
Let us analyze!
If a Purusha, the person who burnt all ignorance, all attachments, and all desires again
entertains a desire to become many, what happens? He falls into the next level of
ignorance.
This next level is not the state of Purusha with knowledge, but Purusha without
knowledge. The HE becomes a HE with SHE.
In the Scriptures the term HE refers to the pure conscious state without any taint of the
perceived worlds. The perceived states which exist as an extension of the pure
consciousness are referred to by the term SHE.
What else can we denote that state as except by the name STREE (female, but not a woman as
meant in this world), which is the state where Purusha projects the entire created phenomena
of space and time!
All that is perceived is the STREE.

The Self which perceives the world is the PURUSHA.
With the contact of the STREE, (an opposite term for PUMAAN.) he exists as PUMAAN.
The creation is the union of PUMAAN and STREE, (male and female), the perceiving Self
and the perceived world, the Seer and the Seen.
The perceived world is inert; is not conscious like the Purusha; and is denoted by the term
STREE.
>
/
He parted this very body into two.

From that came husband and wife.
4.
So what did the Purusha do?
He was one who wanted to become two.
He himself became both male and female in union.
He then separated the female and kept her as a second person to give him company.
That is why a man and woman seek each others company here and are united as husband
and wife.
G&%
/ KL*
( &

@

Therefore said Yaajnavalkya,

this body is one half of oneself like one of the two halves of the split pea.
Therefore this space is indeed filled by the wife.
He was united with her.
From that men were born.
5.
What an explanation!
It was Sage Yaajnavalkya who is explaining the theory of Creation and no wonder he
manages to give a very mundane explanation of everything and finishes it off.
Only a clever student who was capable of subtle thinking could understand what he
meant.
How do men get born here?

By the union of female and male, or wife and husband if it be a civilized society!
So that is what happened before the beginning; the so called Purusha was there; he
wanted to have company; made a female; and by their union all other humans were born.
That is all!
Except king Janaka, his favorite disciple, all others swallowed this story and were
satisfied in their hearts. Yes, after all a god and his spouse alone can create all these
beings by their union; how else can it be explained?
But already we know that the term Purusha refers to the one who burnt away ignorance.
If he has to create the worlds as per his ideas, he has to taint himself with ignorance; he
has to believe in his own existence as a separate identity and also believe in the existence
of the created worlds.
He has to be a producer and director of a movie who has to thoroughly believe in the
story he imagines as real and make a success of the movie by perfecting every scene. If
the producer himself does not believe in the story, how can the movie arise?
When a child makes dolls out of wet clay and plays with them, it believes in their
existence for the time being. May be when it gets bored, it can trample all those dolls and
run away happily.
Purusha also has to taint himself with ignorance and become a STREE if he has to play the
game of Creation.
The thought of Creation which was shining with knowledge projects a second thought
tainted with ignorance.
I am Brahman state projects I am state, which again projects I and You state.
The You here is denoted by the term STREE.
The taintless Self now becomes the perceiver of worlds and the worlds get filled with
multifarious objects and beings.
The ignorance enveloping the taintless Purusha is the female embracing the male.
Their union gives rise to this entire perceived phenomenon.
Split a pea. It is one becoming two. The sprout arises by their oneness getting divided.
Starting from the perception of the gross body that we identify with, to the flickering star
twinkling far beyond, is half of the pea ; all that is perceived as the forms and names
bound by space time boundaries.
Which is the other half of the pea?
The individual self or the embodied self, which is now the ordinary Purusha, the one who
resides in the city of nine gates is the other half.
The world is nothing but the two-fold phenomenon of observer and observed; perceiver
and the perceived.
Every moment the perceiver creates his perceived world.
The perceived world, like a doting wife is not letting go of the husband and holds on to
him tightly. Though we try hard, this perceived world keeps on ascertaining its reality
and we never ever rise from the Purusha state (embodied state) to the PURUSHA state (the
one who burnt away ignorance).
The individual souls forever seeking pleasure from the world projected by the senses
keep on producing perceived phenomena without a break like a male and female in union
give rise to progeny.
Only by discarding the perceived phenomenon as an illusory appearance can we go back

to the un-split pea state and remain as the One undivided Supreme Brahman.
[IV]
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She thought, How can the union happen after producing me from oneself?
Alas! Let me hide myself
1.
Creation:
All the ideas of the First-born instantly became realities.

The ignorant part of the individual self became multifarious species and objects perceived
by him.
The inert gross world of appearance always was perceived as different from oneself.
Never could the individual minds grasp the truth that the entire perceived world was just
a projection of their own minds or brains.
Drowned in ignorance and entertaining the misconception that the perceived world of
senses was a treasure house of happiness, the individual self kept running after the
pleasures and by reason of those pursuits various species arose with various characters.
Whatever we see here is the product of two uniting as one.
Whatever we see here is the perceiver perceiving the world as different from the Self.
Instead of seeing the world as emanating from ones own consciousness, the individual
sees himself as a tiny being living inside a huge world filled with multifarious objects and
beings. Completely forgetting his true essence of Supreme bliss, he runs after inert
perceptions longing for happiness. But like a deer running after the waters of the mirage
which keeps moving forward beyond its reach, falls into the dark pits blindly, the fool
who runs after sense pleasures ends up having countless experiences of pains and
pleasures without end.
When the Self is undivided and the world appearance is just a picture projecting out of
the Self, then where comes the question of separation and union? Who has to give
company to whom when there is nothing else but the Self? The very action of the First-
born to divide the Self as it were and call it another entity is absurd enough; to seek
pleasure uniting with one who is the Self alone is more absurd. It is impossible to unite
with ones own Self. It is as idiotic as saying I am united with my feet or I am united with
my hand. Hand or leg is a projection of the same body. Then how can separation be
possible within the parts of ones own body? Similarly how can the Self be divided as
two and act out the unification process?
The same factor is mentioned by Sage Yaajnavalkya as
She thought, how can he be united with me after producing me from himself?
Well; let me hide myself.
The female was alarmed that her creator, her own father desired to unite with her. She felt
it was not right. So she ran away from him. She would never give him the pleasure of
union. She hid herself. The best place to hide was inside her creator. The poor creator
never looked within himself to find the true bliss and kept on searching for her in all the
perceived phenomena.

