THE

10 GREATUPANISHADS

THEIR ESSENCE REVEALED THROUGH SIMPLEQUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Dr. Giridhar Boray

THE 10 GREAT UPANISHADSFirst published in India in 2016 byYogi Impressions Books Pvt. Ltd.1711, Centre 1, World Trade Centre,

Cuffe Parade, Mumbai 400 005, India.Website: www.yogiimpressions.com

First Edition, September 2016

Copyright © 2016 by Dr. Giridhar Boray

All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, ortransmitted in any form, without written permission from the publisher,except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review; nor may anypart of this book be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted inany form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording,or other, without written permission from the publisher.

ISBN 978-93-82742-50-0

Contents

ForewordIntroduction

The Ishavasya UpanishatThe Kena UpanishatThe Katha UpanishatThe Shatprashna UpanishatThe Mundaka UpanishatThe Mandukya UpanishatThe Taittiriya UpanishatThe Aitareya UpanishatThe Chandogya UpanishatThe Brihadaranyaka Upanishat

EpilogueAbout the Author

FOREWORD

I am indebted to Dr. Giridhar Boray for this invitation to write a Foreword tohis commentaries on the The 10 Great Upanishads . Dr. Boray has had adistinguished career as a technology adviser. Study of the Indian scriptureshas been his special interest.

Upanishads mark a quintessential expression of the ultimate vision of‘Reality’ in man’s eternal spiritual quest. “The Upanishads” says Dr.Radhakrishnan, “represent a great chapter in the history of the human spiritand have dominated Indian philosophy, religion and life for 3000 years.Every subsequent religious movement has had to show itself to be in accordwith their philosophical statements. Even doubting and denying spirits foundin them anticipations of their hesitancies, misgivings and negations.”

In the tradition of Vedanta, there are two main schools. One is the schoolof Vedantic Theism; the other the Vedantic Absolutism. There are manysampradayas (traditions) within each of them. The Upanishadic texts areinvoked by either side. The epistemology of the non-dualistic standpoint isthat problems are inexplicable on the level of relative experience. Only whenthis level is transcended is there any more the need to solve them. VedanticTheism postulates one supreme God who creates, sustains, regulates, destroysthe Universe and all within it. He is Sat, Chit, Ananda (truth, consciousness,bliss) with inexhaustible, infinite attributes and is transcendent and immanentunconditioned by space and time.

There are certain interpretations touching the apparent contradictions andantagonisms between the fundamental postulates of the liturgical andritualistic expositions of the Samhitas (most ancient layer of text in theVedas, consisting of mantras, hymns, prayers, etc.) in the Vedic literature onthe one hand, and the purely philosophical positions of the Para Vidya(higher knowledge) in the Upanishads on the other. These are perceived bysome as a revolt against, and reaction to, the ‘Karma’ sections of theSamhitas and a spirit of denunciation implicit therein. The Meemamsakarasstand by the liturgical and ritualistic parts of the Vedas. These areas of greatdebate amongst scholars are at once prodigious and illuminating. The rangeand depth of these debates indicate the heights of Indian spiritual thought.

On many an occasion, Western philosophers seemed to claim that

‘rigorous philosophy’ has been an exclusively Western phenomenon. But aprofessor of Philosophy at Harvard observed, “By now it is pretty wellrecognized that Asia generally, and India in particular, has a philosophicalheritage as rich, subtle, and variegated in its own ways as is that of the West.”He added, “Bertrand Russell has not stood out during his lifetime as anadmirer of Asian thought but, long after his contributions to mathematicallogic have been forgotten, his History of Western Philosophy may beremembered, not for its contents but for its title which, in the Western world,was the first to have the grace to recognize that Western philosophy is notsynonymous with philosophy generally.”

Western philosophy makes no distinction between the ‘Mind’ and the‘Knowing self ’. Mind is more or less equated to consciousness. Buttraditional Indian philosophy clearly separates the ‘Atman’ from the ‘Mind’.

Dr. Boray portrays in these essays the didactic spirit of the Upanishadicquest. The presentation of the ‘Questions and Answers’ method in theUpanishadic texts exemplify the pariprasna (inquiry) technique of exchangeof knowledge. Particularly interesting are examples of this from theBrihadaranyaka by the author. The present generation of Homo economicus,distanced from Indian spirituality, needs an introduction to the sublimity andlofty richness of the Upanishadic treasure. The learned author seems well-equipped to anticipate the doubts of the well-meaning modern generation as,indeed, he himself has spent successful professional time in the West.

He deserves our appreciation for his deep study of the message of theUpanishads, and for giving us the rich and rewarding results of his studies.

BangaloreAugust 16, 2016

– Padma VibhushanJustice M.N. VenkatachaliahHon’ble Chief Justice (Retd.)

of Supreme Court of India

INTRODUCTION

As civilisations evolve over time, progress is increasingly measured in termsof material comforts with very little attention being paid to the overall qualityof life. Modern medicine is singularly focussed on extending one’s lifewithout much regard to the maintenance or extension of inner happiness. Intheir eternal and unending quests for material riches, human beings haveusurped the natural habitats of other species and destroyed the ecologicalbalance resulting in catastrophic natural disasters with increased frequency.Accompanying these natural disasters are the battles within, where humansare increasingly resorting to substance abuse and similar self-destructivebehaviour, as their search for a perfect life, full of unending material comfortsand eternal youth, leads to emptiness.

Great civilisations before our times have not had the same levels ofmaterial comforts as we have access to, but have confronted issues such asthe purpose of life, moral decline, etc. Their trials and travails have been wellchronicled in scriptures such as the Upanishads. Humans have a tendency tolook at history and classify time epochs as pre-historic, medieval, etc., whichoften are code words for periods dominated by subhuman behaviour amongraces.

There is a growing movement among modern-day intellectuals whoproclaim that the advances in science and technology have resulted in fastermeans of communication and this, in turn, has resulted in a better and moreintelligent world. This belief confuses information for knowledge. Even acursory review of great scriptures such as the Vedas reveal the evolvedthought processes and arguments that only a highly evolved race can putforth. Yet, all these occurred over thousands of years ago where sharing ofinformation among people was limited. In fact, the Vedas predate inventionof script and the concept of writing, and were orally transmitted by a teacherto a pupil. The Vedas and their components such as the Upanishads representmillions of years of evolved thought processes carried through generations,and are as relevant and fresh today as they have ever been.

‘Upanishat’, a Sanskrit word, means ‘higher knowledge’. The Upanishadsare a part of the Vedas, the ancient scriptures that shape the Hindu school ofthought. It is believed that the Vedas always existed and are not authored by

anyone, human or divine. However, by divine arrangement, specific aspectsof the Vedas were revealed to the sages. As the Upanishads are ‘seen’ bysages, they are called ‘seers’. This then gets passed on to succeedinggenerations verbally by a teacher to a student and so on.

The Vedas, which literally mean ‘knowledge’, are infinite and eternal, andthus it stands to reason that the Upanishads, that are a part of the Vedas, arealso infinite. They are revealed to deserving individuals at different times.However, about 108 Upanishads are recognised by scholars and among these108 Upanishads, 10 Upanishads are extensively studied, interpreted, andcommented upon by leading Hindu theologians. The greatness of theUpanishads is reiterated by the fact that many of the passages appearing inthem find mention in the Bhagavad Gita, which forms a part of the great epicMahabharata. While excellent commentaries and translations of theseUpanishads exist in many Indian languages, very few are available inEnglish. Many of the works in English on the Upanishads are scholarlywritings that are beyond the understanding of most people. This bookattempts to bring out the essential concepts of the Upanishads in simpleEnglish, and therefore avoids the use of too many Sanskrit terms in order tomake it more accessible.

The content of these Upanishads is often a lecture by a teacher to astudent, and hence ideally lends itself to a Question and Answer (Q&A)format. Some questions are directly taken from the Upanishads, while othershave been framed in such a way that the answers are the teachings from thatparticular Upanishat.

The book contains 10 chapters, each devoted to one of the 10 Upanishads.The subtitles of the chapters are chosen to convey the core theme in eachUpanishat. For the purpose of keeping the writing simple, I have used thepronoun ‘him’ throughout, whereas of course ‘him’ or ‘her’ is meant and maybe read interchangeably.

Chapter 1

THE ISHAVASYA UPANISHAT

An Ode to Trusteeship

One should aspire to live for a hundred years discharging one’s assignedresponsibilities. Such a person will never be tainted by the consequences of

his deeds.

– Ishavasya Upanishat, Verse 2

Presented here is a summary of teachings enumerated in IshavasyaUpanishat, a short scripture comprising 20 hymns. The central concept of thisUpanishat is ‘trusteeship’. This is clear from the context in which thisUpanishat was revealed to the sage Swayambhuva Manu who is entrustedwith the affairs of the universe for a specified sub-cycle called theManvantara (duration of a Manu, or his life span). While time is infinite,creation, existence and destruction of the universe occurs in cycles calledkalpa which has a duration of 311.04 trillion years. A sub-cycle of a kalpalasts for about 306.72 million years.

It is said that Manu was attacked by demons with the intention to disruptthe functioning of the universe. So, Manu began praying to the LordAlmighty to help him discharge his responsibilities of conducting the affairsof the universe. It is at this time that this Upanishat was revealed to Manu.Consequently, the issues covered in it deal with the concept and variousfacets of trusteeship. It must be noted that the teachings of this Upanishatapply to all trustees, with Manu setting an example. The context of demons

attacking Manu is akin to worldly challenges faced by trustees in the realworld – to help overcome them and enable the trustees to discharge theirresponsibilities.

Concept of trusteeship

Q: What is meant by trusteeship, and who is called a trustee?

A: Anyone who has been entrusted with the responsibility of managing theaffairs of an entity (trusteeship) is a ‘trustee’. The emphasis is on the word‘trust’. The world is based on trust. If people do not trust each other, then lifecannot progress. A trustee could be the head of a family, an organisation, oreven a country. Trustees typically have control of and access to resources todischarge their duties. For example, the president of a country has vastpowers to levy and collect taxes. At the same time, trustees have to becautious in utilising the resources at their command in faithful discharge oftheir duties. History is full of examples of failed leaders who did not live upto the trust reposed in them. In this Upanishat, Manu is a trustee since he wasentrusted with the responsibility of running the affairs of the universe duringthe stipulated period.

Q: What are the challenges faced by a trustee and how do these originate?

A: Trustees, whether they are heads of corporations or heads of governments,inherently face challenges in ensuring that they do not fall prey to worldlytemptations. They typically have access to vast resources and have broadfreedom in utilising these resources. They have to exercise the same care inusing these resources as they would with their personal funds. While societyhas devised checks and balances in the form of audits, etc., by definition acertain amount of freedom has to be accorded to trustees to enable them todischarge their duties. It is a question of how well – or how poorly – they usethis freedom.

Q: How can a trustee meet these challenges?

A: Ishavasya Upanishat addresses the issue of challenges faced by trustees byexhorting them (and the rest of us) to realise that every resource in theuniverse is a property of the Lord Almighty, and trustees have temporarycustody of these resources only to enable them to perform their duties. The

Lord Almighty is present in the entire universe and is a witness to any and allacts performed by everyone. When a trustee realises this truth, a sense ofresponsibility and urgency is instilled in him, which enables the trustee tomanage the resources with caution. Once he knows that the true owner of allresources is the Lord Almighty, a trustee can sever any attachment to theresources he commands. He then develops the conviction that he has todispense and be accountable for what the Lord Almighty provides. He doesnot actively seek wealth or power from others.

Q: If the Lord Almighty is omnipresent, why can’t we see Him?

A: It is not necessary for one to see something to realise its presence. Forexample, if we look at a glass of water, we cannot determine whether thewater inside is fresh water or salt water simply by viewing it. However, whenone tastes the water, one can arrive at a definite conclusion. By this analogy,the Lord has to be experienced and need not be seen to acknowledge Hispresence.

Qualifications and responsibilities of a trustee

Q: What are the pre-requisites to qualify as a trustee?

A: The essential qualifications of a trustee are:

Work ethics.Detachment from rewards of labour.Enthusiasm in discharging responsibilities.Trust and faith in the Lord Almighty.Desire to live a full life devoted to discharging responsibilities.Effective knowledge management.

Concept of a ‘full life’: It is said that a trustee should aspire to lead a full life(nominally indicated as 100 years) while discharging his responsibilities,without any expectations of the outcome. It is interesting to note thataccording to scriptures, the life span of human beings is calibrated in terms ofthe total number of breathing cycles, with 777.6 million as the maximumnumber of breaths. Based on an optimum duration of 4 seconds for a cycle ofone breath (inhalation + exhalation), the maximum of 777.6 million breaths

correspond to a duration of 100 years (at the rate of 4 seconds for a cycle ofbreathing, there will be 15 cycles in a minute, 900 cycles in an hour, 21,600cycles in a day, 6,48,000 in a month and 7.776 million cycles in a year) .

This leads to some interesting observations. Anyone breathing much fasterthan the 4-second cycle is susceptible to a reduced life span, which is readilyobserved with those leading highly stressful lives which manifests as fasterbreathing most of the times. As a corollary, it is noted that those who make ita habit to take much longer breathing cycles, can actually increase their lifespan beyond 100 years! Such is the case with accomplished yogis who haveperfected the art of breath control and manage a more relaxed and contentedlife.

Q: How does a trustee deal with the issue of knowledge management?

A: Knowledge is a very important tool required of a trustee to enablesuccessful implementation of responsibilities. A trustee has an obligation toacquire the right type of knowledge to help him conduct day-to-day affairs. Itis equally important for a trustee to recognise wrong knowledge and preventthe spread of such knowledge that can cause damage to society. Scripturessuch as the Bhagavad Gita provide a detailed account of the types ofknowledge and knowledge management. It is important for a trustee toacquire true knowledge about the Lord.

Knowledge itself is of three kinds. The ‘right knowledge’ about the Lordand the universe leads to salvation, ‘wrong knowledge’ leads to eternaldamnation, and ‘absence of knowledge’ leads nowhere. Right knowledgeincludes knowledge about the infinite, auspicious attributes of the Lord,reality of the universe, and the five-fold differences among the triumviratethat make up the universe – the Lord, individual souls, and inert objects .

Q: How does a trustee describe the Lord?

A: No one can fully describe the Lord who has infinite auspicious attributes.Hence, the Upanishads resort to three categories of descriptions to convey theLord’s nature in a way that can be comprehended by humans:

1. Positively – by pointing to the Lord’s limitless attributes such ascompassion.

2. Absence of negative attributes (defects).

3. Possessing seemingly contradictory attributes:

He is smaller than smallest imaginable object and larger thanlargest imaginable object.The Lord is near, yet He is far.He is inside every object and at the same time outside the universe.He is everywhere, yet He travels with infinite speed (for thepurposes of comprehension, the Upanishat indicates that He travelsfaster than the speed of thought).All beings are in Him, and He is inside all beings.

A trustee’s prayer

Q: How does a trustee pray to the Lord?

A: In the present Upanishat, Manu – who is the trustee – offers a verythoughtful, sincere prayer to the Lord by submitting himself completely toHis mercy. Manu indicates that the Lord, who is an embodiment of Truth, hasHis face hidden behind an extremely bright ‘golden vessel’ (sun), and thatone cannot see the Lord’s face as the powerful rays of the sun pervade theentire space and blind the seeker. The prayer also indicates a qualified seekeras one who accepts the Lord as the very embodiment of Truth, and whoalways leads a righteous life.

The trustee also prays to the Lord to grant him both outer (worldly)knowledge, and inner (spiritual) knowledge.

Q: What is the significance of the golden vessel in the prayer?

A: The glittering pot of gold that prevents a seeker from seeing (or sensing)the Lord is a reference to the sensual pleasures that we pursue throughout thecourse of our lives. Only the Lord can help move our minds away from thesetemporary pleasures which then make it possible for us to focus on the Lord.Just as a bright, glowing sun covers everything in the sky, similarly mindlessindulgence in sensual pleasures blinds our thoughts, words, and actions. Onlythe Lord can help us break this barrier and lead us towards truth andsalvation.

It is also interesting to note that of all material objects available in theuniverse, the analogy of a golden vessel is used to convey the power ofsensual pursuits. From time immemorial, gold has come to symbolisematerial wealth. Even today, currencies of many nations are tied to the valueof gold. Unlike other hard assets (such as real estate), gold is portable and canbe traded anywhere in the world. It is no wonder that humans have atremendous attachment to gold. Similar is the attachment to sensual pleasures.

Q: Why is there a reference to Vayu, the lord of air and life, in thisUpanishat?

A: Various organs in the human body are controlled by various deities, all ofthem acting under the direction of the supreme Lord. Of all these deities,Vayu is supreme among the individual souls and is worshipped as the‘immortal one’. An individual soul, Vayu is also subject to loss of physicalbody but his knowledge is never sublated and hence he is termed the‘immortal one’. A trustee has to recognise that Vayu is witness to allactivities performed by a trustee and his grace is required to gain the rightknowledge about the Lord, in the quest for eternal salvation.

Q: How does a trustee thank the Lord for the blessings received?

A: It is impossible to thank the Lord fully for all the blessings He hasshowered on humanity. In this Upanishat, the trustee mentions that all he cando is to ‘say that he can only bow before the Lord with utmost sincerity anddevotion’ to thank Him as no one can offer anything of value to the Lord whoowns everything in the universe. It is interesting that the trustee does not saythat he will bow to the Lord with utmost sincerity and devotion. He onlymentions that he can only say that he will do this. There is a difference. Thetrustee is indicating with utmost humility that we are not even capable ofsincerity and devotion, so we cannot indicate that we will offer sincereprayers to the Lord. Rather, we are only capable of saying that we can dothis. Such humility is indeed the hallmark of a trustee .

The essence of this Upanishat

✓ The Lord is all-pervasive and regulates all activities in the universe.

✓ The Lord is the only independent entity in the universe and all othersouls and entities in the universe are always dependent on Him.

✓ Elimination of greed is the most important requirement for spiritualpursuits.

✓ No one should avoid performing prescribed duties since workperformed as dedication to the Lord does not bind one in worldlybondage.

✓ A trustee sees the blessing from Vayu as a means to attain ‘rightknowledge’ about the Lord Almighty.

✓ A trustee should know that the Lord who is the creator, regulator anddestroyer of the universe is all-powerful, independent, omnipresent,omniscient, and possesses uncountable, unimaginable, infiniteauspicious attributes.

✓ The only way someone can thank the Lord for all He has showered onhumanity is by offering sincere thanks.

Chapter 2

THE KENA UPANISHATThe Controller of Things

One who thinks that one knows Him well, knows Him not.One who realises that one cannot know Him well,

has best understood Him.

– Kena Upanishat, Chapter 2, Verse 1

The Kena (or Talavakara) Upanishat is a short scripture in the form of aconversation between Shiva and Brahma. Although Shiva is knowledgepersonified, to strengthen his conviction and to teach the rest of humanity, Heasks Brahma some fundamental questions about the workings of our mindsand sense organs, and about who actually controls these organs of perceptionand action.

The questions, and the answers that follow, provide some deep insightsinto complex spiritual concepts starting with the central question of ‘bywhom’ our senses are controlled. Kena , in Sanskrit, means ‘by whom’ and asthe Upanishat starts with the word ‘Kena’, it is popularly known as the KenaUpanishat .

The central question

Q: What is the central question Shiva asks Brahma?

