The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: 8 - Swami Krishnananda.

Chinmaya Mission: 

Br. Kaushik Chaitanya had the privilege of spending two enriching hours in an engaging conversation with B.Tech students at the Engineering College, Lucknow. The session was also graced by the presence of the management faculty, fostering a collaborative atmosphere. The dialogue was dynamic, with both professors and students actively participating and posing thought-provoking questions. The discussions touched upon important themes that resonate with student life, such as dealing with confusion, seeking inspiration, and understanding the significance of friendship during formative years.

During the interaction, Br. Kaushik Chaitanya shared his perspective on how love brings a sense of completeness and fulfillment to life. The students were deeply curious and posed insightful questions such as, "What is love?" and "Whom should we love?" This led to an engaging discussion on the nature of love and attraction, exploring the deeper emotional and philosophical aspects of these experiences. Through these exchanges, he guided the students to reflect on the meaning of love, emphasizing its role in shaping a balanced and meaningful life.

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Monday 21, October 2024, 06:20.
Article
Scriptures
Upanishads
The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 
Post-8.

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All the joys of this world, of all the creation put together, are said to be one drop of this universal Brahman Bliss, the Bliss of the Absolute.

Having said this, Yajnavalkya retired. This is a famous conversation in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad called Yajnavalkya-Maitreyi Samvada: conversation between Yajnavalkya the sage and Maitreyi, his consort. No teaching can go beyond this. This is the highest pinnacle of human thought. All philosophy is crushed into the essence of this teaching. However much we may think philosophically, our mind will not go beyond this thought. Indian thought has reached its peak in this teaching of Yajnavalkya, recorded for us in his conversation with Maitreyi.

Can we attain this state? This question will arise in your mind. Why should you ask such a question? It must be attained, because it has been already declared that this is your goal, this is your aim, this is what you are asking for. Even when you are asking for the silliest joys of life, you are actually asking for this infinite Bliss – asking unknowingly, not knowing what is happening to you.

How will we get it, if we want it? Great discipline of the consciousness is necessary. At the present moment there is an outward trend of consciousness. We are extrovert sensorily, objectively, spatially and temporally. We are causation-bound, and we are living in a relativistic world – one part hanging on something else. A daily practice of the abstraction of consciousness from its involvement in the senses is to be practiced. It can be done as a natural habit of your life, if you are mature enough and your mind is strong enough – that is, it can think only in this way and there is no other way of thinking. Now why should you not think in this way, when this is the aim of life? Have you any suspicion that there is something else also in this world other than this?

Or if your mind is not strong enough that it can think only in this way, you can find a time for your own self. This analysis that we made just now should be the analysis that you to carry on during the process of this wisdom meditation. Be seated in a particular posture and deeply think over this issue. “What do I want?” One hundred questions will arise in the mind. “I want all kinds of things.” Yajnavalkya has given the answer to your question. Do you really want all kinds of things? What are those all kinds of things? “So many things, so many objects.” Do you love objects? “Yes, Sir.” Is it true that you are in fact loving the objects? Now comes Yajnavalkya to your assistance. You are not loving objects for their own sake. Neither building, nor land, nor property, nor relatives, nor people, nor any blessed thing, not even this body itself. You do not want any of this. It is the great Bliss of Universal Existence that is summoning you, and the establishment of oneself in that Consciousness is the liberation of the spirit, moksha. This is moksha yoga that Yajnavalkya speaks – the yoga of the liberation of the spirit.

This Rishi, Yajnavalkya, is very famous in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. Very powerful person was he. I can tell you a little story as an example of how powerful he was. Yajnavalkya was one of the disciples of a sage called Vaisampayana, and Vaisampayana was the promulgator of the Yajurveda Samhita. There are four Vedas – Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda. Yajurveda was the prerogative of this particular sage called Vaishampayana. They say there was a conference of sages on a mountain, and they stipulated a condition – all the invitees should come. If any invitee did not come, he would incur the sin of killing a Brahmin. This Vaisampayana somehow or other could not attend that conference. He had some other occupation that day, and the sin came upon him. He called all his disciples. Yajnavalkya was one of them. “You see, my dear boys, this sin has come upon me in accordance with the ordinance, because I could not attend that meeting. Will you do some prayaschitta, something to expiate my sins? All of you!”

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Continued

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