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She became a cow, the other became a bull;

from that cows were born;
the one became a mare, the other a stallion;
the one became a she-ass, the other became a he-ass and was united with
her;
from that one-hoofed animals were born;
the one became a she-goat, the other a he-goat;
the one became an ewe, the other became a ram and was united with her;
from that goats and sheep were born.
Thus did he project everything that exists in pairs, down to the ants.
2.
Yaajnavalkya continued his explanation on Creation:
So my dear students, all that you see cows, goats, donkeys up to the level of crawling
worms and ants, all are born here by the union of male and female.
Those who were satisfied with the simple explanation grinned happily; didnt they
already know that reproduction alone was the cause of this world! Just like they were
born from the union of their parents, all the animals and all species had to arise only by
the union of male and female.
They also would increase their progeny by uniting with suitable females. After all
Brahma, the first born also produced a female and united with her in the beginning. To
produce different species, he must have become the male member of the clan, united with
the female member and had produced the progeny for that species.
Brahma must have been the first donkey, first goat, first bull, first worm, and first ant and
so on.
The clever students were not satisfied by this explanation.
They wrinkled their brows and meditated on the subtle truth behind those ordinary
looking words.
3.
What are cows, donkeys and goats or worms? All these various species could be unified
to mean one single word Differentiation.
The ignorance of ones own Self, the misconception that one is different from the
Supreme Self alone is the cause of the multifarious perceived phenomena. As long as one
does not realize the perceived world as ones own mental projection, as long as one tries
to extract pleasures from the inert perceptions, ignorant of the inherent bliss within the
Self, he will go through various life-experiences in various forms, fulfilling the subtle
longings nagging his mind.
But every conscious being, be it a human or an animal, is the First born in essence, who
in turn is Brahman in essence.
The First-born is the devolved state tainted with ignorance; all the beings in his creation
are just the possible states of his own taint of ignorance.
All are HE in essence; HE is THAT in essence!
[V]
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He knew, I indeed am the Creation; I alone projected all this.

Then he became the Creation.
He becomes so in this Creation, he who knows thus.
1.
With the misconceived idea of differentiation, the first perturbation of the Supreme
projected itself as the manifold appearances. Tainted with the ignorance of ones own
blissful nature, It simultaneously experienced countless experiences becoming a
channel for countless latent tendencies. When all the Vaasanaas or latent tendencies were
exhausted, it knew itself as Brahman.
It knew that it was the process of creation.
It knew that all that was perceived and experienced was but a projection of the Self.
So this nameless perturbation, which was the state where all the Seen worlds were
projected, was termed as SRISHTI, the Creation.
He who understands this Truth, becomes eligible to attain the same state even if he be a
projected being in this creation of another Creator.
2.
Who can count the number of creations that exist in the infinite ocean of Brahman, the
sum-total of all possible states of existence in each and every space-time mode that can or
can not be calculated!
Sage Vasishta describes each unit of tri-worlds (earth, nether and heavenly existences) as
equal to a dust particle floating in the suns light. The number of Universes and perceived
worlds are beyond the mathematical terminologies. Every possibility gives rise to more
possible states and the vastness of the ocean of SAVIKALPA BRAHMAN is beyond the
comprehension of the human brains which are just tiny droplets of that ocean. A Brahma
or Creator who creates is just a Vaasanaa which instantly brings out randomly some
universe for which he creates the rules and regulations. If more such Vaasanaas exist,
more Brahmas arise creating more worlds.
The process is never-ending.
So if any one is thirsting to know the possible state before the beginning of beginning, he
will become that state and project worlds out of himself. The world he creates is nothing
but the projection of his own mind. Whatever his ideas are, the world will imbibe those
characters. The beings who arise in his creation will be based on his own creative ability.
A scientific minded Brahma can bring forth worlds strictly adhering to the rules of
Physics; a religious minded Brahma might create a world full of Gods and miracles.
As everything is just a mental projection of a particular creator, one cannot define any
common characteristics for all the worlds that arise in the BRAHMAN. Creator is just a
thought process of a mind which wanted to know the mystery of creation. Anyone who
has such a thirst of knowledge will attain the state of the Creator and after understanding
the Truth will dissolve that identity also and will remain as the perturbation-less
NIRVIKALPA BRAHMAN.
[VI]
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Then he rubbed back and forth (churning);

he produced fire from its source (womb) the mouth and hands;
therefore both these are hair-less inside;
the womb is also hair-less inside.
1.
Creation:
How did the creation process occur?

Sage Yaajnavalkya again puts forth the secrets of creation behind ordinary words.
The Brahma who was at the beginning of beginning, just rubbed his hands back and
forth; heat was produced, he blew the air on it from the mouth and fire was kindled. The
source of all these was the womb; womb is hairless within; so like the source, the inside
of hands and mouth are also hairless.
The non-thinking students swallowed the ordinary meaning of the words.
Brahma was a God who created the world. So no wonder he first created the Fire, the
Sacred One who is worshipped by all as the first phenomenon. How can fire arise? Heat
can be produced only by rubbing stones and as a God he might have produced heat by
rubbing the hands and blew air from the mouth on it to kindle the fire. The air came out
of the belly portion, the very source of all creations; the belly was hairless within; and so
hands and mouth are also hairless; yes that is the reason our palms are hairless. The
students were happy with the explanation.
But some students knitted their brows and pondered on the inner meaning of those
ordinary looking words.
2.
If the first-born is just a vibration in the Para Brahman, he is formless. Even if he has a
form, it would also be an appearance like all the other forms seen here. So the
explanation had nothing to do with the hairlessness of mouth or hands or womb.
What could the term womb mean? Womb-YONI is the source of the Creation. Here the
term womb must mean the subtle state which contains all the possible appearances that
can arise as this worldly existence.
What could the term mouth mean? Mouth is the organ, which has to split into two to
blow air, or consume food. So the term mouth must refer to the idea of differentiation
that arose in the First-born.
When the taint of ignorance namely differentiation arose, the air came out.
What is air? Praana, the subtle energy, the connecting force of the non-inert
consciousness to the inert perception.
What is rubbing of hands? Rubbing is churning (MANTHANA) - the churning of all the
latent tendencies. What happens when the Vaasanaas start vibrating? Heat is produced.
Heat is tension, anxiety or the collection of all individual thoughts, namely the ego. The
subtle collection of Vaasanaas gets ready to become the fire namely the individual
Self. Hands refer to the organs of action. The organs of action, by their movement
produce the space and time phenomenon.
When a person walks on the road, the legs move and create the space phenomenon. The
organs of action create the space/time phenomenon for the fire (ego) which is ready to
consume the fuel of wood (plants) produced by experiences (waters).
The air that is blown from the mouth is the subtle principle which keeps the perceiver-
perceived phenomenon going on.
The source of the fire or ego or the embodied self is the Supreme Self which is taintless.
The term hair-LOMAKAA refers to the taint of ignorance. Since the Supreme Self is
taintless, the individual Self is also taintless.
The differentiation idea, the organs of action are all but the Supreme Self in essence.
Since there exists nothing but the Self, the differentiations perceived or the space
phenomenon perceived all are nothing but the Supreme Self.
The waves and wavelets arising out of the ocean are nothing but the ocean in essence.
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Perform the sacrificial rites for him; perform the sacrificial rites for him.
There is only one entity shining forth as the Supreme.
All that is perceived is projected out of him alone.
He alone indeed is all the divinities.
3.
Yet the ignorant speak of many divinities; perform rituals to please the manifold
divinities.
When there is only the Supreme without any differentiation, how can there exist other
divinities? All the names and forms that are perceived from the ant up to the Brahma are
the projection of the Supreme. All the divinities are but the Self in essence. What need is
there for rituals or Sacrifices, when there exists not a second one other than the Self?
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Whatever is wet here is produced from his seed.