A: It is well known that we do not control our own minds. We know fromexperience that even if we sit still and try to focus our mind on some thoughtor object, it often wanders randomly towards positive or negative thoughts –thereby clearly proving that the mind is not under the control of living beings.Who then controls our mind and its movements? Mind is an inert instrumentand obviously does not control itself. Likewise, who controls and modulatesour breathing cycle and the workings of other sense organs such as the tongue(talking), eyes (vision) and ears (hearing)?

Q: What is the significance of the ordering structure in the centralquestion?

A: The central question has 3 parts and is in fact made up of 3 sub-questions:(a) Who controls our minds?

(b) Who regulates our breathing?

(c) Who controls the functioning of our sense organs such as the tongue,eyes, ears, etc.?

It is important to note that the first sub-question is with regard to the mind asthat is the most important part of a living being, without which one cannotperform any activity. From experience, it is also evident that the mind has afertile imagination; it is always wandering and very difficult to control. Nextcomes breathing which is essential for one to sustain life. Breathing is aninvoluntary activity, as we continue to breathe even in deep sleep. However,while awake, we can regulate breathing such as slowing or hastening thebreath cycles. Our other sense organs such as the eyes, tongue, ears, etc., canbe controlled a bit more when the mind is strong.

Hence, even though we have very little control on the functioning of oursense organs and mind, the relative level of control is implied by the order ofsub-questions, that is, starting with mind, then breathing and then other senseorgans. It is important to note that when a baby is born, it is said that its minddevelops first in the mother’s womb. The baby starts breathing on its own assoon as it is delivered. The first sense organ used by a newborn is its tongue(as it starts crying immediately after birth), and then the baby starts openingits eyes, etc.

Q: Why is the central question considered so important?

A: The importance of the central question lies in the fact that it purports toexpose the relationship between living beings and the Lord Almighty.Without explicitly asking about the dependent nature of living beings and theindependent nature of the Lord, the central question elaborates upon the factthat the individual faculties of living beings such as the mind, breathingapparatus, and sense organs are not at all under the control of living beings. Anatural question then is, who controls these inert elements as they cannotoperate by themselves? It is well known that the deity ‘Prana’ is responsiblefor regulating our breathing. But who controls Prana ?

The central question answered

Q: What is the answer to the central question?

A: Brahma answers Shiva thus: The One who grants the ears the ability tohear, the mind the ability to think, the tongue/mouth the ability to talk, theeyes the ability to see, and indeed propels lord Prana, is the Lord Almightywho is well known as Lord Vishnu. Those realised souls who haveunderstood this with firm conviction, will be rid of worldly attachment andachieve eternal salvation.

Q: Now that it is clear that the Lord Almighty alone is responsible for thefunctioning of all our faculties, how can one comprehend Him?

A: The Lord Almighty who has infinite, auspicious attributes can never befully comprehended by anyone. Our six sense organs – eyes, ears, nose,tongue, skin and mind – comprehend worldly objects and knowledge, butthey are not capable of understanding the Lord Almighty as they have limitedcapabilities. For example, when we see an elephant, we have prior knowledgeof how an elephant looks and we can conclude that we did indeed see anelephant. We do not have such prior knowledge of the Lord. He is verydifferent from any of the objects we are familiar with and hence we cannotknow when we have seen the Lord. For one to comprehend an object, theobject needs to have a comprehendible (physical) form and our sense organsmust have the ability to comprehend that form. In the case of the Lord,neither of these apply. Hence, it is clear that the Lord Almighty can never befully comprehended by anyone .

Q: So how does one describe the Lord Almighty?

A: Brahma indicates some qualities of the Lord Almighty to Shiva asfollows:

He who cannot be described by speech and He who controls ourspeech, He is the Lord Almighty and He is different from all otherbeings.He who cannot be comprehended by our minds and He whocontrols our minds, He is the Lord Almighty and He is differentfrom all other beings.He who cannot be seen by our eyes and He who controls our senseof sight, He is the Lord Almighty and He is different from all otherbeings.He whose qualities cannot be fully heard by our ears and He whocontrols our sense of hearing, He is the Lord Almighty and He isdifferent from all other beings.He who cannot be moved by Prana and He who controls Prana(who in turn controls all living beings), He is the Lord Almightyand He is different from all other beings.

Anyone who claims that he knows all about the Lord Almighty, in realityknows nothing about the Lord as that person would not be under such illusionif he actually knew that the Lord is not fully knowable. On the other hand, theone who says that he can never fully comprehend the Lord has someknowledge about Him, as that person already has fundamental knowledge ofthe extent of the Lord’s capabilities .

Q: If the Lord Almighty cannot be known fully, how can one then obtainsalvation?

A: The inability to fully comprehend the Lord does not preclude one fromattaining salvation. Through spiritual studies, righteous living, meditation,etc., everyone can learn about some aspects of the Lord based on their innatecapabilities and then work towards salvation. Of all the forms that a soul cantake the most desirable one is the human form, as in this form one isbestowed with intellectual faculties and capabilities to enable one to learnabout the Lord and conduct his daily life on moral principles. Thisopportunity should never be wasted.

The allegory of deities

Q: What is the allegory of deities illustrated in this Upanishat?

A: To drive home the key concepts taught in this Upanishat, a small episodewill suffice. During a battle between the godly forces and demonic forces, thegods achieve victory primarily due to the grace of the Lord Almighty. In theircelebration of victory, the godly forces forget the role of the Lord Almightyand are under the illusion that they won the battle on the basis of their ownstrength and struggle. In order to disillusion them, the Lord enacts a drama.He appears in the form of a glowing divine form called Yaksha, along withother deities – Brahma, Shiva and Shiva’s consort, Uma. The deities whofought the battle are curious about this divine form they have never seenbefore and decide to find out about Him. They first dispatch Agni, the lord offire. Yaksha asks Agni who he is. Agni replies that he is the god of fire andcan burn anything and everything in the universe and he also boasts that he isknown as ‘Jaataveda’, one who is well versed in all the Vedas. Yakshapresents a blade of grass and asks Agni to burn it. Even with all his powers,Agni is unable to burn the small blade of grass and he runs back to the groupof deities indicating that he was unable to find out the origin of Yaksha. Thenit was the turn of Vayu who approaches Yaksha and, when asked, indicatesthat he can blow away anything and everything in the universe. However, hewas unable to move the blade of grass presented by Yaksha and returneddisappointed. At this stage, the king of deities, Indra himself decides toconfront Yaksha and as soon as he approaches the divine form, goddess Umaanswers Indra’s questions and informs him that Yaksha is the Lord AlmightyHimself who staged this episode to remind the group of gods that they do nothave independent powers, and that all their strength is due to the grace of theLord Almighty.

Q: Why is goddess Uma chosen by the Lord to teach Indra?

A: It is the Lord’s will that one should undertake spiritual studies under theguidance of one’s designated teacher. It is said that it takes many births forone to find out this designated teacher. Among the godly forces, there is agradation in their innate abilities and knowledge. For example, lord Indra issuperior to lord Nasikya Vayu who, in turn, is superior to lord Agni.However, Indra himself conducted his spiritual studies under the guidance of

goddess Uma. Thus, initially the group of deities dispatches lord Agni to findout the whereabouts of Yaksha and when Agni fails, they dispatch NasikyaVayu who is superior to Agni and when he also fails, lord Indra himself goes.At this stage, Yaksha disappears leaving behind goddess Uma so she canremind Indra about the spiritual truth .

Indra, after regaining his knowledge then communicates the same toNasikya Vayu, Agni, etc. This episode reminds us that even superior deitiesare not immune from ignorance and they also get reminded about theirshortcomings by the Lord. The central teaching here is about humility.

Q: Based on the concepts discussed so far, how should one view the LordAlmighty?

A: It is clear that the Lord Almighty controls everyone’s minds and He is theprimary force behind all activities in the universe. It is the Lord whoenergises the sun, moon, fire and all such forces of energy in the universe.The infinite, auspicious attributes of the Lord are summarised in two terms –tat (One who is all-pervasive at all times) and vanam (One to whom allbeings of the universe offer prayers). It is said that one who prays andaddresses the Lord as Tadvanam (tat + vanam) will please the Lord and,indeed, will be placed in high esteem by all other beings.

The conclusion

Q: The Upanishat has taught us the supremacy of the Lord Almighty whocontrols our senses and indeed all activities in the universe, and also thatthere is a gradation among various deities who all work under the controlof the Lord Almighty. What actions does one need to take in order toachieve the grace of the Lord Almighty and move towards eternalsalvation?

A: Mere reading of scriptures is not enough to earn the Lord’s grace .

The path to salvation has three facets:

1. Proper knowledge of the Lord Almighty.2. Discipline needed to attain this knowledge.3. Source of this knowledge.

Proper knowledge of the Lord Almighty: This consists of the realisationthat the Lord is full of infinite, auspicious attributes that control all our senseorgans of perception and action and that it is impossible for anyone to fullycomprehend His greatness.Discipline needed to attain this knowledge: Self-control (control over senseorgans), focussed meditation on the Lord, performing one’s naturally evidentduties without expectation of the outcome, serving one’s teacher and societyat large, detachment from worldly pleasures, and compassion towards oneand all are the attributes needed to be practiced by one to attain spiritualknowledge.

It is important to note that this discipline is necessary not only to learnnew aspects of spirituality, but also ensure that knowledge previouslyacquired will get reaffirmed with deeper conviction.Sources of this knowledge: The Vedas and the Upanishads, the epicsRamayana and the Mahabharata (which contains the holy Bhagavad Gita),the Vyakarana – the study of grammar and linguistic analysis in Sanskrit, andothers such as the Brahma Sutras (the ultimate arbitrators of complexconcepts in the Vedas based on logic and reasoning). These contain all thebasic reference material one needs to acquire spiritual knowledge .

Q: What are the benefits from following the advice taught in thisUpanishat?

A: The one who treads the path illustrated in this Upanishat will:

Be rid of sins accumulated over many births.Achieve eternal salvation and never return to earth.Forever be in the company of the Lord Almighty and enjoy eternalbliss.

The essence of this Upanishat

✓ The Lord Almighty controls the sense organs of perception, and theaction of all living beings.

✓ The wandering mind can never be under the control of mortals and canbe subdued only by the grace of the Lord Almighty.

✓ The Lord cannot be comprehended fully by anyone. The best one cando is to realise that the Lord has infinite, auspicious attributes.

✓ There is a gradation in the innate capabilities of various deities who allact under the control of the Lord Almighty.

✓ The Lord is to be worshipped as Tadvanam, one who is all-pervasiveand one who is worshipped by all.

✓ The path to eternal salvation has three facets – knowledge of the Lord,means of attaining this knowledge, and the source of this knowledge.

✓ One who implements the teachings from this Upanishat will achievethe grace of the Lord Almighty and attain eternal bliss.

Chapter 3

THE KATHA UPANISHATThe Great Hereafter

Living beings experience the cycle of births and deaths, but their soul isimmortal. Upon achieving salvation, the individual souls reach the abode of

the Lord Almighty never to return to the cycle of births and deaths.

– Katha Upanishat, Chapter 1, Section 2, Verse 18

The Katha Upanishat is another short scripture that is in the form of aconversation between Yama (god of death) and a young student, Nachiketa.In Chapter 2, which had a summary of Kena Upanishat, the central questionwas – who controls our sense organs and mind, while we are alive? TheKatha Upanishat deals with an even more profound question – who controlsour spirits after we leave the physical body?

The background and context of this Upanishat is illustrated by the story ofUddhalaka (also known as Vajasravas) and his son Nachiketa. Uddhalakawas a great sage and had special powers but he was not immune to commonfrailties such as greed, which prevented him from giving useful gifts incharity .

One day, Nachiketa observes his father Uddhalaka, who desiring a boonfrom the gods, is performing a yajna to please various deities. As iscustomary in such rituals, Uddhalaka is about to donate all his worldly

possessions. He starts by giving away his cows to the learned priests who arein attendance. Traditionally, cows that gave abundant milk were considered asuperior gift, as milk was a very essential ingredient of people’s diet, andthese cows required very little care.

However, Nachiketa notices that his father is only giving away the cowsthat are old and barren, which would not yield any milk. He realises thatgifting one’s possessions just for the sake of gifting has no value, is pointless,and will not please the gods. Nachiketa asks his father why he is giving suchold and weak cows? Uddhalaka ignores young Nachiketa and continuesgiving away these cows. Now, nothing else remains to be given away. Seeingthis, Nachiketa asks his father: “I too am yours, and definitely more usefulthan an old cow. So, to whom will you give me?” Speechless at the lad’squestion, Uddhalaka doesn’t give an answer. But Nachiketa persists andpesters his father, who finally getting agitated and angry, tells the young lad:“I will give you to Yama!”

In other words, Nachiketa would die because he had asked his fatheruncomfortable questions. Uddhalaka had special powers gained from years ofmeditation and penance, so his words were sure to produce an effect. Soonenough, Nachiketa leaves this physical world and enters the nether worldwhere he waits for Yama to return to his palace.

When Nachiketa arrives at Yama’s abode, he finds that Yama is not there.So he waits outside the gates for three days and three nights. When Yamareturns, he is pained to see that a young brahmin boy has been kept waitingwithout being offered any hospitality. To make up for this he tells Nachiketato ask for three boons. Nachiketa knows that Yama is not only very powerful,but that he also has great spiritual knowledge. So he decides to make gooduse of the three boons offered by Yama.

The first boon

Q: What was the first boon Nachiketa sought from Yama?

A: Nachiketa asks that his father Uddhalaka should not get angry if he wereto return home (as Nachiketa surmised that since he could be of no use toYama, he would be sent back to his family). Lord Yama is very impressedwith young Nachiketa who shows no ill will towards his father, even thoughUddhalaka was completely wrong in punishing Nachiketa with death for

asking valid questions. Yama grants Nachiketa’s wish and informs him thathe will go back to his father who, no longer angry at his son, will notremember any of the earlier episodes and will think that Nachiketa had justreturned from a trip to a neighbouring village.

It will be clear from later discussions that Nachiketa has some very deepphilosophical questions to ask Yama, but uses the first boon to benefit hisfather as Nachiketa, being a very obedient son, always has his father’s well-being in mind. Absolute obedience to one’s parents is the central message tobe imbibed from the first boon.

The second boon

Q: What did Nachiketa ask for as the second boon?

A: Fire is a very important component of Vedic rituals and Nachiketa hadheard that one can achieve salvation, and be free from the cycles of birth anddeath, by worshipping the Lord Almighty in the form of fire. Nachiketawanted to know the nature of the Lord Almighty who is worshipped in theform of fire, and also the method of this worship. He indicates that he is notinterested in mere heavenly pleasures as one invariably comes back to earthafter exhausting all credits due from good karma or good deeds. He isinterested in going beyond heaven to attain eternal bliss where one is freefrom the cycles of birth and death.

It is important to note that Nachiketa uses the Sanskrit term swarga torefer to the final place of beatitude. Some commentators surmise thatNachiketa is referring to heaven where noble souls reside after leaving thisworld. Yet, a closer examination reveals that Nachiketa is indeed referring tonirvana (state of eternal bliss) as he is qualifying his description of swarga asa state beyond the cycles of birth and death. This occurs only when oneattains eternal salvation. Hence, even though the term swarga is used toindicate heaven and nirvana alike, the reference here is to the final place ofbeatitude and not the intermediate stage of heaven.

Q: What was Yama’s response to Nachiketa’s second wish?

A: Yama is happy that Nachiketa did not waste his second boon on meretransitory pleasures, but on wanting to learn higher truths. He responds bysaying that worshipping the Lord Almighty (Vishnu) resident in fire, and in

other implements used in rituals such as bricks, will indeed free one from thecycles of birth and death. Lord Vishnu has infinite forms and cansimultaneously reside in many different objects in different places at the sametime. He also resides in the hearts of all living beings. Yama also teachesNachiketa the symbolism behind the Vedic rituals in using fire and otherelements of Nature.

Q: Why is fire such an important component of Vedic rituals?

A: Among the five basic elements of Nature, namely, earth, water, fire, airand space (ether), fire is symbolically considered to represent the LordAlmighty as it is the purest element and immune from pollution. As we allknow, other elements such as water and earth can get polluted but fire is aunique element that can consume anything cast into it but continues tomaintain its purity. Hence, fire is considered the purest element and is usedsymbolically to represent the Lord Almighty in rituals. All objects in theuniverse (including our physical bodies) are comprised of these basicelements in some proportion.

The third boon

Q: What was Nachiketa’s third question to Yama?

A: Nachiketa asked that when one reaches the abode of the Lord and eternalsalvation, some say that the individual soul continues to be under the controland regulation of the Lord Almighty, while others believe individual soulsmerge with the Lord Almighty. Which is correct? If it is indeed true that theLord Almighty continues to regulate individual souls even after liberation,what is the nature of the Lord Almighty?

Some commentators interpret that Nachiketa is asking whether theindividual soul continues to exist or not after one leaves this physical body.Sri Madhvacharya, a Hindu philosopher and chief proponent of the Dvaita(dualism) school of Vedanta indicates that the state referred to here is thestate of eternal salvation and not the intermediate state of the soul afterleaving the physical body. The very fact that Nachiketa has died andcontinues to exist in some form as he is conversing with Yama, is proofenough that the soul continues its existence even after death. Hence, thereference here is to the state of the individual soul when it reaches eternal

bliss. Does it continue to exist individually, distinct from the Lord Almighty,or does it cease to exist by merging with the Lord? That is indeed, a veryprofound question.

Q: What is Yama’s initial response to Nachiketa’s third question?

A: Yama realises that Nachiketa has asked the most profound question anddecides to not respond immediately. He wants to verify if Nachiketa is indeedvery sincere in his quest, and that he is well qualified to imbibe the ultimatespiritual knowledge. Yama tries to dissuade Nachiketa by offering him othergifts such as – a very long life, kingdom, riches, maidens at his service, etc.Yama also indicates that even many gods in heaven do not have completeknowledge in this regard and that Nachiketa should reconsider his question.

However, Nachiketa is steadfast in his quest and turns away all suchtemptations by offering some very powerful arguments along the followinglines:

What use is an extraordinarily long life if one has to witness thedeath of one’s family members or friends (with a normal lifespan)?What use are riches that can only be enjoyed when one is youngwith all sense organs fully functioning, and which becomedysfunctional in old age? Further, riches invite more problems asthere is a need to keep multiplying and safeguarding themcontinuously.If even the gods in heaven do not have the complete answer to this,then it is worth seeking an answer to this very important question.

Who could be better than Yama, the god of death, to answer Nachiketa’sall-important question? Noting that Yama did not indicate that he does notknow the answer, Nachiketa surmises that he should not lose this opportunityto get his answer.

After being fully convinced that Nachiketa eminently qualifies to receivehis teaching, lord Yama starts by initially describing the qualities of a seekerto further confirm that Nachiketa indeed fits that profile. Yama indicates thatthere are predominantly two paths available: one is a path of ‘pleasureseeking,’ and the other is a path of ‘good’. Often these are in conflict.Broadly speaking, those who follow the path of ‘good’ (and not merely

pleasurable activities) reach the abode of the Lord and get freed from thecycles of birth and death.

Q: There are many cases where emperors such as Janaka, often showcasedas ideal people destined for nirvana, followed both the ‘good’ (spiritual)and ‘pleasurable’ (ruling a kingdom) paths. How do we resolve thiscontradiction?

A: The two paths themselves are not contradictory; it is how one uses them.If one uses worldly possessions to aid in spiritual pursuits and in helpingothers less fortunate, then the seemingly pleasurable path will also act as thegood path. That was the path chosen by King Janaka.

Q: Can one conclude that anyone who has access to both the pleasant andgood paths will end up achieving salvation?