That is SOMA.
4.
What is water? Experiences!
The subtle Vaasanaas grossified fill the mental faculty like clouds and burst forth into
rains of experiences.
So wherever one sees wetness or a possible state of experience, know it to be arising
from the source of Para Brahman. Whatever one perceives is a potential state expressing
itself as a reality. He indeed is the seed of all experiences. That is his RETAS (virility).
All that we see as perceived worlds are his progeny.
5.
Soma is produced by the Moon.
Moon is the term that refers to the ever oscillating mental faculty.
The individual soul runs after the inert appearances in search of happiness.
The mind feels happy when one fulfills his desires.
Then Soma is produced.
The mind is filled with joy.
But this joy is not inherent in the inert objects of perception; but it is the silence
experienced at the end of a desire-fulfillment. The mind at that moment is silent and
remains as its source only. The happiness felt in the mind by desire-fulfillment is but the
bliss of Para Brahman.
The moon shines by the shine of the Sun.
The witness consciousness which is the Sun is the support of the mental faculty. The joy
felt by the mind through experiences is the essence of the Self alone.
So whatever is experienced here and gives rise to happiness (SOMA), is produced from the
Supreme Self, the seed of all.
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All this is only this much- the food and the eater of food.
Soma is the food, and the fire, the eater of food.
6.
To sum up, whatever you perceive here as the world is just a unit of food and food-eater.
The fire, the ever burning channel of Vaasanaas namely the individual self, keeps
consuming the fuel of experiences, and the joy produced is the Soma, the mind
experiencing the silence of the Self.
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This is the Super-creation of the Brahma, for he projected the Gods who
were superior to him; being a mere mortal he created the immortals;
this indeed is a super creation.
He becomes thus in this super creation, he who knows thus.
7.
Creation:
The Brahma who created all this indeed deserves the praise.
He not only projected all the species and all their experiences, but he projected the Gods
also as rulers of his creation. He made them superior to himself.
What a wonder! A mortal excels by creating immortal beings endowed with all the
excellent qualities!
Like a man creating a machine that controls him, this Brahma projected the gods who
rule his own creation.
8.
Having struggled life-long to unfold the mysteries of creation, he asked the question what
was there in the beginning and ended up being the very state before the beginning
began. Then he tainted himself with ignorance; developed the idea of differentiation and
projected the inert world of experiences. Not satisfied he created gods and divinities with
powers and excellence.
But whatever the artist paints on the canvas, whether it is a picture of a bird or the Sun or
a God, all are but pictures created by the artist. The pictures might look different for the
on-looker who does not see the canvas.
But a knower knows that any picture on the canvas, whether God or human is but an
imagination of the artist. The Supreme alone appears as all the pictures like the canvas
itself appearing as all the pictures.
Here there is no external artist; the very canvas is the picture also.
From the level of pictures, the canvas remains hidden. From the level of canvas, all
pictures are just its own expressions.
The canvas with pictures is the Savikalpa Brahman. The canvas bereft of pictures is the
Nirvikalpa Brahman. But since canvas is there only for the existence of pictures the
Para Brahman also exists as the canvas with the pictures of the world.
The canvas is not affected by whatever forms appearing on it; similarly Para Brahman is
not tainted by the world appearances projected out of it.
9.
This is indeed a super creation that an ordinary perturbation of creation created worlds
and also gods as rulers.
If any one understands the truth that the immortals and mortals are made of the same
essence of Brahman, he can also aspire for the role of the Creator and create gods in his
super creation.
[VII]
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This universe was then undifferentiated. It differentiated only into names

and forms. This is of such and such a name and such and such a form.
So to this day this is differentiated only into name and form.
This is of such and such a name and such and such a form.
1.
Let us analyze the world created by the creator.
Whatever we see is made of various shapes and we differentiate them by labeling them
with different names.
In the beginning there was no differentiations at all; no names at all; no forms at all; only
THAT existed as the sum-total of all possibilities.
But by the entry of the Creator, these worlds arose out of his mind. As he projected them
he labeled all the shapes with different names. Being the projections of the same Creator,
all the created beings also refer to these shapes with the same names as thought out by
him.
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This Self entered into these bodies up to the tip of the nails like the razor
filling its case, or as the fire which sustains the world remains in its source.
Nobody sees the Self.
2.
In the world around us which extends far beyond the galaxies and black holes, where
does the Self exist? Why we do not see it?
We do not see it because it cannot be perceived as an object outside. It is the embodied
one filling as it were the entire body from the tip of the hair to the tip of the nail. But
actually self is not some gas or liquid which fills a person. Self is the supreme which has
projected as all the conscious beings and the perceived worlds. The embodied one who
perceives the world is in essence the Supreme Self only. The Supreme self alone is the
individual self and his projected world.
What is the individual self?

It is the complete unit of perceiver and perceived taken as one. The individual self and
the perceptions experienced by him together constitute the individual self.
This self is both the perceiver and the perceived. It is as if it has entered the bodies and
fills them all over, like a razor fills its case. Since we see only the cover, we do not see
the razor.
It is like the fire hidden inside the wood, its source. We cannot see the fire. We can see
only the wood.
Inside the inert body we identify as our selves, the Supreme alone exists as the individual
consciousness projecting the world of names and forms.yg

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He is incomplete indeed when-

as the principle of life he goes by the name of PRAANA;
as he talks, he goes by the name of speech; seeing- by the name of eyes;
hearing- by the name of hearing; thinking- by the name of ears;
these are merely names according to its functions.
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He who contemplates on each one separately does not know the Truth.
It is incomplete when it is understood separately as each one.
As self alone it is to be contemplated upon.
Here alone all these become unified.
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Like one follows the foot prints, one should seek the Self which is the essence
of all. One knows everything only through the Self.
He who follows the foot prints and attains the self, he attains fame and
praises; He who knows thus.
3.
Self is a term used for the Sanskrit word ATMAN.
ATMAN actually means the essence.
Essence of what?
Essence of a person who is perceived as doing the functions of breathing, talking, seeing,
hearing, thinking etc.
If all these functions are separately viewed, then-
The essence of the breathing person is Praana, the vital force. Praana is the Atman.
The essence of the talking person is speech. Speech is the Atman.
The essence of the seeing person is eye. Eye is the Atman.
The essence of the hearing person is ear. Ear is the Atman.
The essence of the thinking person is mind. Mind is the Atman.
This manner of analyzing everything separately is misleading.
The essence analyzed like this gives only an incomplete knowledge.
Actually, the person who breaths, talks, sees, hears and thinks is just one person who is
performing all these functions.
A person does not change every time he performs a different function.
We have to unify all these functions as belonging to one person and find out the essence
of that person.
We have to ask- Who breaths? Who talks? Who sees? Who hears? Who thinks?
We have to track down the essence of a person through the outward functions like finding
an animal by following its foot prints.
The essence is the pure consciousness which supports all these functions.
One is conscious of ones existence; one is conscious of the perceptions.
Consciousness alone projects itself as sounds and perceptions and experiences the world.
Consciousness alone is the support of all the functions performed by the senses inclusive
of the mental faculty.
Just like the foot prints are not the actual animal, the functions of the senses or the mind
do not constitute the essence of the person.
If by observing the gross functions of the senses, one is able to contemplate on the subtle
nature of the consciousness as oneself, then he will indeed exist as Brahman alone.
He remains as the essence of all that exists as names and forms.
He is indeed praiseworthy, even if as Brahman or Self there is no second one to shower
praises on him.
[VIII]
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This Self is dearer than a son; dearer than wealth; dearer than everything
else. This Self is the innermost.
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If one should address a person who calls something dearer than the Self,
and say what you hold as dear will perish-
You are the Lord; it will truly occur.
One should contemplate only on the Self as dear.
He who contemplates on the Self alone as dear, his dearest one never is
mortal.
Why should one seek the Self?
Because it is dearer than anything else you can perceive in the world!
What is wrong in seeking the dearest object to the exclusion of all other objects in the
world?!
Is not the son the dearest?
No, the Self alone is the dearest!
Is not wealth the dearest?
No, the Self alone is the dearest!
A man who is ignorant will not accept this truth and will hold that his son, his daughter,
his wife, his relations, his friends, his house, his property and so on only deserve the title
of dearest and he will spend his entire life holding on to them.
To such a person you can boldly point out that, whatever he holds on to as dearer than his
own Self will surely perish and he is in for suffering.
What you say will indeed happen. For, you are the Lord.
For, you are not here talking about the gross body or the limited ego, you are talking
about the Supreme Self which is the essence of all that exists.
The Self alone appears as all this.
The Self alone is the son, wealth etc.
These names and forms are just projections of the mind and will perish.
Self, the essence of all these does not perish.
A realized man has understood that the Self, the Para Brahman alone is the dearest object
that has to be sought with supreme effort.
When he through contemplation and the guidance of the scriptures has realized his true
essence, he remains as Brahman alone.
He can now truthfully declare that all objects in the world are of perishing nature.
So if he tells an ignorant man, What you hold as dearer than the Self, be it a son or wife
or property, you are going to lose it and suffer, it will come true, for that is the truth.
All the things other than the Self indeed will perish.
Self alone is imperishable.
Self alone is the dearest!
He will never lose his Self and cry.
Self cannot be destroyed.
Self is existence.
[IX]
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They say-
Men think-One becomes all through the knowledge of Brahman.
What did the Brahman know by which it became all?
The scriptures, realized Sages all make a common statement-

One becomes all by the knowledge of Brahman.
Brahman is all.
So Brahman has some knowledge by which it has become all.
What is that knowledge? What did Brahman know?

Was it without knowledge first and knew something and became all?
But Brahman is all.
Did it become all without knowing anything? Then knowledge is worthless.
Did Brahman get the knowledge through some action?
All these doubts arise when they say-
One becomes all through the knowledge of Brahman.
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Brahman alone was in the beginning.

It knew only itself as, I am Brahman.
Therefore it became all.
Therefore whoever among gods knew this, it became him.
So with the Sages; so with the mortals.
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Sage Vaamadeva, when he realized this, knew I am Manu, I am sun.

Therefore even now, whosoever knows It as I am Brahman becomes
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Even the gods cannot prevail against them, for he is their Self.

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He who worships another god, thinking- he is another, I am another,

he does not know the truth.
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He is like an animal for the gods.

Just like all the animals serve the humans, every man serves the gods.
Even if one animal is lost, it gives pain; what if many are lost?
Therefore the gods do not want that men should know this.
1.
What is the knowledge that Brahman knows?
Brahman is the knowledge.
There was only knowledge in the beginning which is denoted by the name Brahman.
Brahman alone was in the beginning.
It knew what?
It knew its own existence.
It was alone.
No worlds were there.
No second person was there.
Only Brahman was there. Brahman knew that it was Brahman.
Brahman alone is the entire manifested world.
Therefore Brahman is all.
There is no second object.
The manifested world or the un-manifest state of the world makes no difference to
Brahman.
Brahman knows there is no second one.
Brahman knows it is all.
Brahman is all.
2.
If a god understands this truth and realizes the Self, he loses his limited identity and
exists as Brahman alone. Or, rather we can say that Brahman exists as that god who
realized the Self.
If a Sage realizes, Brahman exists as that Sage.
If a human realizes, Brahman exists as that person.
But in that state of realization, the God or Sage or man do not exist as limited
personalities. In that state, they are not aware of a second person, but only the Self.
Since that state is again the state of Brahman who knew itself as Brahman, the realized
ones remain in that state alone. Just as the state of Brahman knew itself as all, the realized
one knows the Self as all.
Sage Vaamadeva in that state said, I am the Manu, I am the Sun.
He was not Vaamadeva who uttered so; but it was Brahman who as Vaamadeva uttered -
I am Manu, I am sun; because Brahman is all.
3.
When any one realizes the Self, he does not anymore fear gods.
He has no need to worship them or please them with rituals.
He as the state of Brahman is the essence of those Gods also.
There is no second person.
Gods also are just names and forms projected from Brahman.
Brahman is all. Brahman is all the Gods too.
So how can Gods turn against anyone who is the Self of all?
4.
Since all do not realize, the gods continue their existence as controllers of the ignorant.
They can exist only for the ignorant who do not know the Self.
The ignorant identify with their limited forms and believe that gods are different from
them. They worship the gods desiring favors from them.
These ignorant fools are equal to the animals possessed by a man.
The animals fear the man and serve him in many ways. Pleased by their service the man
may favor them with food and shelter.
The ignorant ones also serve the gods as their Masters.
The Gods do not want anyone to realize the Self.
They do not want to lose the animals which worship them and fear them.
Even if one animal is lost, it is painful. Why would they lose many animals?
Gods are careful that the knowledge of Brahman is not available to all.
[XI]
{Gods are careful that the knowledge of Brahman is not available to all.
This statement is further proved in the next few verses.
Sage Yaajnavalkya suddenly starts talking about kings and rites and the Brahmins.
He talks about Dharma. He talks about the classifications of Gods. He talks about the
duties of a householder.
Within all these ordinary looking words he manages to hide the knowledge of Brahman.
He does not want to instruct the knowledge of Brahman to the non-intelligent ones, who
cherish the desire for wealth and family; who desire to perform rites and attain heavens;
who desire to propitiate their ancestors; who desire to be controlled by the king.
So he just superficially discusses the topics of gods, classifications of men and the duties
of a householder. Most of his ignorant disciples accept the surface meaning of his words
and get ready for their next station of life where they have to marry, get progeny, perform
rites, obtain wealth from the king by performing sacrificial rites for him, please gods
through rites, offer oblations in the fire, worship the sacred fire and so on. However, his
intelligent students just ignored all these surface meanings and obtained the knowledge of
Brahman. They developed dispassion, went off to solitary places, contemplated on the
Self and attained the Supreme state of Brahman.}
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Brahman alone was there in the beginning;

It was alone.
Being one, It did not flourish.
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It projected excellent forms of might.