A: Not necessarily. Ignorant souls may also have access to both paths butmay not use them properly. For example, someone gifted in music and accessto renowned musical teachers, instead of using his musical talents to sing theLord’s praises, may only use his talents to entertain others for gainingworldly fame and riches. Such people typically get caught up in the nuancesof the theory of music and focus on exhibiting their knowledge, rather thanuse the musical route to spread the message of the Lord.

Q: Why do some people focus only on worldly pleasures even whenexperience indicates that these are temporary and lead nowhere?

A: For those not focussed on the Lord Almighty and completely immersed inworldly pleasures, it is indeed very difficult to accept the fact that pleasureseeking has consequences. Even when they see others suffer theconsequences of excessive indulgence (for example, an alcoholic ending upwith severe liver problems), they will find a counter example of someone elsewho managed to live a long, healthy life while completely immersed inhedonistic pleasures.

While science and statistics provide enough evidence about the ill effectsof substance abuse such as drugs, tobacco, alcohol, etc., promptinggovernments around the world to put out health warnings, those immersed inpleasure seeking ignore these and convince themselves that they are immuneto their ill effects. Often this leads to an incurable addiction.

Q: How does one go about acquiring spiritual knowledge to ensure one ison the right path?

A: One cannot fully learn about the greatness of the Lord Almighty bymerely reading scriptures, or listening to lectures, although these help theprocess. One cannot comprehend the Lord through physical senses as He isbeyond them. One cannot also deduce the Lord’s attributes by logic as everylogical statement can always be contradicted by a counter statement. One hasto experience the presence of the Lord and be absolutely convinced about theunseen force that controls and regulates every aspect of this universe – onewhich always existed and will always exist at all times and in all places. Thisforce is infinitely more powerful than any force that one can imagine.

Yama thus answers Nachiketa’s question which was his third boon bystating that the Lord Almighty indeed controls and regulates all souls at alltimes, including the time when a soul has achieved salvation.

Merely believing in the existence of a supreme force is not enough, as it isimportant to realise that the Lord is distinct and infinitely more powerfulcompared to all other objects in the universe at all times .

Q: Nachiketa continues his question to Yama. Can you please tell me aboutthe supreme spirit that lies beyond time, space and everything that we know– and yet who is very different from any of the objects in the universe?

A: Yama explains to Nachiketa that all scriptures, such as the Vedas, onlydescribe the Lord Almighty’s greatness, and all rituals indicated in the Vedasare to be performed to please Him alone. Seekers continuously meditate onHim with complete self-control. The Lord Almighty is succinctly known bythe primordial syllable ‘Om’. Whoever knows about the significance of thissyllable will attain whatever is desired.

Q: What is the significance of ‘Om’ which occupies a very special place inIndian philosophy?

A: The primordial syllable ‘Om’ is the origin of all knowledge. Hence it is atrue representation of the Lord Almighty who is omnipresent, omnipotent,omniscient, and indeed has infinite, auspicious attributes. The syllable ‘Om’is a combination of three sounds – a , u and m – where the sounds themselveshave many representations. In one representation, a represents the entire Rig

Veda, u represents the entire Yajur Veda and m represents the entire SamaVeda.

These sounds also represent the three states of living beings, namely,waking, dreaming, and deep sleep. They also represent the three stages in thecycle of the universe, namely, creation, sustenance, and dissolution. There areUpanishads that deal entirely with this mystical entity and give profounddescriptions on the significance of this primordial syllable .

Q: Where exactly does the Lord reside in the bodies of living creatures?

A: While the Lord is everywhere at all times, He is specially present withinthe hearts of living beings – powering their activities at all times. Eventhough He resides in living beings, He is not tainted by any shortcoming inordinary souls.

Q: What are the major attributes of the Lord Almighty?

A: While the Lord is full of infinite, auspicious attributes, some majorcharacteristics that we can relate to are as follows:

The Lord is supreme.The Lord is present everywhere – in all objects, at all times.The Lord is never subject to blemish or decay.The Lord is smaller than the smallest object one can comprehend,and larger than the largest object.The Lord resides in the hearts of living beings.The Lord has seemingly contradictory characteristics.The Lord is near, yet very far.No one knows the Lord fully.The Lord cannot be known by listening to lectures, readingscriptures, etc.One needs the Lord’s grace to understand Him to some extent.

Q: If the Lord cannot be known unless one has earned His grace, of whatuse are meditations, self-control, prayers, etc.?

A: A very valid question. Prayers, meditation, breath control, etc., help one toachieve equanimity and a calm mind. A calm mind helps one to control thesense organs. Self-control creates an ideal environment to imbibe the spiritualknowledge contained in scriptures, all of which help one to earn the Lord’sgrace.

Q: How does one practice self-control? How are the sense organs and mindrelated?

A: The relationship among the sense organs, the mind and the intellect isexplained in this Upanishat by way of a beautiful comparison to a horse-drawn chariot. The analogy is as follows:

Chariot = Human bodyTraveller = SoulHorses = Sense organsReins = MindCharioteer (Driver) = Intellect.

The sense organs are like horses which if not controlled will wanderwithout any direction. The mind acts as reins and controls the functioning ofsense organs just as the reins are used to keep the horses moving in tandem toreach the final destination. The reins don’t work by themselves but are guidedby the charioteer. Likewise, the mind is influenced by the intellect which hasthe ability to discriminate between right and wrong. Thus, if the horses (senseorgans) are working in unison pulled by the reins (mind), based on thedirection of the driver (intellect), the entire chariot (human body), whichcarries the traveller (soul), will move towards the Lord, resulting in asuccessful life journey. Just as the chariot, charioteer, reins and horses are thetools required by the traveller to undertake the journey, the individual soulhas been given the body with intellect, mind and sense organs by the LordAlmighty to help in its life journey. It is up to the soul to make good use ofthe facilities given by the Lord.

Q: Even with all the facilities granted by the Lord Almighty, why is it sodifficult for one to realise the Lord’s presence and focus on the realpurpose of life?

A: In a human body, the mind is the most important sense organ thatmodulates the activities of all other sense organs, and the mind works underthe direction of the intellect. The job of the intellect is to discriminatebetween good and bad and provide the right signal to the mind. In order forthe intellect to make the right decisions, it is important for it to be equippedwith the right knowledge about the purpose of life and our place in thisuniverse. Traditionally, the teacher communicates this to his pupil. Theability to imbibe this knowledge increases with an uncluttered, clean mind,and hence it all boils down to controlling one’s mind. That can only happenwith practice and praying to the Lord Almighty with all sincerity.

Q: In what form does one meditate on the Lord?

A: The basic elements of Nature such as earth, fire, water, air, and space, inaddition to the natural source of energy such as that of the sun, provide adaily reminder to all of us about the facilities that the Lord Almighty hasprovided to all creatures to help lead a meaningful life. Among the five basicelements of Nature, fire occupies an important place in Vedic rituals as asymbol of the Lord owing to the fact that fire never gets polluted by anythingand continues to burn any object cast into it (as opposed to water that getspolluted from waste that is discharged into water bodies).

It is also possible to visualise the Lord in the form of wind/air as itrepresents the life force that is essential for us as one cannot live withoutbreathing. A third form of representation of the Lord is the sun, as life onearth sustains and thrives in the presence of the sun.

Q: Is it possible for anyone to physically see the Lord Almighty?

A: Visualising the physical form of the Lord depends on the state of theindividual soul and, of course, on its qualifications and merit. It is said thatseekers on earth who meditate on the Lord with pure love, devotion, andcompassion towards all can often visualise the Lord in their minds in a formwhich is of a very high clarity. When a soul leaves the body and travels inother worlds, the best one can hope is to visualise the Lord as a reflection inwater or as a dream occurrence, both of which are of less clarity compared toa mirror reflection. This points to the fact that being born on earth as a humanshould be cherished and made use of to realise the Lord.

Of course, when a soul achieves salvation and reaches the abode of the

Lord it can see the Lord in all His glory with very high clarity – just as onecan see an object during daylight with optimum amount of sunlight .

Q: Some say that when a soul achieves salvation, it merges with the Lordjust as a glass of water poured into another glass of water gets merged andbecomes one. Is this interpretation consistent with the Upanishat?

A: Being one with the Lord means that in nirvana, there is completeagreement between the liberated soul and the Lord Almighty. The liberatedsoul works in concert with the Lord under His guidance, but does not mergewith Him.

Sri Raghavendra Swami, a renowned Madhva saint, philosopher andproponent of Dvaita philosophy established by Sri Madhvacharya, in hiscommentary on this Upanishat clarifies that when one adds a litre of water inone glass to another litre of water in another glass, the net result is two litresof water. Thus, the two waters do not merge because if it was a true merger,the net result would have stayed at one litre. The water analogy in theUpanishat illustrates that the liberated souls mingle with the Lord, but do notmerge with Him.

Q: What is the condition of the individual soul after it achieves salvation?

A: Every soul is full of pure bliss, which is realised once it is rid of allattachments and achieves salvation. At that stage, the soul enjoys thecompany of the Lord Almighty and does not have an iota of blemish. It alsodoes not have any obligations and often performs activities out of pure choiceto help other less fortunate souls who are still stuck in the vicious cycle ofbirths and deaths. The liberated souls continue to be subservient to the LordAlmighty and experience different levels of bliss based on their intrinsicnature, but they are complete in themselves .

The conclusion

After returning to earth, Nachiketa dutifully follows the teachings receivedfrom Yama and practices self-control, meditation, and undertakes otherauspicious activities. He then leads a life of purpose and ultimately reachesthe abode of the Lord and becomes immortal. Likewise, those whounderstand the true relationship between the Lord and the individual soul andrealise His supremacy at all times will reach the abode of the Lord.

The essence of this Upanishat

✓ The true seeker, when presented with a choice of ‘good’ and‘pleasurable’, always chooses the path of ‘good’ and travels on the roadto self-realisation.

✓ One cannot acquire knowledge of the Lord by mere logic or rituals, butonly through the express grace of God Himself.

✓ The Lord has infinite auspicious attributes, some of which arecontradictory.

✓ The Lord is free from defects at all times and all places.

✓ The Lord is beyond comprehension of the senses.

✓ The Lord resides in the hearts of all living creatures.

✓ The primordial sound ‘Om’ is a succinct interpretation of the LordAlmighty.

✓ The Lord regulates and controls all individual souls at all times such aswaking, dreaming, in deep sleep, after death, and after it achievesliberation.

Chapter 4

THE SHATPRASHNA UPANISHATThe Book of Six Questions

The primordial syllable ‘Om’ is a representation of the Lord Almighty, andone who knows the significance of Om and meditates on the Lord with this

syllable, indeed attains the Lord.

– Shatprashna Upanishat, Chapter V

Once upon a time six pious ascetics got together and decided to seek answersto some of the most fundamental spiritual questions to further theirknowledge. They decided to approach the sage Pippalada who was known tobe extremely knowledgeable in spiritual matters. Pippalada welcomed themand enquired about the purpose of their visit. To ensure that the six asceticsare indeed sincere about their purpose and are deserving of supreme spiritualknowledge. Pippalada asks them to spend a year at his hermitage – lead avery simple life, observe celibacy and assist in his daily rituals. At the end ofthe period they could ask any question and he would reply, provided he knewthe answer. The ascetics readily agreed to this proposal as they wereconfident that sage Pippalada would know the answers to their questions .

This exchange between Pippalada and the six ascetics highlights twoimportant aspects. One, the fact that Pippalada put the condition that hewould answer any question only if he knew the answer demonstrates hisextreme humility. Two, the fact that the six ascetics, who were spiritually

evolved, readily agreed to spend a year at the hermitage indicates that thequestions they had in mind were indeed important. After completing thestipulated one-year period at the hermitage, the ascetics were ready with theirquestions.

The first question

The ascetic Kabandhi asks a question about the creation of the universe andlife forms. This is the most fundamental question that has confronted humansfrom time immemorial. It is natural that a question of such significance be thefirst one to be put to sage Pippalada. The logic behind this question is asfollows:

The universe is made up of a triumvirate, namely inert objects, sentientbeings and the Lord Almighty. It is not possible for inert objects to createanything. The sentient beings, based on our individual experience, are notentirely independent and powerful. If one says it is the Lord Almighty whocreated this universe, one does not physically see His activity. For example,to create a pot there is need of a potter who uses clay and creates the pot.Even though one may not see the potter at the time of purchasing a pot at ashop, it is not too difficult to seek the potter and physically witness hiscreation. This is not the case with the Lord .

Q: Who creates the universe in all its magnificence and who powers the lifeforms?

A: While time has no beginning or end, it is divided in units of kalpa thatdenote one full cycle of creation, existence and dissolution of the universe.This cycle then repeats forever. The Lord Almighty and the individual soulsalways exist. At the beginning of each kalpa, the Lord starts the process ofcreation of the universe principally to equip the individual souls with thebodies and mental faculties to achieve self-realisation, and eventually attainsalvation.

Creation of the universe consists of:

Creation of life forms.Creation of time.Creation of space.

Creation of the five fundamental elements of Nature – earth, water,fire, wind, and ether.

Life forms: The Lord first created the male form ‘Mukhya Prana’ and thefemale form ‘Rayi’ and empowered them to continue the process of creation.In addition to Prana and Rayi, the Lord creates other deities (such as Surya –the sun god, Ganesha – the god of space, etc.), and they are assigned keyresponsibilities for aspects of creation of the universe. But they always workunder the guidance and control of the Lord Almighty and Mukhya Prana (theavatar of Vayu).

It is important to note that the Lord Almighty is directly responsible forcreation of the universe – but this follows a process starting with Prana andRayi to create the universe and its constituents in a methodical manner. Pranaand Rayi activate the male and female life forms of all organisms in theuniverse respectively, and these life forms then continue their progeny thussustaining life.Time: In turn, Prana and Rayi are responsible for the creation of the sun andthe moon, and hence the concept of time. The basic notion of time such aslength of a day, duration of a month and duration of a year are based on therelative motion of the sun and the moon, hence these two celestial bodiesincorporate the aspect of time.Nature: The elements of Nature are of two kinds: (a) elements with form and(b) elements without form. The elements without form are wind and ether.Prana is responsible for the creation of these. Rayi is responsible for thecreation of elements with form, viz. earth, water and fire.Inert objects: All objects in the universe, including the physical bodies ofhumans and all other life forms, are a combination of these five basicelements of Nature in varying proportions.Space: Sun, which is powered by Prana, in turn spreads its energy in tendirections (eight directions horizontally – East, South East, South, Southwest,West, North West, North and North East), and two directions vertically(upwards and downwards). Thus, space is created.

While no one can physically see the Lord (as our sense organs are notcapable of comprehending Him), the result of creation, the vitality of theuniverse, abundance of energy in celestial bodies such as the sun are proof

enough of the Lord’s creative genius. Sage Pippalada concludes his responseto the first question by confirming that the Lord Almighty is indeedresponsible for the creation, existence and dissolution of the universe. Pranaand Rayi are resident in every male and female life forms, and a soul that isdestined to be equipped with a physical body enters the male form throughthe food chain thus continuing the progeny. One who understands the processof creation as being controlled and regulated by the Lord Almighty will beblessed with a calm mind, allowing one to lead a righteous life and eventuallyattain salvation.

The second question

The first question was about the most fundamental aspect of life, namely,creation of the universe. In responding to that question, Sage Pippalada hadindicated that the Lord primes the process of creation by first creating Pranaand Rayi who in turn create other deities who have primary responsibility forthe functioning of different aspects of the universe and also the differentorgans of living forms. The second question asked by the ascetic Vaidharbhiis related to these deities.

Q: Who are the deities who control the various organs of life forms? Whoactivates the sense organs of life forms? Who among these deities issupreme?

A: Various deities control the functioning of the universe and also that of lifeforms. The deities responsible for the functioning of the five basiccomponents of physical nature are as follows:

Space: Lord GaneshaWind: Lord MareechiFire: Lord PavakaWater: Lord BudhEarth: Lord Shani

These five deities also control the activities of organs in the bodies of lifeforms as the physical bodies are indeed made of the five fundamentalcomponents of basic nature (in varying proportions). It is also known that lifeforms have varying levels of intelligence. Humans gather knowledge from

the following activities – talking, seeing, hearing and thinking. The senseorgans and the corresponding deities involved in these activities are:

Talking: Tongue (Agni/Fire)Seeing: Eyes (Surya/Sun)Hearing: Ears (Chandra/Moon)Thinking: Mind (Rudra)

The supreme among the dependent souls is Mukhya Prana who resides inliving things in five different forms – thus giving life to the life forms. Allother deities work under the control of Prana. To drive home this point, theUpanishat narrates an interesting episode.

The deities who control the functioning of individual organs of life formsgot into an argument as to who among them was supreme. They startedleaving the body of a human being one by one, but the human continued tostay alive. For example, when Surya stopped powering the eyes of the person,he became blind but continued to live. Similarly, that person became deafwhen Chandra stopped powering his hearing abilities but he continued tolive. It was only when Mukhya Prana, who controls breathing and otherimportant activities in living forms, left the body that the person died.

An example we see in Nature is related to honey bees. When the king beeleaves a beehive, all other bees follow him. Likewise, when the king beeenters a beehive all other bees enter the beehive. Similarly, when Pranaleaves the physical body of a living being, all other deities exit. When Pranaenters the body of a living being, all other deities also enter that person’sbody and the person comes to life and starts functioning.

Once convinced of the supremacy of Mukhya Prana, the other deitiesoffered prayers to him, asking for his forgiveness and praising his qualities inthis manner:

Mukhya Prana is present in all deities and powers all theiractivities. He is present in Surya allowing him to emit light andheat. He is resident in Indra empowering him to create rain. He isresident in all souls including those who have achieved salvation.A chariot moves because of its wheels and the axle supports thewheels. Further, the axle holds together the spokes and other

components of the chariot. Similarly, Mukhya Prana controls,powers, and moderates the activities of all deities.Mukhya Prana protects the embryo/foetus in a mother’s womb forsafe childbirth.Mukhya Prana powers all celestial bodies and is responsible forstars, planets, etc., to maintain their orbits and control their powerof gravity.The deities conclude their prayer to Mukhya Prana asking for hisprotection at all times, just as a mother protects her children.

The third question

Now the ascetic Ashwalayana builds upon the second question, and seeksmore information on the workings of Mukhya Prana by sking the thirdquestion.

Q: Who creates Mukhya Prana and what is the purpose of five differentforms with which he controls the functioning of living beings?

A: Sage Pippalada is very happy with the reasoning and logic behind thisquestion and proceeds to answer as follows: Mukhya Prana (along with hisconsort Rayi) is created by the Lord Almighty and is given the mandate tocreate the universe and all other life forms. As indicated earlier, while time isinfinite, the cycle of creation, existence, and dissolution of the universeoccurs in cycles with each cycle called kalpa lasting 311.04 trillion years.While all other life forms experience many births and deaths during a kalpa,Mukhya Prana continues to exist throughout a kalpa, and at the end of thatkalpa will move towards salvation. Just as an object in daylight is followedby its shadow, all life forms take refuge under Mukhya Prana who is residentin all life forms along with the Lord Almighty.

Just as a king divides his kingdom into districts and appoints head ofadministration for each district, Mukhya Prana performs his activities inliving beings through the five deities under his control. Each of these deitieshas a specific function in ensuring the existence of living beings. The deitiesand their functions are:

Prana: He is responsible for the activities of the upper part of the

body such as eyes, ears, nose and mouth, and regulates breathing inand out, which is the most critical function of any living organism.Apana: He is responsible for the digestion of food and excretionof waste from the body.Samana: He ensures proportionate distribution of energy from theconsumed food to different parts of the physical body.Vyana: He is responsible for powering the nadis (energy channels)in living beings. These nadis connect different parts of the bodyand allow it to work as one whole unit.Udana: He is responsible for transporting the individual soul at theend of its lifetime in this world to the next destination.Interestingly, Udana is also responsible for briefly allowing thesoul to get close to the Lord Almighty, on a daily basis, duringperiods of deep sleep.