Indra, Varuna, Soma, Rudra, Parjanya, Yama, Mrtyu, Ishaana all these
are gods are the mighty ones.
Nothing excels the mighty.
Therefore the Brahmin worships the mighty one standing below, in the
Raajasuya sacrifice.
He imparts that glory to the mighty ones.
The knower of Brahman is the essence of the mighty ones also.
Therefore even if the king is supreme, at the end of the sacrifice he resorts to
the knower of Brahman.
He who slights a knower of Brahman strikes at his own source.
He is a sinner who slights his superior.
1.
In the beginning Brahman alone was there. It knew itself.
It was one.
It was alone.
It was un-manifest.
It became all.
How?
2.
Creation:
He created Gods who were superior to him and this became a super-creation of his.
However any projection is a taint of ignorance.
The mortal mind with limitations was now the state of Brahman ready to project the
worlds.
A state of full freedom where anything one wants can become a reality.
The treasure box of all possibilities lay open for the Creator to pick and choose.
The first idea was to make perfect beings; beings who were powerful and immortal.
So he projected beings endowed with might.
Indra became the mighty ruler of Gods.
Varuna the Lord of waters, the Moon the consumer of Soma, Rudra the Lord of
destruction, Parjanya the Lord of clouds and thunder, Yama the controller, the God of
Death and the Supreme Lord Shiva were the mighty Gods.
The ignorant expanded their mental world where they saw heavens occupied by these
mighty Gods.
The intelligent students thought otherwise.

Indra was the individual Self, the embodied one who perceived the world through the
senses, INDRIYAs. The individual Self was the Lord whom the senses served bringing in
data.
Varuna, the Lord of waters again was the individual Self who was indeed the Lord of all
experiences (Waters).
Moon was the mind, the collection of thoughts and ideas which made the AATIVAAHIKA
body, the individual Self. The Mind chased the sense pleasures and felt happy. It
consumed Soma (pleasures) and so was Soma.
Rudra was again the principle of destruction which was inherent in the world of
perceptions. Every moment objects changed and were continuously perishing.
Parjanya, was the collection of Vaasanaas which randomly chose a Jeeva to express them
as realities. These Vaasanaas in turn became desires in the minds and turned into waters,
experiences.
Yama was the controller; the individual self had the need to control the flow of
Vaasanaas. Desires had to be channelized properly. Wrong desires had to be discarded;
right desires had to be cultivated.
Mrtyu, the lord of death was the most feared. Death was an inevitable end the individual
Selves had to meet with. The individual who identified himself with the mortal coil had
to die along with the destruction of the mortal coil.
Shiva was the most auspicious state. Shiva was the state of realization.
Shiva was the Supreme controller.
One who realizes the Self is Brahman alone.
He is Shiva himself who surpasses all the other Gods.
Other gods stay in awe of the person who is a knower of Brahman.
3.
Gods exist by reason of the ignorance in men.
The mortal Sage who became the Creator projected Gods to control the mortals.
Why are they the controllers?
They are the ones filled with might and have the duty of maintaining righteousness in the
world.
From Indra to Yama, all gods are endowed with might.
In the human world, the king is the mighty one and he maintains the righteousness in the
world.
Who is greater, the mighty one or the knower of Brahman?
The knower of Brahman respects the mighty ones.
Though he knows himself as the Self which is the essence of all gods and kings, he gives
them due respect considering their positions as controllers.
But the king knows the knower of Brahman alone excels.
The mighty ones - be they gods or kings - revere the knower of Brahman.
One who slights a knower of Brahman strikes at his own Self. He is the worst sinner.
A knower of Brahman is Brahman alone. No one can surpass him.
[XII]

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It never flourished.
It projected those beings who sought wealth.
Vasus, Rudras, Aadityaas, Visvadevas, Maruths are the Gods who sought
wealth.
Creation:
By creating the Gods he could not expand the worlds. The ignorance level was too low.
Most of the Gods like Shiva were knowers of Brahman and so they never conceived any
worlds.
Conception was necessary for the expansion of the worlds inhabited by the ignorant.
The Creator chose the Vaasanaa of wealth and created beings who coveted wealth. These
beings were endowed with the power to conceive objects of excellent quality and had the
desire to possess them too.
Desire for accumulation was necessary to expand the world of appearances.
Vasus etc became the Gods who coveted wealth.
Men also were born with the desire for wealth and property.
Ignorance flourished.
The world of perceptions expanded and was filled with countless objects.
[XIII]

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Brahma still did not flourish.

He projected beings who produced nourishment.
Earth is the nourisher.
It nourishes all that exists.
Creation:
The controllers and desire filled beings were not enough to expand the world of
ignorance.
The conceptions had to be like seeds producing more conceptions in their turn.
A field of experience which could endlessly spread out and make the conceptions into
realities was necessary.
So the Creator projected beings who produced food for all.
Earth was filled with those who took the function of nourishing all.
Earth is the nourisher of all.
Earth was the field of experiences.
Earth spread out as the conception process went on unceasingly.
[XIV]

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Yet Brahma did not flourish.