It should be noted that whenever one experiences a sense of happiness orsorrow, it is felt not by the physical organs but by the spirit or soul whichresides inside the heart. However, the sense of happiness or sorrow isperceived by the sense organs such as eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin, mind orintellect. It is because of the movement of these deities in our bodies thatthese sensations are communicated to the soul, which then stores thatknowledge in its memory .

In addition to powering the individual functions inside living organs, thesedeities controlled by Mukhya Prana also control the activities of the fivefundamental elements of Nature as follows:

Prana controls water and sun.Apana controls earth.Samana controls ether (space).Vyana controls wind (air).Udana controls fire.

Udana ensures proper levels of temperature in living beings. When Udanastarts to leave a body, that body starts getting cold and eventually deathoccurs. When Udana leaves the body he takes the soul, along with its sense

organs in miniature form, to its next destination. It is generally said that thenext birth of a living being is based on the object in its mind during his dyinghis moments. Proper knowledge of Mukhya Prana’s role in the well-being ofliving objects is essential for one to continue on the path of spirituality withthe ultimate aim of salvation.

The fourth question

Now the ascetic Gargya asks the fourth question. It raises some relevantissues about the functioning of living beings when they are asleep (either inthe state of dreaming or deep sleep) viz. ‘What characterises the state ofdreaming or deep sleep?’ This question has many parts and the sagePippalada provides some very effective responses to them .

Q: It has been indicated earlier that various deities control the sense organsof living beings. Do all these deities continue to function while one is asleepas many sense organs shut down during state of slumber?

A: Sleep has two sub-states: (a) Dreaming (b) Deep sleep. Just as when thesun sets, one gets a feeling that its rays are withdrawn (while it is actuallyvisible in other geographical regions), so also the deities controlling the senseorgans stop functioning during the state of dreaming. At this stage, the mindis active and hence one is able to dream. During the state of dreaming, one isnot able to listen, see, smell, taste or feel objects as the five sensory organs ofperception are shut down. Dream is a sequence of events that one hasexperienced previously (in current or prior births), but the sequence is oftenjuxtaposed to create a sensation that is either pleasant or unpleasant. This isdone by the Lord Almighty as a reward or punishment for entertainingpositive or negative thoughts in the mind.

Deep sleep is a state where one does not experience dreams but enjoys ablissful, relaxing sleep. The mind is also shut down during deep sleep.However, living beings continue to breathe during the states of dreaming anddeep sleep, else they cannot continue to live. Prana continues to be active inthe physical bodies at all times, including states of dreaming and deep sleep.

Q: It is known that when one wakes up after deep sleep (dreamless soundsleep), one feels fresh, energetic and generally happy. If all sense organsincluding the mind are shut down during deep sleep, how can one

experience blissful happiness ?

A: It is true that just about every type of happiness that one experiences inlife is borne out of the experience of one sense organ or the other. Forexample, the joy of seeing pleasant sights, hearing pleasant music, relishingtasty food, sweet smell of fragrance, etc. Happiness can also be purely due toa mental experience such as when someone is praised by peers or recognisedby society for some achievement. All sense organs, during the state of deepsleep, including the mind, are shut down. So, it is natural to ask how can oneexperience blissful happiness after waking up from a deep sleep?

It is extremely rare that one experiences blissful deep sleep every night ona continuous basis. The feeling of happiness that one experiences after aperiod of deep sleep is inexplicable. It is said that Prana in the form of thedeity Udana temporarily carries the soul of living beings near the LordAlmighty, allowing the soul to experience blissful happiness. In that sense,deep sleep is like a preview of the state of salvation. Of course, during thestate of salvation, the soul is aware of its state, while in deep sleep the soulexperiences bliss momentarily.

The fifth question

Having heard about the powers of the Lord Almighty who has infinite,auspicious attributes, a natural question that arises is how one should expressone’s gratitude to the Lord Almighty. The ascetic Satyakama asks a questionregarding the mode of worship of the Lord Almighty with the use of theprimordial syllable ‘Om’ .

Q: It is well known that seekers often meditate upon the Lord Almighty bychanting the primordial syllable ‘Om’ with their mind focussed onremembering the Lord’s attributes. What fate awaits these seekers in theafter-life?

A: Sage Pippalada is very happy to get this question from Satyakama, whichaptly demonstrates the fact that Satyakama is already knowledgeable aboutthe significance of ‘Om’. Pippalada proceeds to provide more details on theaspects of this syllable-based meditation, with an explanation on the effectsof such meditation upon seekers.

Mere chanting of ‘Om’ does not accrue any benefits as what matters is the

state of mind, and the accompanying thoughts during such meditation.Chanting of such a mantra helps one to take one’s mind away from worldlythoughts, so the mind is more receptive to entertain thoughts on the Lord’sattributes. The syllable Om symbolises the Lord, and its individualcomponents (a , u and m ) each have their own significance. Each of themsymbolises a specific set of the Lord’s attributes. For example, the root letter‘a’ in Om represents the form of Lord as Vishwa in which the Lord controlsthe activities of living beings when they are awake. Similarly, the root letters‘u’ and ‘m’ symbolise Taijasa and Prajna respectively, the forms of the LordAlmighty controlling the states of dreaming and deep sleep.

Om is also the origin of all Vedas; the letter ‘a’ is said to symbolise RigVeda (in poetry form), ‘u’ denotes Yajur Veda (in prose form) and ‘m’ standsfor Sama Veda (in musical form). There are countless such equivalences ofroot letters related to the Lord Almighty and the functioning of the universe .

Pippalada proceeds to explain that those seekers who meditate on the LordAlmighty chanting Om while realising only the attributes of the Lordsymbolised by only one of the root letters (among a , u and m ), will no doubtbe rewarded in the after-life. They will come back to the earth in their nextbirth born in a richer, nobler, scholarly family with access to spirituallearning paving the way forward in their journey towards salvation.

Those who meditate on Om realising the attributes of the Lord symbolisedby two of the three root letters fare better than the previous group of seekers.They will reach heaven and all the riches it has to offer, and then return toearth. But those seekers who meditate on the Lord chanting Om, while fullyconscious of the attributes of the Lord symbolised by all aspects of Om, willsurely reach the Lord and will never return to earth. Such seekers see theLord everywhere and feel His presence everywhere at all times. For them, allsounds occurring in Nature such as the chirping of birds, roar of oceans,chimes of the wind, etc., only seem to be singing the Lord’s glories. Themoral of the story is that one should attempt to comprehend the Lord as fullyas possible and not be satisfied with superficial knowledge.

The sixth question

This section clarifies that the souls continue to be under the control andguidance of the Lord Almighty even after achieving salvation. The asceticSukesha states that he was once asked by a prince named Hiranyagarbha

about who crafted the 16 stages (or layers) that make up a living being whileon earth. Sukesha did not know the answer and he wanted to take thisopportunity to pose the question to sage Pippalada who is considered veryknowledgeable.

Q: Who crafted the 16 stages (or layers) that make up a living being?Where does that person reside?

A: Sage Pippalada is again happy to answer this question as it suggests thatSukesha, and Prince Hiranyagarbha, were already aware of the concept of the16 stages and were asking about the origin and characteristics of these stages.He proceeds to answer the question as follows:

At the beginning of creation (during a particular kalpa), the Lord Almightydecided to partner with Mukhya Prana (who is supreme among all individualsouls) and wishes to equip the souls with 16 stages, which would enable themto express the souls’ innate attributes in the physical world and allow thesesouls to gain the necessary knowledge for self-realisation. The LordAlmighty, who crafted these 16 layers, already resides in the hearts of allliving beings and powers their activities along with Mukhya Prana.

Q: What are these 16 layers or stages, and what purpose do they serve?

A: The 16 layers that come together comprise a living being are:

1. Life force (breathing in and out to stay alive).

2. Conviction/intention (every soul has conviction/intention) toperform some activity.

3-7. The 5 basic elements of Nature – space, wind, fire, water,earth (physical bodies of living beings are comprised of thesefive elements in various proportions).

8. Sense organs (five organs of perception and five organs ofaction).

9. Mind (for thinking).

10. Food.

11. Stamina/vigour as a result of food intake.

12-14. The concept of three types of action: meditation/thinking (viamind), chanting/speaking (via mouth), and physical activity(via hands, feet, etc.).

15. Assets accumulated.

16. Identity/name of an individual soul.

These 16 layers together constitute a living being and allow a soul toexperience existence in the physical world.

Q: What happens to these 16 layers during the time of dissolution of theuniverse when the souls move towards their eventual resting place?

A: The 16 layers are inert objects by themselves. However, each one of themis governed by a deity. For example, the life force (breathing) is activated byPrana. At the time of dissolution of the universe these 16 layers disappear, inthe sense that the 16 deities attain the Lord Almighty and continue to mergewith the Lord Almighty .

The conclusion

Sage Pippalada concludes his wonderful and thought provoking responses tothe six questions, raised by the six ascetics, by stating that he has answeredthem to the best of his ability and does not know anything more on thesetopics. This signifies his extreme humility which is an essential character of atrue seer. The six ascetics are overjoyed on getting their doubts cleared andprostrate before Pippalada, praising him for removing their ignorance just asan able captain of a ship safely transports his passengers across a tumultuousriver. The ascetics also praise the Lord Almighty for guiding them every stepof the way.

The essence of this Upanishat

✓ The Lord Almighty creates the universe at the beginning of each kalpaand starts the process by first creating Lord Mukhya Prana and hisconsort Rayi, who in turn assist in the creation of rest of the universe.

✓ Creation of the universe consists of the creation of life forms, time,space, and the five fundamental elements of Nature.

✓ The Lord Almighty also creates other deities such as the sun god(Surya), fire god (Agni), etc. Each have specific responsibilities in thefunctioning of the universe and they all work under the supervision ofMukhya Prana.

✓ Sense organs of living beings are powered by individual deities andPrana powers the basic living function of breathing. Prana is supremeamong all these deities .

✓ Prana powers living beings in five different forms.

✓ Living beings exist in one of three different states, namely, waking,dreaming and deep sleep. All sense organs except the mind are shutdown while asleep and dreaming. Even the mind is shut down in deepsleep during which one experiences a temporary state of bliss.

✓ The Lord Almighty who has infinite names, forms, etc., is symbolisedby the primordial syllable ‘Om’.

✓ At the start of creation at the beginning of each kalpa, the LordAlmighty grants each individual soul 16 different layers/stages, toallow the soul to experience the world and gain spiritual knowledge tohelp it on its journey to eternal bliss.

Chapter 5

THE MUNDAKA UPANISHATThe sum of parts

One who receives the grace of the Lord Almighty is rid of weaknesses inone’s heart such as desire, hatred, jealousy, selfishness, anger, etc. Hefurther gains superior knowledge with firm conviction and is freed from

bondage.

– Mundaka Upanishat, Chapter 4, Verse 11

This chapter attempts to summarise the key concepts from the MundakaUpanishat. This work is divided into three main sections. As it was firstrevealed to sage Atharva, purists prefer to call this Upanishat the ‘AtharvaUpanishat’, which is basically about the theory of knowledge. Whatconstitutes knowledge? How is knowledge classified? Where can one find theright knowledge?

These and many other related questions are answered in this unique work.

The theory of knowledge

At the beginning of creation (in a particular kalpa), Brahma is born as the sonof Almighty Vishnu. During the course of time, Brahma teaches ‘thatspiritual knowledge, by knowing which everything is known’ to his son, sageAtharva, who imparts this knowledge to sage Angira. As per tradition, this

knowledge flows from sage Angira to sage Sathyavaha who in turn teachessage Angirasa. Sage Shaunaka, desirous of learning about the theory ofknowledge, approaches Angirasa and the conversation between them formsthe basis of the ‘Mundaka Upanishat,’ which has three sections (orMundakas).

Q: Shaunaka asks Angirasa what is that knowledge, by knowing whicheverything is known and following it leads one to salvation?

A: Sage Angirasa begins his response by explaining the theory of knowledgethat enumerates knowledge as being of two kinds – higher knowledge andlower knowledge. Primarily, higher knowledge refers to that work which isfocussed on conveying the supremacy of the Lord Almighty and Hisactivities/attributes. Any other knowledge focussed on mere description ofrituals, stories of other deities, etc., gets classified as lower knowledge. Itmust be noted that scriptures have various interpretations and depending onthe interpretation, the same scripture can be classified as imparting higherknowledge or lower knowledge.

Q: How can the same work such as the Vedas get classified as impartingeither knowledge?

A: It is said that the Vedas can be interpreted in at least three different ways.For example, the hymns related to fire can be interpreted as describing theattributes of Agni or the Lord Almighty Himself who powers the activities ofAgni. Thus, when the Vedas are interpreted in favour of the Lord Almighty,they are said to impart higher knowledge. Another example is the section inthe Vedas that describes the elaborate rituals. When these rituals areperformed as offering to lesser deities in expectation of temporary rewards,they are said to describe lower knowledge. When the same section describesthe rituals that are performed as offering to the supreme Lord Almightywithout any expectation whatsoever (except His express grace), they are saidto impart higher knowledge.

To properly understand the correct interpretations of the texts inscriptures, it is essential for one to approach a qualified guru. The mostchallenging task for any seeker is to find such a guru. So one should focus onlooking for such a guru and it may take many lives for one to find the rightguru.

Q: It is often said that only a fraction of the Vedas are available today. Howhave the Vedas evolved over time?

A: While time is eternal and has no beginning or end, the universe functionsin units of kalpa viz. one cycle of creation/ evolution, functioning anddissolution, with each kalpa having a time span of 311.04 trillion years. Eachkalpa is sub-divided into periods called yugas (epochs) and mahayugas(greater epochs). There are four yugas and currently we are in Kali (strife,discord) yuga, which has a duration of 432,000 years. The preceding threeyugas are Dwapara (second), Treta (third) and Kruta (fortunate age; alsocalled Satya yuga) which have durations of two, three and four times that ofKali yuga. A mahayuga comprises these four yugas and hence has a durationof 4.32 million years .

Scriptures say that human behaviour, appearance, conduct, etc.,progressively decline during a mahayuga and the cycle then repeats itself.During Kruta yuga, life was almost perfect and everyone uniformly followedthe Vedas that is a contiguous text and was interpreted as only teaching thehigher knowledge. All rituals performed were to please the Lord Almightywith no expectation of worldly pleasures.

During Treta yuga, the Vedas were divided into three sections and ritualsto please lesser deities were begun in quest of temporary rewards. This trendcontinued in Dwapara yuga, where the Vedas were subdivided into fivesections. During Kali yuga, the Vedas are progressively getting extinct withvery little focus on imbibing supreme spiritual knowledge. All attention isfocussed on rituals for quick results. In the end, seekers will only have theoption of chanting the Lord’s name as all these scriptures disappear.

The higher knowledgeThis section provides a summary of some of the important attributes of the

Lord Almighty as enunciated in the Upanishat, methods of meditating on theLord, and relationship of the Lord Almighty with the universe and individualsouls. It uses some powerful analogies to drive home the key points.

Q: What attributes of the Lord Almighty are referred to in MundakaUpanishat?

A: While the Lord has infinite, auspicious attributes, some salient attributesthat are referred to are as follows:

The Lord is omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient.No one can fully comprehend the Lord’s attributes or actions.The Lord is supreme among all souls and all objects in theuniverse.The Lord has no blemishes whatsoever.The Lord resides in the hearts of all living beings.The Lord powers all activities of all beings.The Lord is the source of energy for the sun, moon, stars, planets,fire, and indeed all energy-producing objects in the universe.The Lord is inside and at the same time outside of all objects.The Lord has seemingly contradictory attributes.The Lord is smaller than the smallest particle in the universe, andlarger than the largest object in the universe.The Lord moves at speeds not comprehendible to the human mind.The Lord has no physical form, yet He makes Himself visible todeserving souls.The Lord performs all activities such as creation, sustenance,destruction of the universe solely out of His will, and with noeffort.The Lord is the source of infinite bliss, happiness, knowledge,energy.The Lord’s forms, actions, attributes are all inseparable.The Lord creates the concept of time and can advance or delay it atHis will.All letters, words, sounds refer only to Him.All scriptures such as the Vedas sing His glories alone.

Q: What are the key analogies presented in this Upanishat?

A: The Upanishads, which are a storehouse of knowledge, are full ofbeautiful, thought-provoking analogies that are used to drive home keyspiritual concepts. In this section, some of these interesting analogies arediscussed.

The Spider Analogy: Here, creation of the universe is compared to theprocess of formation of a spider’s web. It is said that during dissolution of theuniverse, all souls will be residing in the Lord’s stomach and, during the nextcycle of creation of the universe, the Lord starts the process by taking thesesouls out of His stomach through His navel. This is similar to a spider whichtakes fibers out of its stomach to create a web (to trap other insects as itsfood), and in the end the spider withdraws these fibers back into its stomach.Likewise, at the time of dissolution of the universe, the Lord draws back allthe souls into His stomach.

Hub and Spokes: The relation between the Lord and the other objects inthe universe including the individual souls, is compared to the arrangement ofhub and spokes in the wheel of a chariot. The spokes are centered on the hub,and the hub controls the spokes. Likewise, the Lord controls all aspects of theuniverse at all times .

Bow and Arrow – analogy 1:

1. Upanishads are like a bow.2. Mind is like the arrow.3. By deep meditation, one should sharpen the mind as it is important

for an arrow to have a sharp end for effectiveness.4. One pulls the string of the bow up to the ears, which is equivalent

to getting a earful of advice from the Upanishads.5. The Lord is the goal where the arrow is directed.6. In this case, the mind is completely focussed on the Lord in

dhyana – a state of meditative contemplation.

Bow and Arrow – analogy 2:

1. The essence of the Vedas, symbolised by the primordial syllableOm, is like the bow (note that the shape of the bow resembles thealphabet Om in Sanskrit).

2. The soul is the arrow.3. The Lord is the goal.4. In this case, the mind is shut down and the soul is in direct contact

with the Lord (the soul is in the state of samadhi , i.e. pure higherconsciousness).

The riddle answered

After classifying knowledge as higher knowledge and lower knowledge, andproviding some insight into the intricacies of higher knowledge, theUpanishat starts answering the question as to how one should go aboutpractising what is preached in the scriptures that comes under theclassification of higher knowledge. The Upanishat presents an enchantingriddle and throws a challenge to the seeker in uncovering the truth present inthis riddle.

Q: What is the riddle that appears in the Mundaka Upanishat?

A: Imagine a peepal tree where two inseparable birds have made their home.One of the birds continuously consumes the fruit of the peepal tree eventhough it is not very tasty. The other bird, which doesn’t consume this fruit,looks very happy.

Q: What is the meaning conveyed in this riddle and why does the riddleappear at this place in the Mundaka Upanishat?

A: After a discussion on the theory of knowledge and characteristics of thescriptures that qualify as teaching higher knowledge, the seeker does notautomatically understand what the higher knowledge actually is and how onegoes about gathering this knowledge. This is why the riddle appears at thisjuncture.

The purpose of the riddle is to clearly convey the fundamental differencesbetween the supreme Lord Almighty and the individual souls. The peepal treesymbolises the physical body of a living being, and the two inseparable birdsrelate to the individual soul and the Lord Almighty, as He is resident in allsouls at all times.