He projected the excellent form, Dharma, righteousness.
This Dharma is the controller of the mighty ones.
There is nothing that excels Dharma.
Even a weak man has the capacity to surpass the stronger one through
Dharma; like one confronts a king.
Dharma alone is the Truth.
Therefore when one speaks the Truth, they say he talks Dharma; when one
talks Dharma, they say that he speaks the Truth.
Both words are synonymous.
Creation:
Mighty ones, wealth seekers and nourishers were not enough for the expansion of the
ignorant world.
Power of conception was there; desires were there; field of experiences was there.
There was needed some order.
Reproduction had to become a duty to be followed by all.
Mighty ones needed to be controlled.
Therefore, Brahman projected rules that were to be followed by all.
Mighty ones were bound to obey those rules.
The rules were denoted by the term Dharma.
Each projected being was bound by its own Dharma.
Mighty ones had to bend their heads if even a weaker one quoted the rules prescribed by
the Creator.
Dharma is the truth. Every being had to perform the duty as prescribed by the scriptures.
The ignorant were controlled by the mighty ones through Dharma.
When that Dharma was ignored, every being was chastised by the mighty beings, kings
and gods.
But the Dharma of all was actually the realization of the Self.
A realized man is above all Dharmas.
For the ignorant one, Dharma alone was the truth that protected him.
[XV]
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Thus, there were these beings- the knowers, the mighty ones, beings with
desires and beings who provided nourishment.
The god of fire became the knower of Brahman.
He alone became all the other beings on earth.
Fire became the means for the fulfillment of results for those who performed
rites.
A knower of Brahman became the means for the fulfillment of desires on the
earth.
Brahman was both the fire and the knower of Brahman.
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One who does not know the self is not protected by Brahman, when he
departs from this world; for he does not know it.
Like Vedas does not protect one who has not studied them.
Like any other thing does not if one does not know it.
Even if one performs great many meritorious acts in the world, those acts of
his are surely exhausted at the end.
One should only contemplate on the world of Self.
One who contemplates on the world of Self never has his work exhausted.
From the very self he projects whatever he wants.
Creation:
Fire is the individual Self.

He alone is the knower of Brahman.
Only the Self which identifies itself with a limited form needs to realize.
The principle of fire was the God of fire and a knower of Brahman.
All beings on earth are denoted by the term fire.
Fire consumes the fuel produced on earth.
The individual self has unceasing experiences in the field bound by space and time.
God of fire was revered as the one who carries the offerings to gods.
A knower of Brahman also becomes the means of fulfilling desires.
Brahman is both the ignorant embodied self and also the realized Sage.
What happens to one who does not realize the Self?

He moves from life to life chasing sense pleasures forever caught in the whirlpool of
worldly existences.
No god comes to his help, for gods do not want anyone to realize and move out of their
dominion.
Brahman does not help him, for how can anything connect to you, when you do not know
it?
If you have mastered any type of knowledge, then the knowledge will be useful to you.
For the one who has not sought the knowledge, how can it be useful in anyway?
Without realizing the Self, a person may engage himself in meritorious acts and feel
satisfied.
But the results of all the meritorious acts are short-lived and one cannot escape the pains
of worldly existence by performing meritorious acts.
One should make self-realization as the Dharma of his life.
He must unceasingly contemplate on the Self.
Contemplation on the Self is not an action that will give any meritorious result of short
duration.
By contemplating on the Self one remains as Brahman.
The world becomes his projection.
He becomes the Creator who can project whatever he wants.
He can remain as the NIRVIKALPA BRAHMAN also without projecting any world.
He is the Brahman which was in the beginning.
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Then this Self is the world for all beings.
Because he makes oblations to the fire and performs sacrifices, he is the
world for gods.
Because he studies Vedas he is the world for Sages.
Because he makes offering to the manes and desires progeny, he is the world
for manes.
Because he gives shelter and food to the men, he is the world for men.
Because he gets grass and water for the animals, he is the world for the
animals.
Because beasts and birds, even ants live by his support, he is the world for
them.
Just as one wishes his world to be safe, all these beings wish safety for him.
Thus it is understood and discussed.
Brahman is the Self of all.

Self is the essence of all.
Self is the support of all that exists.
A person who conceives the existence of gods and performs rites is the support of Gods.
A person who conceives the existence of Sages is the support of the knowledge taught by
them.
A person who conceives the existence of the ancestors is the support of those manes.
A person who conceives the existence of others like him, becomes their support.
A person who conceives the animals to serve him, is the support of the animals.
A person who continuously conceives objects of the world is the support of all beasts and
ants too.
When someone is your support, you wish their wellbeing.

The conceived worlds of gods, Sages, men, animals all wish the safety of the person who
conceives them. They wish him to be ignorant.
The Seen is forever stuck to the Seer.
The Seer and the Seen exist entwined within each other.
The person who believes in the differentiations perceived by his mind is ignorant and
causes the worlds to exist.
Though Self alone is the support and essence of all that exists, he does not know of it.
He conceives the gods to control him; he conceives the Sages to guide him; he conceives
Manes to protect him; he conceives other men to share the life with him; he conceives
animals to work for him.
With all the conceptions flourishing, those conceptions again conceiving more objects,
the world of appearances is ever-growing.
The Creator was happy.
[XVII]

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Self alone was there in the beginning.

He desired:
Let there be a wife for me, that I may be born.
Let me have wealth, I will perform rites.
This much indeed is the desire. One cannot attain more than this.
That is why a person who is alone desires-
Let me have a wife, so I can get born.
Let me have wealth so I can perform rites.
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As long as he does not obtain even one of them, he feels incomplete.

He becomes complete- (because, for him)
mind is the self; speech is the wife; vital forces, the progeny;
eyes the wealth, because he attains wealth through eyes;
ear is the divinity, because he hears of it through the ear;
self alone is his action, he performs actions through the self.
This sacrifice has five factors; animals have five factors;
the embodied men have five factors;
all that exists has five factors;
he attains everything who knows thus...
What does any ignorant being of the world want?

A companion to share his life; man desires a woman, woman desires a man.
The next desire is to reproduce their own kind.
In order to protect the wife and the progeny, the man wants wealth.
In order to obtain wealth, he performed rites in the olden days and performs actions today
with the desire for accumulating wealth.
That is all any one has the capacity to aspire for in this human world.
To reproduce and perform actions (rites) to maintain them.
If he cannot obtain them he feels incomplete.
This is what the ignorant who do not realize the Self aspire for.
However for a person who has only the realization of Self as his goal in life, what are the
wants? Who are his family?
For the realized man, the mind is free of wants. There is no fluctuating mind at all. He
remains as the Self.
His companion is speech only. Knowledge is his wife.
Vital forces are his progeny.
All the beings become his projections and they are his progeny.
Eyes are his wealth because he perceives and creates the perceived worlds. All that is
perceived by his senses is his wealth.
Ear is his god.
He knows about the Self through his ears.
They are the gods who carry the instructions of the teachers to his mind and guide him in
his path.
All his actions are performed at the level of Brahman.
Action is the person.
As he is Brahman his actions are indeed Brahman.
He is complete with the fiver factors of wife, progeny, wealth, god and actions.
He is the self; his companion is the self; his wealth is the self; his progeny is the self; his
god is the self; his action is the self.
For a realized man there exists nothing but the Self.
He is always complete.
But for the ignorant running after conceptions, whatever he wants may not be attained;
because there is nothing to attain outside the Self.
So he is always incomplete.
One who understands this truth will realize the Self and remain as Brahman alone.
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About the Author:
Maa Tejasvini
comprehension.