The reference to one of the birds continuously consuming the fruit of thepeepal tree refers to the individual soul, which is always immersed inconsuming the fruits of deeds (good and bad) as it is extremely attached tothe physical world. The bird that doesn’t consume this fruit refers to the LordAlmighty who does not get attached to worldly actions, doesn’t consume

such fruits, but is always full of infinite bliss, happiness and glow.The Upanishat exhorts one and all to understand this primary difference

between the Lord Almighty and individual souls and never come under theillusion of any soul becoming one with the Lord or merging with the Lord.The Lord who is the creator, sustainer, and destroyer of the universe, is at alltimes supreme including the time when the individual souls attain salvationand eternal bliss, where they continue to function under the control of thesupreme Lord. This is the higher knowledge that is very essential for one tounderstand, in order to receive the grace of the Lord, get released frombondage, and achieve eternal salvation.

Q: What are the characteristics of a seeker who has realised the LordAlmighty?

A: Typical characteristics of evolved souls who have realised the LordAlmighty are as follows:

They are firm in their conviction of the supremacy of the Lord atall times.They are aware that one can attain salvation only by the expressgrace of the Lord Almighty, and the grace of other deities such asVayu, Agni, etc., is required to help them gain the higherknowledge and perform their prescribed duties without expectationof temporary rewards.They do not indulge in idle chit-chat and avoid excessive talking.They mostly keep to themselves, maintain silence, andcontinuously contemplate and meditate on the Lord.They exercise self-control, do not indulge in excessiveconsumption of worldly pleasures, and consume absoluteminimum resources for the upkeep of their being.They always speak the truth. The saying in Sanskrit – SatyamevJayate (truth alone triumphs), is part of the Indian national emblemand, in fact, appears on all legal currency issued by theGovernment of India.They are fully aware that the Lord is an embodiment of the Truthand He is omnipresent, and hence is inside and outside of all

beings and objects.By grace of the Lord Almighty, they are able to achieve theirspiritual goals and eventually reach His abode and experienceeternal bliss.

Q: It is said that to achieve salvation one should focus only on performingprescribed activities, without expecting any worldly rewards, but it isacceptable to expect spiritual rewards such as knowledge, devotion anddetachment. What is wrong in expecting both worldly and spiritualrewards?

A: The issue with worldly pleasures is that one can never feel satiated withthem. Indulgence in sensual pleasures only leads to more desire, just likepouring ghee on fire that only makes it burn more violently. This can becompared to our desire for consumption of tasty food. If we fulfil this desireby consuming the tastiest food to our heart’s content, such contentment istemporary since in a few days (or even a few hours), this desire is likely toreturn. That is where the danger lies in trying to compromise on ourexpectation of rewards.

However, spiritual rewards such as acquisition of higher knowledge,devotion to the Lord, and detachment from worldly pleasures lead towards acontented life, enabling one to experience inexplicable happiness while stillalive.

Q: Does acquisition of higher knowledge guarantee eternal bliss andsalvation?

A: Not at all. In fact, there is a danger that a seeker who manages to acquireproficiency in scriptures, and is able to teach them to others in society, canget enveloped by ego when the society recognises and praises such a seeker’sexcellent oratory, memory, knowledge and scholarship. A seeker who has allthese characteristics, has managed to avoid being caught up by the ego, andsubmits completely to the Lord Almighty is eligible to receive the Lord’sgrace and attain eternal bliss.

Q: What is the condition of individual souls who have attained salvation?

A: All individual souls who have attained salvation will be taken to the

Lord’s abode at the end of each kalpa, along with deities who were assignedthe responsibilities of controlling the various functions of the universe duringthe period of that kalpa. Those noble souls who have realised self-knowledgewill traverse other higher worlds such as Satya loka (abode of Brahma) tillsuch time as the end of that kalpa and then move to their final abode. Theindividual souls will continue to maintain their identity even after salvationbut that will not be visible to ordinary souls. The liberated souls enjoy thecompany of the Lord Almighty forever and will never return to lesser worlds.

The essence of this Upanishat

✓ Knowledge is classified as ‘higher knowledge’ and ‘lower knowledge’.

✓ Knowledge that is focussed on teaching the infinite, auspiciousattributes of the Lord Almighty is higher knowledge.

✓ The same scripture can get classified as imparting either higherknowledge or lower knowledge based on the interpretation of the textand rituals.

✓ Vedic rituals when performed as offering to the Lord Almighty withoutexpectation of worldly pleasures becomes higher knowledge, else theybecome lower knowledge.

✓ A seeker desirous of salvation should develop conviction in higherknowledge, which clearly delineates the difference between theSupreme Lord and individual souls at all times including the state ofsalvation.

Chapter 6

THE MANDUKYA UPANISHATThe Four States

The Lord, in His four forms, controls the activities of living beings in each oftheir four states – wakeful, dreaming, deep sleep, and salvation.

– Mandukya Upanishat, Chapter 1, Verse 2

The Mandukya Upanishat is named after Varuna – the rain god. TheUpanishat is centered on the concept of four states of existence experiencedby living beings at various times in their life. It is a prayer from Varuna to theLord Almighty and extols His activities during these four states, in His fourforms. It also expands on the significance of the primordial syllable Om, andthe interrelationship between the components of Om and the four states. Thefour states are:

1. The state of wakefulness.2. The state of dreaming.3. The state of deep sleep.4. The state of salvation.

Of these four states, living beings experience the first three states on adaily basis with the second and third states being part of their sleeping period,and the first state is the state when beings are awake.

The major components of the primordial syllable Om are – ‘a’, ‘u’, ‘m’and the nada (sound) that lingers at the end of its chanting. Om is unique intheology as its components have multitudes of interpretations. For example,they represent the three Vedas (Rig, Yajur, Sama). They also have temporaland spatial interpretations as representing the past, present and future, as alsothe three worlds (upper, middle, and lower). This Upanishat brings out theinteraction between the four constituents of Om and the four states in a veryclear and concise manner.

The first state

Q: What are the characteristics of the first state? How do living beingsrelate to the Lord Almighty while in this state? What are the possibletransitions from this state?

A: Living beings spend a significant proportion of their lifetime in the firststate – the wakeful state in which one is awake, meaning that all the senseorgans, the mind and the intellect are active. Living beings interact with theexternal physical world and other living beings through their sense organs(five organs of perception and five organs of action). The Lord Almighty isresident in living beings in a minute form in their right eye and controls alltheir activities in this state. The Lord in this form goes by the name ofVishwa (as vishwa in Sanskrit means the physical world). Living beings cantransition from the wakeful state to either of the two states of sleep – state ofdreaming and state of dreamless, deep sleep.

It is well known that the primordial symbol Om which succinctly denotesthe Lord Almighty, is indeed the root word originator for all of spiritualliterature such as the Vedas. The Upanishat also provides a correspondencebetween the components of Om viz. a , u and m and the three states. Theletter a in Om designates the Lord’s form Vishwa in the wakeful state. ‘A’can be interpreted as an abbreviation of ‘access’ to the external physicalworld that the Lord provides to living beings.

The second state

Q: What constitutes the second state? What are the interactions betweenliving beings and the Lord Almighty in this state, and what are thetransitions from this state?

A: Humans generally spend about a third of their 24-hour day in the sleepingstate, which consists of two distinct phases – dreaming state and the state ofdreamless, deep sleep. Dreaming state is the second state. One does notcontrol the exact time when one will fall asleep, and the exact time when onecan expect to get up from sleep is also not under one’s control. Likewise, onedoes not control the amount of time spent during sleep – time spent betweenthe dreaming state and the dreamless state of deep sleep.

During the dreaming state, all sense organs are shut down but the mind isstill active. Consequently, one does not experience any effects from externalobjects as external sense organs are shut. Yet, one does experience pleasureor pain based on the events perceived by the mind while dreaming .

A dream itself is not unreal, but the delusion we feel about the dreambeing real is false. The experience of pleasure or pain during dreaming cannotbe disputed, hence the dream is considered real in that sense. The sequence ofevents perceived in a dream is a complex juxtaposition of events, objects, andpeople that one has been associated with in the wakeful state over many years(or even many lifetimes). Dreams need not have a meaning and the sequenceis chosen by the Lord Almighty to result in the experience of pain or pleasurebased on one’s prior action. It is said that dreams have their origin in thethroat of a living being and during the state of dreaming, the Lord resides inthe throat area and goes by the name of Taijasa (as the Lord controls theactivity of mind in this state and the mind is considered to be full of energy ortejas ). One can transition from the dreaming state to either the state ofdreamless, deep sleep or the wakeful state.

As indicated earlier, the Upanishat also provides a correspondencebetween the components of ‘Om’ namely, a, u, m and the three states. Theletter u in Om designates the Lord’s form of Taijasa in the dreaming state. Ucan be interpreted as an abbreviation of ‘unshackling’ that the Lord performson living beings in the dream state, so that they are unshackled andunattached to the external world with their sense organs shut down. Thisallows them to move into the dreaming state where only the mind is active .

The third state

Q: What makes up the third state and how is it different from the first andsecond states? What is the role of the Lord Almighty in this state and whatare the transitions from this state?

A: Dreamless, deep sleep is the third state in which, in addition to the tensense organs, the mind is also resting. Hence, one does not experience dreamsin this state. Living beings do not crave any sensual pleasures in this state asall sense organs are shut down, but they experience a period of inexplicablebliss that is natural to the soul. It is said that the Lord Almighty grants thisstate to beings as a preview of the state of eternal bliss. Alas, one cannotcontrol the duration of deep sleep, but one definitely feels fresh and energisedafter waking up from a dreamless, deep sleep.

During this period, the soul is only aware of its identity and the elapsedtime (as evident when someone wakes up from sound deep sleep and says – Iexperienced a very sound sleep last night). Otherwise the soul does not haveany knowledge of the external world or the Lord Almighty, or other livingbeings in this state.

During this state, the Lord resides in the hearts of living beings and goesby the name of Prajna (one who imparts awareness). The Lord impartsawareness of self, time and ignorance to the soul during the brief period ofdeep sleep. One can transition from the state of deep sleep to either the stateof dreaming or the wakeful state.

Therefore, the letter m in Om designates the Lord’s form of Prajna in thestate of a dreamless, deep sleep as He mutates even the ignorant souls tobriefly experience bliss, as all sense organs including the mind are shutduring this period .

The fourth state

Q: What constitutes the fourth state? How does one reach this and howdoes one relate to the Lord Almighty in this state? What about thetransitions from this state?

A: The fourth state termed Turiya is the state of eternal bliss from wherethere is no turning back to the physical worlds. This is the ultimate state. TheLord Almighty who enables a soul to attain this state also goes by the nameof Turiya which literally means ‘the fourth’. This is indeed apt because theLord Almighty is beyond comprehension and is indescribable. Souls whohave attained this state will experience inexplicable, endless bliss and willalways be under the control and care of the Lord.

In the form of Turiya, the Lord Almighty will be present in living beings

in the space between the tip of the nose and the centre of the forehead, andthis is the reason why one is asked to focus on the tip of the nose duringmeditation. The Upanishat doesn’t explicitly say how one can attain thisstate, except to say that one cannot reach this state by merely readingscriptures, listening to lectures, praying or meditating. The inference is thatone needs the Lord’s grace to attain this state.

Q: The third and fourth states seem to have many similarities. How arethey different?

A: In both the states of dreamless, deep sleep and salvation, the soulexperiences inexplicable joy although the state of deep sleep is verytemporary, and the state of salvation is permanent. There are other importantdifferences. In deep sleep, there is only awareness of self, time, and not ofexternal objects. The soul is also not aware that the state of deep sleep istemporary. In salvation, the soul is fully aware of its state, has completeknowledge of external objects, and is also aware of its relation with the LordAlmighty.

The reality of the universe

The Mandukya Upanishat also covers the issues related to the physicaluniverse such as its purpose, whether it is real or illusory, and provides veryconvincing answers to some fundamental questions.

Q: How and why did the universe originate?

A: This is a very fundamental question that has haunted seekers of truth fromtime immemorial. The Upanishat declares unequivocally that the LordAlmighty created the universe out of His ‘free will’. This puts to restarguments about the ‘intent’ behind the creation of the universe, such as theLord did it to fulfill His needs. One theory is that the Lord created theuniverse as a ‘sport’ as if He needed to indulge in some sport to kill time.

The Lord Almighty who is full of infinite, auspicious attributes and iseternally full of infinite happiness and bliss does not need to indulge in anyactivity to fulfill any desires and He has no unmet desires. The Lord createdthe universe out of His free will with compassion for individual souls and togrant them physical bodies with the apparatus to acquire spiritual knowledgeand self-realisation, so they could eventually move towards salvation .

Q: Is the universe real or illusory?

A: The very fact that the Lord created the universe out of His free will isproof that it is a real entity. The universe is not permanent, as the LordHimself is responsible for the dissolution of the universe and the repetition ofthe cycle of creation, existence and dissolution. Its non-permanent status doesnot equate to a state of illusion. Scriptures refer to the universe as maya orillusion.

When we develop an attachment to physical possessions and assumeownership of worldly treasures, that assumption is delusional. To summarise,the universe is real and not illusory but to assume that one has ownership ofphysical possessions is delusional. The Lord Almighty is indeed the owner ofall His creations.

Q: The Upanishat seems to indicate Advaita as the right way and notDvaita. How does one reconcile this view?

A: Advaita (non-dualism) and Dvaita are Sanskrit words and their meaningdepends on the context in which they are used. In the section on discussion ofspiritual knowledge, it is indicated that Advaita is the right way and notDvaita. Advaita in the context it is used here refers to understanding thespiritual concepts in their own right (Advaita), that the Lord Almighty issupreme. Misconceived knowledge and differing (Dvaita) interpretations ofspiritual reality is not the right way to achieve self-realisation.

For example, knowing that the universe is real is Advaita knowledge, butclaiming that it is real and also illusory is Dvaita knowledge. One should beespecially clear that Advaita and Dvaita does not refer to the relation betweenindividual souls and the Lord Almighty, as that is not the context here.

Q: Given the need to acquire right knowledge, how does one translate thatknowledge into action?

A: It is very true that the spiritual journey does not stop when one acquiresright knowledge. In fact, one can argue that the journey only begins at thisstage. A pertinent question is how one would acquire right knowledge.Would it be through reading, discussions, listening to lectures or teachingsfrom a revered guru? While each of these do help, the real education comesfrom experience as what one experiences can never be negated. For one who

is thirsty, any amount of discussion on the advantages of drinking water doesnot help quench the thirst. Only drinking water will satiate that person.

Thus, when we experience events in this world through physicalinteraction, that experience can never be negated. This points to the fact thatthe world is indeed real and not illusory. An interesting point to note aboutthe acquisition of right knowledge is that one knows from experience that themoment one develops conviction about a spiritual aspect, one starts feelingliberated. There is the example of Archimedes who experienced the theory ofdisplacement and immediately jumped in joy. He did not wait to convert thatknowledge into any practical application. The moment the truth occurred tohim, he felt overjoyed. Such is the power of right knowledge .

The essence of this Upanishat

✓ Living beings exist in one of three states – wakeful, dreaming, and deepsleep. Salvation is the final state after they leave this world.

✓ The Lord Almighty resides in all living beings in three different forms– Vishwa, Taijasa and Prajna, modulating their activities in each of thethree states. The Lord, in the form of Turiya, grants the state ofsalvation for those who have achieved self-realisation.

✓ The primordial syllable Om is a succinct representation of the Lord,and its individual components represent the different forms of the Lordin the different states.

✓ The Lord Almighty creates the universe out of His free will, and not forrealising any unmet needs as He is eternally happy and contented.

✓ The universe as created by the Lord is real, while any assumption byliving beings about the ownership of worldly treasures is unreal anddelusional.

Chapter 7

THE TAITTIRIYA UPANISHATThe Five Forms

One has an obligation to share God-given wealth and knowledge with societyat large. Give with conviction, not contempt. Give joyously, with humility.

Give generously to the deserving.

– Taittiriya Upanishat, Chapter 1, Stream 23

The Taittiriya Upanishat is named after a partridge (tittiree in Sanskrit) as thelegend talks about some sages taking the form of a partridge, in order tometaphorically imbibe the nectar of wisdom from this Upanishat. It dealswith aspects of a Vedic education with a significant portion devoted to theadvice from the teacher (guru) to the graduating students on the need tocontinue learning, and also to put into practice the concepts learnt at thegurukul or academy.

The number five is a recurring theme in this Upanishat as there are manyreferences to the five forms of the Lord, the five sheaths of the human body,the five components of Nature, and so on .

Prerequisites for Vedic learning

This section summarises the qualities a student needs to possess beforeundertaking Vedic studies. As the Vedas are revealed, memorised and

communicated in Sanskrit, it is important for a student to be well-versed inthe grammatical aspects of Sanskrit.

Q: What are the qualifications required for undertaking Vedic studies?

A: Complete mastery of Sanskrit language with special emphasis on thefollowing aspects are the essential prerequisites:

(a) Alphabets, their classification into vowels, consonants, semi-vowels.

(b) Correct pronunciation.

(c) Compound letters.

(d) Grammar.

While it is necessary to have complete mastery over Sanskrit to successfullyundertake Vedic studies, it is also important to note that every alphabet andletter represents a form of the Lord Almighty. Sri Madhvacharya explainsthat swara (which is the Sanskrit term for vowel) denotes a Swaramana – aspecific attribute of the Lord which is His ability to be ever content andblissful by Himself. Similarly, all alphabets, all combinations of alphabets(compound letters), words and sentences denote some aspect of the Lord.This knowledge of the association of the Lord’s attributes to the linguisticaspects of Sanskrit, mentally prepares a student to undertake the rigours ofVedic studies with full confidence .

Q: Why does the Upanishat place so much emphasis on the intricacies ofgrammar as a prerequisite?

A: This Upanishat emphasises the fact that language is not a mere medium ofcommunication, but that it has a higher purpose. It must be noted that theVedas have always existed and hence, predate the writing phase in humanevolution. The Vedas have been revealed to sages and memorised by them inSanskrit. They have then been passed on from one generation of teachersafter another to students in oral form. The students in turn become teachersand pass them along to the next generation.

In many cases, a father would pass along the Vedic teachings to his son.As the traditional education of the Vedas has been in oral form, it is evidentthat one must be well-versed in the language as well as in its pronunciation,diction, intonation, etc. While there are structural techniques in-built in some

Vedic passages (such as the exact number of letters in a hymn), theimportance of phonetics in Vedic studies can never be underestimated.

The connected universe

This Upanishat teaches that every object in the universe is connected toanother object leading to massive inter-linkages in the universe. The very factthat a mere 51 letters in Sanskrit language can give rise to infinitecombinations of words, compound words, sentences, with varyingpronunciations, accents, etc., is proof of the connectivity among objects in theuniverse. Every letter of every word, and indeed every sentence describes anattribute of the Lord. The Upanishat illustrates the interconnectedness ofobjects and activities in the universe by way of five examples (gross andsubtle), the so-called ‘great conjunctions’:

Interconnected worlds: Earth on one side and heavenly world onthe other side – their union gives rise to space and the union ismade possible by air (ether).Energy: Earthly fire on one side and sun on the other side – theirunion leading to water (rain) made possible by lightning.Studies: Teacher on one side and student on the other side – theirunion leading to education made possible by lecture.Progeny: Mother on one side and father on the other side – theirunion leading to children made possible by procreation.Knowledge: Lower lip on one side, upper lip on the other side,their union leading to speech made possible by the tongue.

The individual objects, the resulting union, and indeed the process of union –all represent various forms of the Lord Almighty. A student who knows thisis able to properly comprehend the inner meanings of complex Vedicpassages.

Q: How are elements in the great conjunction and their union related to theLord?

A: It must be remembered that what makes the universe work are not only thecomponents of the universe such as the individual souls, inert objects, etc.,but also their interrelationships. The five conjunctions illustrate such an

interconnectedness. The message from the Upanishat is that one must workwith each other, and also with other objects in the universe (such as animals,plants, trees, rivers, minerals, and other such natural resources), in a co-operative manner to ensure harmony and balance. The ill effects ofdestroying Nature such as excessive deforestation, mindless urbanising,global warming, etc., have directly led to extreme weather conditions, floods,earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, etc.

The Lord Almighty is resident in each and every object of the universeand indeed in their union. In the example of five conjunctions, it is said thatthe Lord makes His presence felt through in His other names also such asAniruddha, Pradyumna, Sankarshana, Vasudeva and Narayana.Understanding of the Lord’s divine presence in all objects in the universe willhelp one to appreciate the need to respect everything in the universe and treatit with utmost care.

The commencement address

The Taittiriya Upanishat places enormous importance on education and anintegral part of it is the very well-articulated advice from the teacher tograduating students. This is similar to a commencement address. The teacherprovides a brief summary of key concepts learned in the institute, and leavesthe student with a set of very powerful directives to guide the student as hestarts his journey in the real world .

Q: What are the key directives from the teacher to the graduating class?

A: Before the teacher starts his address to the students, he offers a prayer tothe Lord with the following requests:

May I continue to attract good students.May my intellect remain sharp so I can succeed in educating newstudents.May I continue to learn new aspects as I continue to teach.May my tongue be focussed on chanting the Lord’s names andglories.May my ears only listen to the Lord’s glories.May I retain the knowledge that I have imbibed.

May Lord Narayana and His consort Sri Lakshmi bestow riches onme, so I can provide sufficient food and shelter to my students sothey can focus only on studies.May I attract students who are sincere and detached from worldlyattractions.Just as water rolls from a higher ground to lower ground, just asmonths roll into years, may good students continue coming to me.

Finally, the teacher exhorts the students to focus on the following principlesas they enter the real world:

Always be truthful.Be sincere in your conduct.Never stop learning.Show gratitude to your teachers.Respect your parents, teachers, elders, guests, and worship them asyou worship the Lord.Even if your teacher commits a wrong act in a moment ofweakness, do not follow such acts.Always respect those who are more knowledgeable than you are,regardless of their age.Develop the habit of giving (charity). Give from your heart, giveout of guilt or fear or shame. Yet give, nonetheless.If you ever develop doubts about implementing what is learnt inthe gurukul, observe other knowledgeable and pious people insociety and learn from them. Let their life be your guide.Let these principles be your guiding light as you enter the nextphase of your life, and may the Lord be with you always.

The five forms

This Upanishat is a message from the Lord Almighty (Vishnu) to His son, thefour-faced Brahma who, in turn, teaches Varuna, which is then passed on tothe Sage Bhrigu. This is the glorious tradition where spiritual concepts areorally passed on from one generation to the next. The rest of the Upanishat

deals with the process of creation of the universe by the Lord Almighty alongwith some description of important attributes of the Lord as exemplified byHis five forms .

Q: What are the important attributes of the Lord Almighty described in thisUpanishat?

A: The Lord is importantly known as:

Satyam, as He is responsible for the creation, sustenance anddissolution of the universe.Jnanam, as He is full of infinite knowledge.Anantam, as He is full of infinite, auspicious attributes and islimitless in terms of space and time.

Q: What are the five forms of the Lord described in this Upanishat andwhat is the purpose of these five forms?

A: The Lord Almighty starts the process of creation of the universe by firstcreating the five basic elements of Nature, viz. earth, water, fire, wind, andspace. Along with these elements, He creates the deities (such as Agni) andentrusts them with the responsibility of managing these resources.

From these basic elements of Nature, other entities in Nature are derived.They are plants, food, physical bodies of animals and humans. The humanbody is a composition of these five basic elements of Nature in specificproportions. The body is described as being built of five layers or sheaths,namely:

1. The physical sheath.2. The sheath of life.3. The sheath of mind.4. The sheath of intellect.5. The sheath of bliss.

The Lord enters and activates these five sheaths taking five forms, namely,Aniruddha, Pradyumna, Sankarshana, Vasudeva and Narayana.

The physical sheath refers to the physical body and its organs. The sheath

of life refers to the energy that gives life to the physical body and controls theprocess of breathing and, in turn, the flow of oxygen in the blood stream. Thedifference between a live person and a dead person is the presence or absenceof this sheath of life. The sheath of mind refers to the functioning of mindwhich directs the activities of the sense organs and their interaction with theoutside world. The sheath of intellect refers to the faculty of memory anddiscrimination powers of human (and animal) intellect, which direct the mindto act in a certain way. The innermost sheath is the sheath of bliss, that refersto the intrinsic nature of the soul, which is realised once a soul is rid of allbondage and attachments.

Q: How can one describe the same Lord Almighty as having five differentforms?

A: The Lord Almighty has infinite forms which are indistinguishable fromeach other. The Lord takes on these forms of His free will. We all know thatit is impossible to describe the attribute of ‘sweetness’ or ‘yellowness’ of amango. But yet, we describe a mango as having a sweet taste and yellowcolour. The particular agency that allows one to describe an attributeinseparable from an object is termed vishesha (special). It is with the use ofthis concept that one is able to describe the various attributes and forms of theLord Almighty to aid in our understanding of His activities .

The Upanishat states that proper understanding of the Lord Almighty andHis relationship with other entities in the universe allows realised souls toattain salvation where souls experience varying levels of bliss based on theirintrinsic nature and capabilities.

Q: How can there be a difference in the levels of bliss experienced by soulswhen they attain salvation, since nirvana is supposed to be state of purebliss with no discrimination whatsoever?

A: Different souls have their different intrinsic nature and capabilities. Uponsalvation, each soul enjoys a level of bliss consistent with its nature and willbe fully contented. One knows from experience that the amount of foodrequired to satisfy the hunger of a child is much less than the amount requiredby an adult. Yet, when their hunger is satisfied, each one is individuallycontented.

A child whose stomach fills up with one bowl of cereal will not complain

that an adult is consuming, say three bowls of cereal. Likewise, a liberatedsoul that enjoys bliss consistent with its capabilities will not begrudge anotherliberated soul that may be enjoying a higher, absolute level of bliss. The veryfact that these souls have attained salvation is a testament to the fact that theyare rid of all defects such as jealousy, competitiveness, etc., so the question ofdiscrimination in nirvana does not arise .

The essence of this Upanishat

✓ Knowledge of phonetics, grammar and pronunciation of Sanskrit isvery important in the study of scriptures, as these are orally passed onfrom one generation to the next. This was the practice even beforewriting was invented.

✓ We live in an interconnected universe where every object has a specificrelation with every other object, just as letters and words areinterconnected in specific ways in creating meaningful sentences andprose. Knowledge of such interconnectedness in Nature creates theawareness of ecological balance in Nature with perfect symbiosis.

✓ Learning is a lifelong process. Learning has four facets – learning froma teacher, learning from self-study, learning from teaching others, andlearning from its application in real life.

✓ The Lord Almighty has infinite auspicious forms and attributes, andHis different forms are used to describe His various activities. The Lordtakes on five different forms to activate the five sheaths of humanbodies, with the innermost sheath being the sheath of bliss.

✓ Liberated souls experience varying levels of bliss in salvation, based ontheir intrinsic nature and capabilities.

Chapter 8

THE AITAREYA UPANISHATA Thousand Hymns

Every word and every sound occurring in the universe – the roar of the seas,the chirping of the birds, the sound of thunder, all convey the supreme Lord

Almighty.

– Aitareya Upanishat, Aranyaka 2, Chapter 2, Stream 2

The Aitareya Upanishat is one of the more complex Upanishads that containssome of the most subtle concepts. The Lord Almighty (Vishnu) is born as ason to Vishala and his wife Itara, so he also goes by the name of Aitareyaafter His mother. The speciality of this Upanishat is that it is a teaching by theLord Himself in the form of Aitareya, and is primarily concerned with theinfinite glory of the Lord Himself. This work is mostly in prose and consistsof 38 passages. The sub-sections in this chapter summarise the key sectionsof this Upanishat .

The Lord’s infinite glory

The primary purpose of this Upanishat is to convey the glory of the LordAlmighty. While it is impossible for anyone to recount all His glories, someof the attributes are listed here:

The Lord Almighty is supreme, is different and superior to all

individual souls and inert objects in the entire universe – at alltimes and places.He alone is responsible for creation, working and dissolution of theuniverse, and hence goes by the name of Karma.The Lord, after creating the universe, also powers all objects in theuniverse.He is full of infinite, auspicious attributes and hence goes by thename of Brahma.He is devoid of any defects and hence goes by the name of Satya.He alone can grant salvation to individual souls.Souls already in salvation attained that state only because of Hisgrace.Those souls who reject His supremacy are eternally damned.His consort, Sri Lakshmi, is always with Him at all times andplaces and hence, He is always in a blissful state.The Lord Almighty powers all energy sources in the universe. It isbecause of Him that the sun has been endowed with four qualities:

1. Ability to light our world.

2. Ability to provide heat, so essential for maintaining an eventemperature in the atmosphere.

3. Ability to modify the colour of objects.

4. Ability to dry objects.

The Upanishat extols us to ‘Remember Him always, forget Him never’. It isbecause of this belief that souls who have achieved salvation did so.

It is also important to recognise the different forms of atheism and staysteadfast in our conviction and belief in the Lord Almighty. Further, theUpanishat gives a detailed account of how a soul is born in this world.

Q: What are the different forms of atheism described in this Upanishat?

A: The Upanishat warns us to stay away from the following types of atheismthat lead to extreme distress:

Denying His very existence.Believing that there are other souls which are equal or superior toHim.Underestimating His greatness and prowess.Arguing that His grace is not necessary for one’s existence andsalvation.Positing difference in His different forms or His different organs orattributes.Not believing that He is completely, unconditionally withoutdefects.Indulging in bad deeds against His commandments.

Q: How does a soul get a physical body? At what stage in the process doesone recognise an embryo as having life?

A: A soul destined to be born in this world enters a person’s body through thefood chain. It is said that the soul traverses to the physical world encapsulatedin a raindrop and thus enters the food chain. In that sense, the process of asoul being given a body starts much before conception. It is for this reason,that the scriptures reject the notion of abortion regardless of thestage/trimester in which it is conducted.

One must remember that the soul has three layers of bodies covering it.The outermost layer is the physical body that we are able to see. Next to thephysical body is a transcendental body termed Aniruddha deha (subtle body),which is in existence through a cycle of creation, existence and dissolution ofthe universe. Inside this body is another layer called Linga deha (astral body).

The Lord Almighty is responsible for the creation of life in all forms, at alltimes. Most organisms that we know are protected by a womb, or an egg,during pregnancy. Some insects are born in water. Other organisms such asplants and trees have roots underground and break through the earth andestablish themselves. There is an entire parallel universe underwater withmillions of species of plants and animals. There is life on earth, below earthin the oceans, and in the sky (birds, etc.). This wonderful world is thecreation of the Lord Almighty.

Q: What are the three bodies covering a soul and what are their

characteristics and purposes?

A: Normally, every individual soul is covered by three bodies. The outermostlayer is the gross physical body. This body is comprised of the five basicelements of Nature (earth, fire, water, air and space) in varying proportions.This body is returned to Nature at the end of one’s life in this world.

So, when a soul leaves a physical body, it is enveloped with the two innerbodies that are known as Aniruddha deha and Linga deha. During a cycle ofcreation, existence and dissolution of the universe, the Aniruddha bodycomes into play, and it is through this body that the soul will experience theworlds of heaven/hell in-between births. In that this body also is comprised ofthe five basic elements of Nature (in miniature form) and also has the senseorgans and mind (all in miniature form).

When the soul is chosen by the Lord to be born again into this world, thesoul with the two outer bodies enters the food chain via raindrops and endsup in a man’s body. The soul enters a woman’s body via the man anddevelops the physical body and is born again. The layer below the Aniruddhabody is the Linga body that has been enveloping the soul from the beginningof time. Once a soul is rid of this linga body, one says that the soul hasachieved salvation, experiences eternal bliss, and will be one with the Lord.

Q: How can a soul experience pleasure or pain from its stay in heaven orhell, when it does not have a physical body or sense organs?

A: As indicated in the previous answer, even after the demise of the physicalbody, the soul is enveloped with two layers of bodies – Aniruddha and Lingabodies. The Aniruddha body is also comprised of the five basic elements ofNature, as well as the sense organs/mind albeit in miniature form (comparedto the gross physical body). Thus, the soul is able to experience its fate inheaven or hell. It is not necessary for a soul to have the gross physical bodyto experience pleasure or pain. We all know that when someone is asleep anddreaming, they are able to experience the pleasure or pain depending on thenature of the dream. At this time, all sense organs are shut down but one isstill able to experience pleasure or pain. This proves that it is not necessaryfor a soul to have a gross physical body to experience pleasure or pain.

Q: We often come across the phrase that a realised soul after salvation willbecome, ‘one with the Lord’. Does this mean that the soul will merge with

the Lord?

A: No. Being one with the Lord means that the soul will be close to the Lordin all aspects, and will not have any different opinion or views since it willhave achieved salvation. During times of war, one often uses the phrase ‘thecountry comes together as a single force’, ‘all for one and one for all’, whichdoes not mean that all citizens merge physically into a single entity but thatthey are united in their purpose.

Supremacy of Vayu

This Upanishat establishes that all individual souls are subservient to theLord Almighty and there is a gradation among individual souls based on theirintrinsic nature and capabilities. The Lord’s consort, Sri Lakshmi, who isalways beside the Lord, is also superior to all individual souls. The souls areclassified as deities, sages, emperors, etc., based on their intrinsic capabilities.The various deities such as Vayu, Rudra, Sesha, Garuda, Indra, etc., are givenspecific roles in the conducting of the affairs of the universe, just as a kingassigns responsibilities to his ministers in running a state. The Upanishatillustrates the concept of the supremacy of Vayu among these souls by way ofan anecdote.

Q: Which deities control the functioning of our bodies, and how is thesupremacy of Vayu established?

A: We all know from experience that we have very little control over thefunctioning of our bodies. We do not even know which way the blood flows,how much blood is in our bodies, etc. We continue to breathe even while weare asleep. All this is happening because the deities responsible for thefunctioning of our bodies are doing their job.

For example, Agni controls our tongue, Surya manages our eyes, andChandra powers our ears. Rudra, Sesha and Garuda control various aspects ofour mind. Rudra powers our ego, Sesha is responsible for directing our mindtowards spiritual studies, and Garuda, in particular, is responsible for ourmind focussing on Vedic knowledge. Vayu controls our breathing andsustains our existence.

Once there was a contest among the deities to illustrate their relativeabilities. They decided to exit the body of a person one by one to assess the

impact. When Agni exited, the person was not able to speak but stayed alivewith all other functions. When Surya exited, the person lost his sight butcontinued to live. When Chandra left, the person was not able to hear. WhenRudra, Sesha, Garuda exited, the person lost control of his mind, lost hismemory, yet he continued to eat, drink, and live. Finally, Vayu decided toleave and at that stage, the person died. While one can conclude that thepresence of Vayu was essential for a person to live, some can argue that whenall deities collectively exited, the person died – so all are equally important .

To further clarify, the deities started entering the body of the person oneby one. Agni entered but the person was not able to speak. Surya entered andthe person was not able to see, and so on. When Vayu entered, the personstood up and all his organs started functioning. This anecdote illustrates thesupremacy of Vayu.

Sri Madhvacharya states that all deities including Vayu are subservient tothe Lord Almighty and his consort, and they are resident in all entities in theuniverse. However, one can question how a person can die when the LordAlmighty is always present in his body. The acharya clarifies that eventhough the Lord Almighty was present in all entities, during the contestamong deities, he decided to stay neutral so they could conduct the contestamong themselves. One should note that even the lord Vayu is able to controlthe sustenance of life only because of powers bestowed on him by the LordAlmighty. The Upanishat also has an excellent analogy of our lives to a ridein a chariot that shows the relationship between individual souls and variousdeities.

Q: What is the chariot analogy?

A: The Upanishat compares our life to a chariot. Our body is the chariot andpowering our existence are the Lord Almighty and Vayu. The sun god andhis consort, Sangna Devi are two horses, the moon god and his consortRohini are the other two horses. Lord Shiva, who controls our mind, is thecharioteer and he controls the horses with the reins which are represented byhis consort Uma Devi.

During our lifetime, we principally imbibe knowledge about the externalworld through our eyes and ears that are powered by the sun and the moon(and their consorts) .

However, if we do not control our mind, these sense organs (eyes and

ears) will be led astray and will be focussed only on chasing worldlypleasures. For us to control our mind, we need the grace of Shiva who, alongwith his consort Uma Devi, will help calm our perturbed mind and ensurethat the horses (our sense organs) drawing the chariot will not pull indifferent directions, but will complete the journey with single-minded focuson achieving self-realisation. Uma Devi controls our speech. This divinechariot moves faster than the speed of thought as it carries the Lord Almightyand Vayu. The Lord is always accompanied by His consort Sri LakshmiDevi.

The chariot analogy also illustrates an interesting aspect of hierarchyamong deities. In the divine hierarchy, Shiva, who controls our mind, issuperior to his consort Uma Devi, who controls our speech. This hierarchy issymbolically powerful as it implies that one should exercise one’s mindbefore speaking. From a practical perspective too, one knows that speakingwithout thinking leads to undesirable results and thoughtful speech is alwaysbeneficial.

Words and sounds

The Vedas stipulate one’s conduct in daily life. They are the commandmentsfrom the Lord for all living beings who are bound by ego. The presence ofego necessitates these commandments, which are like ropes that bind aperson. Once a person is rid of ego and achieves self-realisation, the Lordremoves these shackles and sets the soul free. It is said that the various hymnsappearing in the Vedas actually reside in various parts of the LordAlmighty’s body. Sri Madhvacharya cautions that the Lord does not possessa physical body that is subject to decay and destruction, but a transcendentalbody full of infinite cosmic joy.

This Upanishat also makes a very important observation with regard to‘sound’. It states that all sounds in the universe refer to the Lord only. At firstthis might seem difficult to understand, but upon closer examination and withanalogies, it becomes crystal clear:

When we refer to a person by his or her name what are wereferring to? Is it to that person’s hands, face, legs, etc.? Thatcannot be because even if a person loses his hand, one still refers tothat person by name. Obviously, one is not referring to a person’s

body but to the personal self, soul, or spirit. In the same sense,since the Lord resides in every person, indeed every object in theuniverse, any reference to any object ultimately refers to the Lordonly. For day-to-day activities, we borrow that name from the Lordand attach it to objects in the universe.When one pours a glass of water in a jug of milk, the entireconcoction continues to be called milk, even though an externalelement has been added. This is because one is not able to visuallyseparate the water content in the milk. Likewise, as the Lordpervades the entire universe, one attaches names to objects, whilein fact all names refer only to the Lord.

Not only sounds, but all letters, all words, all sentences, all colours, etc.,refer to the Lord alone. The universe is full of colours and sounds. Sound cancome from one of the following sources:

Utterances of letters, words or sentences, prose or poetry. Ingeneral, a combination of basic alphabets grammatically arranged.Non letter-based sounds such as the roar of a lion.