SELECTIONS
FROM
[YAJNAVALKYA AND MAITREYI]
by
Narayanalakshmi
1
YAAJNAVALKYA INSTRUCTS HIS WIFE ABOUT THE IMMORTAL STATE

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Yaajnavalkya had two wives - Maitreyee and Kaatyaayanee.
Of those two, Maitreyee had expertise in debating about Brahman.
Kaatyaayanee on the other hand was only adept in her duties that belonged
to her as a woman (as a wife).
Yaajnavalkya wanted to embrace another type of life.
Yaajnavalkya had two wives- Maitreyee and Kaatyaayanee.

Yaajnavalkya had a hermitage which taught thousands of students.
He acquired the wealth needed by winning many debates on Knowledge that were
conducted by King Janaka.
No one was there who could surpass him in his Knowledge.
He did not just have intellectual proficiency of the scriptures, but was a great Jnaani who
lived as established in the Self.
His wife Kaatyaayanee took care of the young students and loved them like a mother.
Cows, children, their food and comfort, service to her husband was her life.
Without her, the hermitage could not survive at all.
Maitreyee on the other hand was of an intellectual type. She studied scriptures along with
the students and assisted her husband in running the classes.
She was also an inevitable part of the hermitage, helping her husband as a teaching
assistant.
After a fulfilled life of raising so many students to a higher level of knowledge,
Yaajnavalkya decided to renounce his householder life and resort to the solitude of a
forest live, where he could be absorbed in Samaadhi and discard his body-attire.
He decided to leave the hermitage in the care of his wives and announced this decision to
Maitreyi first, so that she will be able to explain this to Kaatyaayanee, who may break
down by hearing about her husbands separation.
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Yaajnavalkya said - Maitreyi, my dear!
I want to renounce this state of life and take over to monastic life.
Therefore, I have to do my duties equally with you and Kaatyaayanee.
Yaajnavalkya explained to Maitreyee, his intention to renounce and divide the lands and
cows equally between her and Kaatyaayanee.
Maitreyee was least interested in the possession of any property.

She wanted to get instructions from her husband about attaining the same state of Self, he
was established in.
If he was renouncing all the lands and cows and seeking solitude, he must surely have
some other precious wealth as his.
Maitreyee wanted that wealth alone to be hers; so she asked him-

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Maitreyee said- Lord!

If the entire earth is filled with wealth, will I become immortal because of
that?
Yaajnavalkya replied -No!

Your life will just be similar to those who have many possessions.
Wealth indeed destroys the path to immortality.
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Maitreyee said-
What will I do with that by which I will not become immortal?

Whatever the Lordship knows, instruct to me that alone.

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Yaajnavalkya said -
You have been always been my beloved and now you have increased that
love. If that alone is what you want, then I will explain that to you.
As I explain, contemplate on that meaning.
Maitreyee, my dear!
What is the most loved thing of all?
Oneself!
Everything that you love is a thing of love because you love the Self.
This love for the Self alone appears as the love for the husband, wife, children god etc.
Since the wrong understanding is there about the Self, people mistake the body to be the
Self; but actually the innermost essence of all, the Brahman- that alone is spread out as all
the perceptions. Anything you love is the Self alone that is perceived as other things.
Then why love other things?
Love the inner essence only and be silent; you would get the fulfillment of loving all the
things of the world!
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He said-
My dear! Not for a husbands sake that a husband becomes a loved object;
but a husband becomes a loved object because of the love for the Self alone.
My dear! Not for a wifes sake that a wife becomes a loved object; but a wife
becomes a loved object because of the love for the Self alone.
My dear! Not for the sake of the sons do sons become loved objects; but sons
become loved objects because of the love for the Self alone.
My dear! Not for wealths sake that wealth becomes a loved object; but
wealth becomes a loved object because of the love for the Self alone.
My dear! Not for the sake of animals that animals become loved objects; but
animals become loved objects because of the love for the Self alone.
My dear! Not for a Brahmins sake that a Brahmin becomes a loved object;
but a husband becomes a loved object because of the love for the Self alone.
My dear! Not for a Kshatriyas sake that a Kshatriya becomes a loved

object; but a Kshatriya becomes a loved object because of the love for the
Self alone.
My dear! Not for the sake of worlds that worlds become loved objects; but
worlds become loved objects because of the love for the Self alone.
My dear! Not for the sake of Devas that worlds become loved objects; but
Devas become loved objects because of the love for the Self alone.
My dear! Not for the sake of Vedas that worlds become loved objects; but
Vedas become loved objects because of the love for the Self alone.
My dear! Not for the sake of the beings that beings become loved objects;
but beings become loved objects because of the love for the Self alone.
My dear! Not for the sake of all things, that all things become loved objects;
but all things become loved objects because of the love for the Self alone.
6
My dear! Aatmaa alone is to be seen, heard, thought about, contemplated

upon Maitreyi.
If Aatman, my dear, is seen, heard, thought about, and understood, all this
get understood.
If you do not know and love the real Self, then all the perceptions reject you.
You will not get any true happiness from any perceived object, be it a wife or a husband,
children or wealth.
Happiness runs away from a person who is ignorant of his true nature (Aatman).
If you love the inner essence alone, then all the perceived objects shine forth as the Self
and merge in you as bliss alone.
He, who sees a second object as something to be loved, is indeed a sinner and is rejected
by the Self, which is all.
He suffers forever in various existences.
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Braahmana (a person who practices Brahma-knowledge) rejects him who

knows Braahmana as different from the Aatman.
Kshatriya rejects him who knows Kshatriya as different from the Aatman.
Worlds reject him who knows the worlds as different from the Aatman.
Devas reject him who knows Devas as different from the Aatman.
Beings reject him who knows the beings as different from the Aatman.
All reject him who knows all as different from the Aatman.
This Braahmana, this Kshatriya; these worlds, these Devas, these Vedas,
these beings, all this is that which is the Aatman.
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Aatman is like -
when the drum gets beaten, one cannot distinguish its various notes; but by
grasping the sound of the drum alone or the beatings of the drum alone;
sound is understood.
Maitreyee! Have you heard the drum sound?

The drummer will be producing various types of sounds with his beatings.
Though all are different notes, you will always understand that the drumming sound is the
essence of all notes.
Similarly this world which shines forth as various shapes and names is in essence Aatman
alone.
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Aatman is like -
when the conch gets blown, one cannot distinguish its various notes; but by
grasping the sound of the conch alone or the blowing of the conch alone;
Maitreyee! Have you heard the sound of the blowing conch?
The blower of the conch will be producing various types of sounds from the conch.
Though all are different notes, you will always understand that the blowing sound rising
from the conch is the essence of all notes.
alone.
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Aatman is like -
when the Veenaa gets played, one cannot distinguish its various notes; but
by grasping the sound of the Veenaa alone or the playing of Veenaa alone;
Maitreyee! Have you heard the music played on Veenaa?