The chirping of birds, the roar of ocean waves, the clap of thunder, thechiming of bells, etc., are all singing the glory of the Lord Almighty. Onewho hears the Lord in all sounds is indeed a blessed soul.

Q: How can the Upanishat claim that all words refer to the Lord? Are thereany examples?

A: Sri Madhvacharya, in his commentary on this Upanishat, demonstrateshow everyday words that we use can be interpreted to refer to the Lord. Forexample, ‘cat’ in Sanskrit is known as marjara . This word can be split intoits root words ‘mara’ and ‘jara’ that mean to ‘destroy’ and to ‘consume’,respectively. A primary attribute of a cat is that it destroys and consumes rats.That the Lord destroys the universe at the end of a cycle of kalpa and holdsall the souls within Him, can be described by the same root words. Hence, acat can also be described as conveying the Lord’s attributes. Similarly, a rat isknown as mooshaka in Sanskrit. It depicts an entity that is involved innibbling or cutting things (mochayati ). Rats are known to cut clothes.Similarly, the Lord is known to cut or destroy our sins. Hence, this name alsodescribes one of the Lord’s attributes.

Q: Most religions depict the Lord Almighty as a male. Other religionsworship the Lord in a female form. Which view is right ?

A: Those who view the Lord as only having the male form are wrong. So arethose who view the Lord as having only the female form. Those who viewthe Lord as having either the male or the female form are also wrong. Inreality, the Lord takes on both male and female forms. The Lord has infiniteforms and infinite attributes. For convenience of description, many religioustexts refer to the Lord in the male form. Note that the Lord’s consort, SriLakshmi, always has the female form and other deities such as Rudra,Parvati, etc., have either the male or the female form.

The Lord Almighty is an exception.

A thousand hymns

This Upanishat has an excellent explanation of a very famous Vediccomposition called Brihati Sahasra which is a collection of 1,000 hymns inpraise of the Lord. Each hymn in this collection has 36 letters (in the socalled Brihati metre, hence the name). Each hymn has four quadrants andeach quadrant has nine letters. Thus, there are 36,000 letters in this collection.These hymns signify many different aspects of our life and each hymn is apoem sung in glory of the Lord Almighty.

The 36,000 letters in this collection relate to the nominal life spanof a human being in terms of number of days, as a life span of 100years indicates 36,000 days.Each of the letters is a combination of a consonant and a note.Thus there are 36,000 consonants and 36,000 notes. The 36,000consonants relate to the 36,000 mornings (day time) in one’s lifespan, and the 36,000 notes refer to the 36,000 nights in one’s lifespan.The Lord takes on a different form during each day and night.Hence the 72,000 consonants and notes in the thousand hymnsrefer to the 72,000 forms of the Lord during one’s lifetime.Each of these 1,000 hymns corresponds to the Lord’s name in thework Vishnu Sahasra Naama , a collection of 1,000 names of theLord appearing in the famous Indian epic Mahabharata.

The conclusion

The Aitareya Upanishat concludes with a beautiful comparison of thephysical body of a seeker with that of the Veena , an ancient stringed musicalinstrument:

The head of a human body is compared with the head section of theVeena, the stomach to the central hollow shell of the Veena, the fingers to thestrings of the Veena, and tongue to the nail cap that artistes use while playingthe Veena. Just as the Veena is used to play music, the seeker’s body isexpected to chant Vedic hymns in praise of the Lord. It should also be notedthat in olden times, musicians used to cover the Veena with deer-skin. This isanother apt comparison to the seeker’s body that is covered with skin. Thepurpose of this comparison is to drive home the point that one should useone’s physical body as a divine Veena, and dedicate it to the Lord Almightywhile carrying out worldly responsibilities .

The essence of this Upanishat

✓ This Upanishat emphasises the infinite, auspicious attributes of theLord and warns one to stay away from the four forms of atheism.

✓ The hierarchy among deities starting from Vayu is illustrated with ananecdote and another beautiful analogy compares our lives to a chariotride with our bodies representing the chariot, the various deitiesrepresenting the horses, the charioteer with reins the Lord Almighty andVayu carrying the soul as passengers for a safe journey through life.

✓ The Upanishat also teaches that all words and sounds naturallyoccurring in the universe denote only the Lord Almighty. The chirpingof birds, the roar of ocean waves, the burst of thunder, the chiming ofbells, etc., are all singing the glory of the Lord Almighty.

✓ The Upanishat has an excellent exposition of Brihati Sahasra – acollection of 1,000 hymns, each hymn being 36 letters long. These36,000 letters are compared to the 36,000 forms of the Lord Almighty,which correspond to the 36,000 days in an ideal human life span of 100years.

Chapter 9

THE CHANDOGYA UPANISHATThe Nine Analogies

Just as one walking on the ground with treasure buried underneath does notrealise the value of riches underneath, one does not realise the Lord who

exists in one’s own heart and continues to question His existence.

– Chandogya Upanishat, Chapter 8

The Chandogya Upanishat is one of the most important Upanishads. Vedicscholars place great importance on this as it contains some very basic tenetsof the Vedas, and its concepts have shaped the thought processes of keytheologians of Eastern philosophy. The Upanishat derives its name fromchandas (Sanskrit for prosody), a metrical attribute of verses of the branch ofVedas in which this work appears. Since the Vedas were never written downbut orally passed from one generation to the next, it was important for theverses to have a specific pattern that allowed for automatic error detectionand correction.

This Upanishat, which has eight sections, covers many intricatephilosophical concepts and here an attempt is being made to highlight a few.While all Upanishad-related works highlight the fact that everything andeveryone in the universe is created and controlled by the supreme LordAlmighty, this Upanishat illustrates quite specifically in the section titled‘Feel the Presence’ – the five forms of the Lord Almighty that power some of

the common elements in Nature. This makes it easier for one to visualise theLord in everyday objects and shapes one’s thoughts, words and actions. Oneof the key philosophical concepts that has intellectually challenged the beliefsystems of various schools of thought are the exact relationships between theindividual souls, inert objects and the Lord Almighty. This Upanishatpresents as many as nine analogies to drive home the interrelationship amongthe Trinity in an unambiguous manner.

Feel the presence

This section has a summary of the description from the Upanishat wheremany of the common objects that we come across are shown to have fivemajor components – earth, water, fire, air, space – and each component ispowered by a specific form of the Lord Almighty. The message being thatone should visualise the Lord in every object in the universe and indeed inevery activity in the universe, which in turn allows one to focus on the Lordwhile discharging one’s duties without any expectations attaching as to theiroutcome.

Q: How does one visualise the Lord in commonly occurring objects?

A: The Upanishat identifies the five different forms of the same LordAlmighty present in commonly occurring objects by the names ofPradyumna, Vasudeva, Narayana, Aniruddha and Sankarshana. Some of theobjects mentioned to illustrate this point are:

Vedic hymns and classical music.Falling rain.Flowing water.Seasons.Animals.Sense organs.

The five components powered by the five forms of the Lord in these objectsare described below:

Vedic hymns and classical music: A typical Vedic hymn when sung hasfive components:

1. Himkaara or the initial humming where the musician prepareshis/her throat for singing.

2. Prastaav or the alaap , where the musician performs with the ragain a lower octave in slow tempo. Raga is a melodic form withspecific ascending or descending movements with a full octave ora series of five or six notes.

3. Udgheetha is the core of the song that includes all the lyrics sungin a specific raga or note reaching to a crescendo.

4. Pratihara is the ending alaap.5. Nidhana is the actual end-piece of the song.

Falling rain: The five stages of falling rain are – initial streaming wind,gathering clouds, showers, lightning, and thunder.

Flowing water: Water particles in clouds, showers, rainwater flowing east,rainwater flowing west, and water entering the sea.

Seasons: The five seasons noted are spring, summer, monsoon, autumn, andwinter.

Animals: The five animal forms considered are goat, sheep, cows, horses,and humans.

Sense organs: The five preceptor sense organs are identified as nose, tongue,eyes, ears, and mind.

The Upanishat calls on everyone to visualise the five forms of the Lord in thefive aspects of commonly occurring objects, to help them realise the presenceof the Lord Almighty in all things that we deal with on a day-to-day basis.

Sri Madhvacharya provides an excellent explanation on the philosophicalbasis for all the aforementioned. For example, among the animals, one shouldvisualise the Lord’s form of Vasudeva in sheep. The reasoning is as follows:Sheep is a source of wool which can be used to cover one’s body to getprotection from the winter chill. Similarly, the Lord Almighty goes by thename of Vasudeva, which in Sanskrit refers to one who covers the universe toprotect it. Hence, it is apt that one should visualise Vasudeva when onecomes across a sheep. Each one of these examples has a similar explanation .

The Upanishat has an excellent analogy of honey-making to depict the

interrelationship between the Lord Almighty and other deities, sages, etc.Honey bees draw the nectar from various flowers, build a beehive nested in across beam (for example, the trunk of a tree), and deposit the nectar whichgets converted to honey – a naturally occurring source of energy of thehighest purity. Honey can be stored for a long time without refrigeration andhas excellent medicinal value that was discovered by the ancients.

The Upanishat indicates that various deities who control the affairs of theuniverse at the command of the Lord Almighty are like honeybees. Superiorsouls, such as sages, are younger honey bees; the cross beam that supports thebeehive is Sri Lakshmi, the Lord Almighty’s consort; the beehive is Vayuwho is supreme among all souls; and the Lord Almighty is the ultimateessence – honey. Sri Lakshmi regulates all objects in the universe and is likea source of support for all, hence the comparison to the bees’ nesting place.Vayu is the leader who protects all souls, hence he is compared to thebeehive. Various deities and sages collect wisdom from different scriptures –akin to collecting nectar from flowers, and the essence of all scriptures isindeed the Lord Almighty – just as honey is the essence of all the nectarcollected.

The nine analogies

The Upanishat relates a conversation between Uddhalaka and his sonSvetaketu who has just returned home after completing 12 years of Vedicstudies. This contains the very essence of the concepts covered in this greatUpanishat .

Uddhalaka observes that his son has developed arrogance after hisgraduation from a well known Vedic school. He intends to teach himhumility and, as if to test Svetaketu’s mastery over the scriptures, asks him asimple question: What is that single principle by knowing which one wouldknow everything there is to know in this universe?

Svetaketu answers the question with another question asking how such aprinciple can exist. Uddhalaka says that by understanding the characteristicsof a lump of clay, one can understand the characteristics of all objects madewith clay. Similarly, as the Lord Almighty is present in all objects and beingsin the universe, by understanding the nature of the Lord Almighty, one canunderstand the nature of everything in the universe.

Svetaketu immediately realises his folly and requests his father to

elaborate further on this concept with some examples that he can relate to.Uddhalaka teaches his son to be humble and to drive home the concept ofdifferences and distinction among the universe’s triumvirate – the LordAlmighty, individual souls and inert objects – offers nine analogies based onnine commonly occurring aspects in life that everyone can relate to. Headvises his son to always realise that the universe and all physical objects,including the physical bodies adorned by souls, owe their existence to theLord Almighty. This advice is communicated through the famous phrase–‘Tat Tvam Asi’.

Tvam – you (Svetaketu), Asi – exist, Tat – because of Him (The LordAlmighty) .

Q: What are the nine analogies taught by the sage Uddhalaka to his sonSvetaketu, which explain the relationship between individual souls, inertobjects, and the Lord Almighty?

A: The sage Uddhlaka gives the following analogies:

Analogy 1: Imagine a bird tied to a long string and carried by its owner.Initially, the bird will think it is free and starts flying in all differentdirections. As long as it is able to fly, it will be under the delusion that it isfree. The moment it reaches the end of the string, and can no longer flyfurther, it comes back to the owner and rests on his shoulders. Similarly,living beings – when awake – are under a delusion and let their minds wanderin all directions. When the mind gets tired and rests (during deep sleep),living beings are no longer in delusion and will feel the state of bliss(although for a very short time). Hence, one feels fresh after a good,dreamless, deep sleep.

Svetaketu says that although one feels fresh after getting up from deepsleep, he is unable to feel the presence of the Lord as he doesn’t rememberanything that happened during deep sleep. So, Uddhalaka continues withfurther explanation and gives more analogies.

Analogy 2: Honeybees collect nectar from different flowers and preparehoney in their honeycombs. Once honey is formed, one is not able todistinguish the nectars from individual flowers. Similarly, when individualsouls reach the abode of the Lord, one is not able to distinguish them fromeach other, yet they are each distinct from the Lord and from each other .

Svetaketu counters that honey and nectar are inert objects and that thisanalogy doesn’t explain the relationship among sentient objects like souls.

Analogy 3: Rivers take different courses but ultimately end up in the ocean.Salt water from the ocean evaporates, gets converted into rain clouds, whichthen release fresh water back into the rivers. One cannot distinguish the waterparticles from rivers when they exist in the salty ocean. Similarly, one cannotvisualise the individual souls as distinct from each other when they are in theabode of the Lord.

Svetaketu argues that this analogy conveys the distinction amongindividual souls, but it does not illustrate their dependence on the LordAlmighty.

Analogy 4: When one cuts a tree at its root, the tree might survive. Similarly,when cut in the middle or at the branches, the tree will survive and continueto grow leaves, flowers, etc. However, when the life of the tree departs fromany part of the tree, it becomes parched, starts withering and dies. Similarly,as long as the Lord is present in a living being, it will continue to live even ifindividual organs fail. When the Lord leaves the living being that person isno longer alive, and dies.

Svetaketu asks why one is not able to physically see the Lord, if He isindeed controlling everyone and everything in the universe. So, Uddhalakaprovides another analogy.

Analogy 5: Uddhalaka asks Svetaketu to pluck a fruit from a tree and to cutthe fruit to expose the seeds. He then asks Svetaketu to further cut open theseeds and continue slicing these pieces into even smaller pieces. At last,Svetaketu is not able to slice any further as he can no longer physically seethe smallest piece. In this analogy, the tree represents the universe, the fruitrepresents our physical bodies, and the miniature piece of the seed representsour soul. Svetaketu is not able to see beyond the miniature piece of the seedand, similarly one cannot physically see the Lord dwelling in our souls. Justas the the seed is able to grow into a tree, our soul gets enveloped with aphysical body due to the grace of the Lord.

Svetaketu says that while this analogy illustrates the minute form of thesoul and the Lord dwelling in the soul, it does not quite illustrate a soul beingable to feel the presence of the Lord.

Analogy 6: Uddhalaka asks Svetaketu to bring a glass of water and to putsome salt into it. The next morning, Uddhalaka asks his son to take the saltout of the water. Svetaketu says that he cannot see the salt and hence cannottake it out. Uddhalaka then asks him to taste the water and Svetaketu saysthat he can feel the presence of salt in the water, even though he cannot seethe salt. Likewise, Uddhalaka replies, one can feel the presence of the Lordeverywhere even though one may not be able to physically see the Lord.

Svetaketu then asks his father as to how would one go about learningabout spiritual truth and the power of the Lord Almighty. Uddhalaka thenrelates a few more analogies to help Svetaketu in the discovery of spiritualtruth.

Analogy 7: Uddhalaka elaborates on an analogy to highlight the importanceof a proper teacher (guru) while on one’s spiritual journey. A thief kidnaps arich man, steals his money and leaves him blindfolded in the middle of aforest. The rich man screams for help and a passerby helps untie the rich manand directs him to the nearest village. The rich man goes to the village andgets direction from the villagers to the nearest town, and from their makes hisway back home. Similarly, the individual souls are blindfolded by ignoranceand false knowledge. They will need the help of teachers to direct them onthe right path and move towards salvation.

Analogy 8: Uddhalaka gives another example to illustrate the dependence ofindividual souls on the Lord Almighty. When a person is seriously sick andlying in bed, it is common for that person’s relatives to ask if he is able torecognise them. To be able to recognise someone, the sick person needs tohave his sense organs, mind, intellect and also the life force fully functioning.He should be able to hear the question, so his ears have to be functioning. Heshould be able to process the question, so his intellect has to be functioning.He should be able to perceive his relatives’ voices and features and confirmthat they are similar to prior images stored in his memory. If he concludesthat he is able to recognise someone, he should be able to communicate thateither orally or by nodding his head. All these organs are under the control ofdifferent deities such as Uma, Rudra, Prana, etc. However, even if some ofthem have left his body, he can continue to remain alive. So, he may not beable to respond to a question but he might still be breathing and alive.However, when the Lord Almighty leaves his body, even if other deities have

not left, that person will cease to live. This analogy clearly demonstrates thedependence of individual souls on other deities who themselves aredependent on the Lord Almighty.

At this stage, Svetaketu is convinced of the interrelationship betweenindividual souls, inert matter, and the supreme Lord Almighty. Finally, heasks his father about the benefits of acquiring this knowledge and the pitfallsof not grasping the inner meanings of these analogies. Uddhalaka respondsby relating yet another analogy.

Analogy 9: The police catch a suspected thief and bring him before the kingto confess. The king asks the policemen to get an iron rod heated in a fire andasks the thief to lift the iron rod with his bare hands, to see if he is telling thetruth. If the thief is lying, he will approach the iron rod with fear andtrepidation and get his hands burnt, thus proving his crime. If he is telling thetruth, he will approach the hot iron rod with full confidence and, with theshield of truth protecting him, he will not fear lifting it, thus proving hisinnocence.

Likewise, one who has correctly understood the principle of duality andthe supreme independence of the Lord Almighty approaches life with fullconfidence. He will not be tainted by worldly events, and will surely attainsalvation at the feet of the Lord Almighty.

Dynamics of interpretation

The Chandogya Upanishat also relates a fascinating story of Indra, the kingof angels and Virochana, the king of demons, to illustrate the perils ofinterpreting Vedic teachings in different ways .

Q: How can one interpret the same Vedic teaching in different ways andwhat is the consequence of wrong interpretation?

A: Once Indra, the overlord of swarga, and Virochana, the king of demons,approached Brahma to learn about the best way to visualise the LordAlmighty who is not ordinarily seen. They surmise that by knowing the LordAlmighty one can achieve anything one wants, and hence their quest. Brahmadoes not discriminate between them and teaches the same concept to both.What is interesting is the way the two of them interpret the teaching.

Brahma teaches them that the best way to visualise the Lord Almighty is

to perceive Him as a reflection – in eyes, in water, or in a mirror. To provethis concept, Brahma asks them to dress themselves up and look at theirreflection in water. They follow Brahma’s advice, come back to him andindicate that the reflection they saw in the water is an exact replica ofthemselves. The implication is that the relationship between an individualsoul and the supreme Lord Almighty is analogous to the relationship betweenan object and its reflection in the eyes, in water, in mirror, etc. Brahma leavesIndra and Virochana to draw their conclusions based on this analogy.

Virochana is convinced that the image in water is an exact replication ofhim and, hence he is identical to the Lord Almighty. This leads Virochana toteach his subjects that one should worship (or dress up) their bodies as thatwill amount to worshipping the Lord Almighty! It is this equation of bodywith soul that drives demonic forces and evil spirits to focus excessively onphysical appearance and spend their time and energy on unending pursuit ofeternal youth, even when aware that the physical body is subject to decay anddeath .

Indra, however, reasons that the reflection in water is dependent on theoriginal object and any deformity or defect in the object will be visible in thereflection, too. Hence, neither of these can be equivalent to the LordAlmighty. He goes back to Brahma stating that he is not convinced about theaccuracy of the reflection analogy and asks for further clarification.

Brahma then provides the analogy of a dream where one can visualiseoneself even if one is blind. Indra reasons that this analogy is also notaccurate. One can also visualise one’s appearance in a dream as being sick ordeformed and surely that cannot be equated to the Lord Almighty. Brahmathen indicates the experience of bliss that one feels when one is in dreamlessdeep sleep as proof of the presence of the Lord Almighty in one’s life. Indraindicates that he has experienced bliss-like peace during dreamless, deepsleep but that is not leading him towards feeling the presence of the Lord.

At this stage, Brahma lays out a detailed comparison between individualsouls and the Lord Almighty to strengthen Indra’s conviction. Ordinary soulsexperience pain, suffering, aging and death in their physical bodies. The LordAlmighty has no such defects. Ordinary souls experience pain and pleasurethroughout their lives due to attachment to their physical bodies, while theLord Almighty has no such attachment and is ever full of infinite bliss andfull of infinite auspicious attributes.

The real purport of the object/reflection analogy taught by Brahma is thatthe Lord Almighty is like an object, and the individual souls are like thereflection that is always dependent on the object. Virochana interprets this theother way round leading to misery, while Indra through the process of mentalreflection, analysis, and further questions is convinced of the supremacy ofthe Lord Almighty and the dependence of all other souls on Him.

The lesson one needs to learn from this episode is that if we want toexperience beauty and harmony, we need to dress up the Lord Almighty withour words, thoughts and actions since this amounts to beautifying the objectand surely that will rub off on the reflection to some extent.

The essence of this Upanishat

✓ One needs to feel the presence of the supreme Lord Almighty in allobjects and events in the universe such as music, falling rain, flowingrivers, seasons, animals, sense organs, etc.

✓ The triumvirate that make up the universe – the individual souls, inertobject and the Lord Almighty – have a clearly defined interrelationship.The Lord Almighty is supreme and controls all individual souls andinert objects. Individual souls also have gradations in their capabilitiesand aptitudes.

✓ Individual souls are like the reflection of the Lord Almighty in water,mirror, etc. Hence one needs to focus on meditating on the greatness ofthe original object (the Lord Almighty) in order to experience truehappiness and bliss since focussing on the dependent image will notlead one towards the Lord.

Chapter 10

THE BRIHADARANYAKA UPANISHATForest for the Trees

Oh Lord! Lead us from misery to happiness, from ignorance to knowledge,and from death to immortality.

– Brihadaranyaka Upanishat, Chapter 1

The Brihadaranyaka Upanishat is the largest of the 10 principal Upanishads.In Sanskrit, brihad means grand. This Upanishat is considered the mostcomprehensive since it touches upon all major aspects of Eastern philosophy– epistemology, psychology, theology, ethics, mysticism – and provides anexcellent exposition of the symbolism behind some major Vedic rituals. Thecentral theme of the Upanishat is the narration of the attributes of the LordAlmighty brought out during debates among highly knowledgeable seers,which were held at the court of King Janaka.

It is interesting to note that some of these debates also had womenparticipating thereby dispensing the erroneous notion in popular culture thatthe study of Vedas was restricted only to male members. This Upanishatexcels in conveying deep philosophical concepts by clever use of varioustools such as colourful language, symbols, analogies, debates, parables, etc .

Some translate the name ‘Brihadaranyaka Upanishat’ to mean ‘Upanishatof the Great Forests’ since aranya is the Sanskrit term for forest. Regardless,

the content of this great Upanishat allows one to get the big picture, or see theforest for the trees.

It is said that at the beginning of the creation of the universe, Brahmapropitiated the Lord Almighty. This formed the basis of teachings in thisUpanishat. Brahma passed on this knowledge to Surya, the sun god, who inturn passed it on to Sage Yagnavalkya. This was then passed on to SageKanva, thus starting the unbroken tradition of orally teaching the Upanishatby a teacher to his student, and so on.

Creation of the universe: purpose and process

This relates to creation of the universe and its sustenance based on the sevenfood types, etc.

Q: What prompted the creation of the universe?

A: Time is infinite, eternal and continuously flows like a river. The cycle ofcreation of the universe, its existence and dissolution occurs in cycles witheach cycle termed as a kalpa (around 311 trillion years long). In thebeginning of each kalpa, apart from the Lord Almighty and His consort SriLakshmi, there existed the individual souls and all of universe in an atomicform. The Vedas, which are the storehouse of eternal, infinite knowledge,always exist although only parts get revealed from time to time to seekers oftruth.

The Lord, purely of His will, decided to create the universe which meantcreating the basic elements of Nature ( earth, water, fire, air, space), andgiving individual souls a physical body (made up of the basic elements ofNature in some proportion). This was done with the intention of providingindividual souls with the mechanism and tools to conduct their lives andachieve self-realisation leading to eternal salvation.

Since the process of self-realisation is long and complex, the souls gothrough multiple cycles of birth and death, hopefully accumulating enoughgood deeds in each birth and thus eventually gaining enough credits toqualify for salvation. The universe, which is the handiwork of the LordAlmighty, is indeed real and has a real purpose behind its creation. It is notillusory or unreal, and if so, it would serve no purpose. The purpose ofcreation of the universe is to equip individual souls to progress from bondageto freedom.

Q: What is the process involved in the creation of the universe?

A: At the beginning of the cycle, the Lord desired to create the universe withthe intention of equipping the individual souls with the means to conducttheir lives to achieve self-realisation. Besides the Lord Almighty, and Hisconsort Sri Lakshmi, there existed the individual souls (with their intrinsicnature) and the eternal knowledge (the Vedas). The entire universe was in anembryonic state. The Lord first created water – one of the five basic elementsof Nature. The foam from this water evolved into the cosmic egg that gaverise to earth. From the Lord’s thought emerged Vayu, who is the foremostamong all individual souls. Vayu divided himself into three energy centres –sun, air and fire. Lord Vishnu and His consort Lakshmi then gave birth to thefour-faced Brahma, who in turn gave birth to goddess Saraswati .

From Brahma and Saraswati all other living organisms took shape. Theseincluded other deities, demons, humans, animals, plants, etc. All these livingorganisms always existed as individual souls and the process of creation gavethem physical bodies through which their souls were able to interact with therest of the universe. Brahma also created the food chain. For example, theplants gave rise to rice, etc. Agni energised power sources (e.g. fire to cookrice), and the physical bodies to humans and animals, to consume and digestfood to sustain themselves.

Q: It is said that Vayu is supreme among individual souls. How is thisestablished?

A: The Upanishat illustrates concepts of the supremacy of Vayu through aparable involving a competition among the pious angels and the evil demons.The angels decide to perform a ritual to please the Lord Almighty whichinvolved chanting of Vedic hymns. It is said that one can please the LordAlmighty by the melodious rendering of Vedic hymns with properpronunciation and diction, which is a very difficult task. The angels pickedAgni to sing Vedic hymns, reasoning that he was the most suitable since hecontrols the faculty of speech in all living organisms. When Agni startedsinging, the demons attacked him and he was not able to pronounce thewords of the hymns correctly and thus failed to please the Lord Almighty.

Then the angels requested other deities such as Surya, among others, tosing the hymns and they all met with the same fate. Finally, the angels

requested Vayu to sing the hymn and the demons who tried to attack himwere smashed into a lump of mud when thrown at a rocky hillock .

Vayu was able to easily sing the Vedic hymns with utmost melody,pronunciation, diction, etc., which pleased the Lord Almighty. This provedthe pre-eminence of Vayu among all deities and indeed all individual souls.

This parable is symbolic and has a hidden meaning. The demons attackingAgni, the controlling deity of speech, is equivalent to our minds gettingcorrupted with evil thoughts that result in improper and wrong words. Bytaking refuge under Vayu, one can develop a strong mind that can resistcorruption and avoid uttering wrong words and wrong interpretation ofscriptures. The Upanishat extols one to pray to Vayu so one can ‘move frommisery to happiness, from ignorance to knowledge, and from death toimmortality’. An oft-quoted hymn from this Upanishat is “asato masadgamaya, tamaso ma jyotirgamaya, mrutyorma amrutamgamaya.”

Q: What are the seven types of food designed by the Lord Almighty tosustain the universe?

A: Everyone understands that the well-being of a person depends not only ongood, nourishing food but also on a very healthy mind. The consequences ofa corrupted mind are well known. The seven types of food are as follows:

One type of food is common to all living beings (i.e. rice andsimilar staples).Milk and water are commonly consumed by humans and animals.Two types of food are reserved for various deities in the form ofrituals conducted for them.Three types of food are reserved for the Lord Almighty Himself.They are – mind, speech and the primal energy (Prana).

One can immediately see that all the seven types of food indicated are notbased on typical food types that one consumes. One can relate to thedefinition of consumables such as rice, milk, water, etc., but how can mind,speech and energy be considered as food? The Upanishat provides a beautifulexplanation of the food types:

The physical source of nourishment for living beings such as rice,

milk, etc., are inexhaustible and are continuously created by theLord to sustain the existence of living beings. For instance, evenwhen vast swathes of cultivable land sometimes get submerged byfloods, over time the water recedes and the land becomescultivable again. The Upanishat also teaches that food naturallygifted by the Lord belongs to all living beings, and no one shouldhoard food and deprive others as that would amount to stealingfrom others.Similarly, one should conduct rituals as an offering to deities andnot as a means to achieve worldly riches. Rituals done for the solepurpose of achieving worldly pleasures amount to stealing the foodmeant for deities.The three types of food that the Lord expects from everyone are –mind, speech and energy. The three types of food relate to the threetypes of action that living beings perform continuously, which are:thinking (based on the faculty of mind), talking (based on thefaculty of speech), and physical activity (based on the faculty ofPrana). It is clear that the Lord does not have any expectations ofofferings such as gifts, jewellery, etc., but expects sincere action inour thinking, talking and physical action. While living beings are equipped with six sense organs (fivepreceptor sense organs and the mind), it is interesting to note thatmind is singled out as the most important sense organ as it controlsthe working of the other sense organs. Emotions such as desire,determination, thought, fear, etc., all originate from the mind andone should turn the workings of the mind as an offering to theLord. Similarly, the faculty of speech should be reserved to singHis glories and should never be used for idle chatter andmeaningless discussion. All physical actions that are energised bythe energy centres (Prana) in our physical bodies should beperformed as an offering to the Lord Almighty. As the Gita says,one should conduct one’s naturally chosen duties in life as anoffering to the Lord without expectations of their outcome. Such anoffering earns the grace of the Lord, and elevates the individualsoul to greatness and eternal freedom from bondage.

Dialogues and debates

The Upanishat has an extensive account of various debates and dialoguesamong many sages and seers on important spiritual aspects. The topics arevaried.

Q: The Lord Almighty is present everywhere and in all objects in theuniverse. Is it enough if one worships Him as being resident in an idol ?

A: While it is important for many of us to resort to an external object such asan idol or a photograph to help us visualise the Lord in our prayers, theultimate visualisation that we need is to feel His presence in our heart. TheUpanishat illustrates the example of a person trying to wake up a sleepingperson by talking to the sleeping person, singing his praises, etc. None of thisis enough to wake the person who is sound asleep. Yet, when the personphysically shakes the sleeping man, he wakes up. The Lord’s presence inone’s heart is symbolically suggested by this episode. The message here isthat praying internally, by visualising the Lord as resident in one’s own heart,is much superior to praying by visualising the Lord in external objects suchas idols. Another important message from this is that one should realise thepresence of the Lord in all living beings, and one should not resort to physicalviolence as that amounts to abusing the Lord Almighty.

Q: What are the steps involved in achieving self-realisation?

A: One achieves self-realisation through the express grace of the LordAlmighty. For this, one has to climb three spiritual steps:Step 1: Sravana – Receive spiritual teaching from a qualified teacher. Thisstep helps remove ignorance and equips the seeker with the right knowledge.

Step 2: Manana – Deep reflection upon spiritual teachings learnt in step 1,with application of rigorous logic to develop a firm conviction about thesubject matter learnt. This will remove any doubts and prepare the seeker toconfidently move to the next step .

Step 3: Nididhyasana – Contemplative meditation on attributes of thedivinity. This is the ultimate step required for realising the Lord.

Note that Step 1 provides the basic ingredients of spiritual learning, and Step2 places the learning on a strong foundation of conviction. These two stepsare subservient to, and are the prerequisites for, one to undertake

contemplative meditation which leads to direct vision of the Lord Almightyand self-realisation.

Q: What type of knowledge accrues to liberated souls?

A: Liberated souls have self-realisation in that they have complete knowledgeof their intrinsic selves and hence maintain their individuality. They do nothave or need ordinary worldly knowledge that one gathers from sense organs,as liberated souls no longer have physical bodies but exist in their cosmicselves. Liberated souls also have knowledge about the attributes of the Lord,but only to the extent of their capability. As the Lord has infinite auspiciousattributes, He is not completely knowable by anyone. Also, note thatunliberated souls do not have knowledge of the liberated souls. It goeswithout saying that unliberated souls also have no knowledge of the Lord’sgreatness.

Q: It is said that at the time of dissolution of the universe, the physicalworld ceases to exist. In that situation, what happens to souls that have notyet achieved self-realisation?

A: Individual souls continue to exist even during the time of dissolution ofthe universe as they are eternal and have no beginning or end. The fact thatthese souls do come back to life once the process of creation of the universestarts is a testament to the presence of an unseen agency that is the LordAlmighty. The Upanishat provides an excellent comparison between a livingperson and a tree to explain the process of death and rebirth. The physicalbody is analogous to a tree, where the hair is likened to the leaves, the skin tothe bark, the blood to the gum, bone to the heartwood within the trunk, thebone marrow to the pith, etc. Just as a tree sheds leaves and grows them back,hair is shed and grows back. Similarly, just as the bark of a tree regrows, theskin also regrows when it is scraped. The tree is able to rejuvenate its parts aslong as the roots are alive.

However, when the tree itself is uprooted during the dissolution of theuniverse, how does it spring back to life? Similarly, when the physicaluniverse dissolves, how do unliberated souls get physical bodies? The factthat these souls are reborn during the next cycle of creation clearly leads totwo conclusions. The individual souls continue to exist even after dissolutionof the universe (as they are eternal), and there is an external agency (the Lord

Almighty) who orchestrates the dissolution of the universe and the process ofcreation of the universe during the following cycle.

Q: What are the means of acquiring knowledge for individual souls?

A: The primary means of acquiring knowledge is the sun as one needssunlight to see any object, to go anywhere and indeed to read any scripture.Therefore light, in the form of the sun, is most crucial for sustenance of life inthe universe. When the sun sets, the moon acts as the source of light andhence, knowledge. For example, for someone walking in the night, light fromthe moon helps in guiding the way. In the absence of sufficient moonlight, wewould require some sort of fire or lamp to conduct our lives. What happensduring night when there is no moon and no access to a lamp? In such cases,one would resort to speech to find one’s way. For example, when it is verydark and there is no light available, one begins to talk to attract another’sattention and when one hears a response, one moves in that direction. In thatsense, in the absence of all light sources, one resorts to speech as a guide tomove around. How about when someone is in deep sleep where there is nolight, no speech and indeed all sense organs are shut down? The ultimatesource of knowledge for all living beings is the Lord Almighty who willcontinue to guide souls in all states of existence. That Lord resides inside thesoul and illuminates the soul at all times, in all places and in all states ofexistence.

Q: It is known that living beings exist in one of the three states – wakingstate, state of dreaming, and state of deep sleep. What is the differencebetween the state of dreaming and deep sleep? Is it possible for one todecide how much of sleep is spent in dreams, and how much is spent indreamless, deep sleep?

A: While awake, living beings experience a full functioning of all senseorgans, mind and intellect. Just as birds such as eagles fly throughout the daysearching for food and come back to their nest during the evening hours torest their wings, living beings also need to rest their body, sense organs andmind at the end of the day. When one goes to bed, one does not control theexact moment when the body can go to sleep. After having entered the stateof sleep, one does not control how and when one starts and ends dreaming.Likewise, one cannot control how and when to go into the state of deep sleep.

During the state of dreaming, all external sense organs are shut down but themind is still functioning.

It is said that during the dream state, the Lord Almighty takes a miniaturepart of the living being out of their bodies and has them experience dreamswhich are a collection of events, people, places decided by the LordAlmighty, based on the prior actions of the individual soul over many births.The Lord decides when and how much of sleep is spent in deep sleep – astate of bliss. Hence, one feels very fresh after experiencing sound,dreamless, deep sleep.

Q: How is the state of deep sleep different from the state of bliss?

A: In both these states, the soul experiences only happiness and no misery.However, there are important differences:

Deep sleep is a temporary state as it will end when the persontransitions back to the state of dreaming or wakes up from sleep.The state of bliss is permanent and eternal.In the state of deep sleep, the soul will not have self-knowledge,while in the state of bliss the soul would have attained self-realisation.There is a gradation in the amount of bliss experienced by livingbeings based on their intrinsic nature.

It is often said that the state of deep sleep is granted to living beings toprovide a sample of the happiness one experiences in the state of bliss. Nowonder one feels very fresh and relaxed after waking up from even a veryshort duration of deep sleep. This should be the motivation for living beingsto work towards self-realisation, with the goal of achieving eternal bliss in thecompany of the supreme Lord Almighty.

The essence of this Upanishat

✓ The Lord Almighty creates the universe with the intention of providingindividual souls opportunities, and the means to conduct positiveactivities in their journey towards self-realisation.

✓ While living beings need edible food, milk, water, etc., for sustenance,the food offered to the Lord is in the form of our thoughts, words and

actions.

✓ The process of achieving self-realisation consists of learning fromscriptures, reflecting on topics learnt to develop deep conviction, andcontemplative meditation on the glories of the Lord.

✓ While the Lord Almighty pervades the entire universe and, hence, ispresent everywhere and in all objects, the learned meditate upon theLord resident within their own hearts, powering their very existence.

EPILOGUE

The Upanishads are immortal works and are an invaluable gift to humanity.The teachings contained in the Upanishads are as relevant today as they haveever been. While there have been tremendous strides in science andtechnology over the years leading to increased material comforts, humanbehaviour, emotions, conflict and mental well-being are immune to theseadvances. The world continues to be a dangerous place with increasedchallenges faced by individuals, societies and nations leading to avoidableconflicts and human suffering. Thus, reading of the Upanishads provides awelcome relief to troubled minds, by providing answers to key questionsconfronting humanity such as the purpose of life. The fact that theUpanishads have been commented on and quoted by persons of eminencesuch as Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Radhakrishnan, Dr. Rabindranath Tagore, Dr.Rajaji, Dr. Einstein, etc., is a testament to their relevance to modern times.

The Upanishads use a combination of allegories, stories, conversations,debates, analogies, etc., to drive home key philosophical comments, therebyproving that they are not just based on theological reasoning but are related tolife’s experiences. We are neither alone in the universe nor are we without aguide. The very purpose of the Upanishads is to convey the glory of the LordAlmighty. They are the means to transport humankind from misery tohappiness, from ignorance to knowledge, and from the cycle of births anddeaths to nirvana.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Giridhar Boray has held leadership positions in leading telecomorganizations such as Alcatel Lucent, Nortel, Sharp, etc. He currently headsthe India operations of US-based Kodiak Networks. He is a prolific inventorand holds several US patents. He holds a Master’s degree from PurdueUniversity, and a Ph.D from Southern Methodist University, USA.

Dr. Boray has a deep interest in Vedic scriptures and their impact onsociety - a result of his early education in Sanskrit and Vedic scriptures. Hehas authored several articles on Indian scriptures, with particular emphasis onthe Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads. These have been published in themonthly magazine of the Shri Raghavendra Swamy Mutt, Mantralayam,Andhra Pradesh, India.

The author may be contacted on email:gboray@gmail.com

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