The Veenaa-player will be producing various types of musical sounds from the Veenaa-
strings.
Though all are different notes, you will always understand that the music produced from
the Veenaa strings is the essence of all notes.
alone.
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Aatman is like -
when the fire is kindled with wet faggot, various types of smoke rise up, in
that manner alone my dear, the breath of this Supreme being alone are -
Yajurveda, SaamaVeda, Atharvaangirasa, Itihaasa, Puraana, various
learnings, Upanishads, hymns, aphorisms, elucidations, explanations,
sacrifices, oblations in the fire, that which is eaten, drunk, this world, next
world, all the beings;
all these are his breath only.
Maitreyee!
When the smoke rises from the fire in the altar, it will rise up as various lines, curling in
various ways, though it is the smoke only in essence.
All that you understand as the Vedas, various scriptures, all the affairs of the world, other
world, and all the beings in all the worlds - are like the breath rising from the Supreme
Brahman. Brahman alone is the essence of all.
9
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(Brahman is the only abode for all perceived and known things. This is how)
He is like
for all the waters, ocean is the only abode;
for all the touches, skin is the only abode;
for all the smells, nose is the only abode;
for all the tastes, tongue is the only abode;
for all the images, eye is the only abode;
for all the sounds, ear is the only abode;
for all the imaginations, mind is the only abode;
for all the Vidyaas (Knowledge),
Hrdaya (understanding essence) is the only abode;
for all the actions, hand is the only abode;
for all the joys, organ of generation is the only abode;
for all the ejections, anus is the only abode;
for all the movements, feet are the only abode;
for all the waters, ocean is the only abode;
for all the touches, skin is the only abode;
for all Vedas, organ of speech is the only abode.
10
Maitreyee! A lump of salt is salty; is it not?

In which part of the lump is the saltiness less, or more?
The saltiness fills completely, inside and outside equally all over.
So does the Aatman fill everything that is there!
This Aatman is not a person or entity; but the very nature of knowing.
This only knows the world as divided.
You through ignorance understand, husband, wife, children, mother, father, Vedas, gods,
etc because Aatman the Knowledge essence appears through you as the husband, wife
etc. Aatman understands elements also and sees the world as filled with objects made of
elements.
It identifies with the closest perception called the body and imagines an ego.
It falsely understands itself to be a perishing body; and so it believes that it perishes along
with the body. It holds on to wealth and people for fear of death alone.
Since in ignorance it knows only the imagined ego and its world, it loses its world based on
this ego at the death of the body.
If one moves away from the body and does not identify with it (by making the body non-
existent or dead as an unreal conception), there is no imagination of the world anymore.
He alone does not die along with the body, whose body is already dead through
knowledge.
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A lump of salt is entirely dense with saltiness inside and outside; so also,
my dearest, this Aatman (inner essence) is entirely dense with knowledge
awareness inside and outside.
From these elements it rises (as separateness) (through ignorance) and (this
separateness) is destroyed along with them (through knowledge).
After departing from there, it has no awareness of that other one, my dear
(as a limited consciousness).
Thus spoke Yaajnavalkya.

11

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That Maitreyee said- At this point my Lord, you have led me to the midst of
confusion. I do not comprehend this at all.
He said-
Hey Maitreyi my dear, I am not saying any confusing words at all.
This Aatman is imperishable and by its very nature cannot be destroyed.
It is very simple Maitreyi! Reject all that which perish off, and remain identified with that
which does not perish. That alone is the state of immortality!
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When there is duality as it were,

then one sees the other;
one smells the other;
one tastes the other;
one talks to the other;
one hears the other;
one thinks of the other;
one touches the other;
one recognizes the other.
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When to this one (the Knower of Aatman), everything is Aatman only,

then with what will he see what,
with what will he smell what,
with what will he taste what,
with what will he talk with whom,
with what will he smell what,
with what will he think what,
with what will he touch what,
with what will he recognize what?
With what will he understand that (Brahman), by which alone one
understands all this?
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This Aatman has been described as not this not this.

It is ungraspable and cannot be grasped.
It is un-decaying and cannot decay.
It is unattached and can never be attached to.
It is unfettered; it never feels pain; it never gets injured.
Hey dear one, who can know that by which one knows everything?

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Thus you have been given the instruction, Maitreyi.

This alone my dear is the state of immortality.
Having spoken this much, Yaajnavalkya left.

Maitreyee also took to the life of contemplation and renounced all the wealth that was
offered to her by her husband.
What great wealth can be there other than the wealth of immortality?
Great is the husband who can give immortality to a beloved wife. Great is the wife who has
dispassion, and makes herself qualified for, such a precious gift.
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Fifth Braahmana section
14
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Upanishads Explained

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Narayanalakshmi (Maa Tejaswini)

Narayanalakshmi, also known as Tejaswini in her ascetic life

This is a collection of hymn-translations from various Upanishads and other

Here is an attempt to explain what is Aatman, which is always present as

SELF is faster than Mind.

SELF is very far.

SELF is very near.

[The wife cries when the husband dies.

The wife is loved not for the sake of the wife -

[The husband cries when the wife is dead.

Everything is for the sake of the SELF alone.

Organs of action act mechanically -

God is very cruel indeed.

Nobody actually believes in His Existence -

For Meeraa - He played the Flute.

There are two kinds of organs.

Body is supported by the pillars of legs.

The organs of Knowledge are ruled by the Mind.

Each organ of Knowledge can function only one at a time;

That is why -You miss so many things in life.

Being unaware of your minds evil ways You allow it to wander.

Whereas-The irrational stupid ancients could memorize the whole of

Mind is very powerful When controlled.

The only way to control the Mind is to dam it up;

What is Mind? Thoughts!

[The usually quoted analogy for the above-mentioned concept is

Mind absorbs sensations from the objects

Some special sensations are- kept inside

Next day, again -

A trash-loving mind collects trashes.

A Knowledge- loving mind seeks Knowledge

A lazy mind seeks ruses to relax,

A lazy dark mind does not need Knowledge or light.

Active mind is also averse to Higher Knowledge.

A pure silent mind loves Knowledge.

SELF acts as the MANAS the sorting out faculty.

When you want a file back-

You just have to close your eyes, ears etc

You remember the song

There are two stages in any sense experience.

In the First stage-

When any object comes in the line of vision,

From the Silence of the SELF

The thought flashes so fast.

How do the eyes see?

Something sees through the eyes.

Awareness of some name and form

This Awareness is followed immediately by overflowing thoughts.

Actions are inert.

Act always, but do not react.

[YOGA VAASISHTA - quotes an anecdote from King Janakas life.

Action is inert. Reaction binds.

SELF is the Support of all.

You are aware of all actions in the waking state.

Practicing such an awareness state leads you to greater awareness and

SELF is covered by five sheaths.

AANANDA is the bliss sheath.

He who crosses over these five sheaths

Gods, Men, and Demons approached PRAJAAPATI.

Gods had too many enjoyments.

Men had too much greed.

If you have too many enjoyments - develop Self-Control.

Control, Give, Be kind and, realize the TRUTH.